Killing Curse

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Avada Kedavra Curse
Incantation	Avada Kedavra (a-VAH-dah ke-DAH-vra)
Type	Curse
Light	Green
Effect	Instantaneous, painless death

"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, Jr. as Alastor Moody

The Avada Kedavra Curse (also known as the Killing Curse) is a spell that causes instantaneous death and is one of the three Unforgivable Curses. It is considered to be the worst one of the three.

The only known counter-spell is Sacrificial protection. However, one may dodge the green bolt, block with physical barrier, or intercept the bolt with another spell. An explosion or green fire may result if the spell hits something other than a living target.

Only two wizards are known to have survived blows from this deadly curse: Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Harry survived two direct attacks: once in 1981 after his mother's self-sacrificing love protected him from Lord Voldemort, and once in 1998 after the curse, cast again by Voldemort, served only to destroy the fragment of the dark wizard's soul that lived in Harry. Lord Voldemort remained alive after the aforementioned curse from 1981 rebounded and struck him because of his Horcruxes. Voldemort was notorious for using this curse regularly and indiscriminately. Its incantation is Avada Kedavra.

History

Creation

The Killing Curse was invented during the early middle ages, by dark witches or wizards. The curse was created primarily as a means of quickly and efficiently slaying one's opponent in a duel.

Legal status

"The Cruciatus, Imperius and Avada Kedavra Curses were not made "unforgivable" until 1717."

— Albus Dumbledore

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" in 1717. Cursing another human with the Killing Curse would carry the punishment of a life sentence in Azkaban.

However, the First Wizarding War, when Barty Crouch Sr. 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 This was repealed once the war was over as it was no longer necessary, though, in the 1994–1995 school year, Barty Crouch Jr. (under the disguise of Alastor Moody) showed these three curses to his fourth year classes on spiders despite the Ministry's disapproval.

When Lord Voldemort took over the Ministry, the three curses were once again legalised: this time every wizard and witch had the right to use them as they please. In fact, they were practiced in Hogwarts as part of the curriculum of Dark Arts class under the tutelage of Professor Amycus Carrow. After Voldemort's death and the revolutionising of the Ministry under Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt, the three curses were once again forbidden.

It should be noted that despite the curse being illegal, references have been made to Aurors using deadly force against opponents, though whether this means they were authorized to use the killing curse specifically is unclear. Despite the circumstances, it is unknown whether the Killing Curse was used by anyone but Voldemort and his Death Eaters during the Battle of Hogwarts. It is also known that use of this curse may go unpunished if there is sufficient evidence that the caster did so under the influence of the Imperius Curse.

Nature

Obviously, when the curse hits a living, organic target it invariably kills them. However, when this curse hits an inanimate target the effect varies: it can produce small fires, small greenish explosions, or explosions of such intensity that can blow up an entire story of a cottage. 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 curse did not terminate the animation of (i.e. "kill") the statue, however, the statue was only animated by magic and so presumably had no real life in him for the curse to take away.

Performance

The curse requires a great deal of magical talent to perform correctly. In 1994, Barty Crouch, Jr., 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 probably get nothing more than a nosebleed. However, as his loyalties were with Lord Voldemort, it is unknown to what extent his words were accurate. It is possible to cast the curse nonverbally, as Bellatrix Lestrange released a green light to kill a fox without incantation.

Signs

The Killing Curse is described as a jet of blinding green light followed by a rushing sound, which causes the victim instant death. Victims of the Killing Curse are identified by the fact that they simply appear to have dropped dead for no biological reason. Indeed, victims seem "perfectly healthy" apart from the fact that they are dead

Peter Pettigrew casting the killing curse on Cedric Diggory

Survivability

Lily Evans being murdered by Lord Voldemort.

The Killing Curse is known as unblockable, as once it strikes the living victim, it almost always results in immediate death. However there are some exceptions.

Only two people are known to have survived a direct application of the curse, both on the same occasions: Harry Potter, who was saved when his mother, Lily Evans, lovingly sacrificed herself by shielding her son with her body, and Lord Voldemort, when it backfired with his attempt to kill Harry in 1981, since his Horcruxes were tethering his soul to life.

However, Harry Potter was the only person known to have survived Avada Kedavra with no ill effects - in the case of Voldemort, the curse drove his mangled soul from his body and split his unstable soul, leaving him to roam only as a shadowy spirit. Over a decade later, Harry would survive the curse another three times: once during Priori Incantatem in his battle against Lord Voldemort in the graveyard in his fourth year. Again, in 1998 when the curse killed only the Horcrux inside him, and once more when the wand being used to curse him, the Elder Wand, refused to destroy him because Harry was its true master, causing the spell to rebound on Voldemort and kill him instead. This also makes Harry the only person to have survived the Killing Curse multiple times.

