Changes: Morsmordre

Revision as of 18:12, 2 April 2016

"Then he realised it was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation."

— The Dark Mark^[src]

Morsmordre^[1] was the incantation used to conjure the Dark Mark, the skull-and-serpent sign used by Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters^[1]. The Death Eaters cast their mark over the homes of anyone they killed as their calling card.^[1].

History

First Wizarding War

In the First Wizarding War, Morsmordre became something of a signature move for the Death Eaters^[1]. After a murder, the spell would be cast in order to both claim credit for the attack, and to further terrify the wizarding community.^[1].

After Voldemort's first defeat, the Mark was no longer seen since the method for casting it was known only to the innermost circle of Death Eaters. If these individuals had escaped death or Azkaban, they had done so by lying about their membership in the organization, and therefore casting the spell would have been something of a give-away.^[1].

1994

Thedarkmark — The Dark Mark over the Quidditich World Cup.

Barty Crouch Junior cast the spell after witnessing a number of disloyal Death Eaters engaged in muggle torture and rioting after the Quidditch World Cup. His motive in casting this spell was primarily to terrify the former Death Eaters, as opposed to the other spectators.

File:Barty crouch jr 1.png

Barty Crouch Jr. casts Morsmorde

At first, the house-elf Winky was blamed for the act due to the fact that both she and the wand used to cast the spell were found together at the location from which the spell was apparently cast. After it was remembered that only a former Death Eater would have had the knowledge to cast the spell, both Winky along with Harry, Ron and Hermione were cleared of any involvement.

Voldemort later used his knowledge of this event to contradict Lucius Malfoy's claim that he was on the alert for any sign of Voldemort's return, and would have immediately rejoined him.

1996

Igor Karkaroff was killed in 1996 by Death Eaters for betraying Lord Voldemort, and the Dark Mark was cast over the shack in which his body was found.

1997

Dark Mark Over London — The Dark Mark over Tower Bridge, following the Attack on London.

It was cast over Hogwarts' Astronomy Tower by Gibbon when the Death Eaters invaded the castle in 1997, in order to lure Albus Dumbledore to the tower so that Draco Malfoy could kill him. In this case, the mark was cast before, rather than after, a murder.

Etymology

The incantation of this spell appears to be derived from the French mort, "death", and mordre, "to bite". This alludes to the name of Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters. The English word murder could also contribute. The literal translation of the Norwegian word "morsmodre" would be "mothers killers".

It may also be a reference to the word "mord", which means "murder" in Icelandic, German, Norwegian, Danish Polish and Swedish, since the spell is cast after someone has been murdered, and sounds like "mass murder".

Known practicioners

Behind the scenes

Despite the film adaptions showing that the caster simply has to point the wand upwards and speak the incantation to launch the mark, in Harry Potter: Spells shows the hand movement required.
In the film version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Dark Mark only appears greenish when it was cast at the Quidditch World Cup. When cast later in the same film after Voldemort's resurrection, along with its appearances in the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it appears to be formed out of dark grey clouds.
In the book version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Dark Mark was cast over the Quidditch World Cup by Barty Crouch Jr. with Harry's wand in order to terrify the disloyal Death Eaters who were willing to engage in muggle torture but not search for their (former) master. However, in the film adaption, the Mark was cast by his own wand after the Death Eaters destroyed the campsite.
In the film adaption of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Dark Mark was cast after the Death Eaters attacked Diagon Alley and destroyed the Millennium Bridge, with it towering over London.

Morsmordre bellatrix — Bellatrix casts Morsmordre

In the book version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Dark Mark was cast over the Astronomy Tower by Gibbon in order to lure Dumbledore to that location. However, in the film adaption, the Mark was non-verbally cast by Bellatrix Lestrange in celebration after Dumbledore was killed. Furthermore, in the film the Mark was dispelled by the mourning residents of Hogwarts as a sign of respect for the late headmaster.
This is the only spell that Barty Crouch Jr. casts onscreen, in his true form, before becoming Alastor Moody by means of Polyjuice Potion.

