Amycus Carrow

"We can push it off on the kids. Yeah, that's what we'll do. We'll say Alecto was ambushed by the kids, them kids up there, and we'll say they forced her to press her Mark, and that's why he got a false alarm... He can punish them. Couple of kids more or less, what's the difference?"

- Amycus' selfishness and cowardice

Professor Amycus Carrow was a wizard, brother of Alecto Carrow and a Death Eater. Amycus fought in the First Wizarding War along with his sister. They did not search for Lord Voldemort after his first downfall but were forgiven after Voldemort's return in 1995 and joined the Death Eater ranks in the Second Wizarding War.

After the fall of the Ministry of Magic in 1997, Amycus was made Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. This class, which for all intents and purposes simply became "Dark Arts". His sister was stationed at Hogwarts as well. Alecto was the new Muggle Studies professor. He and his sister were also made Deputy Headmasters, serving under Headmaster Severus Snape. Amycus liked to cruelly punish and torture the students who opposed the new regime.

In the evening of 1 May, 1998, shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts, he was tortured by Harry Potter when he spat in Professor McGonagall's face. He was then Imperiused and tied up in Ravenclaw Tower by McGonagall herself. After the battle he was sent to Azkaban along with his sister, where presumably they carried out life-long sentences for their crimes.

Early life
Amycus Carrow was born sometime before 1981 into the Pure-blood or Half-blood Carrow family, somewhere in the British Isles. At some point before his instruction in the magical arts, he acquired a wand.

Given that he seemed to have been acquainted with Albus Dumbledore, it is possible he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in his youth.

First Wizarding War


Amycus and his sister supported Lord Voldemort, and became Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War. After Voldemort's downfall in 1981, they did not search for their master, believing that Voldemort was gone forever, and managed to avoid imprisonment in Azkaban.

Despite all this, the Carrows were among those who, after Voldemort's return, resumed their Death Eater activities. The two siblings were fairly active during the Second Wizarding War.

Rebirth of the Dark Lord
Amycus and his sister were, most likely, among the Death Eaters that were summoned by Lord Voldemort to the churchyard at Little Hangleton on 24 June, 1995, as their absence wasn't noted by Voldemort himself.

Battle of the Astronomy Tower


In the evening of 30 June, 1997, Amycus and his sister participated in the assault on Hogwarts Castle, orchestrated by Draco Malfoy, that resulted in the death of Albus Dumbledore. When the Death Eaters arrived at the top of the Astronomy Tower, where Dumbledore was trapped, Amycus tried to make fun of the Headmaster and turned suddenly violent when Dumbledore hypothesised that he, Amycus, might not reach his old age. When Severus Snape arrived at the scene, Amycus hurriedly said that Draco was not able to kill Dumbledore, and Snape cast the curse that ended the Headmaster's life.

On Snape's orders, he and his sister quickly left the Tower panting excitedly. On the corridors below, Amycus duelled Ginny Weasley, sending multiple Cruciatus Curses at her. Harry Potter shot an Impediment Jinx that made him slam into the opposite wall. Amycus and Alecto retreated after Snape with their arms over her head, under blasts by Minerva McGonagall. As brother and sister descended the Marble Staircase, Harry took a shortcut and arrived at the grounds before them.



As the two Death Eaters closed in after him, one of them cast a spell that sent Harry to the ground. Harry hit one of them, who stumbled and fell, tripping up the other, with another Impediment Jinx. The two siblings then ran to the gates, and Disapparated beyond the school boundaries.

That summer, the Carrows attended a Death Eater meeting at Malfoy Manor concerning plans to capture or kill Harry Potter and take over the Ministry of Magic.

Appointment at Hogwarts
"The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don't, though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do. Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defence Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to practise the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions —"

- Neville Longbottom regarding his recently acquired scars



On 1 August, 1997, the Death Eaters managed to stage a coup over the Ministry of Magic, thus gaining influence over all wizarding Britain. A month later, on 1 September, Amycus and Alecto were made Defence Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies, respectively, as well as Deputy Headmasters under newly appointed Headmaster Severus Snape.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts curriculum was changed so that it was now simply "Dark Arts". Amycus had his seventh-years practise the Cruciatus Curse on people who have had won detentions. His syllabus also apparently covered the usage of the Killing Curse and Fiendfyre.

As Deputy Headmasters, the Carrows were put in charge of all punishment. The members of faculty were obliged to report any rule-breaking student to them, although they did not if they could avoid it. Punishments given out by the Carrows included torture, via the Cruciatus Curse, as well as chaining students and corporal punishment in the form of beatings and slashes with knives.



Dumbledore's Army, led by Neville Longbottom, led the resistance against the Carrows. Amycus made a particularly deep gash in his cheek after he refused to use the Cruciatus Curse on students in detention. The group, now made illicit after the reenactment of the Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four, used to sneak into the corridors at night and put up graffiti on the walls with messages like "Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting". Michael Corner was caught releasing a first-year the Carrows had chained up, and was violently tortured.

Once the Carrows realised they had no hold over Neville, particularly after the Death Eaters' failed attempt to abduct his grandmother, they planned to kill him or send him to Azkaban. As the Carrows chased him, Neville chose the Room of Requirement as a hideout and the rest of the Dumbledore's Army soon followed his footsteps and moved into the room as the Carrows tried to hunt them down.

Overthrow
By the evening of 1 May, 1998, news of Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger's break-in of Gringotts Wizarding Bank reached the student body; Terry Boot was beaten up by the Carrows for yelling about it in the Great Hall over dinner.

That same day, as Lord Voldemort became aware that Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger were hunting down and destroying his Horcruxes, he instructed Amycus and Alecto that Harry might try to get into the Castle and Ravenclaw Tower. At the Carrows' urgent request Professor Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House, let Alecto into the common room, where she stood guard.

