The Harry Potter series went fully dark in the fourth installment, which is when the Unforgivable Curses are introduced. Used by Voldemort to maximum effect, they are the Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra), the Cruciatus Curse, and the Imperius Curse. The Unforgivable Curses are the go-to spells for dark wizards that have brought about a lot of pain and destruction. There's a larger history that has gone into the creation of these spells that predate Voldemort.
It's also worth noting that these unforgivable spells have many other details attached to them that are either hidden in the Harry Potter books or have been delivered through other sources like J.K. Rowling herself and supplementary works.
- 1852 VOTES
Anger And Pleasure Are Primary Factors In The Execution Of The Cruciatus Curse
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- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
- Warner Bros. Pictures
The use of the Cruciatus Curse requires a great level of ruthlessness, yet it isn't effective when cast by someone with a cold personality. The most powerful Cruciatus Curses are done by those who are either angry or carry a sadistic pleasure; it can be a mix of both, as well.
Harry's Cruciatus Curse on Amycus Carrow is extremely painful because Harry is enraged at the latter but feels satisfaction in the torment he's doling out. Bellatrix Lestrange's mastery with the curse comes down to her total willingness to use it - she finds great joy in harming people, which makes her Cruciatus Curse so effective.
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- 2575 VOTES
Legilimency Can Be Used To Break The Imperius Curse
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- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Barty Crouch Jr. is under the Imperius Curse for over a decade after his father breaks him out of Azkaban. Crouch periodically fights the curse but is repeatedly placed under his father's thrall with stronger curses.
Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew attack the Crouch household to overpower Crouch Sr., and Voldemort proceeds to place the latter under his own Imperius Curse. Voldemort's extreme mastery of Legilimency is such that he uses these powers to break into Crouch Jr.'s mind and free him of his father's control.
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- 3524 VOTES
Barty Crouch Sr. Legalized The Use Of Unforgivable Curses For Aurors
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- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Unforgivable Curses briefly made a return to legality during the First Wizarding War, which is when Bartemius Crouch Sr. made them free for use by Aurors. Crouch was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as well as a ruthless politician who argued that the Ministry had to hit back hard against Voldemort and his followers.
Crouch legalized all three Unforgivable Curses, but unfortunately many Aurors used excessive force that resulted in casualties. Moreover, the Ministry began to attack innocent people with the Unforgivable Curses, so kill counts increased to the point where the Ministry became as bad as the Death Eaters.
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- 4438 VOTES
Death Eaters Attempted To Overthrow The Prime Minister By Using The Imperius Curse On His Junior Minister
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- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
- Warner Bros. Pictures
The Death Eaters' primary mode of infiltrating places is to place people in authority under the Imperius Curse. Voldemort decides to go straight for the prime minister of England but finds his security too tight.
Voldemort has the Death Eaters use the Imperius Curse on Herbert Chorley, the junior minister, with hopes that he will assassinate the prime minister. Chorley is caught by the Ministry of Magic first and sent to St. Mungo's to remove the Imperius Curse, but he tries to take lives there, too, by attempting to strangle healers.
Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt becomes the Muggle prime minister's personal bodyguard to ensure he isn't subjected to the Imperius Curse or the Killing Curse.
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- 5688 VOTES
There Are Meanings Behind All The Unforgivable Curses' Incantations
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- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Warner Bros. Pictures
The incantations for each of the Unforgivable Curses contain specific meanings that allude to what they accomplish. Avada Kedavra stems from "adhadda kedhabhra," which is Aramaic for "let the thing be destroyed."
The Cruciatus Curse's incantation of "Crucio" is Latin for "torment" or "torture." The Imperius Curse is derived from "Imperiosus," whose meaning is "commanding, mighty, and powerful." The "Imperio" incantation translates as "to rule."
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- 6533 VOTES
Unforgivable Curses Don't Work On Someone Who Has Taken Felix Felicis
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- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Warner Bros. Pictures
A loophole to use against Unforgivable Curses is to face them after ingesting Felix Felicis - the curses are completed but they won't reach their target. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all take the potion during the climax of Half-Blood Prince and are spared.
Ginny notes that the Death Eaters attacked them with the Unforgivable Curses to no avail because all of their spells missed them. While the Felix Felicis doesn't prevent the Unforgivable Curses from being cast, the potion does ensure that the drinker will not feel the curses' effects.
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- 7481 VOTES
Phoenixes Are Immune To Avada Kedavra
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- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Phoenixes are functionally immortal since their "deaths" consist of their bodies burning and then rising again from the ashes. Avada Kedavra technically does its job on Phoenixes, who explode when they are hit by the curse, but they aren't eliminated.
Phoenixes are simply reborn once the curse is dealt upon them, which will repeat over and again no matter how many times they are hit. Voldemort's curse on Dumbledore is swallowed by Fawkes during their battle in the Ministry of Magic, and Fawkes is reborn right then and there.
