Death

Harry Potter mourns over the dead body of Cedric Diggory

Voldemort: "There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!"

Albus Dumbledore: "You are quite wrong."

— Lord Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore discussing death.

Death is the end of a living organism's life, technically defined in humans as either the permanent termination of heart function and respiration, or of brain activity.

Murder

"The supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart."

— Horace Slughorn

Voldemort murders Lily Potter.

Murder is the act to intentionally induce death in another individual. The act of ending a person's life is considered to be an act of supreme evil, such a level that the murderer's soul would be torn apart; this is a consequence that violates the very law of nature, in addition to being against the law. It seems that one's motives of ending another's life can influence whether the soul would be torn apart or not, as Severus Snape's soul remained intact when he gave Albus Dumbledore a mercy killing.

Though murder is considered a crime, the Ministry of Magic legalised it against suspects during the First Wizarding War. Due to the act of ending one's life bearing such importance and weight, the innocent who never committed it before find it hard, if not impossible, to go through with it, as Harry Potter hesitated in killing Sirius Black despite believing him to be responsible for his parents' death, while Draco Malfoy could not kill Dumbledore, despite the prominent glory and the safety of his parents riding on his shoulders. Alastor Moody had killed some Death Eaters during the First War, though he avoided killing if possible.

On the other hand, for those who are mentally unstable, such as Bellatrix Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jr., or lacks morality and love, such as Lord Voldemort, they will not hesitate in committing murder at all, as all three mentioned gone as far as slaying their own family members for their own pleasures and purposes. Murder is the required act a wizard or witch must commit in order to create Horcruxes.

Afterlife

"After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure."

— Albus Dumbledore comments on the afterlife

While the purely physical aspect of death is fully understood, the nature of what lies beyond it is a mystery to wizards, witches, and Muggles alike beyond the fact that there is indeed some sort of afterlife. When a wizard or witch dies, unlike a Muggle, he or she can choose to leave behind an imprint of their soul in the mortal world in the form of a ghost. Few opt to become ghosts, however, as it means they will never "go on" like most people do.

Everyone else who crosses over to the other side cannot come back in any form resembling the physical body they had in life, except if the Resurrection Stone is used for them, in which case their spirits are summoned in a semi-corporeal form, "less substantial" than a living body but "much more" than a ghost.

Limbo is an afterlife-related plane that exists in-between the physical world and the true afterlife; its contents are apparently subjective. If a person unrepentantly abuses Horcruxes, their fate if and when truly killed is to be trapped eternally in limbo in a deformed fetus-like state, which is considered the worst state that a person can ever become doomed to. Also, Albus Dumbledore, following his own death, seemed to be able to remain in and/or project himself back into Limbo until and/or during Harry Potter's near-death experience, his ability to do so likely having to do with his great wisdom and magical mastery.

Immortality and Resurrection

"No spell can reawaken the dead."

— Albus Dumbledore

The Resurrection Stone has the power to bring back "shades" of loved ones

There is no known way to magically reunite a person's soul with their body once they have died. Many young witches and wizards discovered this through the story of Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump (in which the protagonist Babbitty is blackmailed by a charlatan to perform magic for a king, but doesn't bother raising her wand when the king attempts to raise a dog from the dead.) During the six centuries have elapsed since Beedle wrote the tale, innumberable ways have been devised to maintain the illusion of the continuing presence of one's loved ones. For example, wizarding photographs and portraits move and (in the case of the latter) talk just like their subjects.

Similarly, the Mirror of Erised may also reveal more than a static image of a lost loved one. Ghosts are translucent, sentient images of wizards and witches who decided, for whatever reason, to remain on earth. The closest to resurrecting the dead would be the Resurrection Stone, which can recall someone who has died from the beyond, but they will return only in a semi-corporeal form, "less substantial" than a living body but "much more" than a ghost.

Despite this, wizards have still not found a way of reuniting body and soul once death has occurred. This subject was covered by eminent Wizarding philosopher Bertrand de Pensées-Profondes in his celebrated work A Study into the Possibility of Reversing the Actual and Metaphysical Effects of Natural Death, with Particular Regard to the Reintegration of Essence and Matter, during which he stated that reversing death would never be physically possible. Phoenixes are the sole exception to the rules of death, as they can be reborn from their ashes without any restraints or assistance.

