Regular Killing Curse

> There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air — instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead.
>
> Description of the Killing Curse, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The **Killing Curse** (*Avada Kedavra*) was a tool of the ***Dark Arts*** and was one of the three ***Unforgivable Curses***. When cast successfully on a living person or creature, the curse caused instantaneous and painless death, without causing any injury to the body, and without any trace of violence. The Killing Curse was accompanied by a blinding flash or jet of green light and a distinctive rushing sound when being cast.

## Regular Killing Curse

### Incantation

*Avada Kedavra*
(a-VAH-dah ke-DAH-vra)

### Effect

Instantaneous death

The only known ***counter-spell*** to this curse was sacrificial protection, which used the power of love. The Killing Curse was a conventionally unblockable curse; therefore shield charms would not be able to defend against it. However, one could dodge the green bolt, block it with a physical barrier, by the use of *Priori Incantatem*, or ***Disapparate***. An explosion or ***fire*** could result if the spell hit something other than a living target.

## History

### Middle Ages

The Killing Curse was invented during the early ***Middle Ages***.
After the ***Wizards' Council*** was reformed into the ***Ministry of Magic*** tighter restrictions were placed on the use of certain kinds of magic. The Killing Curse was deemed by the Ministry to be ***Dark magic*** and along with the ***Cruciatus*** and ***Imperius Curses***, were declared "*unforgivable*" throughout the UK in ***1717***, with the Killing Curse considered to be the most deadly of the three.
The use of any ***Unforgivable curse*** on a human would carry the punishment of a life sentence without parole in ***Azkaban***.

### Global wizarding war

The Killing Curse was also used in ***1927*** by the ***Magical Congress of the United States of America*** on magical ***beasts*** considered dangerous.
This curse was used during the global wizarding war, both by ***Aurors*** and ***supporters*** of the ***Dark wizard*** ***Gellert Grindelwald***. At one point during the height of the global wizarding war, the Auror ***Cassius Bell*** used this curse to kill a ***red-haired young witch***.

### First Wizarding War

> How Voldemort had killed Harry's father first. How James Potter had tried to hold him off, while he shouted at his wife to take Harry and run... Voldemort had advanced on Lily Potter, told her to move aside so that he could kill Harry... how she had begged him to kill her instead, refused to stop shielding her son... and so Voldemort had murdered her too, before turning his wand on Harry.
>
> Harry Potter reflecting on the murder of his parents, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

During the First Wizarding War, when ***Barty Crouch Snr*** was in charge of the ***Department of Magical Law Enforcement***, he fought violence with violence, legalising the three Unforgivable Curses for ***Aurors*** against the ***Death Eaters*** in order to win the war. This was repealed once the war was over, as it was no longer necessary.

 File:Potter family murder.gif
One of the most infamous events involving this curse happened on Hallowe'en (31 October) in 1981. Voldemort arrived at the Potter cottage in Godric's Hollow, after being told of its location by Peter Pettigrew, the Secret-Keeper of its Fidelius Charm, and murdered James and Lily Potter while they attempted to protect their infant son Harry. He cast the Killing Curse on Harry as well, but it backfired, therefore destroying Voldemort's body. This event led to Voldemort's first downfall, the end of the First Wizarding War, and Harry's fate being sealed as "The Boy Who Lived".
It should be noted that despite the curse being illegal, Aurors were allowed to use deadly force and the Unforgivable Curses against opponents during the First Wizarding War.

## Nature

> The green light filled the cramped hallway, it lit the pram pushed against the wall, it made the banisters glow like lighting rods, and James Potter fell like a ***marionette*** whose strings were cut....
>
> James Potter being murdered by Voldemort with this curse, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 File:Godric-flash.PNG
The Killing Curse was recognisable by the flash of green light and the rushing noise emitted from the caster's wand. When the curse hit a living, organic target it invariably killed them with pain, however without injury. However, when the curse struck Voldemort and succeeded in causing his biological death, he described the curse as having ripped his soul from his body.

 File:Snape killing Dumbledore.gif
Also, while most victims would simply drop dead when struck by the curse, at other times it may carry a force of impact, such as when Snape's casting was able to blast Dumbledore off the ***Astronomy Tower*** ramparts. During the Battle of Hogwarts, in the Forbidden Forest Harry described the impact of the curse as an "*iron-clad punch*", as stated earlier.

