It's hard to hold Harry to a higher standard than the many adults who surrounded him in his fourth year at Hogwarts in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, he's the protagonist. Perhaps Dumbledore should have noticed that the friend he hired to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts was not really the friend he claimed to be.
Anyway, Harry also spent what seemed to be a lot of extra time with Professor Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody than many of his classmates and probably a lot of the faculty. Harry Potter suspects Malfoy of nefarious activity if the boy sneezes, but he seems to have missed a few key clues when it came to the false Professor Moody.
Updated on December 25th, 2021 by Melody MacReady: It is well established that Harry Potter is far from an expert on things in the Wizarding World, considering he's lived with muggles his whole life and spends his time in the muggle world outside of school. However, Harry Potter proves to be one of the worst detectives when it came to Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody being Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise.
The character has so many hints and tells that point to him not being who he says that even Harry Potter should have noticed. Harry Potter might have been distracted by the Triwizard Tournament but there were plenty of unsubtle signs both in the book and film that any fan could pick up on.
Never Said Anything About A Graveyard
The only clue Harry even remotely hones in on is after he's already been portkeyed away and met up with a now resurrected Lord Voldemort. Only now, when he realizes something was wrong all along does he even raise his head and consider that maybe there's something a little off about Moody.
Still, he's not able to put the pieces together, that Moody isn't really Moody until that polyjuice potion wears off. He should have caught on a bit sooner.
He Saw Crouch And Moody In The Pensieve
When Harry visits Dumbledore's office and is left alone with Fawkes, one of the cutest magical creatures, he accidentally stumbles onto Dumbledore's Pensieve and then accidentally stumbles into Dumbledore's memories. The memory we see in the film stars both the real Mad-Eye Moody and Barty Crouch Jr.
Despite this introduction to the real Alastor Moody, and the real Barty Crouch Jr. Harry doesn't once put any pieces together or ask any meaningful questions. Instead, he's more concerned about his strange dreams.
The Encounter Between Moody And Barty Crouch
One of the biggest giveaways that Moody was not who he seemed to be was when Barty Crouch Sr. and Moody had a brief conversation after the second task. Not only does Moody randomly chastize Barty Crouch Sr. for seemingly no reason but he flicks his tongue like a snake.
Barty Crouch Sr. immediately recognizes this tic and looks horrified by it before walking away. Also, the very next time Harry Potter sees Barty Crouch Sr., he happens to be dead. Considering that Alastor Moody is already off-putting by that point, Harry should have at least suspected foul play from the Auror.
Barty Crouch Sr. Dies Almost Immediately After Speaking With Moody
So, after their strange interaction, Barty Crouch Sr. is found dead in the Forbidden Forest in the very next scene. Obviously, there is no direct evidence pointing towards Moody but Harry should have at least suspected Moody to have been involved after seeing Crouch react to Moody in such a bizarre way.
In the book version of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Moody unexpectedly shows up after Barty Crouch Sr. is found dead. No one sent for Moody, only Dumbledore. How did he just happen to be in the right place at the right time? Did he overhear the information?
Offering Assistance
Moody offers Harry an awful lot of help when it comes to the different tasks in the Triwizard Tournament. This would not be terribly suspicious if Harry were the only Hogwarts champion but Cedric Diggory is also involved. Why was Moody so biased to help Harry?
Not once does Moody try to help Cedric, the other representative of Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament. Though Harry probably appreciated the help, he should have at least questioned why Moody was so involved with his side of the tournament.
The Flask
The real Alastor Moody was known for drinking from a hip flask to avoid being poisoned by his enemies but the Moody that Harry interacts with is a bit obsessed with his drink and guzzles between meals and in corridors.
It's a sort of disturbing habit and again, Harry just goes with it after acknowledging it only once. The flask is something Harry notices at least, though he never puts it together with the other clues surrounding him to be worried at all about what it might mean.
Snape's Missing Ingredients
After the second task, where Harry uses gillyweed to breathe underwater, Snape corners Harry and accuses him of stealing from his personal potions stores. Even if he didn't steal the gillyweed Snape is also missing boomslang skin and lacewing flies.
Why are those ingredients important">Snape being an expert teacher in potions explains that they make the polyjuice potion and he's convinced that Harry and friends are brewing some. If Harry had considered the flask behavior perhaps he would have been able to question Moody's identity when it still would have done some good.
The Defense Against The Dark Arts Position Is Cursed
Even by his fourth year, Harry Potter should have realized that something is wrong with the Defense Against The Dark Arts class. Every year, the professor of this class has been either a villain or afflicted with something to make them unable to stay.
Professor Moody was yet another in a long line of villains and antagonists to teach the class including Professor Quirinus Quirrell, Gilderoy Lockhart, and even Remus Lupin in his werewolf form. As proven, Harry is far from a detective but he should have at least suspected the strangest Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher yet of being a culprit.
The Tongue Tic
It may be film canon only but that tongue flick is particularly specific and apparent both when Harry sees Barty Crouch Jr. in Dumbledore's Pensieve and when Moody speaks with Harry and Barty Crouch Sr. in the Forbidden Forest. Once again Harry doesn't put the pieces together.
The biggest hint should have been after Harry saw Barty Crouch Jr. display the same tic after he was exposed in Dumbledore's memory. Moody had done the same thing several times by that point and Harry Potter doesn't even begin to feel any suspicion.
Twisted Teaching Methods
Granted, a practical approach in teaching students about the worst curses in concept is not a bad one. However, Alastor Moody decides to teach the students by traumatizing them with disturbing examples of what the curses can do, including showcasing to Neville Longbottom the same curse used on his parents.
He may have used the curses on a spider but it was clear that this fake Moody was getting too much joy and excitement out of showing these fourth-year students these curses. While it is said that Moody is eccentric hence his nickname, even Harry should have been a little suspicious.
Moody Took The Marauder's Map In The Book
There are several differences between the Goblet Of Fire book and movie versions. The Marauder's Map was able to identify Peter Pettigrew even when he was in his animagus form, it shouldn't have been a problem to identify someone disguised by polyjuice potion.
In the Goblet Of Fire book, Moody wisely borrows the map from Harry when he realizes its powers, but Harry never asks for it back. He never considers that the map showed someone named Barty Crouch in Snape's potion stores. As the audience was informed in Prisoner of Azkaban, that the map never lies. Harry should have ed that.
When Moody Takes Harry From Dumbledore
Harry was in shock, no doubt about it when he returned to school clutching the body of Cedric Diggory but, as Voldemort had literally just returned, he probably should have clutched at the hem of Dumbledore's robes and never let go.
Instead, Moody inexplicably guides Harry away from Dumbledore, and all other eyes, and get him to his own private office. This is, of course, the action that finally clues Dumbledore into the false Moody in their midst, but it still wasn't enough for Harry.
