Secrets of the Darkest Art - by Owle Bullock
written by Nyx Lumiere
Includes how to make a Horcrux. Copy owned by Pecival Graves. Contents borrowed by Pottermore with small alterations. Reviews: "This is the one that gives explicit instructions on how to make a Horcrux. Secrets of the Darkest Art — it's a horrible book, really awful, full of evil magic" —Hermione Granger. "I found it on a law-breaking miscreant -- yes I plan to report it, it is obviously not mine." - Percival Graves
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
8
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26,518
The Unforgivable Curses
Chapter 2
The Unforgivable Curses are three of the most powerful and sinister spells known to the wizarding world, and are tools of the Dark Arts. They were first classified as “Unforgivable” in 1717. They are the Killing Curse Avada Kedavra, Cruciatus Curse Crucio, and Imperius Curse Imperio.
The Imperious Curse - Imperio -
Imperio is a tool of the Dark Arts and one of the three Unforgivable Curses. It is one of the most powerful and sinister spells known to wizard kind.
When cast successfully, the curse places the victim completely under the caster’s control, though a person with exceptional strength of will is capable of resisting it. The fact that the curse can be defended against makes it unique amongst the Unforgivable Curses.
The Imperius Curse was invented during the early Middle Ages by dark witches or wizards. The curse was created for the coercion and brainwashing of others into slavery.
After the Wizards’ Council was reformed into the Ministry of Magic, tighter restrictions were placed on the use of certain kinds of magic. The Imperius Curse was deemed by the Ministry to be dark magic, and, along with the Cruciatus and Killing curses, were declared “unforgivable” in 1717. The use of any of these three curses on a fellow human being would result in a life sentence in Azkaban, unless there is sufficient evidence that the caster did so under the influence of another’s Imperius Curse; this tends to be a factor that many Dark Wizards abuse and lie about when they were facing prison, particularly after the First Wizarding War. During the First Wizarding War, when Barty Crouch Sr.was in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he fought violence with violence, and legalized the three Unforgivable Curses for Aurors against the Death Eaters in order to win the war. This was repealed once the war was over, as it was no longer necessary.
It was also at that time that many Death Eaters claimed that they had served under Lord Voldemort only because of the Imperius Curse. While their claims were accepted, the Ministry has gone as far as to assign several personnel to determine who is truly under the curse, and who is lying to escape punishment; however, they were not perfect in capturing deception, as Malfoy and Macnair, along with several others, still eluded justice. Ironically, many Death Eaters, such asLucius Malfoy, avoided imprisonment in Azkaban after Voldemort’s first defeat in1981by claiming that they had been under the Imperius Curse. As such, it became the Ministry’s work to determine who was lying, even though many “victims” managed to deceive them.
Unlike the other Unforgivables, being subjected to the Imperius Curse when adequately cast is not an unpleasant experience, in fact, quite the opposite; the victim of an Imperius Curse is placed in a calm, trance like state in which all feeling of responsiblity and anxiety is banished drawing parallels to the real-world phenomenon of hypnosis, which is also often portrayed in fiction albeit inaccurately of being capable of placing someone under the complete control of another by placing them in a theta state. An adequately Imperiused being is placed under the caster’s total control and may be directed to do anything the caster wishes, including crimes such as murder, political corruption, embezzlement, and even suicide. Also, whilst under the caster’s control, the curse may also endow the victim with whatever skills that are required in order to complete the task at hand, such as increased strength or allowing them to cast spells far above their level. It is possible for someone who has been Imperiused to place others under the curse as well. When a correctly cast Imperius curse is terminated for whatever reason the victims become themselves. Also, any pain that the curse has negated by the pleasant sensation would return, along with any other pain that the victim suffered for the duration of the curse.
If the Imperius Curse is performed poorly, then the victim would have their mind addled, an example being Muggle Junior Minister Herbert Chorley. It seems the damage is long-lasting, as Chorley was sent toSt Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuriesto recuperate and spent the rest of his life believing he was a duck.
The Imperius Curse appears to give the victim’s eyes a milky, glazed appearance if the curse is performed poorly or hastily, resulting in it being very detectable to other wizards.
Resisting the Imperius Curse is possible, but requires great strength of will and character. The fact that it can be resisted makes it unique amongst the Unforgivable Curses as it is the only curse that has a manner of defence. Resisting the Imperius Curse is similar to Occlumency, which requires a great amount of willpower, though it is unknown if Occlumency would actually work against the curse.