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- 8427 VOTES
The Unforgivable Curses Were Invented During The Middle Ages
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- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Warner Bros. Pictures
It's unknown who came up with the Unforgivable Curses, but they were created during the Middle Ages. This era is generally thought to begin around the fifth century, so the Unforgivable Curses existed for several hundred before they were banned.
Albus Dumbledore mentions in The Tales of Beedle the Bard that a group of dark witches or wizards invented the curses together, so there must have been a specific reason they had to resort to such cruel methods.
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- 9474 VOTES
Victims Of The Imperius Curse Feel Peaceful Under Its Control
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- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Unlike the Killing Curse and Cruciatus Curse, which are designed to either eliminate a person or dole out extreme pain, the Imperius Curse has the opposite effect.
People who are subjected to the Imperius Curse experience a state of absolute bliss in which they feel devoid of any of the troubles of the world. It's such a state that the victims become ecstatic and highly impressionable.
The person who casts the Imperius Curse essentially suggests that the victim do something they want and the latter does it willingly because they have let go of their inhibitions.
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- 10460 VOTES
No Shield Charm Works Against Avada Kedavra
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- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Warner Bros. Pictures
The Killing Curse (AKA Avada Kedavra) is considered to be the worst of the three Unforgivable Curses because it's a one-hit kill for the person who casts it. The spell is impossible to block using magic - any attempt at a charm that shields a person is useless.
The only ways to avoid the curse is to try and dodge it, place something else in its path, or retaliate with another curse - the last option can still be fatal if the person who cast the curse is a stronger wizard.
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- 11597 VOTES
Harry Potter Is The Only Wizard To Have Shown Immunity To All The Unforgivable Curses
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- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Harry is remarkable not just for surviving Avada Kedavra multiple times, but for overcoming all of the Unforgivable Curses at some point. Harry shows a special kind of resistance to the Imperius Curse when it's cast on him by Barty Crouch Jr. and Lord Voldemort, and breaks through both times.
The Cruciatus Curse affects him when Voldemort torments him in the graveyard, but Harry becomes immune to it after he chooses to sacrifice himself and the love protection prevents Voldemort from harming him. Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse in the forest is ineffective.
Avada Kedavra doesn't work on Harry as a child; he survives because of his mother's protection. Voldemort hits Harry straight in the chest with the curse in the forest; however, Harry survives because Voldemort's shared blood with Harry tethers the latter to the world, and he's able to return with the Horcrux within him destroyed.
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- 12367 VOTES
Those Caught Using Unforgivable Curses Are Sent To Azkaban For Life
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- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Warner Bros. Pictures
A person found guilty of using the Unforgivable Curses will be sentenced to life in prison at Azkaban. Unforgivable Curses were the main reason that civilians were put in prison during the First Wizarding War, and also led to some innocent people being wrongfully convicted - Sirius Black is one example.
Bellatrix Lestrange and her cohorts were sent to Azkaban on the basis of their Cruciatus Curses on the Longbottons. Barty Crouch Sr. used their trial to make public examples of them.
Crouch's son was part of Bellatrix's team, and Crouch Sr. sent his son to Azkaban to prove he was impartial.
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- 13502 VOTES
Harry Potter And Lord Voldemort Are The Only Survivors Of Avada Kedavra
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- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Harry is popular in the Wizarding World because Voldemort was vanquished after he unsuccessfully tried to take his life with the Killing Curse. It's most notable because Harry became the first-ever person to survived the curse.
To credit Harry as the only person to survive wouldn't be correct, however, seeing as Voldemort didn't lose his life, either. Wizards are largely unaware that Voldemort's curse rebounded from Harry onto Voldemort himself, which is what destroyed his body.
Voldemort's survival was due to the existence of the Horcuxes that prevented him from perishing. As a result, the Dark Lord and the Boy Who Lived share the honor of surviving the unblockable curse.
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- 14358 VOTES
Unforgivable Curses Were Legal Before 1717
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- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
- Warner Bros. Pictures
There were no limits to the usage of magic until relatively recently, and the implementation of the Statute of Secrecy banned wizards from mingling with Muggles in 1693. It took quite some time after that to put reforms in place to ensure that magical practice didn't get out of hand, and the Unforgivable Curses weren't banned until 1717.
In fact, Avada Kedavra, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Imperius Curse were all open for use prior to the date and weren't collectively known as Unforgivable Curses. Wizards had been using such dangerous spells for centuries without consequence until better sense finally prevailed and they were banned.
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- 15318 VOTES
Avada Kedavra Was Legalized By MACUSA To Be Used Against Magical Creatures
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- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
- Warner Bros. Pictures
The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) didn't stick to the Statute of Secrecy as stringently as other nations did. The Americans didn't consider the Unforgivable Curses to be legal, but that didn't extend toward beings classified as magical beasts.
MACUSA didn't have any restrictions on the use of Avada Kedavra on a magical creature as long as it was considered dangerous; this was a very flimsy rule since "dangerous" is a broad term.
It wasn't until 1927 that the rule was reconsidered by MACUSA and it became illegal to use the curse on both humans and creatures.
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