Point wand at victim
Red or none
Extreme pain, torture
- "Voldemort raised his wand, and before Harry could do anything to defend himself, before he could even move, he had been hit again by the Cruciatus curse. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that he no longer knew where he was... white-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, his head was surely going to burst with pain; he was screaming more loudly than he'd ever screamed in his life — "
- —Harry Potter under the effects of the curse[src]
The Cruciatus Curse (also known as the Torture Curse) (Crucio) is a tool of the Dark Arts and one of the three Unforgivable Curses. It is one of the most powerful and sinister spells known to wizardkind. When cast successfully the curse inflicts excruciating pain on the victim.
Considering the fact that this curse doesn't physically harm the victim, it is possible that it only stimulates pain receptors. The two most well-known victims of this curse are the former Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom, who were tortured into insanity with it by Death Eaters; Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jr.
The Cruciatus Curse was invented during the early Middle Ages, by dark witches or wizards. The curse was created for torture purposes, but has also been used effectively in duels. According to Barty Crouch Jr., the curse was once very popular.
After the Wizards' Council was reformed into the Ministry of Magic tighter restrictions were placed on the use of certain kinds of magic. The Cruciatus Curse was deemed by the Ministry to be dark magic, and, along with the Imperius and Killing curses, were declared "unforgivable" in 1717. The use of any of these three curses on a fellow human being would result in a life sentence in Azkaban (unless there was sufficient evidence that the caster did so under the influence of the Imperius Curse or for other defensible reasons)
First Wizarding War
During the First Wizarding War, when Barty Crouch Sr. was in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he fought violence with violence, and legalised 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 This was repealed once the war was over, as it was no longer necessary.
Shortly after Voldemort's defeat, four Death Eaters — three Lestranges Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan, along with Barty Crouch Jr. — captured the Auror Frank Longbottom and his wife Alice and tortured the two with the Cruciatus Curse for information on Voldemort's whereabouts. This usage of the curse caused the couple to become insane, the four were captured and tried in front of the Council of Magical Law and were found guilty, sentenced with life in Azkaban. This act was considered to be the most atrocious and infamous within history.
Despite the repeal of the curse's legal usage, 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. However, since the use of the curse was illegal only on a fellow human being, the demonstration of the curses on the spider may have been within legal boundaries.
Dolores Umbridge, in a last-ditch efforts to draw information from Harry Potter, almost used the curse on the boy, believing that she would probably not be called upon to answer for it due to the only witnesses to the act being Harry and his closest friends, and that she would probably be able to avoid punishment for the curse due to the political climate either way. She was prevented from using the curse by Hermione Granger.
Second Wizarding War
In 1997 Draco Malfoy, in a fit of rage and recklessness, attempted it on an eavesdropping Harry and later in the same year Harry attempted to use it on Severus Snape during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, but was prevented from uttering the whole incantation due to Snape's use of Legilimency.
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: students were required to practice the Cruciatus Curse on other students who earned detention, and the Carrow siblings used it to punish students as they see fit.
Harry Potter managed to successfully use it on Amycus Carrow without legal consequences as well as a result of this legalisation. After Voldemort's death and the revolutionising of the Ministry under new Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt, the three curses were once again forbidden.
Harry Potter had a vision of Lord Voldemort ordering Draco Malfoy to use the curse on Thorfinn Rowle after he and Antonin Dolohov failed to capture Harry at Tottenham Court Road. Although he saw nothing of Dolohov's punishment, Narcissa Malfoy later mentioned "what he did to Rowle and Dolohov" when she was afraid to contact Voldemort.
To successfully perform this curse, the wizard or witch must possess a deep desire to cause the victim pain. For example, despite being furious with Bellatrix Lestrange for her murder of his godfather in 1996, Harry Potter was only able to cause her a brief moment of pain with the Cruciatus Curse because he used it in "righteous anger," though he was still able to knock her off of her feet with it.
Harry performed it more powerfully in 1998 on Amycus Carrow, who spat in Minerva McGonagall's face. Amycus was thrown into the air and knocked unconscious. This suggests that although Harry's curse was intense, he still lacked the fundamental sadism to inflict prolonged, excruciating pain with it. On the other hand, due to Bellatrix being a witch with great sadistic intents and no conscience, she was able to cast the curse with great potency, and seemingly had an affinity to it.