The Cruciatus Curse - Crucio -
The Cruciatus Curse, which inflicts excruciating pain upon the victim, requires the verbal incantation and the use of a wand. The effects of the curse depend upon the desires and emotions of the character - to produce the excruciating pain implied by the name, one must, according to accomplished caster Bellatrix Lestrange, desire to cause pain purely for its own sake. The extreme pain inflicted by the curse makes it uniquely suited as a form of torture, and was used regularly by the Death Eaters. Once cast, there is no spell that can defend against the Cruciatus Curse. However, there are still defensive options available against it. The spell can be dodged by hiding behind a solid object, and a particularly strong-willed wizard can merely resist the pain until the spell is lifted though, as noted above, prolonged exposure can cause permanent mental damage. Another option is to interrupt the caster before they can finish speaking the incantation.
The Killing Curse - Avada Kedavra -
The incantation of Avada Kedavra causes a blindingly intense green bolt of light to shoot from the end of the caster’s wand, which, on contact with the victim, results in instant death. There are no secondary effects; the victim simply “drops dead” for no biological reason. It is possible that the victim’s internal organs cease function. Muggle coroners would be unable to find a cause of death in such an attack, but the Ministry of Magic recognises the sign sof the curse. The Killing Curse has no counter-curse or blocking spell, although the green bolt may be dodged or blocked with solid objects or other methods of evasion. If the curse misses the victim and strikes an inanimate object instead, a small explosion at the point of impact results, which may start a fire of green flame.
The most effective method of surviving the Killing Curse is through Sacrificial Protection. The sacrifice of one’s life for another, a manifestation of the powerful magic of love, is the most potent defence against the “unblockable” Killing Curse. As well, The Priori Incantatem effect is when two wands that share the same cores are put into battle against each other. One wand will then force the other wand to repeat its previously-cast spells. Because of this, an Avada Kedavra Curse can be blocked if a wand that shares the killer’s wand’s core fires a spell at it: both spells will connect and thus the wizard has been spared by the Killing Curse. The spell can also be directly countered using a Stunning Spell, in which case red and green jets of light will meet and create multi-coloured sparks. Since neither spell is able to reach its intended target, neither will have any effect, as the jets of light basically explode on each other. However, this is particularly tricky, as it requires both jets of light to collide with one another. It is unknown whether this is limited to the Stunning Spell or if it is possible to reflect the Curse with other spells. If another target is placed between the caster and the targeted individual, then the new target will take the hit of the Killing Curse, which may simply result in an object being destroyed or damaged in an explosion of green flames. One can also avoid the effects simply by dodging or if the caster has poor aim, as with many attacking curses of this type, the spell must be directly targeted at the intended victim.
If the Imperius Curse is performed poorly, then the victim would have their mind addled, an example being Muggle Junior Minister Herbert Chorley. It seems the damage is long-lasting, as Chorley was sent toSt Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries to recuperate and spent the rest of his life believing he was a duck.The Imperius Curse appears to give the victim’s eyes a milky, glazed appearance if the curse is performed poorly or hastily, resulting in it being very detectable to other wizards.
The Imperious Curse - Imperio -
Imperio is a tool of the Dark Arts and one of the three Unforgivable Curses. It is one of the most powerful and sinister spells known to wizard kind.
When cast successfully, the curse places the victim completely under the caster’s control, though a person with exceptional strength of will is capable of resisting it. The fact that the curse can be defended against makes it unique amongst the Unforgivable Curses.
The Imperius Curse was invented during the early Middle Ages by dark witches or wizards. The curse was created for the coercion and brainwashing of others into slavery.
After the Wizards’ Council was reformed into the Ministry of Magic, tighter restrictions were placed on the use of certain kinds of magic. The Imperius Curse was deemed by the Ministry to be dark magic, and, along with the Cruciatus and Killing curses, were declared “unforgivable” in 1717. The use of any of these three curses on a fellow human being would result in a life sentence in Azkaban, unless there is sufficient evidence that the caster did so under the influence of another’s Imperius Curse; this tends to be a factor that many Dark Wizards abuse and lie about when they were facing prison, particularly after the First Wizarding War. During the First Wizarding War, when Barty Crouch Sr.was in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he fought violence with violence, and legalized the three Unforgivable Curses for Aurors against the Death Eaters in order to win the war. This was repealed once the war was over, as it was no longer necessary.
It was also at that time that many Death Eaters claimed that they had served under Lord Voldemort only because of the Imperius Curse. While their claims were accepted, the Ministry has gone as far as to assign several personnel to determine who is truly under the curse, and who is lying to escape punishment; however, they were not perfect in capturing deception, as Malfoy and Macnair, along with several others, still eluded justice. Ironically, many Death Eaters, such asLucius Malfoy, avoided imprisonment in Azkaban after Voldemort’s first defeat in1981by claiming that they had been under the Imperius Curse. As such, it became the Ministry’s work to determine who was lying, even though many “victims” managed to deceive them.
