Every Time Harry Resisted an Unforgivable Curse - Harry Potter Explained

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today, we’ll be discussing each instance in which Harry Potter—the aptly named “Boy Who Lived”—was hit with and RESISTED an Unforgivable Curse. To start with, I’m going to give a quick run down of the Unforgivable Curses themselves. There are, as many of you will know, three Unforgivable Curses in total. They are the Killing Curse, the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse. Each of these curses are, in their own way, incredibly terrible and can often cause irreparable and sometimes—as in the case of the Killing Curse—FATAL damage to its victims. The Killing Curse, which is also commonly referred to by the name of its incantation Avada Kedavra, will immediately kill its victim, while the Imperius Curse can fully possess another person and control their every move. The Cruciatus Curse, on the other hand, is a means of extreme torture, and causes incredible pain to its victim. If performed in sustained intervals, the Cruciatus Curse has the ability to make its victim go insane due to the intensity of the pain. While there once was a time long ago when witches and wizards were free to cast these spells at will, together, the three curses were classified by the wizarding world as “unforgivable” in 1717 and banned from use. This classification therefore designates the strictest punishment for any witch or wizard caught using them, which is life imprisonment in the wizarding prison of Azkaban.  Of course, this classification did little to dissuade the dark witches and wizards throughout the ages from using them, including Lord Voldemort and his loyal Death Eaters. As a result, tragically, many powerful witches and wizards fighting for good have died at the end of a wand casting an Unforgivable Curse. That is, except for Harry Potter—as this young wizard is the only known person to have experienced, resisted, and survived all three curses.  So, let’s take a look at each instance, and uncover how he did it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices