The Crucio Harry Potter is one of the Unforgivable Curses banned by the Ministry of Magic in 1717. This curse was punishable by a life sentence in Azkaban without parole. The word “Crucio” literally translates to “I torture” in Latin.
The crucio curse gets labelled as unforgivable for it puts its victim through unspeakable torture and pain to the point of rendering them psychologically damaged. That is exactly what happened to Frank and Alice Longbottom, Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix members. Bellatrix Lestrange, Barty Crouch Jr. and two other Death Eaters tortured them to get information about James and Lily Potter.
Barty, in guise of Prof. Moody, demonstrating crucio on a spider
Barty Crouch Jr. and Crucio Curse
Barty Crouch Junior was a convicted Death Eater. He was sentenced to life in Azkaban. He used the Cruciatus curse on Frank and Alice Longbottom. Furthermore, Barty knew a lot about the Unforgivable Curses. He, in the guise of Alastor Moody, taught the Unforgivable Curses to the students at Hogwarts.
Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, “Crucio!”
-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Cruciatus Curse is unforgivable in the easiest sense, as torture is a dreadful crime by universal standards.
Crucio: Bringing out the “Evil” even in the Good
The Cruciatus Curse offers a deep and disturbing insight into Harry’s character. It brings out his dark side. Harry wished that he knew how to do the Cruciatus curse so that he could make Snape lie on his back and twitch and jerk like that spider.
Harry later would use the curse on three different occasions. After Bellatrix Lestrange kills Sirius Black, Harry chases her. Upon catching up with her, he uses the curse on her. He also attempts to use it on Snape after the latter killed Dumbledore.
Harry, in the seventh book, used it to torture Hogwarts professor (and Death Eater) Amycus Carrow into unconsciousness. Carrow had spit in Professor Minerva McGonagall’s face. Harry avenged her.
Amycus had spit in McGonagall’s face, which angered Harry. For a second, Harry forgot all about ethics and good or bad. He lifted his wand and shouted the “Crucio” spell. Amycus was lifted from his feet and writhed through the air. He looked like a drowning man. The spell made him thrash and howl in pain. Finally, he smashed into the bookcase like shattering glass. He became completely unconscious. Harry exclaimed that he now understood the excitement that Bellatrix got from using the spell. He finally understood that one could cause excruciating pain only when you really mean it.
In all these three instances, Harry chose to use the Cruciatus Curse. That is, however, disturbing. He could have just immobilized his opponent. Harry’s use of the Cruciatus Curse poses a moral question.
If Harry uses the curse, knowing that it is both wrong and illegal, is Harry still good? And if he’s flawed – if he has a touch of evil in his personality – is it still okay to root for him?
Crucio at Hogwarts
Under the tutelage of Lord Voldemort, when he finally took over the Ministry of Magic in 1997, Amycus Carrow taught this curse at Hogwarts. Carrow taught this curse alongside the two other Unforgivable Curses in the curriculum of Dark Arts.
Carrow went on to use this spell on Ginny Weasley during the Second Wizarding War.
The members of the Dumbledore’s Army, like Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finch, cast this Cruciatus curse on Death Eaters, namely, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, to avenge Hogwarts and Professor Dumbledore.
Unbearable Pain by the Cruciatus Curse
Harry himself would describe the effect of the Cruciatus curse as causing “immense pain”. He exclaimed that it was a feeling worse than “one thousand white-hot knives, boring into the skin”.
The curse is powerful enough to cause not only physical, but also mental damage. Damage is permanent and irreversible. At the Little Hangleton graveyard, when Harry faced Voldemort, Voldemort attacked him with the Cruciatus Curse.
Barty Crouch Jr. had enchanted Portkey. The Portkey took Harry and Cedric to the Little Hangleton graveyard. After killing Cedric, Lord Voldemort started to attack Harry. He made Harry vow with the Cruciatus curse after challenging him to a duel. The pain that Harry felt almost blinded him.
Cruciatus Curse and the Ordeal at the Malfoy Manor
Hermione was also tortured by the Cruciatus curse, most probably. At the Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix tortures Hermoine and carved the term “mudblood” on her arm.
Transmogrifian Torture- A Variation of the Cruciatus Curse
When Mrs Norris was petrified in the second book by the Basilisk, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart inaccurately assessed that it might be the effect of a “Transmogrifian curse”.
The Transmogrifian Torture was a curse that tortured its victims and eventually killed them. It may be similar to or a variation of the Cruciatus Curse. Prolonged use of the Cruciatus Curse can also lead to permanent psychological damage and death.
Like the Cruciatus Curse, this curse also tortures. However, unlike the Crucio spell, this one had a counter-curse to undo the damage.
Cruciatus Curse: A Picture of the Systematic Failure
The story of Harry Potter is not just about law, but about a society trying to establish a rule of law. The Ministry of Magic is not a dictatorship, but it is not a democracy. The failures of the Ministry and the Order are not glossed over. In fact, they get presented with concern. Therefore, the Crucio Harry Potter was declared an Unforgivable Curse again, along with the Killing Curse and Imperius Curse, a punishable offence after the Second Wizarding War, when Kingsley Shacklebolt became the Minister of Magic.
