Killing Curse

• Incantation: Avada Kedavra
• Pronunciation: uh-VAH-dah kuh-DAH-vrah
• Wand Movement: Not described in the novels.
• Light: A blinding jet or flash of green light.
• Effect: Causes instantaneous and painless death. It leaves no physical marks on the victim's body, and coroners are unable to find a cause of death.
• Type: Curse, Dark Magic, one of the three Unforgivable Curses.

The Killing Curse is one of the most powerful and sinister spells known to wizardkind. Its use against another human being is illegal under Ministry of Magic law and is punishable by a life sentence in Azkaban. During the First Wizarding War, the Ministry of Magic did grant Aurors permission to use it against Death Eaters. The curse requires immense magical power and a genuine desire to commit murder to be cast effectively. It is the signature spell of Lord Voldemort, who used it to murder countless victims, including:

• The Riddle family in 1943.
• James Potter and Lily Potter on 31 October 1981. His attempt to kill the infant Harry Potter backfired due to Lily Potter's sacrificial protection, destroying Voldemort's body and leaving Harry with his lightning-bolt scar.
• Frank Bryce, the Riddle family's Muggle gardener, in 1994.
• Bertha Jorkins in the summer of 1994, an act used to create his Nagini Horcrux.
• Cedric Diggory, who was murdered by Peter Pettigrew on Lord Voldemort's command in the Little Hangleton graveyard in 1995.
• Alastor Moody, who was killed by Voldemort during the Battle of the Seven Potters in 1997.
• Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts, in 1997.
• Gellert Grindelwald in his cell at Nurmengard in 1998.
• Harry Potter in the Forbidden Forest in 1998; however, the curse only destroyed the fragment of Voldemort's soul residing within Harry, not Harry himself.

Other known uses and users include:

• Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Alastor Moody, demonstrated the curse on a spider during a Defence Against the Dark Arts class in 1994.
• Severus Snape used the curse to kill Albus Dumbledore atop the Astronomy Tower in 1997, though this was done at Dumbledore's own request.
• Bellatrix Lestrange used the curse to kill a fox that was approaching Spinner's End in 1996.
• During the Battle of Hogwarts, the curse was used widely by Death Eaters. Vincent Crabbe attempted to cast it at Hermione Granger in the Room of Requirement but was unsuccessful.

The final confrontation between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort ended when Voldemort's Killing Curse rebounded upon him, as the Elder Wand he was using would not kill its true master, Harry.

Learning to cast the Killing Curse is exceptionally difficult. As explained by Barty Crouch Jr. (as Alastor Moody), the caster must possess a significant amount of magical power and have a true, deep-seated desire to kill. Simply saying the words is not enough to produce the curse's lethal effect. There is no known counter-spell for the Killing Curse, and it cannot be blocked by standard shielding charms like Protego. However, there are a few known ways to survive it:

• Sacrificial Protection: This is an extremely rare and powerful form of ancient magic. It is created when a person willingly sacrifices their own life out of love to save another. This is how Lily Potter's love saved the infant Harry Potter, causing the curse to rebound upon Lord Voldemort.
• Physical Interception: The curse can be blocked by a solid physical object. Albus Dumbledore animated statues in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic to intercept Killing Curses from Lord Voldemort during their duel.
• Priori Incantatem: When two wands with twin cores duel, one can force the other to disgorge the spells it has recently performed. This occurred between Harry and Voldemort's wands, forcing an echo of Voldemort's victims, including Cedric Diggory, Frank Bryce, Bertha Jorkins, and James and Lily Potter, to emerge from his wand.
• Horcruxes: A wizard who has created one or more Horcruxes cannot truly die. If their body is struck by a Killing Curse, their soul will remain tethered to the mortal plane, though their body will be destroyed. This is how Lord Voldemort survived his first downfall.
• Mastery of the Elder Wand: The Elder Wand will not kill its true master. When Lord Voldemort tried to use the curse on Harry Potter, the wand's true master, the spell rebounded and killed Voldemort instead.

J.K. Rowling has explained that the incantation, Avada Kedavra, is an ancient spell in Aramaic. It is derived from the original “abracadabra,” which meant “let the thing be destroyed.” She stated she adapted it to mean “let the thing be destroyed” in reference to the person in front of the caster. (J.K. Rowling interview)

• In the film adaptations, the curse is often accompanied by a loud, rushing sound, and the green light sometimes takes on a skull-like form at the point of impact. (film)
• A common misconception, arising from the film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, is that Bellatrix Lestrange killed Sirius Black with the Killing Curse. In the novel, she hits him with a jet of red light (likely a Stunning Spell), which causes him to fall backward through the enchanted Veil. In the film, she is explicitly shown casting Avada Kedavra. (film)