Capital punishment

A reenactment of Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington's botched beheading in 1492 in the Great Hall

"You brought this Obscurus into the city of New York in the hope of causing mass disruption, breaking the Statute of Secrecy and revealing the magical world — you are therefore guilty of a treasonous betrayal of your fellow wizards and are sentenced to death. Miss Goldstein, who has aided and abetted you — she receives the same sentence."

— Gellert Grindelwald, posing as Percival Graves, sentences Newt Scamander and Porpentina Goldstein to death, in 1926

Capital punishment is a state-sanctioned practise whereby a person is put to death as a punishment for having committed a serious crime; among them murder, treason, war crimes, and genocide.

History

Muggle world

As witch-hunts grew ever more prevalent across Europe, it was not uncommon for witches and wizards to face capital punishment.

Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington was one of the wizards executed by attempted beheading for the crime of witchcraft, on 31 October 1492.

Anne Boleyn was beheaded by her husband, Henry VIII.

The English Muggle Vernon Dursley was an ardent supporter of capital punishment being used in the United Kingdom.

Wizarding world

During 1692 and 1693 in the United States wizards and witches and No-Majs lost their lives in the Salem Witch Trials. Scourers acted to both turn in witches and wizards for rewards, and acted as judges during the trials. Member of the Scourers caught by the newly formed Magical Congress of the United States of America were also executed through unknown execution methods.

After Dorcus Twelvetrees single-handedly caused a massive breach of the Statute of Secrecy that nearly exposed the entire wizarding world, there were some in the North American magical community who advocated for her execution, though ultimately she was spared the death penalty, spent only a year in prison and lived out the rest of her days thoroughly disgraced.

Nestor Amset was a wizard who was beheaded for plotting to overthrow his country's government. After death, he returned as a ghost and joined the Headless Hunt.

The Japanese wizard Dai Ryusaki was captured by Hit Wizards on ICW orders and executed in England, as they incorrectly believed him to be a Dark wizard.

In the 1920s, the Magical Congress of the United States of America carried out the death penalty by means of strapping the condemned to a chair suspended over a pool of a death potion, which would kill the prisoner by encasing them in a sphere and burning them. In December 1926, Newt Scamander and Porpentina Goldstein were sentenced to be executed in this fashion by Gellert Grindelwald disguised as Percival Graves, but escaped with the help of Pickett and Newt's Swooping Evil.

In wizarding Britain, no execution of human criminals was known (save possibly for the loss of one's soul to the Dementor's Kiss though it is also seen to be a fate worse than death). Beasts considered dangerous by the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures were executed by beheading. In the past, wizards and witches were executed by Muggles by burning. However, most of these people were in fact Muggles. Real wizards in Europe would escape by use of the Flame-Freezing Charm.

Behind the scenes

• The use of a chair in executions, as seen in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, mirrors the real-world use of the electric chair as a method of execution by electrocution, still used today in some states of the United States of America.
  • Also in the same film, Grindelwald (disguised as Percival Graves) was able to sentence Newt Scamander and Tina Goldstein to death without due process, even though Newt is a British wizard and thus any legal trouble and subsequent punishment would be the purview of his native Ministry of Magic. It is possible, however, that since the two executioners were present already before "Graves" sentenced them to death, that they had been previously turned by Grindelwald - whether through charisma or the Imperius Curse - into aiding him and therefore cooperated willingly. The fact that "Graves" would be informing the President only after the two captives had been escorted to the Death Cell, seems to suggest that their conviction was not in the up-and-up.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film) (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter (website) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Mentioned only)
• The Art and Making of Hogwarts Legacy (Mentioned only)