Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. For today’s video, I’m going to
be discussing one of the unforgivable curses. More specifically, I’m going to be discussing
the avada kedavra and its properties. We know avada kedavra as the killing curse - the staple
spell of Lord Voldemort- and seemingly the go-to spell for dark witches and wizards intent
on putting an end to their enemies.
Avada kedavra is a truly sinister spell that is classed as ‘unforgivable’ by the ministry
of magic along with ‘crucio’ aka the cruciatus curse, and ‘imperio’ aka the imperius
curse. These three curses were classified as ‘unforgivable’ in the year 1717- when
the ministry of magic determined that they were entirely unsuitable to be freely used
in the wizarding world. At the same time, the ‘strictest penalties’ were put in
place and attached to their use. Before 1717, we can only assume that they were regarded
just like any other spell. And while we don’t have any information to support this, there
must have been some sort of catalyst that made the ministry realize how truly dangerous
these spells were. Ulick Gamp was the minister for magic at the time the spells were outlawed,
with just one year left in his term. Perhaps something happened, involving these spells,
that threatened his position. I can only imagine the chaos that something like the imperius
curse would cause in a government structure like that.
The most notorious of the unforgivable curses- Avada kedavra- has a simple purpose: it causes
the victim to instantly die. If you want to kill your victim, then this is the spell to
use. Upon uttering the incantation, the spell creates a blindingly intense green bolt of
light- and the victim simply drops dead. However, one thing that is never properly explained
is HOW avada kedavra actually kills people. Unlike many other spells, avada kedavra leaves
no trace at all - they just die. So, my question is- HOW do they die? What’s going on?
I’m going to start by taking a look at the chapter ‘The Riddle House’ from the Goblet
of Fire- the chapter that examines the murder of the Riddle family in Little Hangleton.
“The police had never read an odder report. 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. The doctors did note (as though determined
to find something wrong with the bodies) that each of the Riddles had a look of terror upon
his or her face - but as the frustrated police said, whoever heard of three people frightened
to death?”
What this excerpt confirms entirely is that the killing curse leaves no physical trace-
the Riddle family were undoubtedly killed with avada kedavra- but they didn’t have
so much as a scratch on them. They were just..dead- and it happened instantaneously. So-what is
the process? What does the spell do?
I know that some people have made the argument that the killing curse simply causes the organs
of the victim to stop working. Stopping the functions of certain organs, particularly
the heart-inducing a heart attack, would be a surefire way of killing someone. However,
IF this were true, then their deaths would have been a little bit more drawn out. Whatever
the killing curse does happens INSTANTLY- which is why the victims still have the ‘look
of terror’ on their face described by the police. Though it wasn’t something that
they could run with, the best way that police at the crime scene could describe their deaths
was that they appeared to be ‘frightened’ to death- but of course in the muggle world,
that isn’t possible.
So if it isn’t physical- then avada kedavra must have more of an ethereal effect. The
‘Soul’ is a common theme in Harry Potter- we see it with Voldemort, and we see it with
dementors. Leveraging his own soul, Voldemort tried to fragment it in order to achieve immortality-
and it resulted in his horcruxes-pieces of his soul that he embedded in to different
objects to stay alive. We also know that dementors suck the SOUL out of their victims- leaving
them in what seems to be an almost state of limbo- alive, but lifeless.
My theory is this- avada kedavra, similar to the way that a dementor sucks out the soul
of a living being, takes their soul from them. However, there are a few key differences here.
First of all, avada kedavra actually kills them, and dementors don’t kill people- they
just leave their victims with very little. I think the main difference here is just the
effectiveness in the way that the soul is taken from the body. When a dementor ‘kisses’
someone- their soul is slowly taken from them in a traumatic process- whereas with avada
kedavra- I believe that it happens instantaneously- as if it RIPPED from the body. I think that
if the soul is TRULY and ENTIRELY taken from the body- then you will die- it’s just that
dementors leave a bit of soul in their victims- just enough for them to suffer. It seems fitting
for a creature like a dementor to do something morbid like that- particularly as the loved
ones of those that have been kissed will now to witness a shell of the person they once
knew- thus creating more ‘sadness’ and ‘depression’ - the very environment in
which dementors thrive.
I think that the concept of horcruxes is enough to support the argument that the ‘soul’
is ultimately what keeps us alive- as even when Voldemort’s physical form is entirely
destroyed, a mere piece of his soul allows him to continue existing. I think that, at
least in Harry Potter, truly killing someone transcends physicality. Sure, if the container
of the ‘soul’ (our bodies) is destroyed, then that may mean there is nowhere else for
the soul to go, but, as Voldemort proved, so long as your soul is preserved in some
kind of physical object- then you will continue to live. In a weird way, killing someone with
avada kedavra is a much more humane way of ending their life than say, leaving them to
the dementors, as in one swift moment their life is over. It’s not dragged on, and though
it may be traumatic for say, an instant, they truly won’t suffer.
So, I’m of the impression that avada kedavra rips the soul out of the body. But the next
thing that I want to look at is- HOW? The following excerpt gives a good description
of the effects of avada kedavra after being cast.
"There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible
something was soaring through the air — instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked,
but unmistakably dead"
The part that sticks out to me from this passage is this idea of something ‘vast’ and ‘invisible’
soaring through the air- and I think that it connects with the notion of physicality
that I discussed earlier. Conventionally, when someone is killed- their physical form
is killed by physical means- i.e someone is stabbed or shot- and this causes their body
to effectively..’die’. This is what the muggle police were looking for. Given that
avada kedavra strips the body of the SOUL- suggesting a sort of ethereal connection,
I think that avada kedavra may actually have a form beyond the green light- it’s just
not something that can be witnessed on a physical level. Maybe it’s just not something that
can be seen until you’ve transcended the physical world. Maybe to dementors, ghosts
and ‘shades’ (like the ones Harry interacts with via the resurrection stone) - avada kedavra
looks entirely different. Getting really dark here- but perhaps Avada Kedavra summons the
dead- who come to take away your soul and bring it to the next level of existence. This
may explain why there is little understanding about the spell, seemingly even within the
wizarding community, and why victims of the spell appear to have been ‘frightened to
death’. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have spirits surging towards you
and stripping you of your soul.
Anyway, these are just some ideas that I had about perhaps the most discussed spell in
all of Harry Potter. It seems unusual that Voldemort’s go-to is never explained in
proper detail- but I do like that it leaves it open to interpretation. What do you guys
think of my theories? Let me know in the comment section below.
Until next time
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live