When the curse hit an inanimate target the effect varied: it could produce ***fires***, large greenish explosions, or explosions of such intensity that could blow up an entire cottage. It was known by most wizards as Lord Voldemort's signature spell. It was possible to intercept the curse with other spells, but this was extremely difficult as it required the energy jets of the two spells to collide. As the energy jets of virtually all spells were very small and fast, this had only ever been recorded as occurring by accident.
However, certain objects, such as the ***centaur*** statue of the ***Fountain of Magical Brethren***, managed to block the curse without any visible damage to itself. It should be noted that the curse itself did not terminate the animation of (i.e. "kill") the statue, however, as the statue was only ***animated*** by magic and so presumably had no real life in him for the curse to take away.

### Performance

> Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it — you could all get your wands out and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed.
>
> Bartemius Crouch Junior|Barty Crouch Jnr Template:C on the skill required to cast the curse, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The curse required great skill, power, and possibly intent in order to be performed correctly. In ***1994***, Barty Crouch Jnr, disguised as ***Alastor Moody***, claimed that if all of the students before him were to get out their wands and perform it on him at one time, he would likely be completely unaffected as he believed they all lacked the necessary power needed to cast the spell. In ***1997***, during the ***Battle of the Astronomy Tower***, Severus Snape also stated that to cast Unforgivable Curses, one needed both nerve and ability. It was possible to cast the curse nonverbally, as Bellatrix killed a ***fox*** without an incantation. During his ***duel*** with Dumbledore during the ***Battle of the Department of Mysteries***, Voldemort also used this curse several times without an incantation.
It is possible that the Killing Curse, in addition to requiring the caster to be a very skilled witch or wizard, also required a genuine willingness and at many times desire to commit murder. Bellatrix Lestrange seemingly implied this was true of the Unforgivables, and it was true of the ***Cruciatus Curse***, but not so much with the Imperius Curse.
One of the main reasons why Lord Voldemort demonstrated such an affinity for the curse was due to how exceptionally powerful and skilled he was magic wise, along with his complete and utter lack of remorse or value for the lives of fellow humans. For example, Draco Malfoy, despite possessing many undesirable personality traits, found himself unable to murder Albus Dumbledore because he did not want to actually kill him. Voldemort, on the other hand, had no such restraint and murdered countless people without remorse in his pursuit of power and immortality; in fact, he was fully prepared to murder one-year old Harry Potter upon deducing him to be a potential threat. He was intending to use this most heinous act to create his final Horcrux. He succeeded, during the act, a piece of Voldemort's soul entered Harry. This effectively turned him into a Horcrux. However, it would lead to his downfall and death.

### Signs

> A team of doctors had examined the bodies and had concluded that none of the Riddles had been poisoned, stabbed, shot, strangled, suffocated, or (as far as they could tell) harmed at all. In fact (the report continued, in a tone of unmistakable bewilderment), the Riddles all appeared to be in perfect health — apart from the fact that they were all dead.
>
> The Killing Curse has no psychical signs and leaves no external marks, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 File:Lily Potter Dead.png
The Killing Curse was described as a jet or flash of blinding green light that "*illuminates every corner of the room*" followed by a rushing sound, which caused the victim instant death. Victims of the Killing Curse were identified by the fact that they simply appeared to have dropped dead for no biological reason. Indeed, victims seemed "*perfectly healthy*" apart from the fact that they were dead.

 File:James Potter's-Dead Body.png
This lack of visible injuries was one that had confused Muggles throughout the years of its use, requiring many ***Ministry of Magic*** officials to modify memories. For example, Muggle authorities were stumped over the death of the ***Riddles***. The only thing about the bodies the doctors noted (determined to find something wrong) was the look of horror on their faces, as though they had been frightened to death. ***Wizarding authorities***, however, could tell at once the cause of death, due to the curse's somewhat unique nature.

