Antonin Dolohov

"There was Antonin Dolohov. I — I saw him torture countless Muggles and — and non-supporters of the Dark Lord."

- Council of Magical Law interrogation of Igor Karkaroff

Antonin Dolohov was a wizard and one of the original Death Eaters of Lord Voldemort. He fought in the First Wizarding War, during which he tortured many Muggles, and wizards and witches who were not supporters of the Dark Lord. Along with four other Death Eaters he participated in the murders of Fabian and Gideon Prewett. Dolohov was caught, convicted of these crimes, and sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban.

He escaped after Voldemort's return and the start of the Second Wizarding War, in the mass break-out of 1996, and participated in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, where he was re-captured and incarcerated. By the summer of 1997, Dolohov was at large again. He and Thorfinn Rowle attacked Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley at Tottenham Court Road, but they were defeated and his memory was wiped. In 1998, Dolohov fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, during which he murdered Remus Lupin. At the climax of the battle, he engaged Filius Flitwick in a duel, and was defeated.

First Wizarding War
"Then if I were to go to the Hog's Head tonight, I would not find a group of them — Nott, Rosier, Mulciber, Dolohov — awaiting your return? Devoted friends indeed, to travel this far with you on a snowy night, merely to wish you luck as you attempt to secure a teaching post."

- Albus Dumbledore talking to Tom Riddle about the latter's followers Antonin Dolohov was one of the early followers of Tom Riddle and served him even before his master began open hostilities against the rest of the wizarding world. He was among the Death Eaters who travelled to Hogsmeade, along with Nott, Rosier, and Mulciber, when Voldemort attempted to take the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts, ostensibly to "wish him luck".

According to Igor Karkaroff, Dolohov tortured many Muggles and non-supporters of Lord Voldemort during the First Wizarding War. He murdered Fabian and Gideon Prewett, the brothers of Molly Weasley. He was not the only participant in the act, though, since "Mad-Eye" Moody informed Harry Potter years later that it took five Death Eaters to kill the two wizards, whose murders were described as "brutal."

Imprisonment


After the fall of Voldemort in 1981, Dolohov was captured and sent to Azkaban prison for his crimes. His was the first name Death Eater Igor Karkaroff turned over to the Council of Magical Law in an attempt to get himself freed from Azkaban, only to be informed that Dolohov had been captured around the same time as him. Dolohov then spent the next 14 years in his maximum security cell surrounded by Dementors. His cell was close to that of Bellatrix Lestrange's.

Second Wizarding War
Early in 1996, Dolohov, along with the Lestranges and several other Death Eater convicts, escaped Azkaban and rejoined Voldemort. It was speculated in the Daily Prophet that the escape was aided by Sirius Black, but that was refuted in the aftermath of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.

Battle of the Department of Mysteries
"[...] the Death Eater had ripped off his mask and was pointing his wand directly at Harry, who recognised the long, pale, twisted face from the Daily Prophet: Antonin Dolohov, the wizard who had murdered the Prewetts."

- Description of Dolohov's confrontation with Harry Potter

On 18 June, 1996 Lord Voldemort lured Harry Potter to the Ministry of Magic precipitating the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. During the battle, Dolohov was paired with Jugson as the Death Eaters searched for the five students who had come to the Ministry with Harry Potter. They tracked Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom to a room off the Time Chamber, hitting the three of them with Impediment Jinxes. When Dolohov began to alert the other Death Eaters as to their location, Hermione silenced him to prevent it. He retaliated with an unnamed curse which, despite being weaker than normal, because it was cast non-verbally, severely injured Hermione. With a kick, Dolohov broke Neville's wand and nose and then cornered Harry, wordlessly threatening him. However, he was momentarily distracted, giving Harry the chance to Body-Bind him.

Before several Order of the Phoenix members arrived, Dolohov recovered, and he was able to defeat Alastor Moody in a duel. He then attacked Harry with the same spell he used on Hermione, but most of the harm was blocked by Harry's Shield Charm. He tried to use it again when duelling with Sirius Black, but was incapacitated by Harry before he could follow through.

Presumably, Dolohov was captured in the aftermath of the battle by Aurors and returned to Azkaban.

