Killing Curse

"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get your wands out and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed."

- Barty Crouch, Jr. as Alastor Moody

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The Killing Curse, one of the three Unforgivable Curses, causes instantaneous death. There is no known counter-curse or cure for it, however one may dodge the green bolt or use a physical barrier to block it. An explosion or green fire may result if the spell hits something other than a living target. Lord Voldemort was famous for using this curse regularly and indiscriminately.

The Killing Curse is not the only spell that will cause death to a living creature. Other spells may cause injury or bleeding, such as Fiendfyre, Sectumsempra, or Stunning Spell.

Avada Kedavra (pr. Av-ada Ked-av-ra) is the incantation for this curse.

Only one person is known to have survived a direct application of the curse: Harry Potter, who was saved when his mother, Lily Evans, sacrificed herself by blocking the spell with her body. Over a decade later, Harry would survive the curse twice more: Once when the effect killed only the Horcrux inside him, and again when the wand being used to curse him, the Elder Wand, refused to destroy him.

Phoenixes are also immune to the Killing Curse. Fawkes swallowed one intended for Albus Dumbledore. He burst into flames, and was reborn from his ashes.

Appearance and Effect
The Killing Curse is described as a jet of blinding green light, which causes the victim instant death. A death caused by this curse may be physically painless; "echoes" of previous victims have asserted the death felt "more easy than falling asleep."

Known Attempts

 * Voldemort attempted to curse Harry Potter in his infancy, but the curse was blocked by Lily Evans' magical protection. The curse backfired on Voldemort, who barely survived.
 * Voldemort attempted to curse Harry Potter during their duel in the Little Hangleton graveyard in 1994. Harry's simultaneous Expelliarmus charm produced the Priori Incantatem effect between their two twin-core wands.
 * Antonin Dolohov attempted to curse Hermione Granger during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. He was disarmed by Harry Potter.
 * Voldemort attempted to curse Harry Potter at the same battle, in the Ministry of Magic Atrium. The curse was blocked by Dumbledore, who transfigured a golden statue from the Fountain of Magical Brethren to protect Harry.
 * Voldemort attempted to curse Dumbledore several times during that same battle, however Dumbledore blocked it successfully each time. Dumbledore was using the Elder Wand, which made him undefeatable in duels.
 * Vincent Crabbe attempted to curse Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in 1997, but the curse missed them both.
 * Voldemort attempted to curse Harry Potter twice in that same year, but Harry survived both curses, as is explained above.
 * Voldemort attempted to use the curse to kill Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbot during the climax of the final battle.

Disputed Uses

 * Barty Crouch Jr admitted to the murder of his father, Barty Crouch Sr, but never identified his method of killing as the Killing Curse.
 * In 1995, Bellatrix Lestrange cursed Sirius Black with something that sent him through the Veiled Arch in the Department of Mysteries, but it has never been proven this was in fact the Killing Curse.
 * Bellatrix Lestrange slew a fox with a nonverbal spell producing a "flash of green light" in 1996. However, it is not explicitly clear that she used the Killing Curse.
 * Alastor Moody was killed in 1997 by a curse that resulted in his death. Again, it is not explicitly clear that the Killing Curse was used.
 * Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix Lestrange with a spell that struck her in the heart, but it cannot be proven that she used the Killing Curse.

Etymology
Avada Kedavra may originate from the commonly-used phrase Abracadabra, an Aramaic phrase meaning "Begone like this word." It is much more likely to be based on the Aramaic אבדא כדברא avada kedavra, meaning I destroy as I speak.

Behind the scenes

 * In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film), Bellatrix Lestrange is shown using the curse and the incantation to kill Sirius Black, which was fundamentally different from the same scene in the book.

Avada Kedavra Авада Кедавра