Phoenixes are also somewhat immune to 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 Killing Curse can be survived if it is 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. An offensive spell could be used to intercept that Killing Curse, as shown both by Harry Potter and Dumbledore. Also, some objects may explode or burst into flames if hit. Although considered unblockable by magic, as noted above there are rare circumstance in which it can be blocked.

The Killing Curse is not the only spell that will directly cause death to a living creature. Other spells may cause grievous injury, such as Fiendfyre, Sectumsempra, Antonin Dolohov's curse, the Blasting Curse, or an overuse of the Stunning Spell.

Known practitioners

Lord Voldemort casts the Killing Curse in a duel.

• Barty Crouch Jr.
• Bellatrix Lestrange
• Lord Voldemort
• Peter Pettigrew
• Severus Snape
• Thorfinn Rowle
• Vincent Crabbe
• Other Death Eaters and Dark Wizards.

Known victims

Victim(s)	Caster(s)	Dates
Tom Riddle Sr.	Lord Voldemort	1943
Thomas Riddle
Mary Riddle
James Potter		31 October, 1981
Lily Potter
Harry Potter (survived both)		31 October, 1981 2 May, 1998
Frank Bryce		August, 1994
Cedric Diggory	Peter Pettigrew	24 June, 1995
Nagini (Spell rebounded off her body.)	Ron Weasley	[[2 May]], 1998
Fawkes	Lord Voldemort (curse meant for Albus Dumbledore)	18 June, 1996 (burst into flames and reborn)
A fox	Bellatrix Lestrange	Summer of 1996
Gibbon	Thorfinn Rowle (curse meant for Remus Lupin)	June, 1997
Albus Dumbledore	Severus Snape (planned ahead of time by Dumbledore)
Charity Burbage	Lord Voldemort	Summer of 1997
Alastor Moody		27 July, 1997
Hedwig	unknown Death Eater
Gregorovitch	Lord Voldemort	2 September, 1997
Gellert Grindelwald		March, 1998
Lord Voldemort (his own curse backfired)	both times by himself	31 October, 1981 (survived due to his horcruxes) 2 May, 1998 (did not survive)
Several unknown during the: Revolution First Wizarding War Second Wizarding War	Numerous	1940s to 1998

Etymology

Avada Kedavra is based on the Aramaic עַבְדָא כְּדַברָא, avda kedavra, meaning "what was said has been done." This phrase is also the origin of abracadabra, which, like hocus pocus, is used by magicians as a magic word when they perform tricks.

During an audience interview at the Edinburgh Book Festival on 15 April, 2004, J. K. Rowling 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."

"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. It is possible that the victim's internal organs cease function, or that once the spell hits a person's body, it simply kills every living cell in the victim's body. It could also cause sudden brain death, simply stopping the progress of every electrical synapse in the brain simultaneously by draining all potential energy there. In addition to this, it is possible that it causes a person's soul to "pass on", and leave the body, similar to when the body dies naturally, and the soul passes on into whatever afterlife there may be.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Lucius Malfoy says "Avada" at Harry Potter after he unwittingly frees Dobby. Dobby knocks Lucius backwards with magic to protect Harry, and he does not finish the incantation. The part of the incantation shown, for plot reasons, was not represented in the subtitles. However, on the DVD if the audio is set to Spanish, Lucius says what it sounds like "Arara" in a more of a shouting way than hissing. It should be noted that Lucius Malfoy saying "Avada" was an ad-lib by his actor Jason Issacs, as the script did not specify which curse he was supposed to use in the scene, so he used the first curse that came to his mind.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Bellatrix Lestrange is shown using the Killing Curse to murder Sirius Black in a scene fundamentally different from that of the novel, in which Sirius was pushed through the Veil by an unidentified red-coloured curse cast by Bellatrix. The effect of the curse is also not shown to be instantaneous in the film.
• In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 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, possibly by the use of this curse. If it would have been used, Peter would have died the same way as his former friends.
• Out of the three, the Killing Curse is the only Unforgivable Curse that Harry did not use.
• After Harry Potter survived a second killing curse, he described it as having left a bruise that felt like an "iron-clad punch."
• In the Harry Potter Lego game, Frank Bryce is replaced by a milkman. However, his death by this curse cannot be considered canon as no echo of him appeared during the Duel in Little Hangleton.
• In the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Snape kills Dumbledore, the curse appears to be blue rather than the usually green colour.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance) (Appears in flashback(s))
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (Appears in flashback(s))
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (PS1 version only)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film) (Avada only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First identified as Killing Curse)
• 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 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
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (real) (Mentioned only)
• Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• Harry Potter: Spells