Death Eater plans


By the summer of 1997, Dolohov was again at large following another Azkaban break-out. He attended the Death Eater meeting at Malfoy Manor that summer and was seated between Yaxley and Severus Snape. He was also impressed when Yaxley announced that he had placed Pius Thicknesse, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, under the Imperius Curse. He along with other Death Eaters, laughed when Voldemort insulted Bellatrix Lestrange and the Malfoy family, regarding Nymphadora Tonks marrying werewolf Remus Lupin.

Luchino Caffe Duel
"More, Rowle, or shall we end it and feed you to Nagini? Lord Voldemort is not sure that he will forgive this time... You called me back for this, to tell me that Harry Potter has escaped again? Draco, give Rowle another taste of our displeasure... Do it, or feel my wrath yourself!"

- Lord Voldemort punishing Rowle after he failed to capture Harry Potter



Shortly after the Death Eaters took over the Ministry of Magic and placed the Taboo curse on Voldemort's name, Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle tracked the trio to a café on Tottenham Court Road. During the skirmish that ensued, Dolohov bound Ron Weasley with conjured ropes and slammed an invisible Harry Potter into a wall with Expulso, but just before Harry dropped his wand, Hermione Granger hit Dolohov with a Full Body-Bind Curse. Dolohov's and Rowle's memories were then modified by Hermione shortly after.



This spell seemed to work well enough at the time, but it actually had not been very effective, as the three friends found out later when Harry had a vision of Lord Voldemort torturing Rowle; it is implied that Rowle at least, and perhaps both of them, were being punished for their failure (and possibly also for summoning Voldemort unnecessarily when he was occupied with his search for the Elder Wand) by being subjected to the Cruciatus Curse. Dolohov may have been among the Death Eaters assigned to keep an eye out for 12 Grimmauld Place, former headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix and temporary hide-out for Harry, Ron and Hermione, as one of the Death Eaters mentioned watching the gap between houses 11 and 13 on the first of September was "the man with the twisted face", a characteristic often used to identify Dolohov. The Death Eaters were able to find out Harry, Ron and Hermione's location because Lord Voldemort's name was Tabooed.

Battle of Hogwarts
During the Battle of Hogwarts on 2 May, 1998, Dolohov was seen fighting against Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil; Parvati shot a Full Body-Bind Curse at him in defence of Dean. Dolohov also murdered Remus Lupin in a duel. The nature of Remus's death was not revealed, but his body was peaceful-looking, suggesting that Dolohov used the Killing Curse or his own curse, as neither left visible marks. After Voldemort called a retreat and gave Harry Potter one hour to turn himself over, Dolohov and Yaxley stood guard in the Forbidden Forest. Harry followed them to the Death Eater camp to confront Voldemort. When the battle later resumed, Dolohov was defeated by Filius Flitwick, a former duelling champion. His fate beyond this is currently unknown.

Physical description
Dolohov is described as having a "long, pale, twisted face" and as "burly," although not as large as the "huge" Thorfinn Rowle. He has also dark hair. As a Death Eater, he bears the Dark Mark on his left inner forearm.

Personality and traits
Dolohov was extremely loyal to Lord Voldemort and was a merciless Death Eater willing to commit various atrocities without hesitation or regret. He showed no remorse about wounding sixteen-year-old Hermione Granger; in fact he was grinning about it as he tried to persuade Harry Potter to hand over the prophecy they were fighting over. Dolohov was very smug and when he defeated Alastor Moody in a duel he was very pleased with himself. Dolohov also displayed a cocky and highly self-confident attitude and had developed a habit of engaging more than one opponent at a time or challenging powerful wizards such as the Prewett brothers, Moody, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Filius Flitwick and it was not mentioned that he tried to escape when Albus Dumbledore joined the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.

Dolohov was on friendly terms with his fellow Death Eaters, as he seemed to consider Yaxley and Thorfinn Rowle as close friends. When Voldemort spoke of how Charity Burbage supports Muggle rights and would permit breeding with them, Dolohov smiled in a confused fashion as if he literally thought that the idea of doing such a thing was insane, showing that he, like other Death Eaters, hated Muggles, Muggle-borns and most likely people who were half-bloods and blood traitors.