Appearances

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Seen in the Daily Prophet) (Heard)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Harry Potter: Spells
Pottermore

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 ^1.7 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Chapter 9 (The Dark Mark)
↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 4 (Horace Slughorn) - Dumbledore notes that the Dark Mark had not been cast when Slughorn faked his death and Slughorn stated that he knew he had forgotten something. This might suggest that he knew how to cast the spell.
↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 29 (The Phoenix Lament)

[GF9-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 ^1.7 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Chapter 9 (The Dark Mark)

[HBPf-2] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)

[HBF4-3] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 4 (Horace Slughorn) - Dumbledore notes that the Dark Mark had not been cast when Slughorn faked his death and Slughorn stated that he knew he had forgotten something. This might suggest that he knew how to cast the spell.

[HBP29-4] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 29 (The Phoenix Lament)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Title|''{{PAGENAME}}''}}
 {{Pottermoreold}}
 {{Spell infobox
 |name=''Morsmordre''
 |image=[[File:Screen_Shot_2013-09-30_at_8.00.40_PM.png|250px]]
-|incantation=''Morsmordre''<br/>(morz-MOR-druh)
+|incantation=''Morsmordre''<ref name="GF9">{{GOF}} - Chapter 9 (''The Dark Mark'')</ref><br/>(morz-MOR-druh)
-|type=[[Curse]]
+|type=
+|hand=[[File:Darkhand.png|50px]]
-|hand=Point wand at sky<ref name="GOFf">''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)]]''</ref>
+|light=Green
-|light=Green<ref name="GOF">''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' - Chapter 9 (The [[Dark Mark]])</ref>
-|effect=Conjures the [[Dark Mark]]
+|effect=Conjures the [[Dark Mark]]<ref name="GF9"/>
+|creator = [[Tom Marvolo Riddle|Voldemort]]}}
-}}
 {{Quote|Then he realised it was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.|The [[Dark Mark]]|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire}}
-'''''Morsmordre''''' is the incantation of a [[spell]] used to conjure the [[Dark Mark]], the skull-and-serpent sign used by [[Honourific|Lord]] [[Tom Riddle|Voldemort]] and his [[Death Eaters]]. The Death Eaters cast their mark over the homes of anyone they [[Killing Curse|killed]].<ref name="GOF"/>
+'''''Morsmordre'''''<ref name="GF9" /> was the [[incantation]] used to conjure the [[Dark Mark]], the skull-and-serpent sign used by [[Honourific|Lord]] [[Tom Riddle|Voldemort]] and his [[Death Eaters]]<ref name="GF9" />. The Death Eaters cast their mark over the homes of anyone they [[Killing Curse|killed]] as their calling card.<ref name="GF9" />.
-==Practicioners==
-* [[Bartemius Crouch Jr.]]<ref name="GOF"/>
-* [[Bellatrix Lestrange]]<ref name="HBPf">''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)]]''</ref>
-* [[Horace Slughorn]] (possibly)<ref name="HBF4">''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'' - Chapter 4 ([[Horace Slughorn]]) - Dumbledore notes that the Dark Mark had not been cast when Slughorn faked his death and Slughorn stated that he knew he had forgotten something. This might suggest that he knew how to cast the spell.</ref>
-* [[Gibbon]]<ref name="HBP29">''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'' - Chapter 29 (The [[Phoenix Lament]])</ref>
-==Uses==
+==History==
 ===First Wizarding War===
-In the [[First Wizarding War]], the ''Morsmordre'' curse was somewhat of a [[Signature spell|signature move]] for Death Eaters. Upon committing murder, they would cast it over the locations as a declaration of their crimes. This led the wizarding community to fear the mark's appearance, as it would usually mean death is found when it is present.
+In the [[First Wizarding War]], ''Morsmordre'' became something of a [[Signature spell|signature move]] for the Death Eaters<ref name="GF9" />. After a murder, the spell would be cast in order to both claim credit for the attack, and to further terrify the wizarding community.<ref name="GF9" />.
+After Voldemort's [[Attack at Godric's Hollow (1981)|first defeat]], the Mark was no longer seen since the method for casting it was known only to the innermost circle of Death Eaters.  If these individuals had escaped death or [[Azkaban]], they had done so by lying about their membership in the organization, and therefore casting the spell would have been something of a give-away.<ref name="GF9" />.