### Sensation

Presumably, the Killing Curse did not inflict any pain on its target, since it caused instantaneous death. However, Harry Potter, who awoke after a Killing Curse cast by Lord Voldemort hit him, described the sensation as an "*iron-clad punch*", though this may have been caused by the destruction of the fragment of Lord Voldemort's soul contained within his body. However, when he was initially struck by the curse, it caused him no sensation at all.
When Voldemort was struck by his own rebounding Killing Curse after he attempted to kill Harry Potter the first time, he described the sensation of his soul being ripped from his body as being "pain beyond pain". However, given the uniquely mutilated state of his soul at the time and that his soul had not gone to the afterlife, it seems likely that his reaction was atypical.

## Survivability

> Not nice, Not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me.
>
> Barty Crouch Jnr Template:C regarding Harry Potter surviving the curse, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Killing Curse could be dodged or physically blocked by an object, such as the statues Dumbledore animated to protect Harry Potter during ***his duel with Voldemort*** after the ***Battle of the Department of Mysteries***. The Killing Curse was known to be unblockable, as once it struck the living victim, it almost always resulted in immediate death. There was "no ***counter-curse***", since it was not possible to revive the dead. However there were some exceptions:

### Sacrificial protection

 File:Lily Protecting Harry from An Lord Voldemort.gif
The most effective method of surviving the Killing Curse was through sacrificial protection; the willing sacrifice of one's life for another, a manifestation of love, which was the most potent defence against the "unblockable" Killing Curse. Love was a powerful and mysterious branch of magic; it gave those who experienced it the ability to do very great things.
Harry Potter was saved by his mother Lily Potter, when she lovingly sacrificed herself for him after she refused to stop shielding him from Lord Voldemort, despite having been given the choice to live. Harry became the only known survivor of the Killing Curse with no ill effects, aside from attaining a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

### Horcruxes

Another defence employed against the Killing Curse was the creation of at least one Horcrux. The creation of Horcruxes was a preventive measure, created by a wizard long before he faced an actual Killing Curse attack. However, this was less effective than sacrificial protection, since it only allowed a little more than the soul of the target to live, while the target's body still died. If one had Horcruxes, they would not be dead, but they would barely be alive and would be reduced, as Voldemort was when the Killing Curse backfired with his attempt to murder Harry in 1981 to living as a mutilated spirit.
Some of the methods Voldemort used, or planned to use, to survive in this state included; living off another, drinking unicorn blood, using the Philosopher's Stone (reduced to a wraith-like state and the stone destroyed soon after before he could), and ***creating a rudimentary body from*** unicorn blood and ***Nagini***'s ***venom***.
Voldemort's Horcruxes tethered his soul to the world. The Curse drove his mangled soul from his body, leaving him to roam only as a shadowy spirit, unable to move on to the afterlife but is a less-than-alive life form. If possible, one can make a Regeneration potion to return to human form, but it required the ***bone*** of the ***father***, the flesh of the servant, and the blood of an enemy. Because Voldemort required a servant to perform the rites of his rebirth, he was forced to spend thirteen years in hiding as he had no one who would come to his aid for such time.
Upon the destruction of all his Horcruxes, Voldemort had no more defences against death, and was finally killed by his own deflected Killing Curse.

## Curse interception

> Harry responded with further Stunning Spells: Red and green collided in midair in a shower of multicoloured sparks...
>
> Harry Potter's stunners blocking the Killing Curse, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

***Phoenixes*** were semi-protected from the Killing Curse, due to them being immortal. In ***1996***, Fawkes swallowed one intended for Albus Dumbledore, causing him to burst into ***flame*** and die instantly. However, he then was reborn from his ashes.
The spell could be directly countered using a ***Stunning Spell***, in which case red and green jets of light would meet and create multi-coloured sparks. Since neither spell was able to reach its intended target, neither would have any effect, as the jets of light basically exploded on each other. However, this was particularly tricky, as it required both jets of light to collide with one another. It is unknown whether this was limited to the Stunning Spell or if it was possible to reflect the Curse with other spells, although during Harry and Voldemort's ***final duel*** a similar thing happened when Harry's ***Disarming Charm*** collided with Voldemort's Killing Curse, although the Elder Wand's allegiance to Harry had to be taken into consideration in this particular situation.
If another target was placed between the caster and the targeted individual, then the new target would take the hit of the Killing Curse, which could simply result in an object being destroyed or damaged in an explosion of flames. One could also avoid the effects simply by dodging or if the caster had poor aim, as with many similar offensive curses, the spell had to be directly targeted at the intended victim.
Should the caster have used the Elder Wand—or actually any wand—without winning its allegiance, to cast the Killing Curse onto its true master, the wand would refuse to kill its master and therefore the curse would backfire onto the caster, thus killing them instead, as when Voldemort’s Killing Curse rebounded on him during his final duel with Harry Potter.

