Curse

Voldemort casting the Killing Curse on Lily Potter

"An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."

— Rubeus Hagrid to eleven-year Harry Potter

A curse is a tool of the Dark Arts and one of the seven known spell types and the worst kind of Dark Magic. Curses are used with the intention of causing harm, control, or even death to the victim.

Usage

Like hexes, Hogwarts students learn only a few of them in school. However, students studying Defence Against the Dark Arts learn how to deal with them using defensive magic. Most curses can be blocked or lifted by a counter-curse, with the most noeble acceptions being the Killing curse and the Cruciatus Curse, two of the Unforgivable Curses.

List of known curses

A

• Antonin Dolohov's curse

B

• Babbling Curse
• Blasting Curse (Confringo)

C

• 

  Harry Potter attempting to torture Bellatrix Lestrange, using the Cruciatus Curse

  Conjunctivitis Curse
• Cruciatus Curse (Crucio)
• Curse of the Bogies (Mucus ad Nauseam)
• Curse on Marvolo Gaunt's ring
• Cursed barrier

D

• Disintegration curse

E

• Ear-shrivelling curse
• Entrail-Expelling Curse
• Expulso Curse (Expulso)

F

• Fiendfyre
• Flagrante curse
• Full Body-Bind Curse (Petrificus Totalus)
• Floating Eye Curse

G

• Gemino Curse (Geminio)
• Ghostly head curse

H

• Hair Loss Curse (Calvario)

I

Harry Potter casting the Imperius Curse in 1998

• Imperius Curse (Imperio)

J

• Jelly-Fingers Curse
• Jelly-Legs Curse (Locomotor Wibbly)

K

• Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra)

L

• Leg-Locker Curse (Locomotor Mortis)
• Lycacomia Curse

M

• Morsmordre (curse used to conjure the Dark Mark)

O

• Opal Necklace Curse

R

• File:Full body bind.gif

  Ginny Weasley casting the Reductor Curse

  Reductor Curse (Reducto)

S

• Sectumsempra
• Sponge-Knees Curse
• Slug-Vomiting Charm  (Slugulus Eructo)

T

• Tongue-Tying Curse (Mimble Wimble)
• Thief's Curse
• Taboo

U

• Unforgivable Curses (3)

Behind the scenes

• Wizards may have the ability to send curses in the post. This is unconfirmed, but in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire a piece of Hermione Granger's hate mail claimed that it is possible.
• According to W.O.M.B.A.T., it may not be possible to cure a curse victim without the correct counter-curse.
• J. K. Rowling defined curses as "the worst kinds of dark magic".

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
• Daily PDaily Prophet Newsletters
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter: Spells
• Pottermore