However, while there exists no known method of reversing death once it has occurred, there are certain things a witch or wizard can do to postpone their death or prolong their life (even further than the longevity which would seem to be granted by magical ability e.g. Albus Dumbledore's health despite his advanced age).

The Elixir of Life, which is made from the Philosopher's Stone, will grant a person extended life for as long as they continue to consume it. However, because the only known Philosopher's Stone in existence at the time was destroyed in 1992, this method is not currently available.Unicorn blood can keep alive a person who is near death, but unicorns are such pure, defenceless creatures that a person who kills one and drinks its blood will have "but a half-life." A wizard or witch who rips their soul through an act of murder can place that torn fragment inside of an external object called a Horcrux.

By binding a part of their soul to the earth, the Horcrux prevents the wizard or witch from dying, even if their body is injured or completely destroyed. However, there is a cost to using Horcruxes — as shown in the deterioration of Lord Voldemort's physical condition after repeatedly splitting his soul, as well as the mangled spectral state he has been trapped in during the destruction of his physical body. There is a potion which enables the Horcrux-creator's body to be reconstructed in the latter scenario. Overall, however, many wizards and witches would prefer death over such a pitiful state of existence. It seems if this potion is used, and the wizard is returned to a resurrected body, they seem to be unable to die until all of the Horcruxes are destroyed, as shown with Lord Voldemort during the final battle of Hogwarts, as only when all of his Horcruxes were destroyed was he killed. The creation of Horcruxes damages the soul that if the user dies after all their anchors are destroyed, then the soul would remain trapped in limbo in a terrible state, never to return as a ghost nor move on.

Corpses can also be reanimated through Dark magic. Known as Inferi, these creatures are not alive, and simply do whatever the wizard who controls them wants, like puppets.

Study and perception of death

"Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love."

— Albus Dumbledore.

The Veil in the Death Chamber of the Department of Mysteries

There is a chamber in the Department of Mysteries where witches and wizards study the mysteries of death. In this chamber is the Veil, an ancient stone archway, which is a gateway between the world of the living and the world of the dead. People standing around the Veil may hear voices from the other side depending on their level of faith in an afterlife. A person whose body passes through the Veil will die.

Wizarding philosopher Bertrand de Pensées-Profondes also researched death. He wrote a highly-regarded work on the subject, A Study into the Possibility of Reversing the Actual and Metaphysical Effects of Natural Death, with Particular Regard to the Reintegration of Essence and Matter.

Although many fear death due to the unknown that lies beyond life, few would ever choose to manipulate and damage their own souls to remain behind in a pitiful existence. Horcruxes and remaining as ghosts are two known methods of immortalizing one's existence in the plane of living, but the former has dire consequences that few would ever want it, while the latter means entrapment for eternity that only those who fear or have deep bonds would choose it. Lord Voldemort considered death to be the ultimate humiliation of defeat, that nothing is worse than it, and was his greatest fear as a result; his fear of death and lack of understanding of the soul's well-being's importance led him to the extreme lengths of creating seven Horcruxes to evade death. Albus Dumbledore saw Voldemort's fear of death as his greatest weakness, as there are fates worse than death, and that anyone who can truly understand that and accept the inevitability of death can be considered to be a "Master of Death".

Thestrals are magical creatures visible only to people who have witnessed a death firsthand. However, the ability to see thestrals does not come immediately, but only after one has had time to fully understand death and its finality.

See also

• List of deaths
• Angel of Death
• Death (The Tale of the Three Brothers)
• Master of Death
• Death Chamber
• Ghost
• Limbo
• Soul

Author's comments

"Do you absolutely have a sense of how evil it is to take another person’s life? Yes, I think in my book you do. I think you do. I think you see that is a horrific thing. I have enormous respect for human life. I do not think that you would read… the deaths in [my books] and think, yeah, well, he’s gone, off we go. Not at all. I think it’s very clear where my sympathies lie. And here we are dealing with someone, I’m dealing with a villain who does hold human life incredibly cheap. That’s how it happens: one squeeze of the trigger. Gone. Forever. That’s evil. It’s a terrible, terrible thing..."

— J. K. Rowling

"It is not about striving for immortality, but about accepting mortality."

— J. K. Rowling on becoming the Master of Death

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 (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (Mentioned only)
• 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)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)