Alecto Carrow

"Alecto, Amycus's sister, teaches Muggle Studies, which is compulsory for everyone. We've all got to listen to her explain how Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty, and how they drive wizards into hiding by being vicious toward them, and how the natural order is being re-established."

- Neville Longbottom on Alecto's teachings.

Professor Alecto Carrow was a witch, sister of Amycus Carrow and a Death Eater. Alecto fought in the First Wizarding War along with her brother. 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, she was made Muggle Studies professor, which became a course on how Muggles "are like animals, stupid and dirty". She was also appointed Deputy Headmistress, alongside her brother. She liked to punish and torture the students who opposed them. In the evening of 1 May, 1998, shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts, she was Stunned by Luna Lovegood when she summoned Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. She was then magically tied up in Ravenclaw Tower by Professor McGonagall. After the battle, she was likely sent to Azkaban along with her brother.

Early life
Alecto Carrow was born sometime before 1981 into the pure-blood or half-blood Carrow family, somewhere in the British Isles. At some point before her instruction in the magical arts, she acquired a wand.

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

First Wizarding War
Alecto and her brother 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
Alecto and her brother 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 was not noted by Voldemort himself.

Battle of the Astronomy Tower


In the evening of 30 June, 1997, Alecto and her brother 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, Alecto gave "wheezing giggles", as her brother made fun of the Headmaster. When Severus Snape arrived at the scene, he cast the curse that ended the Headmaster's life.

On Snape's orders, she and her brother quickly left the Tower, panting excitedly. On the corridors below, Alecto and Amycus 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
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 Muggle Studies classes were made compulsory core classes. The curriculum was changed so that it now covered the Ministry of Magic's anti-Muggle propaganda; that Muggles were stupid and dirty, how they threatened wizardkind, and how the "natural order" was being reestablished, instead of covering aspects of Muggle culture and science.

As Deputy Heads, 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. Alecto made a slash on his face after he asked her how much Muggle blood she and her brother had. 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, 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 all 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 and was tied up.



Alecto was keeping watch when Harry arrived with Luna Lovegood. She 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 Harry's 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 and Alecto cowards in the process, he spat in her face. This caused Harry to use the Cruciatus Curse on him, which knocked him out. Minerva McGonagall used a spell to conjure a net, and the two siblings were tied up and hoisted into the air, where were left dangling beneath the ceiling.

Post-war
Neither Alecto nor her brother fought in the Battle of Hogwarts as both of them were kept tied-up at Ravenclaw Tower. It is likely that after the battle and the end of the Second Wizarding War they both were imprisoned in Azkaban for their crimes under Kingsley Shacklebolt's de-corrupted Ministry of Magic.

Physical appearance
Alecto Carrow was a stocky little woman, with a wheezy giggle, much like her brother. Sloping-shouldered, she had stubby fingers and, as a Death Eater, she was branded with the Dark Mark on her forearm.

Personality and traits
Alecto was a sadistic woman who enjoyed punishing and torturing students, and did not hesitate to make a deep slash on Neville Longbottom's face when he insulted her. Alecto had strong pro-wizard beliefs, as she taught that Muggles were filthy, like animals. Apparently she was not very bright, as she needed Filius Flitwick to let her into Ravenclaw Tower. Alecto also seemed to enjoy making fun of others, as she giggled at Albus Dumbledore during his last moments, and called Harry Potter "witless" when he fell for Lord Voldemort's trap. This also demonstrates her arrogance, since if she had stood quietly at Ravenclaw Tower, she could have stopped Harry and summoned Voldemort, thus preventing the Battle of Hogwarts and making the Death Eaters win the Second Wizarding War.

Etymology

 * In Greek mythology, Alecto was one of the Erinyes, known as the Furies in Roman mythology; they were the personifications of vengeance and pangs of conscience, and are known for being cruel and bloodthirsty towards wrongdoers. The name means "unceasing in anger". In Nobel-prize winner T.S. Eliot's play The Family Reunion, the protagonist is named Harry, and he is tormented by the Erinyes.

Behind the scenes

 * Alecto is portrayed by Suzie Toase in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the first and second parts of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
 * Actress Vanessa Stevenson doubled by Suzanne Toase in film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
 * Alecto's role in the films is diminished to a background one, with no speaking lines. In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince she takes no active part during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower; she merely witnesses Dumbledore's death without a word and flees with the Death Eaters. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, she only appears during the Meeting at Malfoy Manor, one of the first scenes in the film. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Alecto and Amycus are defeated by McGonagall during her duel with Snape.
 * In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game) she appears to be one of the enemies Harry has to fight.
 * A girl bearing a strong resemblance to Alecto was shown in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to have been a member of the Slug Club during Horace Slughorn's first tenure as Potions teacher.
 * David Yates mistakenly called the Carrow siblings "the Carrow Twins", even though they were not.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Notes and references
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