Entire Unforgivable Curses

> Now... those three curses — Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus — are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practise constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills... copy this down....
>
> Bartemius Crouch Junior (as Alastor Moody) explaining the nature of the Unforgivable Curses to a fourth-year Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

## Unforgivable Curses

### Incantation

* *Avada Kedavra*
* *Crucio*
* *Imperio*

### Light

* Green (*Avada Kedavra*)
* None (*Crucio*)
* None (*Imperio*)

### Effect

* Instantaneous death (*Avada Kedavra*)
* Excruciating pain (*Crucio*)
* Total control (*Imperio*)

The **Unforgivable Curses** were three of the most powerful and sinister spells known to the wizarding world, as well as the strongest known Dark spells in existence. They were tools of the Dark Arts and were first classified as "Unforgivable" in ***1717***, with the strictest penalties attached to their use. The three curses consisted of the Killing Curse (*Avada Kedavra*), the ***Cruciatus Curse*** (*Crucio*), and the ***Imperius Curse*** (*Imperio*).

By the ***1990s***, using any of these three curses on a fellow human being, ***Muggle*** or wizard, would result in a life sentence in ***Azkaban*** without parole, unless there was sufficient evidence that the caster did so under the influence of the Imperius Curse. Many Dark wizards attempted to use this excuse to prevent themselves from incarceration when caught, particularly after the First Wizarding War.

## History

### Early history

> The Cruciatus, Imperius, and Killing Curses were first classified as Unforgivable in 1717, with the strictest penalties attached to their use.
>
> Dumbledore's notes from TBB, The Tales of Beedle the Bard (real)

These three curses had been classified as "Unforgivable" in wizarding society since 1717, according to Albus Dumbledore.

### First Wizarding War

 File:B4C30M1 Wizengamot trial Pensieve memory.png
During the First Wizarding War the Death Eaters made frequent use of these curses and in an effort to even things out, the ***Ministry of Magic*** gave Aurors special permission to use them as well.

After the First Wizarding War ended with the disappearance of Lord Voldemort, ***Alice*** and ***Frank Longbottom*** were tortured into insanity with the Cruciatus Curse by four ***Death Eaters***. This crime was considered by many to be one of the most horrific crimes in living memory. The victims never recovered and spent the rest of their lives in the ***Janus Thickey Ward*** for irrevocable spell damage at ***St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries***.

### Between the wars

> Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. Harry watched as, one by one, his classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state.
>
> Barty Crouch Junior|Barty Crouch Jnr (disguised as Alastor Moody) casting the Imperius Curse on fourth years, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

During the ***1988–1989 school year*** at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor ***Patricia Rakepick*** wished to demonstrate the Unforgivable Curses to ***Jacob's sibling***, after their friend ***Rowan Khanna*** had been subjected to the ***Imperius Curse***. In a trip in Knockturn Alley, she demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse on a Dark wizard, much to the student's shock and horror.

Later that school year, Rakepick tortured ***Merula Snyde*** sadistically with the ***Cruciatus Curse*** in the ***Buried Vault***, and in the ***next school year***, she murdered Rowan Khanna with the Killing Curse in the ***Forbidden Forest*** whilst aiming for ***Ben Copper*** during a ***duel***. As revenge, ***Merula Snyde*** attempted to use the Cruciatus Curse on Rakepick in the ***Sunken Vault***, but was unsuccessful as Rakepick moved her away with ***Mobilicorpus*** before she could finish the incantation.

In the ***1990–1991 school year***, the ***Japanese*** Dark wizard ***Kazuhiro Shiratori*** was found guilty of having used the Unforgivable Curses in the conclusion of his ***Wizengamot*** ***trial***, along with other crimes, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in ***Azkaban***.

 File:B4C14M1 DADA Unforgivable Curses.png
Snape killed Dumbledore using the Killing Curse on the top of the ***Astronomy Tower***. Also during the ***Battle of the Astronomy Tower***, ***Thorfinn Rowle*** was recklessly firing off Killing Curses left and right, one of which accidentally killed fellow Death Eater ***Gibbon***. Throughout the ***1996-1997 school year***, Draco Malfoy used the ***Imperius Curse*** on both ***Katie Bell*** and ***Rosmerta***, and unsuccessfully attempted to torture Harry with the Cruciatus Curse, as he was severely injured by the ***Sectumsempra*** curse casted by Harry.

## 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.
>
> Barty Crouch Jnr (as Alastor Moody) to a fourth-year Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Since the Unforgivable Curses were very powerful, their use required both great willpower and great skill in order to bring about the effects. One must also had a desire to use the curses for malevolent purposes. For example, Harry Potter was unable to effectively cast the ***Cruciatus Curse*** on ***Bellatrix Lestrange*** in 1996; despite being furious with her for her murder of his godfather, he lacked the desire to cause pain for its own sake, and Harry's "righteous anger" only inflicted a brief moment of pain on her.