-After Voldemort's first defeat, the mark became absent when Death Eaters were either rounded up or evaded justice, and due to very few wizards knew how to cast it, almost exclusive to Death Eaters. Because of its affiliation, the casting of this curse is considered illegal
 ===1994===
-[[File:Dark_Mark.JPG|thumb|left|The Dark Mark over the Quidditich World Cup.]]
+[[File:Thedarkmark.gif|thumb|left|230x230px|The Dark Mark over the Quidditich World Cup.]]
-[[Bartemius Crouch Jr.|Barty Crouch Jr.]] witnessed Death Eaters torturing the [[Roberts family]] for entertainment, which awakened him from the [[Imperius Curse]] [[Bartemius Crouch Sr.|his father]] placed on him. He took [[Harry Potter]]'s [[Harry Potter's wand|wand]], which was sticking out of the boy's pocket in front of him, and cast the curse to set off the Dark Mark during the [[1994]] [[Quidditch World Cup]], in order to scare the Death Eaters there for being disloyal to Voldemort. This caused mass panic to both the audience and Death Eaters alike, causing the former to run around in hysteria and the latter to [[Apparition|Disapparate]] in fear of facing their master's wrath.
+[[Bartemius Crouch Jr.|Barty Crouch Junior]] cast the spell after witnessing a number of disloyal Death Eaters engaged in muggle torture and rioting after the [[Quidditch World Cup]]. His motive in casting this spell was primarily to terrify the former Death Eaters, as opposed to the other spectators.
-At first, the [[house-elf]] [[Winky]] was blamed for the act due to the culprit wand was found in her possession and the [[Prior Incantanto|record showed]] it had performed the curse. Much later, the truth was revealed by Crouch himself under the influence of [[Veritaserum]]. The Dark Mark's appearance over the campsite was a huge scandal amongst the British magical community, and many citizens filed various complaints to the Ministry.
+[[File:Barty crouch jr 1.png|thumb|220x220px|[[Barty Crouch Jr.]] casts ''Morsmorde'']]
+At first, the [[house-elf]] [[Winky]] was blamed for the act due to the fact that both she and the wand used to cast the spell were found together at the location from which the spell was apparently cast. After it was remembered that only a former Death Eater would have had the knowledge to cast the spell, both Winky along with Harry, Ron and Hermione were cleared of any involvement.
-Voldemort would later comment on [[Lucius Malfoy]] fleeing at the sight of the mark as a sign of disloyalty when Lucius was hastily making poor excuses.
+Voldemort later used his knowledge of this event to contradict Lucius Malfoy's claim that he was on the alert for any sign of Voldemort's return, and would have immediately rejoined him.
 ===1996===
-[[File:Dark_Mark_Over_London.JPG|thumb|The Dark Mark over the [[Millenium Bridge]], following the [[Attack on London]].]]
 [[Igor Karkaroff]] was killed in [[1996]] by Death Eaters for betraying Lord Voldemort, and the Dark Mark was cast over the shack in which his body was found.
 ===1997===
+[[File:Dark_Mark_Over_London.JPG|thumb|215px|The Dark Mark over Tower Bridge, following the [[Attack on London]].|left]]
-It was cast over [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|Hogwarts]]' [[Astronomy Tower]] by [[Gibbon]] when the Death Eaters [[Wikipedia:Invasion|invaded]] the castle in 1997, in order to lure [[Albus Dumbledore]] to the tower so that [[Draco Malfoy]] could kill him. However, it was [[Severus Snape]] who committed the murder, and Dumbledore's corpse was described to have fallen off the tower under the Mark's eerie green light like a great rag doll.
+It was cast over [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|Hogwarts]]' [[Astronomy Tower]] by [[Gibbon]] when the Death Eaters [[Wikipedia:Invasion|invaded]] the castle in 1997, in order to lure [[Albus Dumbledore]] to the tower so that [[Draco Malfoy]] could kill him. In this case, the mark was cast before, rather than after, a murder.
 ==Etymology==
-The incantation of this spell appears to be derived from the French ''mort'', "death", and ''mordre'', "to bite". This alludes to the name of Voldemort's followers, the [[Death Eaters]]. The English word ''murder'' could also contribute. In Norwegian, Morsmordere directly translated means "mothers killers".
+The incantation of this spell appears to be derived from the French ''mort'', "death", and ''mordre'', "to bite". This alludes to the name of Voldemort's followers, the [[Death Eaters]]. The English word ''murder'' could also contribute. The literal translation of the Norwegian word "morsmodre" would be "mothers killers".
 It may also be a reference to the word "mord", which means "murder" in Icelandic, German, Norwegian, Danish Polish and Swedish, since the spell is cast after someone has been murdered, and sounds like "mass murder".
