The Carrow Family

The Carrow family is a wizarding family, strongly implied to be Pure-blood, known for producing at least two notorious Death Eaters: the siblings Alecto Carrow and Amycus Carrow. They were fanatical followers of Lord Voldemort and played a significant role during the Second Wizarding War. Their primary contribution to Voldemort's cause was their tyrannical tenure as professors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during the 1997-1998 school year, where they imposed a regime of fear and taught the Dark Arts to students.

The only known members of the family are the brother and sister duo who served Lord Voldemort.

• Alecto Carrow
  • A stocky witch with a hunched posture and a lumpy, pasty face. She was appointed Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts following Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry of Magic. Her curriculum was twisted into anti-Muggle propaganda, teaching students that Muggles were like animals and that wizards were naturally superior. She enjoyed punishing and torturing students alongside her brother. During the Battle of Hogwarts, she was sent to the Ravenclaw Tower to guard it against Harry Potter. Upon discovering him, she touched her Dark Mark to summon Voldemort but was immediately stunned by Luna Lovegood.
• Amycus Carrow
  • A squat, piggish-looking wizard with a lumpy face similar to his sister's and a distinctive wheezing laugh. Lord Voldemort appointed Amycus as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, though he renamed the subject simply “Dark Arts”. He taught students how to perform curses, and discipline frequently involved practicing the Cruciatus Curse on students in detention. After finding Alecto stunned in the Ravenclaw common room, he spat in Professor Minerva McGonagall's face, enraging Harry Potter to the point that Harry successfully cast the Cruciatus Curse on him. He was subsequently bound and incapacitated by Professor McGonagall.

The Carrows were among the Death Eaters who participated in the infiltration of Hogwarts on the night of Albus Dumbledore's death. Though they did not ascend the Astronomy Tower themselves, their presence was used by Draco Malfoy as evidence of the threat to his family if he failed his mission. Their most prominent role came after Lord Voldemort seized control of the wizarding world in 1997. They were installed at Hogwarts as teachers under Headmaster Severus Snape. Functioning as Deputy Headmasters in all but name, they were responsible for all discipline, which they administered with sadistic glee. Their cruelty towards students who opposed the new regime was a primary catalyst for the reformation of Dumbledore's Army, led by Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood. During the Battle of Hogwarts, the Carrows were tasked with guarding the Ravenclaw common room. Their swift defeat and capture by Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter, and Minerva McGonagall marked one of the first significant victories for the defenders of Hogwarts during the battle. Their ultimate fate after Voldemort's fall is unknown, but it is presumed they were sent to Azkaban.

• Carrow: The surname may derive from “carrion,” the decaying flesh of dead animals, which fits their nature as Death Eaters who serve a master obsessed with conquering death. It could also be a reference to Carrow, a region in Cornwall, a county with rich folklore in the UK.
• Alecto: Her name comes from Greek mythology. Alecto (Ἀληκτώ, “the unceasing in anger”) was one of the three Furies, or Erinyes, goddesses of vengeance.
• Amycus: His name is also from Greek mythology. Amycus was a brutish, mythical king of the Bebryces who challenged all foreigners to a boxing match he would invariably win, killing them. He was eventually defeated and killed by the Argonaut Polydeuces. The name reflects his thuggish and bullying personality.

• In the film adaptations, Alecto Carrow is portrayed by Suzie Toase and Amycus Carrow is portrayed by Ralph Ineson.
• The film depiction of their defeat differs from the novel. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the Carrows confront Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood in the Ravenclaw common room (film). After Amycus threatens Luna, Harry uses the Cruciatus Curse on him, and Luna subsequently petrifies Alecto. The confrontation with Professor McGonagall occurs separately and does not involve the Carrows (film).
• While never explicitly stated in the books, the Carrows are presumed to be a Pure-blood family, given their prejudiced ideology and their high rank within the Death Eater organization, which was dominated by those who believed in blood purity.