- "At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Harry was sure that if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently [...] "
- —Description of a spider under the Cruciatus Curse[src]
The pain caused by the Cruciatus Curse is described as worse than "one thousand white-hot knives, boring into the skin." This pain can cause permanent mental injury, as in the case of the aforementioned Longbottoms, who spent the rest of their lives in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries because of the trauma the curse caused. Presumably, such permanent effects occur if the victim is exposed to a particularly intense curse for a long period of time.
As Memory Charms can be broken through torture, the Cruciatus Curse is capable of such a feat, though it requires a certain level of exposure in time and intensity to break through it. Bertha Jorkins suffered such a trial, and the end results was that both her body and mind was damaged beyond repair.
If the curse hits an inanimate object, it may cause it to shatter instead.
Once cast, there is no spell that can defend against the Cruciatus Curse. However, there are still defensive options available against it. The spell can be dodged by hiding behind a solid object, and a particularly strong-willed wizard can merely resist the pain until the spell is lifted (though, as noted above, prolonged exposure can cause permanent mental damage). Another option is to interrupt the caster before they can finish speaking the incantation, as Severus Snape did to great effect against Harry Potter in 1997 by using Legilimency to anticipate the spells he would use.
- "Harry shouted, “ Crucio! ” The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor."
- —Harry Potter's use of the Cruciatus Curse before the Battle of Hogwarts
|Aberforth Dumbledore||Gellert Grindelwald||Retaliation for criticising his plans.|
|Alice and Frank Longbottom||Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jr.||Tortured into insanity. Permanent residents at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.|
|Bertha Jorkins||Lord Voldemort||To break the memory charm cast on her by Barty Crouch Sr. so as to gain information about the Triwizard Tournament and the Quidditch World Cup; Bertha was damaged beyond repair as a result.|
|A spider||Barty Crouch Jr.||Demonstrated the curse's effects during Defence Against the Dark Arts class, while impersonating Alastor Moody.|
|Peter Pettigrew||Lord Voldemort||As punishment for allowing Bartemius Crouch Sr. to escape.|
|Cedric Diggory||Viktor Krum||During the Triwizard Tournament, Third Task, while under the Imperius Curse by Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Alastor Moody.|
|Harry Potter||Lord Voldemort||Little Hangleton graveyard, twice during a duel.|
|Avery||Lord Voldemort||Little Hangleton graveyard. Possibly also following false information concerning his prophecy.|
|Neville Longbottom||Bellatrix Lestrange||Battle of the Department of Mysteries presumably to injure/kill/ insult Neville to join his parents' fate.|
|Ted and Andromeda Tonks||Unknown Death Eaters||To try to obtain information about Harry Potter|
|Thorfinn Rowle||Draco Malfoy||Under Voldemort's orders, as punishment for letting Harry Potter escape from Tottenham Court Road.|
|Antonin Dolohov||Draco Malfoy||Under Voldemort's orders, as punishment for letting Harry Potter escape from Tottenham Court Road.|
|Garrick Ollivander||Lord Voldemort||To give information about Voldemort's wand, and the effects Harry's wand had on Lucius Malfoy's.|
|Hermione Granger||Bellatrix Lestrange||Interrogation tactic concerning Godric Gryffindor's Sword|
|Michael Corner||Alecto and Amycus Carrow||Punishment for freeing a first-year student from detention.|
|Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, and other D.A. members||Alecto and Amycus Carrow; Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle||Punishment for disobedience.|
|Amycus Carrow||Harry Potter||Attacking Amycus after he spat in McGonagall's face, completely incapacitating him.|
|Harry Potter||Dolores Umbridge||In 1996, Headmistress Dolores Umbridge attempted to use the curse against Harry as an interrogation tactic, but Hermione Granger interrupted her incantation.|
|Bellatrix Lestrange||Harry Potter||As mentioned above, Harry attempted to use this curse against Bellatrix after she murdered his godfather, Sirius Black. Though the curse gave her a brief moment of terrible pain, it did not cause the excruciating, drawn-out pain it is meant to give.|
|Harry Potter||Draco Malfoy||Draco attempted the curse when Harry stumbled upon him in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, but was interrupted when Harry attacked him with Sectumsempra.|
|Ginny Weasley||Amycus Carrow||During the Battle of the Astronomy Tower; through the assistance of Felix Felicis, Ginny dodged it.|
|Severus Snape||Harry Potter||Following Professor Snape killing Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Harry pursued him and tried to curse him, but Snape blocked it, citing Harry's inferior skills in Occlumency. All Harry had managed to get out was the first syllable of the incantation.|
|Various||Death Eaters, Snatchers and Gringotts Bank guards||Many people were on the run with Snatchers and Death Eaters chasing them, Harry, Ron and Hermione broke into Gringotts Wizarding Bank and were chased by guards, a great battle took place at Hogwarts Castle.|
|Harry Potter||Vincent Crabbe||During a skirmish in the Room of Requirement. Harry dodged the curse, and its force hit a stone bust of a warlock instead.|
|Harry Potter||Lord Voldemort||During the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort used the Cruciatus Curse on what he believed to be Harry Potter's dead body as a way of dishonouring it and to show he had won. Harry felt no pain because the wand Voldemort used, the Elder Wand, refused to harm its true master. However, Harry's body was tossed around by the force of the spell.|
- As Harry Potter chases Severus Snape away from Hogwarts at the end of the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, he is hit from behind by a curse cast by one of the Carrow siblings. Although we never hear the incantation, he falls to the ground, screaming, and momentarily loses track of what's going on. This description, coupled with the fact that the Carrows had been trying to curse him all the way down from the Astronomy Tower, makes it likely that he was hit by the Cruciatus Curse.