His sister was keeping watch when Harry arrived with Luna Lovegood. Alecto immediately touched her Dark Mark, letting Voldemort and all the Death Eaters know that they had got him. Alecto was immediately Stunned by Luna, but Amycus demanded Minerva McGonagall to let him into the Tower. Once inside, he saw his unconscious sister but no sign of Harry, as both he and Luna were hidden beneath his Invisibility Cloak. Aware that they were going to feel Voldemort's wrath if they did not hand him Harry, Amycus planned to pass it off on the students, and when Professor McGonagall objected calling Amycus a coward in the process, he spat in her face. This show of disrespect for both sentient life and McGonagall enraged Harry to the point of disregarding stealth and revealing himself, throwing a Cruciatus Curse at Amycus with such force that he slammed into the wall. Minerva McGonagall used a spell to conjure a net, and the siblings were tied up and hoisted into the air, where they were left dangling beneath the ceiling.

Post-war
Neither Amycus nor his sister fought in the Battle of Hogwarts as both of them were kept tied-up at Ravenclaw Tower and after the battle and the end of the Second Wizarding War Amycus was imprisoned in Azkaban for his crimes under Kingsley Shacklebolt's de-corrupted Ministry of Magic.

Physical appearance
Amycus Carrow was squat and lumpy, with a lopsided leer and a wheezy giggle, much like his sister. Hunched, he had a pallid, doughy face and tiny eyes. He also had a pig-like face. As a Death Eater, he bears the Dark Mark on his left inner forearm.

Personality and traits
Amycus was a sadistic man who enjoyed punishing and torturing students, ordering them to perform the Cruciatus Curse on students given detention. He was also a coward, as he planned to blame the Ravenclaw students for allegedly forcing Alecto to press her Dark Mark so that they would be punished by Voldemort instead of himself and his sister. He was also arrogant as he demanded that McGonagall would support him. He was rude and offensive, banging hard on the door to Ravenclaw Tower when he failed to solve the riddle to open it, putting his face close to Minerva to command her support and ended up spitting in her face. He was also hot-tempered, responding with violence without warning. Amycus does not seem to be very bright as he was unable to answer the riddle to get into Ravenclaw Tower when asked by the eagle knocker on the door or give a reason why Harry Potter would go into Ravenclaw Tower when he was of Gryffindor House, when asked by Minerva McGonagall.

Magical abilities and skills

 * Dark Arts: Amycus had mastered the Dark Arts as he was a Death Eater. He could cast the Cruciatus Curse effectively and, apparently, the Killing Curse and could summon Fiendfyre. He was skilled enough to teach students in curses and was placed as a teacher of the Dark Arts class.
 * Duellist: Amycus was skilled in duelling as he seemed too much for Ginny Weasley to overpower during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower.  Although, he was unable to stand up to more powerful duelists such as Minerva McGonagall, as both he and his sister retreated with their arms covering their heads as she sent blast after blast after them.
 * Teaching Skills: Amycus taught the Dark Arts to students during his time as a Professor at Hogwarts. He did have some noticeable skill in teaching, particularly to receptive students such as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, according to Neville Longbottom they loved the class and it was they only subject in which they'd ever shown any talent. It is known that Amycus was a talented enough to teach students to successfully perform both the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse. However, Amycus's skill in teaching is most definitely questionable, although he was able to teach students how to perform complex dark magic such as summoning Fiendfyre, he neglected to inform them of how to end the spell. This is how Crabbe met his death, when he tried to use Fiendfyre against Harry, Ron and Hermione during the Skirmish in the Room of Requirement. Although, Crabbe was able to successfully summon Fiendfyre, he could neither control or stop the curse and as a result fell victim to his own flames. If Amycus had been thorough enough in his teachings of the curse, things may have turned out quite differently. This would also mean that Amycus was inadvertently responsible for the destruction of Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem which was one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. This would mean that by extension Amycus played a part in his master's downfall by teaching a curse that would destroy a Horcrux.

Amycus

 * In Greek mythology, Amycus was the son of the sea god, Poseidon, and the nymph, Melia. He was a boxer as well as a soldier in the Trojan War.
 * "Amycus" is also genus of South American spiders.
 * "Amycus" may come from the Latin "amicus", meaning "friend" (however this is ironic, as Amycus is obviously not a 'friend' to the cause of good).

Carrow

 * In English, the word; "Carrow", can refer to two places. "Carrow" in Norfolk, or "Carraw" in Northumberland. The first is assumed to have its name derived from the Old English word "carr", meaning "rock", and a word of Celtic origin; "hoh", meaning "spur of a hill". While the second appears to have been named either after the plural of the Old English word "carr", or after a mixture of a form of "carr", and another Old English word; "raw", meaning "row".


 * It is also possible, that the surname was originally a shortened version of the Cornish surname; "Nancarrow".

Behind the scenes

 * Amycus Carrow is played by Ralph Ineson in and in  and Part 2.
 * Amycus's role in the films is significantly smaller than in the books: in, all of Amycus's lines were given to Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback; in the first part of the film adaptation of , he was only seen in the Meeting at Malfoy Manor; and in the second part of the film adaptation he is only seen during the ousting of Severus Snape in the Great Hall, in which he is defeated as Severus Snape deflects two fire-creating spells cast by Minerva McGonagall during their duel and they hit Amycus and his sister, probably intentionally.
 * In the second part of the video game adaptation of, Amycus and his sister appear as bosses in the Great Hall shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts.
 * In Deathly Hallows Part 2, Amycus is said to have instructed his students to practise the Cruciatus Curse on first-years.

Notes and references
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