## Known uses

> He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone.
>
> Harry Potter being hit with the curse, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

### Unsuccessful

> Crabbe wheeled around and screamed, *AVADA KEDAVRA!* again. Ron leaped out of sight to avoid the jet of green light.
>
> Vincent Crabbe attempting to murder Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

## Etymology

*Avada Kedavra* is based on the Aramaic אַבַדָא כְּדַברָא, *avada kedavra*, meaning "*let the thing be destroyed*". ***J. K. Rowling*** confirmed this during an audience interview at the Template:W on ***15 April***, ***2004***, where she had this to say about the spell's etymology: "Does anyone know where *avada kedavra* came from? It is an ancient spell in Aramaic, and it is the original of *abracadabra*, which means 'let the thing be destroyed'. Originally, it was used to cure illness and the 'thing' was the illness, but I decided to make it the 'thing' as in the person standing in front of me. I take a lot of liberties with things like that. I twist them round and make them mine."
This phrase is also the origin of *Template:W*, which, like ***Hocus Pocus***, is used by ***magicians*** as a magic word when they perform tricks.
"Kedavra" also sounds very similar to the English word *cadaver*, which means "corpse", and derives from the Latin *cadere*, "to fall".

## Behind the scenes

* The biological reasons for the victim's death have never been fully explained. In any case, it is something that does not affect the health of the victims, as Muggle autopsies show that there is no change aside from outright death. It may simply be that the Curse just causes every organ in the body to instantaneously shut down, causing the death.
* It is likely that if a caster could successfully prove they only cast the Killing Curse under the influence of the Imperius Curse, they would avoid imprisonment in ***Azkaban***.
* Out of the three Unforgivable Curses, the Killing Curse is the only one that Harry did not use.
* While the curse is noted to be unblockable, there are many exceptions listed: the seventh book shows jets of red and green light colliding and shooting off into multi-coloured sparks, much like fireworks, while the films show it being blocked with a Shield Charm.
* This is the only known spell whose sole and primary application is death. However, it is not the only spell that can prove fatal; ***Fiendfyre***, ***Sectumsempra***, ***Confringo***, ***Diffindo*** or even ***Stupefy*** in exceptional circumstances. ***Antonin Dolohov*** used an ***unnamed curse*** that could also prove fatal and ***Molly Weasley*** also used an unnamed spell on Bellatrix that caused Bellatrix's death; it is unclear whether any of the other attack spells being used by non-Death Eaters during the battle at Hogwarts were intended to kill the target, or simply disable.
* The curse's incantation were Voldemort's last words in life in the novels.
* Worth noticing is the similarity between the hand movements for the Killing Curse and the shape of Harry's scar; both resemble lightning bolts.
* This is the only one of the three Unforgivable Curses without a ***Latin*** incantation.
* During the ***Encounter at the Shrieking Shack***, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin intended to kill Peter Pettigrew for his betrayal of James and Lily Potter. It is unknown how they wanted to do it, but it was possibly by using this curse. If it would have been used, Peter would have died the same way as his former friends.
* In the films the curse has been seen as a jet, a flash, or a burst of green or turquoise light.

### In films

* In Template:COS, Lucius Malfoy says "*Avada-*" at Harry Potter after he unwillingly frees Dobby. Dobby knocks Lucius backwards with magic to protect Harry, and he does not finish the incantation. The part of the incantation shown was not represented in the subtitles. This line was improvised by ***Jason Isaacs***.
* In Deathly Hallows:
	+ Hedwig is struck with the Killing Curse by a Death Eater while in flight, thus causing her corpse to fall from the sky.

## Appearances

Template:Imagecat

* Template:PS Template:Flashback Template:1st Template:Flashback
* Template:COS Template:C

## Notes and references

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Template:PS
2. ↑ Template:PS
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Template:PS
4. ↑ Edinburgh Book Festival interview
5. ↑ Template:Wtlink
6. ↑ "Cadaver" on The Online Etymology Dictionary"