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Hey brother!
Okay guys, question for you.
Is there a chance that if you wore the right kind of armor
you could survive the Avada Kedavra curse?
Now, I know, I know that Moody tells us
that this curse is completely unblockable,
but is it really?
Like, it seems to me that if you were to stand
behind a suit of armor and the Avada Kedavra curse hit
that suit of armor,
sure, yes, it would destroy it,
but you would also not be harmed.
But here's the question.
What if you were inside the suit of armor?
Does that make a difference?
Like, would the spell just hit the armor, destroy it,
but you'd be safe on the inside?
Now I agree 100% that the armor would be destroyed
after being hit by the curse,
but it is still a layer between you and the curse.
Because with that logic in mind,
like, clothes are a layer between you and the curse.
But clothes don't seem to have
any protective abilities at all.
Like, they don't even stop you from getting stunned,
let alone being killed.
So is that basically saying
that as far as the magic is concerned
that you and your clothes are basically the same thing?
Fashion experts seem to think.
But does that make you in the armor one in the same?
And extra question, does it matter if you're wearing clothes
inside of the armor?
I mean, because you're probably not like, you know,
naked under there, right?
Right? Listen, you do you.
Kind of sounds like a chafing nightmare to me, though.
Because it's weird though, isn't it?
Everyone who's ever been killed
by the Avada Kedavra curse seems like they're not
physically damaged at all, just kind of like they drop dead.
For example, here is how the Riddle family is described
after being attacked by young Tom Riddle.
"A team of doctors had examined the bodies and had concluded
that none of the Riddles had been poisoned,
stabbed, shot, strangled, suffocated,
or as far as they could tell, harmed at all.
In fact, the report continued
in a tone of unmistakable bewilderment,
the Riddles all appeared to be in perfect health
apart from the fact that they were all dead.
And yet when the curse hits non-people things,
it makes them explode.
Not exactly potato po-tah-to, is it?
More like potato po-tah-to was left in the microwave
for too long and oh my gosh, it's going to blow!
The point is I think that it is inconsistent at best,
and I think that Moody is wrong.
I believe the Avada Kedavra curse can be blocked.
Today, we discuss.
(suspenseful music)
- [Ben And J] Hey, brother!
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All right, so right out of the gate,
let's take you look at the passage responsible
for all of this confusion.
As you may recall from "The Goblet of Fire,"
Mad-Eye Barty Crouch Moody is explaining
to Harry and the rest of his class
about the unforgivable curses.
"Not nice, not pleasant, and they're no countercurse.
There's no blocking it.
Only one known person has ever survived it
and he's sitting right in front of me,"
to which I was always like now what coinkydink is that?
Like of all of the places, the only person,
he's explaining it in this room,
the kid's right in front of him?
Like, what are the odds?
And now I don't know about you,
but to me, it kind of seems like
he's actually contradicting himself
in the very sentiment that he's expressing
in the same way sentence.
"There's no blocking it
except for this kid who is in the room."
Feel like Mad-Eye got a little piratey there for a second.
Now to be fair, how Harry survived the killing curse is
kind of a gigantic mystery
to literally everyone in the wizarding world
and is kind of the premise of the entire book series.
In fact, I actually think it's kind of weird sometimes
because I have spent so much time knowing the full story
and perfectly understanding how Harry has in fact survived
that sometimes I forget what it was like
reading through the books for the very first time
and like grappling with that question and curiosity.
Point is it's not really all that surprising at all
that Moody/Crouch who was actually a Death Eater
and barely even accepts the idea of death doesn't understand
how it worked.
That said though, Harry absolutely did block the curse
and therefore it is blockable
if the right things are in play for sacrificial love.
Now to be fair in that specific situation and circumstance,
there is the requirement
that someone does still need to die.
So there is that.
And those circumstances can be awful hard to drum up
if you're in a bind,
but this is why they say married couples make
really good auror partner teams.
Not going to lie.
I would watch the crap out of "CSI: Knockturn Alley."
Anyway, sacrificial love does work,
but you could also make the argument
that it is more of a countercurse than an actual block,
which Moody/Crouch also says that you can't do,
but obviously he's wrong.
But, so, then again, can you block it?
I think what Crouch is actually saying here is
that there is no way magically to block the curse,
meaning once the spell is out there in the air,
there is no other spell that you could produce
that would prevent it from hitting you.