+==Known practicioners==
+* [[Bartemius Crouch Jr.]]
+* [[Bellatrix Lestrange]]<ref name="HBPf">''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)]]''</ref>
+* [[Horace Slughorn]] (possibly)<ref name="HBF4">''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'' - Chapter 4 ([[Horace Slughorn]]) - Dumbledore notes that the Dark Mark had not been cast when Slughorn faked his death and Slughorn stated that he knew he had forgotten something. This might suggest that he knew how to cast the spell.</ref>
+* [[Gibbon]]<ref name="HBP29">''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'' - Chapter 29 (The [[Phoenix Lament]])</ref>
 ==Behind the scenes==
-[[File:Darkhand.png|thumb|The hand movement]]
 * Despite the film adaptions showing that the caster simply has to point the wand upwards and speak the incantation to launch the mark, in ''[[Harry Potter: Spells]]'' shows the hand movement required.
 * In the [[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|film version]] of ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', the Dark Mark only appears greenish when it was cast at the [[Quidditch World Cup]]. When cast later in the same film after [[Return of the Dark Lord|Voldemort's resurrection]], along with its appearances in the [[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)|film version]] of ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'', it appears to be formed out of dark grey clouds.
-* In the book version of ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', the Dark Mark was cast over the Quidditch World Cup by Barty Crouch Jr. with Harry's wand in order to strike fear at disloyal Death Eaters during their torturing of the [[Roberts family]]. However, in the [[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|film adaption]], the Mark was cast by his own wand after the Death Eaters destroyed the campsite, as a sign of the Death Eaters' works.
+* In the book version of ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', the Dark Mark was cast over the Quidditch World Cup by Barty Crouch Jr. with Harry's wand in order to terrify the disloyal Death Eaters who were willing to engage in muggle torture but not search for their (former) master. However, in the [[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|film adaption]], the Mark was cast by his own wand after the Death Eaters destroyed the campsite.
 * In the [[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)|film adaption]] of ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'', the Dark Mark was cast after the Death Eaters [[Attack on Diagon Alley|attacked]] [[Diagon Alley]] and destroyed the [[Millennium Bridge]], with it towering over [[London]].
 [[File:Morsmordre_bellatrix.jpg|thumb|Bellatrix casts Morsmordre]]
-* In the book version of ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', the Dark Mark was cast over the [[Astronomy Tower]] by [[Gibbon]] in order to lure Dumbledore there. However, in the [[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)|film adaption]], the Mark was [[Nonverbal spell|non-verbally]] cast by [[Bellatrix Lestrange]] in celebration after Dumbledore was killed. Furthermore, in the film the Mark was [[Anti Dark Mark spell|dispelled]] by the mourning residents of Hogwarts as a sign of respect for the late [[headmaster]].
+* In the book version of ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', the Dark Mark was cast over the [[Astronomy Tower]] by [[Gibbon]] in order to lure Dumbledore to that location. However, in the [[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)|film adaption]], the Mark was [[Nonverbal spell|non-verbally]] cast by [[Bellatrix Lestrange]] in celebration after Dumbledore was killed. Furthermore, in the film the Mark was [[Anti Dark Mark spell|dispelled]] by the mourning residents of Hogwarts as a sign of respect for the late [[headmaster]].
 * This is the only spell that Barty Crouch Jr. casts onscreen, in his true form, before becoming [[Alastor Moody]] by means of [[Polyjuice Potion]].
@@ Line 65: / Line 66: @@
 * ''[[Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey]]''
 * ''[[Harry Potter: Spells]]''
-*''[[Pottermore]]''
+* ''[[Pottermore]]''
 ==References==
 {{Reflist}}
 [[es:Morsmordre]]
 [[fr:Morsmordre]]
 [[it:Morsmordre]]
+[[ru:Морсмордре]]
 [[Category:Curses]]
 [[Category:Dark Magic]]
 [[Category:Death-related magic]]
-[[Category:Spells invented by Tom Marvolo Riddle]]
 [[Category:Tom Riddle's creations]]
 [[Category:Tom Riddle's possessions]]
+[[Category:Spells invented by Tom Riddle]]