Curse-to-kill

"Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning — I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers — powers to kill rather than capture, for instance... Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorised the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side."

— Sirius Black on Bartemius Crouch Senior's policies during the First Wizarding War

Bartemius Crouch Senior authorised a curse-to-kill stance against Death Eaters during the height of the First Wizarding War

Curse-to-kill was a general concept in the theory of magical self-defence where a spell was cast against an enemy with the specific intention of causing fatal injury.

History

By 1926, the Magical Congress of the United States of America had enacted a "curse-to-kill" policy on magical creatures that were considered a security risk in regard to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.

During the height of the First Wizarding War in the 1970s, Bartemius Crouch Senior, then Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the British Ministry of Magic, authorised Aurors to kill Death Eaters rather than capture them, if need be, and the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects.

During the Battle for Hogwarts, Horace Slughorn pointed out to that the likelihood that the staff would be able to keep Lord Voldemort and his forces from breaking through the castle's defences were slim to none, and indirectly (and inadvertently) implied that protecting Harry Potter would make them a target, at which point Minerva McGonagall informed him that he was free to evacuate the school if he did not wish to fight, but warned him that if he did anything to oppose the resistance, the Hogwartians, she included, would duel to kill.

Behind the scenes

• "Curse-to-kill" is a play on the real world term "shoot to kill".

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2017 edition) (Mentioned only)