Magical abilities and skills
Dolohov was an extremely powerful and dangerous Death Eater, on par with Bellatrix Lestrange, who seems to have focused his magic largely on harming others by means of the Dark Arts.
 * Duelling: Antonin Dolohov was an extremely skilled duellist and was one of the most dangerous and feared Death Eaters. He participated in the murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett, both highly accomplished wizards, during the First Wizarding War. During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, he duelled Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom single-handedly, despite a Silencing Charm forcing him to use all nonverbal magic to do so. He incapacitated Hermione and broke Neville's nose, and Harry only managed to defeat him because he was momentarily distracted. Shortly afterwards, he defeated and injured Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, widely considered to be one of the best Aurors in recent times (and still highly respected even though this was after he had retired), in a duel. He also had the upper hand in his duel against Sirius before Harry defeated him from behind. When he and fellow Death Eater Thorfinn Rowle ambushed Harry, Ron and Hermione in 1997, Dolohov lasted longer than his partner, defeating Harry and Ron in the process, and was only defeated by Hermione Granger due to a sneak attack. In the Battle of Hogwarts, Dolohov duelled and killed Remus Lupin, a powerful wizard who was an expert in Defence Against the Dark Arts and capable of wandless magic. Dolohov was eventually defeated by former duelling champion Filius Flitwick.
 * Dark Arts: Dolohov's signature spell involved using a slashing movement with his wand which would shoot purple fire at his victim. He used this spell several times during the battle of the Department of Mysteries (Hermione was the only one to be struck).  He may have killed Remus Lupin with this spell. Dolohov was the only known practitioner of this unidentified spell and may have even invented it himself. Dolohov could cast the Unforgivable Curses (which requires ability and a powerful bit of magic to perform) as he attempted to cast the Killing Curse on Hermione before he was stopped by Harry Potter. He was arrested for torturing Muggles and other enemies so it can be assumed that he was skilled with the Cruciatus Curse. He could also cast jinxes such as the Impediment Jinx. During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries he along with Jugson fired this jinx at Harry, Hermione, and Neville.
 * Transfiguration: Dolohov was able to conjure ropes from his wand, which is an advanced form of Transfiguration.
 * Non-verbal magic: Dolohov was highly skilled at nonverbal magic as shown during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, when he was hit with a Silencing Charm cast by Hermione Granger. Despite being unable to speak, he fought Hermione, Harry, and Neville all at once, incapacitating Hermione with his signature spell (although its effects weren't as powerful). He was also able to cast the Incarcerous spell non-verbally. He attempted to hit Hermione with a non-verbal Killing Curse which is said to be difficult.

Etymology

 * Dolohov is a surname of Russian origin. It is the name of a minor character in War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy. This Dolohov is brave, but cruel and vindictive, though he is caring toward his mother and sisters. J. K. Rowling has indirectly stated that she got the surname from this book.
 * Antonin is the French or Czech version of the name "Anthony". The name is derived from the Latin Antonius and Antoninus. Antonius was the name of a prominent Roman family whose members included soldier and politician Marcus Antonius, more commonly known as Mark Antony. Antoninus was the name of another prominent Roman family whose members included Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

Behind the scenes

 * LEGO Dolohov.png, it is mentioned that "Dolohov" was among Tom Marvolo Riddle's followers when he asked Albus Dumbledore for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position sometime between his graduation from Hogwarts in 1945 and 1970. He had to be at least done with wizarding school to join Voldemort. Since this individual's given name is not stated, it is not known whether he is Antonin Dolohov or a relative.
 * Arben Bajraktaraj portrayed Antonin Dolohov in (although he is listed in the credits as "Azkaban Death Eater") and reprises the role in first instalment of .
 * In, Ron Weasley expresses a desire to kill Dolohov, most likely due to Dolohov's hand in the deaths of his uncles. Hermione uses the memory charm on him instead, but not before showing great hesitation before doing so.
 * Dolohov tends to be subject to the Full Body-Bind Curse, being hit by it twice during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, once during the Luchino Caffe Duel and once during the Battle of Hogwarts.
 * Dolohov possibly could have hailed from Russia, or been of Russian descent.
 * If he was born in Russia, it is possible that he attended Koldovstoretz school.
 * Dolohov has no lines in the films aside from "Expulso" but he can be heard grunting in the seventh movie.

Notes and references
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