Shortly before the ***Battle of Hogwarts***, Harry not only successfully used the Cruciatus Curse against ***Amycus Carrow***, he also cast the ***Imperius Curse*** against two individuals during the Gringotts heist which led to Harry, Hermione, and Ron getting in the Lestrange vault. Soon after being "cruciated" by Harry, Amycus Carrow was also subject to an Imperius Curse cast by Minerva McGonagall. Perhaps because the curses were cast during a period when the ban on their use had been lifted, there was no indication of either Harry or McGonagall being punished for using them in these circumstances.

## Unforgivable Curses

### Killing Curse (*Avada Kedavra*)

Main article: Killing Curse

> So that was how his parents had died... exactly like that spider. Had they been unblemished and unmarked too? Had they simply seen the flash of green light and heard the rush of speeding death, before life was wiped from their bodies?
>
> Harry Potter contemplating the Killing Curse after witnessing its use on a spider, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 File:Crouch Jnr kills spider.gif  **Description:** Caused the victim an instant and painless death.

The incantation of *Avada Kedavra* caused a blindingly intense green bolt of light to shoot from the end of the caster's wand, which, on contact with the victim, resulted in instant death. There were no secondary effects; the victim simply "drops dead" for no biological reason. It is possible that the victim's internal organs ceased function. However, it seemed to be more likely that the method of killing was due to the soul of the victim being magically ripped from their body.

Evidence for this came from the testimony of perhaps its most prolific caster, Lord Voldemort. Having experienced the lethal effects of a rebounded Killing Curse but surviving due to his creation of multiple Horcruxes, Voldemort described the sensation of being struck by it as having his consciousness torn from his body, accompanied by a sensation which he described as being "pain beyond pain". ***Muggle*** coroners would be unable to find a cause of death in such an attack, but the ***British Ministry of Magic*** recognised the "signs" of the curse.

The Killing Curse had no counter-curse and couldn't be blocked by most magical means. However, the green energy bolt might be dodged, blocked with solid objects or intercepted with a few other powerful fast spells, particularly the ***Stunning Spell***. For instance, Albus Dumbledore ***enchanted*** a statue from the ***Fountain of Magical Brethren*** to shield Harry Potter from Voldemort's Killing Curse during the ***Battle of the Department of Mysteries***. If the curse missed the victim and struck an inanimate object instead, it might cause a small explosion at the point of impact results, which might start a fire of green flame. However, the curse might also ricochet off the object in question.

 File:Voldemort trying to force the Killing Curse on Dumbledore.jpg
The Killing Curse was used regularly by Lord Voldemort, possibly more than any other spell, and his ***Death Eaters*** used it as well. The spell was performed verbally as a rule; ***Bellatrix Lestrange*** killed a ***fox*** with a non-verbal Killing Curse after Apparating with ***Narcissa Malfoy*** at ***Spinner's End***, thinking that it was a lurking Auror.

Only two people had ever been able to survive the effects of this curse: Harry Potter, who was given magical protection against Lord Voldemort's use of the curse through his mother's loving sacrifice and Voldemort himself due to his Horcruxes, which each had part of himself in them. Harry used the Disarming Charm and was additionally aided and saved by the effects of *Priori Incantatem* when his and Voldemort's wands locked during a ***duel*** in 1995 because of their wands' twin cores. When Voldemort struck him with a Killing Curse again in 1998, Harry was able to survive once again because Voldemort had taken some of Lily Potter's protection of Harry into his own body by using Harry's blood in his ***rebirth ritual*** in 1995. This process somehow tethered Harry to life so long as Voldemort himself was alive.

Lord Voldemort murdered many people with this curse: victims include ***his father***, ***his grandfather***, ***his grandmother***, James Potter, Lily Potter, ***Charity Burbage***, ***Frank Bryce***, ***Gellert Grindelwald***, ***Bertha Jorkins***, a ***German-speaking family of three***, and countless more. It is known he killed enough people to create an army of ***Inferi***.

### Cruciatus Curse (*Crucio*)

Main article: Cruciatus Curse

> Harry shouted, "*Crucio!*". The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor.
>
> Harry Potter's use of the Cruciatus Curse on Amycus Carrow, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 File:Voldemort crucio harry.gif  **Description:** Inflicted excruciating pain on the recipient of the curse (tortured them).

The Cruciatus Curse, which inflicted excruciating pain upon the victim, required the verbal incantation and the use of a ***wand***. The effects of the curse depended upon the desires and emotions of the character — to produce the excruciating pain implied by the name, the caster must, according to accomplished caster ***Bellatrix Lestrange***, truly despise the victim and enjoy causing pain. The extreme pain inflicted by the curse made it uniquely suited as a form of torture, and was used regularly by the ***Death Eaters***.

