The Cruciatus Curse originated during the Middle Ages. After the reformation of the Wizard’s Council into the Ministry of Magic, rigid regulations banned the use of this spell. The Ministry declared the Cruciatus Curse unforgivable in the year 1717. The use of this curse was punishable by a life sentence in Azkaban without parole.
-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Effect of the Cruciatus Curse
The Cruciatus Curse causes immense pain when used on someone. The person will experience an intense sensation. It will make the person wish for unconsciousness and even death. The person who used this spell needed to be soulless and had a deep desire to cause harm.
For instance, Bellatrix Lestrange was extremely sadistic. She lacked conscience and did not follow the rules of a fair duel. She used the curse with daunting potency as she seemingly had an affinity to it.
Lestrange tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom with the Cruciatus Curse. She tortured them for information regarding the whereabouts of the Dark Lord to restore him to power.
The pain may cause permanent damage to memory and mental health if used on a person for a long time, and it happened with Longbottoms. They spent the rest of their lives at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. They could not bear the trauma the spell subjected them to.
The Ministry declared the Cruciatus Curse as unforgivable because of its harmful and long-lasting damage. It was the tool of sadistic pleasure for many dark wizards. The curse remained in effect in Azkaban for the dangerous magical criminals.
Legal Status of the Cruciatus Curse
The Cruciatus Curse was one of the three curses pronounced by the Ministry of Magic to be “Dark Magic”, along with the Killing and Imperius Curses. The Cruciatus Curse was a popular instrument of torture for the vilest of the dark wizards. The Ministry additionally declared that the use of this curse on any human would be punishable by a life sentence without parole in Azkaban.
Nature of the Cruciatus Curse
The Cruciatus Curse caused immense pain, as Harry himself described it. Lord Voldemort had tortured Harry with the curse in the battle at Little Hangleton graveyard. Harry described the pain as a feeling worse than “one thousand white-hot knives, boring into the skin”. It is beyond the imagination of what anyone can ever imagine.
The sensation of the curse is intense. It causes the person to lose consciousness. Under the effect of this curse, one only wishes for death to escape the unspeakable and searing pain.
The spell could also attack Secret Keepers to inflict pain and suffering on them. It did not guarantee the fact that they might reveal the truth, though.
If the Cruciatus Curse hit an inanimate object, it would cause the object to shatter.
Cruciatus Curse: Performance
To perform this spell successfully, the wizard or witch has to possess a deep desire to cause immense pain to their victim.
Effects of the Cruciatus Curse
The spell causes great mental and physical torture. It may even bend and twitch one’s limbs. The curse causes sounds of agony to ring out, declaring the torturous pain.
Defense against the Cruciatus Curse
The Cruciatus Curse is a difficult spell to defend oneself from. Still, there are options to evade it. One can dodge the spell if they hide behind a solid object. Strong-willed wizards can resist the pain for a long time. Harry was able to do so when Voldemort attacked him with the curse in the Little Hangleton graveyard.
A second way to avoid the spell was to interrupt the caster before they finished chanting it. Harry attacked Snape with this spell in Legilimency class. Snape dodged the spell as he saw it coming.
Known History of Uses of the Cruciatus Curse
During the First Wizarding War, Barty Crouch Sr. was in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Barty Crouch Sr. was charged with violence. He legalized the Unforgivable Curses for the Aurors to use.
Barty Crouch Jr., under the disguise of Alastor Moody, had shown the curse to the students in their fourth year. He demonstrated the use of all the three Unforgivable Curses. He demonstrated them on a spider as using them on humans has been illegal since 1717.
Voldemort legalized the Unforgivable Curses as soon as he took over the Ministry. Amycus Carrow taught it as a curriculum at Hogwarts.
Harry was furious with Bellatrix Lestrange for murdering his godfather, Sirius Black, in 1996. He attacked her with this curse to make her suffer a brief moment of pain. He justified his use of the curse in “righteous anger”.
Harry almost used it on Snape in their Legilimency class. The latter taught him how not to let the Dark Lord infiltrate his mind in that class.
Harry used this spell more effectively in 1998 on Amycus Carrow, a Death Eater. Carrow had spit on Professor McGonagall’s face which angered Harry. Harry attacked Amycus in a rage with the sole purpose of causing him pain. The spell inflicted on Amycus caused him excruciating and prolonged pain.
On the other hand, the Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange, used the spell quite liberally, without any conscience on anyone. It seemed like she had an affinity for the Cruciatus Curse.
Bellatrix Lestrange tortured Luna Lovegood with the Cruciatus Curse at the Malfoy Manor, where Luna was for months.
After the Snatchers captured Hermoine, they brought her to the Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix then proceeded to torture her and even engraved the word “Mudblood” on her arm.
Amycus Carrow had also used this spell on Ginny Weasley at the Second Wizarding War at Hogwarts.
D.A. members Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finch used the spell on Death Eaters Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle to punish them for their disobedience.
