One of the Unforgivable Curses, the Imperio Spell was probably the most sinister of them all. Apart from killing or torturing a person with magic, the worst thing one could do was to manipulate them into committing heinous crimes.
The sole purpose of the Imperio spell was to manipulate and control wizards and Muggles alike. The spell caused complete hypnosis and the person affected lost all sense of judgment and morality, the very defining feature of humanity.
“One of the three Unforgivable Curses, it allows the caster to control another’s actions.“
-About the Imperius Curse
Origin and Meaning of the Imperio Spell
The Imperio spell derives its name from the Latin word “imperious” which means “commanding, mighty and/or powerful”.
Another root word for this spell is “imperative”, whose verb form acts as a command function. The Imperius Curse, most certainly, achieves this thing.
Dark wizards and witches created the Imperius Curse sometime during the Middle Ages. The main purpose of the spell is to coerce and brainwash others into slavery or to do other illegal deeds.
Known History of the Uses of the Imperio Spell
As the Wizard’s Council became the Ministry of Magic, tighter restrictions started governing the use of Dark Magic. They declared the Imperius Curse to be dark magic along with Crucio and Avada Kedavra, and called the trio “the Unforgivable Curses”. The use of this curse was punishable with life imprisonment in Azkaban. The only exception was if the cursor had done so under the influence and control of the curse itself.
Imperio Spell Before and After the First Wizarding War
This was one of the major loopholes in wizarding law. Many dark wizards and witches exploited it to reduce their sentence when they were facing prison, especially after the First Wizarding War.
Along with the Cruciatus Curse, the Imperio spell‘s main purpose is to torture various Secret Keepers. The effect is not profound as the Keeper will only reveal the secret on their own will.
During the First Wizarding War, Barty Crouch Sr. was in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Barty Crouch Sr. legalized the Unforgivable Curses for the Aurors to use in the battle against Grindelwald. He did it so that the Aurors could win the war. The war ended with the status quo.
Imperio Spell Before and During the Second Wizarding War
After the Second Wizarding War, many Death Eaters and Dark wizards like Lucius Malfoy, Corban Yaxley, and others claimed that they served Lord Voldemort under the influence of this curse. They did it to avoid maximum punishment and imprisonment for their war crimes. While some of their claims were accepted, the Ministry deployed personnel to determine the veracity of the claim- whether they were telling the truth or lying to escape punishment.
During the 1994–1995 school year at Hogwarts, Professor Moody, who was Barty Crouch Jr., 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. In disguise, he did his demonstration of the Unforgivable Curses to the fourth-year students. Spiders were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the curse. It was, however, against the rules of the Ministry. Many students were under Crouch’s command except for Harry who was able to resist it completely and shake it off.
Voldemort legalized the Unforgivable Curses as soon as he took over the Ministry. Amycus Carrow taught it as a curriculum at Hogwarts. He said every wizard and witch could use it as and when they desired. When the Ministry was under Voldemort, the curse became a part of the curriculum at Hogwarts. Amycus Carrow taught it at the Dark Arts class when he was the Professor of Dark Arts under the tutelage of Lord Voldemort.
Legal Status of the Imperio Spell after the Second Wizarding War
After the death of Voldemort and imprisonment of all the Death Eaters, the curse was once again declared illegal and forbidden. The Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt passed the law. Many people who were under the influence of the curse during the war slowly started to come out of the trance.
The Imperius Curse controlled the wizards to the point they had no sense of right or wrong. Even the most powerful sorcerer could not break free from its control. The Ministry additionally declared that the use of this curse on any human would be punishable by a life sentence without parole in the prison for magical criminals, Azkaban.
Nature of the Imperio Spell
The ones subjected to this spell did not have any unpleasant experience per se. It was the opposite, to say the least. The victim finds themselves in a calm position, quite akin to the hypnosis of some sort. The victim will completely be under the control of the caster. They will do anything that the caster desires. This may include heinous crimes like murder, political corruption, and even suicide. In the case of Harry, the curse was not as strong as it should have been.
Defense against the Imperio Spell
Unlike the other Unforgivable curses, the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse, a person can fight against the Imperio spell. Resisting the Imperius curse demanded a great amount of strength of will and character. This is what makes this Unforgivable curse unique. Wizards like Harry Potter, Barty Crouch Snr., Barty Crouch Jr. learned how to resist it. In Crouch Sr.’s case, it caused permanent psychological damage. Trying to resist the curse was akin to Occulumency. Both required a lot of willpower.
Known Practitioners of Imperio Spell
Corvus Lestrange used the curse on Laurena Kama making her leave her husband and child to marry him and eventually bear Leta Lestrange.
Barty Crouch Sr. had used this curse on his son when the latter was under house arrest before 1994. Barty Crouch Jr. used it on many people- Alastor Moody to impersonate him, Harry, who resisted the curse, Neville Longbottom and Lavender Brown. He used it on Viktor Krum, who under the spell’s influence, attacked Cedric Diggory with the Cruciatus Curse.
Lord Voldemort used it on Harry at the Battle of the Little Hangleton graveyard.
Lucius Malfoy used the curse to steal a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries.
Harry used it on the goblin Bogrod who worked at the Gringotts Bank. He did so to get past the Lestrange vault in 1998.
Imperio Spell was banned once again after the Second Wizarding War. Many wizards and witches made sure that no one used the Unforgivable Curses again. The ones who used it were subjected to punishment and imprisonment.
The ordeals of the Second war and the lives lost goes on to show that all of the tragedies and casualties are not worth in the quest for possessing absolute power. After the Second Wizarding War, under Kingsley Shacklebolt’s Ministry, no one used the Imperio spell ever again.