When Harry Potter was made the victim of the curse in June ***1995***, he described it as feeling like his head was being split open while having his ***bones*** set on fire. However, since this was the only time Harry was known to have been inflicted with the Curse, and as no one else had ever given a description of its effects, it is unknown if this was how the curse always felt.

The Cruciatus Curse caused ***Alice*** and ***Frank Longbottom*** such suffering that they were admitted to the permanent ward at ***St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries*** as cases of ***insanity***. This was carried out by: ***Barty Crouch Jnr***, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, and ***Rabastan Lestrange***. This act was considered one of the most depraved crimes of all time, in terms of damage to the victim and the sadism of their attackers.

### Imperius Curse (*Imperio*)

> Look at that, you lot... Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention — watch his eyes, that's where you see it — very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!
>
> Fourth year Harry Potter resisting the Imperius Curse, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 File:Viktor Krum7.jpg  **Description:** Caused the victim to become unquestioningly obedient to the caster.

The Imperius Curse placed the victim in a calm, trance-like (or dreamlike) state, an experience described as a "wonderful release" from any sense of responsibility or anxiety, making the victim under its power profoundly susceptible to the influence of the caster, whose hold on their free will was deeply rooted in part by the victim's unwillingness to impart with the comfortable sensation and in part by their newfound lack of (and thus indifference to) the moral perspective of the caster's desires, making the victim inclined to carry out whatever task thrust upon them for no other reason than that they failed to see why they should not do so, leaving him or her largely under the complete control of the caster.

The victim was calm, from doing things they would be physically incapable of otherwise, to committing horrible crimes, and they obeyed any order. It was also seen that the curse worked on animals, as Barty Crouch Jnr cast the Imperius Curse on a spider during class when disguised as Alastor Moody.

***Death Eaters*** often made use of this curse; for instance, Lucius Malfoy forcing ***Broderick Bode*** and ***Sturgis Podmore*** to try to steal a prophecy from the ***Department of Mysteries*** and to place several officials under their control to facilitate their take-over of the ***British Ministry of Magic*** in ***1997***. Many Death Eaters also lied about being under the Imperius Curse during the First Wizarding War just to avoid imprisonment in Azkaban.

Resisting the Imperius Curse was possible, but extremely difficult. Only those of a particularly strong will could achieve it. Harry Potter, ***Barty Crouch Snr***, and Barty Crouch Jnr each learned to resist the curse after being subjected to its effects. Harry Potter in particular appeared to be extraordinarily good at this, as he was able to partially resist the curse from the very first time it was ever cast upon him, and he was later able to completely resist it when it was cast upon him by Voldemort himself.

## Etymology

* During an audience interview at the Template:Wplink (15 April 2004), ***J. K. Rowling*** said: "*Does anyone know where* avada kedavra *came from? It is an ancient spell in Aramaic, and it is the original of* Template:Wplink*, 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."* Rowling's use of this name may have been influenced by the Latin *Template:Wplink*.
* "Crucio" means "I torture" in Latin, originating from *crux* (genitive *crucis*), which means "torture platform or stake", or more specifically, "Template:Wplink". The word *excruciating* is descended from the same root — Template:Wplink was a form of torturous execution.
* "Imperio" is a corruption of "Impero", Latin for "I command".

