Hey everyone,
Welcome to another instalment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’ll be discussing the history of one of the most infamous spells known to the
wizarding world—the Cruciatus Curse and its incantation “crucio”.
For those of you who may not know, the Cruciatus Curse is one of three of the wizarding world’s
most formidable spells, which have come to be known as the “Unforgivable Curses”.
Alongside the Cruciatus Curse, this trio of Unforgivable Curses is made up of the Killing
Curse and the Imperius Curse, with the the most fatal curse—and therefore likely the
most well known—being the Killing Curse, which is also known by its incantation, “Avada
Kedavra”.
Outside of the Unforgivable Curses, ”Avada Kedavra” may also be the most well-known
spell in the entire Harry Potter universe due to its horrifyingly memorable usage throughout
the series.
After all, this is the incantation used by Lord Voldemort to murder Harry’s parents,
James and Lily Potter.
It’s also the spell used in the Dark Lord’s attempt to kill Harry himself—not once,
but twice—the first of these failed murder attempts occuring when the Killing Curse infamously
bounced back at Voldemort, resulting in the demise of his first reign of power in the
1970s and early 80s.
The Avada Kedavra Curse once again went awry when Voldemort tried to kill Harry with it
during the Battle of Hogwarts almost two decades later.
The Imperius Curse, on the other hand, is arguably the least dark and ominous spell
of the three.
Cast by uttering the incantation “imperio", this curse is used to essentially possess
another person and control their actions.
So, while certainly not a GOOD spell, it doesn’t cause physical harm in the same way the other
two do—which I guess makes it less terrifying, and therefore less memorable.
This, of course, brings us to the third and final spell of the Unforgivable Curses, and
the one that we’ll be focusing on today—the Cruciatus Curse.
Also known as simply the Torture Curse, the Cruciatus Curse is used by saying the word
“crucio”.
Within the wizarding world it has a reputation as one of the darkest spells, as it causes
unimaginable pain to its victim.
In fact, the suffering endured at the hand of this curse is so intense and powerful that
it typically results in the victim becoming permanently afflicted mentally or physically
if they are subjected to it for prolonged periods of time.
With the primary usage of the Cruciatus Curse in mind, the etymology of both the name of
the curse itself, as well as the incantation for the spell, make complete sense.
For “Cruciatus” and “crucio” are both derived from Latin words, with “cruciare”
meaning “to torture” and “crucio” translating to “I torture”.
If I may be so bold, there’s certainly no hidden meaning behind any of that…
But where did the Cruciatus Curse come from?
Who created it—and more importantly, why?
From what we know, the curse was developed in the early Middle Ages by witches and wizards
who were involved in the Dark Arts.
It was initially designed for the same usage as in modern times—to torture others—which
aligns well with the common practice of torture that was performed by Muggles during Medieval
times.
It’s also been noted that some witches and wizards made use of the Cruciatus Curse during
duels to give them a competitive edge.
From an exchange between Bellatrix Lestrange and Harry Potter during the Battle of the
Department of Mysteries, we know that in order to work properly, the curse must be cast with
a deep desire to cause harm to the victim and that the caster must also derive a sense
of pleasure from inflicting pain on another person.
This becomes evident after Harry tries to cast the curse at Bellatrix, and the effects
wear off almost instantly.
Bellatrix then cries at Harry, "Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?
You need to mean them, Potter!
You need to really want to cause pain—to enjoy it—righteous anger won't hurt me for
long—I'll show you how it is done, shall I?"
Despite its dark and despicable nature, the curse was quite popular for many hundreds
of years within the wizarding world, until its eventual ban in the 18th century.
With the development of the official governing body, The British Ministry of Magic, the Cruciatus
Curse, along with the Killing Curse and the Imperius Curse were dubbed the Unforgivable
Curses and made illegal in the year 1717.
The three curses were legalised again throughout the years but only during times of war and
extreme conflict.