- Since Luna was held prisoner at Malfoy Manor for months, it is likely she was also tortured with it.
- After Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other prisoners escaped from Malfoy Manor, Harry had a vision of Voldemort punishing the Malfoys, but whether he used the Cruciatus Curse was not mentioned.
Crucio means 'I torture'. Cruciatus takes its name from the Latin word for "pain" or "torture," the root of which can be seen in other words such as "excruciating" and "crucifixion."
Behind the scenes
- When Harry Potter attempts to cast this spell on Bellatrix Lestrange, a ball of red light is fired from the tip of his wand, most likely because his spell was cast with "righteous anger", not outright sadism. The spell still had enough force to knock Lestrange off her feet.
- When Voldemort is with Wormtail in the fourth, he strikes Wormtail with it because his mistake has failed.
- In the console version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the cutscene where Umbridge is taken into the Forbidden Forest, she uses the Curse instead of Incarcerous and it looks like a flash of green light that strikes the centaur. However, in the scene where Harry chases Bellatrix through the Ministry, he casts it and it looks like Expelliarmus (which was a yellowish-white in colour) and it blasted her off her feet.
- Severus Snape once asserted Harry Potter had neither the nerves nor the skill to perform Unforgivable Curses. However, less than a year later, Harry succeeded in cursing Amycus Carrow. — This move was met with criticism by some fans, who felt that Harry had sunk to the same level as his enemies in using it in such a manner. J.K. Rowling countered such criticism by asserting that "Harry is not, and never has been, a saint", and that he has flaws of character like everybody else.
- In the film adaption of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, instead of using three spiders to demonstrate the Unforgivable Curses, Barty Crouch Jr. uses one Amblypygi.
- Also in the film adaption of Goblet of Fire, when Voldemort casts the curse on Harry Potter, a sound resembling electricity or lightning can be heard in the background. It is possible that one of the feelings of pain caused by the curse could be similar to that of electrocution.
- In the original script of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter said "Cruciatus" while battling Severus Snape in Hogwarts grounds instead of using the real incantation which is "Crucio".
- In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, only Dark Wizards, including Peter Pettigrew, Lord Voldemort, and Barty Crouch Jr. can use Dark Magic, which consists of the Killing Curse (Peter Pettigrew is the only LEGO Dark Wizard who can't use Avada Kedavra) and the Cruciatus Curse. Whenever a Dark Wizard uses the Levitation Charm on a person, it instead changes to the Cruciatus Curse. When this is used, the pink light of the Levitation Charm is missing when targeting a person, but replaced by a blood red. the victim hovers several feet off the ground, and purple lights emits from their joints. After a few seconds, they die.
- In Harry Potter for Kinect Voldemort can use this spell against Harry in the final battle during Voldemort's Last Stand as they engage in a normal duel.
- 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 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 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 (Mentioned only)
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- Harry Potter: Spells
- Harry Potter for Kinect
Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Chapter 23 (Malfoy Manor)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- ↑ Wizards' Ordinary Magic and Basic Aptitude Test, Grade 3, Question 14. This fact is confirmed as true when corroborated with evidence from Wonderbook: Book of Spells.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- ↑ DH: Part 1 (video game) and DH: Part 2 (video game)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Chapter 24 (The Wandmaker)
- ↑ Bloomsbury Live Chat with J.K. Rowling