## Behind the scenes

* The three curses are called "unforgivable" because their use has carried the strictest of penalties, including most recently an automatic life sentence in ***Azkaban***. The name may be an allusion to the concept of *unforgivable sin* (also known as "eternal sin" or "unpardonable sin") in some Christian faiths, an act that makes salvation impossible, which would be understandable given their spell effects, particularly the Killing and Cruciatus Curses.
* Despite their reputation, they can be used for less malicious purposes—such as when Snape killed Dumbledore with the Killing Curse. Snape used the curse as a mercy killing rather than wanting Dumbledore dead.
* It is possible that the ***British Ministry of Magic*** temporarily legalised the Unforgivable Curses also during the Global wizarding war, given how quickly one of ***Theseus Scamander***'s Auror subordinates uses it during ***Gellert Grindelwald***'s rally in ***Paris***.
* Harry Potter attempted to cast the Cruciatus Curse on ***Bellatrix Lestrange*** without success in Template:OOTP, and attempted to do the same to Severus Snape in Template:HBP. In Template:DH, however, he not only successfully uses this curse on ***Amycus Carrow*** shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts, but earlier in the book also uses the Imperius Curse on ***Travers*** and ***Bogrod*** during the break-in at Gringotts. There is no known incident in which Harry cast or attempted to cast the Killing Curse, even against Voldemort himself. Despite the use of the curses being said to carry an automatic life sentence in Azkaban, Harry was apparently not punished in any way for using them (although except for two times, they were legal as he cast them during the regime of Lord Voldemort, and as for the other two times, there are no known witnesses). It is also possible that nobody would care what he did to Bellatrix Lestrange or any of the other high-profile Death Eaters, given the circumstances in which he used them (such as after Lestrange killed Sirius Black), or that his use of the Imperius Curse on the goblins would have been deemed beneficial for the greater good.
* Harry Potter is the only known wizard to have resisted the effects of all three curses. He survived the Killing Curse twice, once in 1981 and once in 1998. The effect of a Cruciatus Curse placed on him by Voldemort soon after the second incident was nullified by the fact that the wand in question refused to harm its master. Finally, Harry learned to fight back against the Imperius Curse under the tutelage of ***Bartemius Crouch Jnr***.
* At the end of the film version of *Chamber of Secrets*, Lucius Malfoy appears to begin to cast the *Avada Kedavra* on Harry before being interrupted by a spell cast by a (recently freed) Dobby the House Elf. This isn't a very smart move, considering he's right outside of Dumbledore's office at the time. Within the film series, this is the first time the an Unforgivable Curse is (partially) named despite them not being introduced until the fourth film. It was later revealed that the original film screenplay simply called for Lucius Malfoy to attempt to curse Harry before being interrupted by Dobby, and *Avada Kedavra* happened to be the first curse name that came to Lucius Malfoy's actor's mind.
* In Template:GOF, it's stated during the Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson that use of any of the curses will "earn you a one-way trip to Azkaban". In the novel, it is specified that this only applies if the curses are used on another human being.
* It's unknown if using the Unforgivable Curses on non-human ***beings***, like goblins or vampires, would also be punished with a life sentence, but it seems likely.
* In the film version of *Goblet of Fire*, when Bartemius Crouch Jnr first writes the Unforgivable Curses on the blackboard he misspells the term as "Unforgiv**e**able Curses". This may or may not have been a subtle hint that he was not actually Professor Alastor Moody, as a real professor would be unlikely to make such an error.
* Although the Unforgivable Curses ultimately carried a life sentence, imprisonment in Azkaban could not have happened until ***1718***, the year ***Damocles Rowle*** was elected ***Minister for Magic***, as it wasn't until his term in office that Azkaban was made a wizarding prison. In the interim following ***1717***, when the penalties were first attached to their use, it is possible that another wizarding prison, or a different punishment, was used.
* Despite the need for evil intentions to use the curses, which means that generally only a Dark wizard can use them, Barty Crouch Jnr's use of them on a spider while disguised as Alastor Moody doesn't seem to raise any suspicions among the Ministry or Hogwarts administration, both of whom likely knew of the idea.
* Although Aurors were authorised to use them against Dark wizards during the First Wizarding War, the requirement of a desire to cause pain or harm in order to successfully execute them would have likely rendered them incapable of using any of them, other than the Imperius curse.
* the player may openly use all 3 Unforgivable Curses on human enemies with no repercussions, legal or otherwise. This is especially strange as the Curses would have already been declared Unforgivable for 173 years.
	+ This may be attributed to mere gameplay mechanics, and the character's use of them not being canon.
	+ ***Solomon Sallow*** once used one of the Unforgivable Curses on a dark wizard during his career as an Auror. Although he was not sentenced to life in Azkaban, he did retire on bad terms with the Ministry of Magic.

## Appearances

* *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film) (First appearance) Template:Flashback
* *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film) (*Avada* only)
* Template:GOF Template:1st ID
* Template:OOTP
* Template:HBP
* Template:DH
* Template:DH

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 Template:GOF
2. ↑ Template:Tweet
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:TBB - Footnotes
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Template:GOF
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Template:OOTP
6. ↑ Template:HM
7. ↑ Template:HM
8. ↑ Template:HM
9. ↑ Template:HM
10. ↑ Template:HM
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Template:HBP
12. ↑ Template:HBP
13. ↑ Template:HBP
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Template:OOTP
15. ↑ Template:HBP
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Template:DH
17. ↑ Template:DH
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Template:GOF
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Template:GOF
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Template:HBP
21. ↑ Template:HBP
22. ↑ Template:GOF
23. ↑ Template:DH
24. ↑ Template:DH
25. ↑ , Chapter 1 (*The Boy Who Lived*)
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Template:DH
27. ↑ Template:DH
28. ↑ Template:HBP
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Template:GOF
30. ↑ Template:GOF
31. ↑ Template:OOTP
32. ↑ Template:HL (In the Shadow of Hope)