Like using Protego, for example, just wouldn't work at all
because it's not a powerful enough countercurse
and Avada Kedavra would just cut straight through it.
But again, and there are some, even though they're rare,
exceptions to that rule as well
like for example, between Voldemort and Harry
as a result of the twin cores.
This is what we see in the graveyard of Little Hangleton
where Harry actually does successfully repel again
the Avada Kedavra curse with Expelliarmus.
This is again going beyond your typical magic
and is instead a result of the aforementioned twin cores.
In that case, if Harry had been using any other wand,
Cedric's wand that would have been maybe left on the ground,
then Avada Kedavra would have cut straight through
and he would have died.
Well, technically it actually wouldn't have
because Voldemort literally like just moments before used
Harry's blood to like bring himself back
which then anchors Harry to life
in the same way as kind of similar to a Horcrux,
but it's more of like a love crux,
but you get what I'm saying.
So the question becomes let's assume
you are not Harry Potter
and you are not carrying a wand
that has a matching twin core
to the person who is attacking you.
In that case, is there any way
that you could potentially possibly survive the curse?
Maybe because there are in fact actually
a couple of other examples
of the Avada Kedavra curse being blocked
and it doesn't have to do with Harry being Harry Potter
or someone else sacrificing themselves for him.
The interesting thing is
that all of those instances involve gold.
The best example is when we have Voldemort
and Dumbledore dueling with each other
at the Ministry of Magic.
Voldemort is firing killing curse after killing curse.
And instead of trying to dodge each of these attacks,
Dumbledore is instead summoning
pieces of the statue of the magical brethren in front of him
to block them.
That said, again, the results are kind of inconsistent.
The first time goes like this.
"The headless golden statue of the wizard
in the fountain had sprung alive,
leaping from its plinth and landed on the floor
with a crash between Harry and Voldemort.
The spell merely glanced off his chest
as the statue flung out its arms, protecting Harry."
Oh, did it, now?
(spell ricocheting)
Because the next thing he summons
to block the attack is the centaur.
Instead of just glancing off,
"This time it was the one-armed centaur galloping
in front of Dumbledore
that took the blast and shattered into a hundred pieces."
100 pieces!
Actually shockingly few because I'm imagining
like a rather large statue,
and a hundred seems like kind of minimal, you know.
Like, I'm thinking like thousands, not a hundred.
The multiplier's way off.
The point is in the first instance it's a glancing blow
and in the second it shatters into a hundred pieces.
Oh wait, and have I mentioned the security guard's desk yet?
I will.
"He sent another killing curse at Dumbledore but missed,
instead hitting the security guard's desk
which burst into flame."
That one's maybe less of a block
and I think Voldemort really just missed,
but I think we can all agree, that desk had it coming.
It really truly had been my least favorite desk
in all of Harry Potter.
We need like merch, just a desk that's on fire.
Everyone will get it. (chuckles)
Finally though, in the same battle
there's one last instance to talk about, Fawkes.
"Fawkes swooped down in front of Dumbledore,
opened his beak wide,
and swallowed the jet of green light whole.
He burst into flame and fell to the floor,
small, wrinkled, and flightless."
This is three separate instances in one battle
where Dumbledore is able to successfully block
the unblockable curse.
The mixed result with the two statues is probably
what intrigues me the most
because it seems like if you were to have
a shield made of solid gold,
then you'd have a 100% chance of blocking the spell
and about a 50% chance of still having a shield.
Now to be fair, gold is extremely dense and heavy.
It would make a very cumbersome shield,
but you know also magic.
I'm sure there's a way to make it lighter and more useful.
It can't be that hard.
Fawkes I think is the other kind of interesting one here
because as phoenix he is an immortal being,
and therefore these two things running into each other is
kind of like an unstoppable force running
into an immovable object.
Curse can't be stopped.
Fawkes can't be killed.
What happens? Fawkes lives.
Sure, he's a tiny little baby again,
but still, wouldn't that be
a weird like negotiation to make?
Like, I will not die if I can just restart as a baby.
Also, might I remind you that while Fawkes, mostly crimson,
also does have golden tailfeathers.
So the theme is still kind of in play.
And yet there is actually still another instance of gold
blocking this curse.
It happens in "The Deathly Hallows"
during the battle of the seven Potters.
Harry's wand shoots golden flames at Voldemort.
The scene starts with the incantation, "Avada."
"As the pain from Harry's scar forced his eyes shut,
his wand acted of its own accord.
He felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet,
saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed eyelids,
heard a crack and a scream of fury."
This one often goes unnoticed
just because of how much chaos is going on
during this scene,
but Harry's wand is reacting to Voldemort casting a spell.
And now to be clear,
no matter what spell Voldemort was casting there,
I believe Harry's wand would have responded the same way,
but in this particular instance
the spell that he is casting is the Avada Kedavra curse
and once again it is stifled.
And as we all know,
Lucius Malfoy's wand is completely destroyed in the process.
In this case though, I'm actually unsure
as to whether or not we call this a block
or a countercurse, but either way,
once again we have it being prevented from working
and once again, gold is involved.
Also once again, we have a phoenix at play,
and also, also, actually, actually,
it happens to once again be Fawkes
because that is the tailfeather inside of Harry's wand.
So then the question that we present to you is
what is it about gold that constantly makes this curse
stop in its tracks?
Could it possibly be a function of luck?
I mean after all, Felix Felicis is gold
and that could possibly even explain
why the wizard statue was not destroyed
but the centaur ultimately was.
One rolled a nat 20 while the other,
let's just say it was a two.
For clarity, a nat 20 is considered lucky, so...
Guess the analogy didn't fit.
Luck could play a role, but honestly I think
that this is a mystery yet to be solved.
We also know gold to be the answer
to other branches of magic as well.
Also, I'm not entirely sure
that we could put it past the Ministry
for the wizard statue to be made of solid gold
while the others are slightly skimped upon
and are just merely like gilded with gold
and like the interior is plaster.
Insufficient workmanship strikes again, and racism.
That was probably bigger.
What I mean though with gold is
that the ultimate goal of the study of alchemy is
to create the philosopher's stone
which can produce the elixir of life,
granting immortality and thus defeating death.
And yet what happens to be
the other notable property of the philosopher's stone?
Oh yeah, it turns metals to gold.
Use it on yourself, immortal.
Use it on metal, turns to gold.
Fawkes the Phoenix is immortal
and we see him defeat the curse,
and the stone turns things to gold
and gold can also survive the curse.
Do you see what I'm getting at here?
Like, immortality and gold
and surviving this curse all seem to kind of go
hand in hand in hand because it was three things.
That's three hands.
It's confusing 'cause, you know, but you get it.
But then there's even Harry himself.
Harry is constantly associated with the color gold.
He is the seeker on the Quidditch team
hunting the golden snitch.
He can produce golden flames from his wand.
When you make polyjuice potion out of him, it turns gold.
And even get this.
Do you know how to make the philosopher's stone here
out in the real world?
Well, first of all, you can't,
but people tried and the recipe for it is on
what is known as the Ripley Scroll
which details how you combine a red, white, and black stone,
add a little magic,
and voila, you have the philosopher's stone.
Red, black, and white, Rubeus, Sirius, and Albus,
Harry's three surrogate father figures
who helped forge the boy who survives death.
So do you want my advice?
You want to survive the killing curse?
Get yourself a shield made of gold.
At the very least, some golden underbritches
because there is something about gold
that makes such a big difference
when it comes to the unblockable curse.
I actually personally love this explanation,
especially if you look at the philosopher's stone
and its specific powers.
You have the elixir of life which is sure, great, amazing,
but if Nicholas Flamel is any kind of indication,
it seems to me that the eternal life portion of it has
a lot more to do with your body just never shutting down
than it does impervious to death.
Now, sweet Jacob would never do this of course,
but instead of shaking Nicholas Flamel's hand there,
if you were to have like, you know, punched him in the face,
I have a feeling it would not have gone well.
So that's where I think that
the philosopher's stone though has all of its bases covered
because with it, you can always have gold near to hand
meaning you always have the ability
to block the unblockable curse.
Guys, for my question of the day,
what do you think?
Does gold block the spell?
And if you were to constantly carry something gold
on your person in order to prevent the Avada Kedavra curse,
what would it be?
I'm sticking with the golden underbritches personally.
Also, what is your least favorite desk in the series?
Thoughts the towel section down below.
Look guys, as always, thanks so much for watching.
Be sure to like this video and subscribe to the channel
if you haven't already.
If you'd like more of an explanation about how Harry is
in fact the philosopher's stone
and that kind of Ripley Scroll,
we actually got to see it in person once upon a time,
you can check out this video right here.
But otherwise, until next time, bye.