Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’re going to be discussing Albus Dumbledore and the curse with which he was
afflicted.
Albus Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard of his era.
And the sudden, tragic news of his death sent shockwaves throughout Britain.
But while many mourned, others rejoiced.
With Dumbledore out of the picture, Voldemort and his Death Eaters had removed the single,
largest obstacle in their rise to power.
And even though Severus Snape might have cast the final spell that killed the much beloved
headmaster of Hogwarts, it was Lord Voldemort’s curse that truly murdered him.
So you might be curious…
what exactly did Voldemort do to Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, in order to have such a lethal effect?
We’ll uncover that mystery, and more, in today’s video.
Marvolo Gaunt’s Ring
As we’ve already mentioned, there was much more to Dumbledore’s death than the final
curse that Severus Snape cast during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower.
Months before that conflict, Albus Dumbledore had tracked down one of Voldemort’s horcruxes:
a small ring crowned with a strange, dark stone.
The ring wasn't just another personal item of Tom Riddle’s… like the diary that Harry
destroyed in the Chamber of Secrets.
No… this ring actually contained one of the Deathly Hallows.
The dark stone that rested within was none other than the Resurrection Stone, an ancient
magical relic that had the power to summon spirits back from the dead.
When Voldemort had stolen the ring from his uncle, Morfin Gaunt, he presumed it was just
an heirloom passed from generation to generation within the Gaunt household.
And even though Voldemort was technically part of the Gaunt family, he had been born
out of wedlock… and to a muggle father, no less.
His theft of the ring, despite whatever complex emotions urged him, wasn’t motivated by
a desire for the resurrection stone.
But even if Voldemort knew that the ring contained such a powerful Hallow, he might not have
changed his decision.
Because, in the end, it was the allure of the Resurrection Stone that prompted Dumbledore
to slide the ring onto his finger, and receive Voldemort’s lethal curse.
When Albus saw the distinct markings on the stone, he realized that it was one of the
three Deathly Hallows.
And although possessing the Elder Wand might have been nice, Dumbledore would have traded
all of that power for one last chance to see his sister, Ariana, again.
And in that brief moment, when his eyes first met the stone, Albus completely forgot the
dark charms with which Voldemort had cursed his Horcruxes.
Effects on Dumbledore
In the end, the price for Dumbledore’s momentary lapse in judgment was death.
Voldemort had placed a complex curse on Marvolo Gaunt’s ring… one that would kill any
wizard who dare try it on.
Had Dumbledore been a lesser wizard, the curse would have stopped his heart on the spot.
But with the help of Severus Snape, the curse was confined to a single hand… granting
the headmaster a year-or-so to live, until death would finally take him.
When you look at the immediate aftermath of the curse, you might have thought it was a
slow-acting killing charm.
Many readers have misunderstood the effects of the curse, and believed that it took far
longer to murder its victims, than it actually did.
But, as we’ve already explained, Albus’s situation was unique… and it took every
ounce of Professor Snape’s experience to halt the progression of the curse.
And even that would only last for a few months.
How Exactly Was the Spell Made
By now, you might be wondering… how exactly did Voldemort create such a horrifying curse?
Well, the answer to that question is pretty complex.
Although J.K.
Rowling has given us hundreds of spells and charms, and a long list of spellcrafters to
go along with them; she never actually explains how they’re created.
In fact, spellcraft is one of the most mysterious parts of Harry Potter lore.
If we compare it to another magical discipline, like concocting potions, making spells is
the most advanced discipline that a wizard can aspire to.
With a simple search through one of the books on Professor Slughorn’s wall, you can find
a full list of ingredients, and a step by step procedure, for any number of potions.
But spellcraft was different.
The Dangers of New Spells
Actually, one of the only things we know about creating new spells, is just how dangerous
it was.
All we have to do is look at the tale of poor Luna Lovegood’s mother, Pandora Lovegood,
to see how true this was.
While Luna was still a young girl, Pandora tried her hand at creating a new spell.
We’ll never know what Luna’s mother was trying to achieve with the new charm, as no
written records of the spell’s origins survived.
But at some point, while trying to bring her magical goal to life, the spell backfired.
In a horrible storm of magic, Pandora’s body was mutilated, and she died on the spot….
Leaving Luna motherless in the process.
What We Do Know
Although J.K.
Rowling hasn't written much about the creation of spells and curses, we can make a few general
assumptions based on Harry Potter’s classes at Hogwarts throughout the years.
In general, beginner students needed three or four basic components to effectively pull-off
a spell: drawing a pattern with their wand, reciting an incantation, their own innate
magical abilities, and, perhaps, other body movements…
like whipping the wand with their arm at the final moment.
But these requirements were strictly for beginners.
The more powerful the wizard, the fewer external tools they required.
Albus Dumbeldore and Lord Voldemort, in particular, were highly skilled at nonverbal and wandless
magic.
With only his incredible skill, and magical abilities, Voldemort likely was able to create
the curse on Marvolo Gaunt’s ring without harming himself, unlike other witches and
wizards, like Pandora Lovegood.
Although curses were capable of lying dormant in physical objects, and attacking their victims
upon physical contact, it’s interesting to note that Voldemort didn’t seem to use
a version of the Killing Curse on the ring… instead, he opted for a different, custom
curse that ultimately resulted in murder.
What Did Other Unique Curses Look Like?
To be honest, Voldemort’s method for creating the curse on Marvolo Gaunt’s ring might
be a little too esoteric to be satisfying.
Unlike the swelling solution…which was a potion with straightforward ingredients like
dried nettles and puffer-fish eyes…
Voldemort's dark magic probably involved a lot more intangibles.
But, at least, we can look at other custom curses that arose during the 20th century,
to see what curse-craft could create.
At one point in the 90’s, a dark wizard placed a curse on a CD case.
If you so much as placed a single finger on the square, plastic container, you would burst
out in a fit of laughter.
But it wasn’t simply a pleasant chuckle… the laughing would continue forever.
Another cursed relic, an opal necklace from Borgin and Burkes, came to notoriety in the
90’s as well.
The curse placed upon it caused its victim to levitate into the air, and die in horrific
fashion.
Even those that didn’t wear the necklace, and merely touched it with their bareskin,
could be killed.
Voldemort, himself, was responsible for countless curses throughout the century.
It was reported that he had cast a curse upon the office of Defense Against the Dark Arts
at Hogwarts.
So long as Voldemort lived, whoever taught the subject at Hogwarts, was destined to die,
or lose his place, after only a year of work.
How Could the Curse Be Broken
Now, if you ever became the victim of a curse, the first thought on your mind might be…
how do I cure it?
Thankfully, plenty of curses have easy to find remedies.
And even the most extreme curses, could be undone if the creator was killed.
But in Dumbledore’s case, the curse upon Marvolo Gaunt’s ring was particularly vile.
Even after Severus Snape spent weeks studying it, the wizards failed to find a cure.
The best they could hope to do was slow the curse’s spread.
However, since the curse was designed to protect one of Voldemort’s horcruxes, Dumbledore
was able to get some good from the situation.
Using the sword of Godric Gryffindor, which was armed with the venom of the Chamber of
Secrets’ Basilisk, the headmaster hacked at the ring… destroying the horcrux in the
process.
Conclusion
When we look back at the curse of Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, for a final time, we’ll
find all the familiar cruelty that made Voldemort such a successful dark wizard.
The curse had a simple purpose: it was designed to take the life of whoever wore its anchor.
And the anchor itself wasn’t just a valuable treasure trove, or a secret text.
It was a horcrux, an act of dark magic that was even too vile for some of the most famous
dark wizards in history.
But, In the end, Voldemort’s magic proved to be too strong for even the combined strength
of Dumbledore and Snape to overcome.
With his death looming on the horizon, Dumbledore decided to find some use for his death, and
asked Snape to kill him, and draw himself closer to Voldemort.
And that’s it for this video!
What do you guys think?
Could Dumbledore have survived if he had held on until Voldemort was dead?
Do YOU know what this curse is?
Leave a comment down below.
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live