Cruciatus Curse

"Pain. You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse.... That one was very popular once too."

- Barty Crouch, Jr. as Alastor Moody

The Cruciatus Curse (also known as the Torture Curse ) is one of the three Unforgivable Curses of the wizarding world. It is a curse of torture, inflicting excruciating pain on a victim. This makes it popular among the Death Eaters for use on both fellow wizards and Muggles. Considering the fact that this curse doesn't physically harm the victim, it possibly stimulates pain receptors. Cursing another human being with Cruciatus carries a punishment of a life sentence in Azkaban.

The two most well-known victims of this curse are the former Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom, who were tortured into insanity with it by Death Eaters Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jr.

Effects
"At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Harry was sure that if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently..."

- Description of a spider under the Cruciatus Curse

The pain caused by the Cruciatus Curse is said to be worse than "one thousand white-hot knives, boring into the skin." This pain can cause permanent mental injury, as in the case of the aforementioned Longbottoms, who spent the rest of their lives in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries because of the trauma the curse caused. Presumably, such permanent effects occur if the victim is exposed to a particularly intense curse for a long period of time.

If the curse hits an inanimate object, it may cause it to shatter instead.

Casting the Curse
"You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain ... to enjoy it ... righteous anger won't hurt me for long ... I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson -"

- Bellatrix Lestrange to Harry Potter

To successfully perform this curse, the wizard or witch must possess a deep desire to cause the victim pain. For example, despite being furious with Bellatrix Lestrange for her murder of his godfather in 1996, Harry Potter was only able to cause her a brief moment of pain with the Cruciatus Curse because he used it in "righteous anger". He performed it more powerfully in 1998 on Amycus Carrow, who spat in Minerva McGonagall's face. Amycus was thrown into the air and knocked unconscious. This may suggest that although Harry's curse was intense, he still lacked the fundamental sadism to inflict prolonged, excruciating pain with it.

Possible Uses

 * Harry Potter had a vision of Lord Voldemort ordering Draco Malfoy to use the curse on Thorfinn Rowle after he and Antonin Dolohov failed to capture Harry at Tottenham Court Road. Although he saw nothing of Dolohov's punishment, Narcissa Malfoy later mentioned "what he did to Rowle and Dolohov" when she was afraid to contact Voldemort, making it likely that Dolohov was subjected to the Cruciatus Curse as well.
 * Since Luna was held prisoner at Malfoy Manor for months, it is likely she was also tortured with it.
 * After Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other prisoners escaped from Malfoy Manor, Harry had a vision of Voldemort punishing Bellatrix Lestrange and the Malfoys, but whether he used the Cruciatus Curse was not mentioned.

Etymology
Cruciatus takes its name from the Latin for "pain" or "torture".

Behind the scenes

 * When Harry Potter attempts to cast this spell on Bellatrix Lestrange, a ball of red light is fired from the tip of his wand.


 * Severus Snape once asserted Harry Potter had neither the nerves nor the skill to perform Unforgivable Curses. However, less than a year later, Harry succeeded in cursing Amycus Carrow. - This move was met with criticism by some fans, who felt that Harry had sunk to the same level as his enemies in using it in such a manner. J.K. Rowling countered such criticism by asserting that "Harry is not, and never has been, a saint", and that he has flaws of character like everybody else.


 * In the original script of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter said "Cruciatus" while he battling Severus Snape at the Hogwarts ground instead of using the real incantation which is "Crucio".

Notes and references
Cruciatus-Fluch Doloris