During Voldemort’s first rise to power, the head of the Department of Magical Law
Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch Senior, lifted the ban on the curses in an effort to level
the playing field for the Ministry’s Aurors against the Dark Lord’s Death Eaters who
had little issue with breaking the law to use the Unforgivable Curses in the name of
Voldemort.
And it was during Voldemort’s second rise to power in the 1990s that the three curses
were once again legalised, this time by the Dark Lord himself after he overtook the Ministry
of Magic.
As I’m sure you’ve realised, the majority of those who cast the Cruciatus Curse are
dark witches and wizards, most notably Voldemort and his Death Eaters—at least in recent
history.
Typically, the curse is performed on people, of both magical and Muggle descent—but,
that said, it CAN be cast onto any living creature, like we see in The Goblet of Fire
when the fake Mad Eye Moody demonstrates the curse on a spider.
Due to the criminal intent most of the witches and wizards have who utilised the Cruciatus
Curse—not to mention the extreme harm it causes to its victims, it likely comes as
no surprise that casting this spell is punishable by life imprisonment.
If caught using this or either of the other two Unforgivable Curses, the witch or wizard
who casts it would be promptly arrested and sent to the magical prison of Azkaban to live
out the remainder of their life.
Outside of the years that the Cruciatus Curse was legalised, the only way to avoid imprisonment
was if a witch or wizard who cast this spell could provide enough evidence to suggest that
they were under the influence of the Imperius Curse at the time of casting “crucio”.
When it comes to defending against this heinous curse, there’s little the intended victim
can do once the caster of the spell has uttered the incantation.
In fact, there is no known spell that can properly defend against it.
The only way one can actually avoid the effects of the Cruciatus Curse after it has been cast
is to physically avoid or evade the spell.
A witch or wizard could also avoid the effects of the curse by simply interrupting the caster
before they finish saying “crucio”, as Severus Snape did to Harry in The Half-blood
Prince.
In addition to Harry’s attempt to use the Cruciatus Curse on Professor Snape after the
tragic death of Albus Dumbledore, this Unforgivable Curse actually shows up quite frequently after
its introduction in The Goblet of Fire.
As mentioned, we first learn about this and the other two curses in a Mad-Eye-Moody imposter’s
Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
We then learn about one of the most infamous cases to take place in the last century involving
the Cruciatus Curse, which targeted the parents of Neville Longbottom, Harry’s friend and
Hogwarts’ classmate.
Soon after the fake Moody teaches the class about this curse, Professor Dumbledore shares
with Harry that Frank and Alice Longbottom were tortured to the point of insanity after
being interrogated with the Cruciatus Curse by Death Eaters who were searching for Voldemort
after he lost his powers in 1981.
Tragically, the Longbottoms never recovered and were ultimately moved to St. Mungo's Hospital
for Magical Maladies and Injuries to live out their lives there, since they could no
longer care for themselves or their son, Neville.
Of course, Harry later experiences the effects of the Cruciatus Curse firsthand at the wand
of Voldemort himself during the Dark Lord’s rebirth in the Little Hangleton graveyard.
"It was pain beyond anything Harry had ever experienced; his very bones were on fire;
his head was surely splitting along his scar...he wanted it to end...to black out...to die."
The Unforgivable Curses were then openly practised and performed on students at Hogwarts during
the Second Wizarding War.
These lessons were led by Professor Amycus Carrow, in which students were not only taught
the curse but required to practise it on one another.
In that same year, Bellatrix Lestrange also performed the Cruciatus Curse on Hermione
Granger during her interrogation at Malfoy Manor.
Within the wider wizarding world, we’ve also seen much use of this Unforgivable Curse,
with Gellert Grindalwald using it on Muggle Jacob Kowalski in the Fantastic Beasts series—not
to mention the entire backstory revolving around the Cruciatus Curse in the newly released
video game Hogwarts Legacy.
And, with that, we’ve come to the end of another video!
What did you think?
Did I miss anything of great importance on the history of “crucio” and the Cruciatus
Curse?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
And, as always, if you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to like it and subscribe to
the channel!
Until next time…remember
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."