Unlike the other Unforgivables, being subjected to the Imperius Curse when adequately cast is not an unpleasant experience, in fact, quite the opposite; the victim of an Imperius Curse is placed in a calm, trance like state in which all feeling of responsiblity and anxiety is banished drawing parallels to the real-world phenomenon of hypnosis, which is also often portrayed in fiction albeit inaccurately of being capable of placing someone under the complete control of another by placing them in a theta state. An adequately Imperiused being is placed under the caster’s total control and may be directed to do anything the caster wishes, including crimes such as murder, political corruption, embezzlement, and even suicide. Also, whilst under the caster’s control, the curse may also endow the victim with whatever skills that are required in order to complete the task at hand, such as increased strength or allowing them to cast spells far above their level. It is possible for someone who has been Imperiused to place others under the curse as well. When a correctly cast Imperius curse is terminated for whatever reason the victims become themselves. Also, any pain that the curse has negated by the pleasant sensation would return, along with any other pain that the victim suffered for the duration of the curse.
If the Imperius Curse is performed poorly, then the victim would have their mind addled, an example being Muggle Junior Minister Herbert Chorley. It seems the damage is long-lasting, as Chorley was sent toSt Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuriesto recuperate and spent the rest of his life believing he was a duck.
The Imperius Curse appears to give the victim’s eyes a milky, glazed appearance if the curse is performed poorly or hastily, resulting in it being very detectable to other wizards.
Resisting the Imperius Curse is possible, but requires great strength of will and character. The fact that it can be resisted makes it unique amongst the Unforgivable Curses as it is the only curse that has a manner of defence. Resisting the Imperius Curse is similar to Occlumency, which requires a great amount of willpower, though it is unknown if Occlumency would actually work against the curse.
The Cruciatus Curse - Crucio -
The Cruciatus Curse, which inflicts excruciating pain upon the victim, requires the verbal incantation and the use of a wand. The effects of the curse depend upon the desires and emotions of the character - to produce the excruciating pain implied by the name, one must, according to accomplished caster Bellatrix Lestrange, desire to cause pain purely for its own sake. The extreme pain inflicted by the curse makes it uniquely suited as a form of torture, and was used regularly by the Death Eaters. Once cast, there is no spell that can defend against the Cruciatus Curse. However, there are still defensive options available against it. The spell can be dodged by hiding behind a solid object, and a particularly strong-willed wizard can merely resist the pain until the spell is lifted though, as noted above, prolonged exposure can cause permanent mental damage. Another option is to interrupt the caster before they can finish speaking the incantation.
The Killing Curse - Avada Kedavra -
The incantation of Avada Kedavra causes a blindingly intense green bolt of light to shoot from the end of the caster’s wand, which, on contact with the victim, results in instant death. There are no secondary effects; the victim simply “drops dead” for no biological reason. It is possible that the victim’s internal organs cease function. Muggle coroners would be unable to find a cause of death in such an attack, but the Ministry of Magic recognises the sign sof the curse. The Killing Curse has no counter-curse or blocking spell, although the green bolt may be dodged or blocked with solid objects or other methods of evasion. If the curse misses the victim and strikes an inanimate object instead, a small explosion at the point of impact results, which may start a fire of green flame.
The most effective method of surviving the Killing Curse is through Sacrificial Protection. The sacrifice of one’s life for another, a manifestation of the powerful magic of love, is the most potent defence against the “unblockable” Killing Curse. As well, The Priori Incantatem effect is when two wands that share the same cores are put into battle against each other. One wand will then force the other wand to repeat its previously-cast spells. Because of this, an Avada Kedavra Curse can be blocked if a wand that shares the killer’s wand’s core fires a spell at it: both spells will connect and thus the wizard has been spared by the Killing Curse. The spell can also be directly countered using a Stunning Spell, in which case red and green jets of light will meet and create multi-coloured sparks. Since neither spell is able to reach its intended target, neither will have any effect, as the jets of light basically explode on each other. However, this is particularly tricky, as it requires both jets of light to collide with one another. It is unknown whether this is limited to the Stunning Spell or if it is possible to reflect the Curse with other spells. If another target is placed between the caster and the targeted individual, then the new target will take the hit of the Killing Curse, which may simply result in an object being destroyed or damaged in an explosion of green flames. One can also avoid the effects simply by dodging or if the caster has poor aim, as with many attacking curses of this type, the spell must be directly targeted at the intended victim.
If the Imperius Curse is performed poorly, then the victim would have their mind addled, an example being Muggle Junior Minister Herbert Chorley. It seems the damage is long-lasting, as Chorley was sent toSt Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries to recuperate and spent the rest of his life believing he was a duck.The Imperius Curse appears to give the victim’s eyes a milky, glazed appearance if the curse is performed poorly or hastily, resulting in it being very detectable to other wizards.
