Break-in of Severus Snape's office

### Description

Bartemius Crouch Junior, disguised as Alastor Moody, steals Polyjuice Potion ingredients from Severus Snape's office, and gets Marauder's Map from Harry Potter

**Severus Snape**: "*To me, Potter, you are nothing but a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him. So I give you fair warning, Potter, pint-sized celebrity or not — if I catch you breaking into my office one more time —*"
**Harry Potter**: "*I haven't been anywhere near your office!*"
**Severus Snape**: "*Don't lie to me. Boomslang skin. Gillyweed. Both come from my private stores, and I know who stole them.*"
— Severus Snape confronts Harry Potter about the break-in[src]

The **break-in of Severus Snape's office in 1995** was a break-in staged by Bartemius Crouch Junior so he could steal the ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion he had been using to disguise himself as Alastor Moody.

## History

### Background

Barty Crouch Junior was a Death Eater, one of four Death Eaters responsible for the torture of Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom, who was imprisoned in Azkaban. He later escaped when Barty Crouch Senior and Mrs Crouch switched her for her son using Polyjuice Potion. He was kept under the Imperius Curse by Crouch Senior for years, until he was found by Bertha Jorkins and later freed by Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew.

Crouch Junior joined Voldemort again, and they used a Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts to try and get and kill Harry Potter. He and Peter Pettigrew attacked Alastor Moody and he was imprisoned so he could be impersonated by Crouch Junior using Polyjuice Potion. He posed as Moody at Hogwarts to successfully enter Harry Potter into the Triwizard Tournament and done what he could to help Harry succeed.

However, Crouch Junior had to keep taking Polyjuice Potion and whenever he ran short on Polyjuice Potion supplies, he had to steal supplies out of Severus Snape's office. When Snape caught him one time, Crouch as Moody claimed to be searching it.

### The break-in

In January 1995, Crouch Junior run out of Polyjuice Potion supplies a day before the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament. He decided to raiding Snape's stores for what he needed for a new batch of Polyjuice Potion. However, Harry Potter had gone out that night to work out what clue was in the Golden egg that held the clue to the Second Task. He took his Cloak of Invisibility and the Marauder's Map to avoid getting caught breaking curfew and out of bound at the same time.

Harry was heading back to bed when he checked the map, which showed a "Barty Crouch" in Severus Snape's office. He mistook Crouch Junior for Crouch Senior, who was supposed to be ill. Harry's suspected something was wrong, so he headed toward Snape's office under his Cloak to find out what Crouch was up to. Unfortunately, Harry's leg got caught in a trick step on a staircase between the ground-floor and second-floor corridor, causing him to drop the egg. It opened up at the bottom of the stairs and began to make a very loud screaming noise. The noise attracted the attention of Crouch Junior, Severus Snape, and the Hogwarts Caretaker Argus Filch.

Crouch Junior could see Harry under the Invisibility Cloak, but Snape suspected Harry was around. However, Crouch Junior found a way to get rid of Snape and Filch before they could find Harry. He got the details off Harry of what had happened, and that Harry knew a "Barty Crouch" was in the cupboard. Crouch Junior (still acting like Alastor Moody) told Harry that Crouch Senior was obsessed with catching Dark Wizards, making Harry think Barty Crouch Senior wanted to get Snape. Crouch Junior confiscated the Marauder's Map, gave Harry back the egg and sent him back to bed.

## Aftermath

Harry soon filled his friends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and his godfather Sirius Black in on what happened, leading to Sirius to tell the story of the Crouchs' history.  Dobby later stole an item out of Snape's office to help Harry in the Second Task, causing Snape to think Harry had been stealing supplies.

Crouch Junior later used the Marauder's Map he had obtained to find and attack Barty Crouch Senior and Viktor Krum later that year.