Lesson 1: Introduction to the Unforgivable Curses
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1717 was a dark year for those interested in learning more about using magic to explore the very essence of our innermost selves. The Ministry of Magic had just been founded ten years prior, and the first Minister of Magic, Ulick Gamp, had mainly been tasked to do whatever he could to keep the magical world hidden from the eyes of prying Muggles. The International Statute of Secrecy, which had come into effect back in 1692, had gone against the natural instincts of us witches and wizards across the world: instead of being able to draw inspiration from the Muggles around us, we now had to look deeper into the roots of our magical being to come up with new ideas. During the first ten years of his term, though, Minister Gamp wasn't particularly interested in the ways the magical community was developing new ideas. His focus was more on establishing a new Department of Magical Law Enforcement to ensure that the Muggle and magical worlds were separate; when he did focus on intra-magical affairs it was on easy political wins such as when, in 1711, he allowed the Quaffle (a large ball used for scoring points in Quidditch) to be colored scarlet.
But ten years into his term, Minister Gamp made an unprecedented decree under which he staked his entire career and legacy. Just over 300 years ago, in 1717, Minister Gamp took three of our most powerful Charms and decreed them to be "Unforgivable Curses", a categorisation of magic that never existed before! At the time, those three spells had been known as the Imperius Charm, the Cruciatus Charm, and the Killing Charm. Their incantations are well-known and have survived to this day: "Imperio", "Crucio", and "Avada Kedavra" respectively. Minister Gamp's decree, however, changed the colloquial names of these Charms to Curses: we now refer to them as the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse. To prevent us from using these three spells, Minister Gamp established particularly strict sentences: a lifetime sentence in solitary confinement for anyone who was caught using any one of those three spells on another human being. (This would ultimately be replaced by "a life sentence in Azkaban" once that island became the standard British Wizarding prison after Gamp's time.)
THE SPELLS THEMSELVES
Now, what makes these three spells sufficiently different from all of the other spells that they should be branded "Unforgivable"? Sure, we know them primarily as Dark spells used by Dark wizards to wreak havoc on unsuspecting people (magic or Muggle), but then again, isn't the same true about the jinx Quirinus Quirrell used to try to destabilise Harry Potter during his first Quidditch match? Or about that special curse, purple in color, that Antonin Dolohov managed to cast on Hermione Granger several years after that? If you ask me, the difference is that the three spells known as "Unforgivable Curses" can reach into the essence of one's inner soul and alter one's very innermost core. For example, the Imperius Curse goes into the depths of one's mind and replaces the target's thoughts with an alternative way of thinking, suggested by the caster ("You really want to jump onto the desk right now" as a prime example). The Cruciatus Curse goes into the parts of us that control how we feel - and make it so that the target feels specific sensations controlled by the caster (think about Death Eaters who really want to make their targets feel a very specific kind of pain). And Avada Kedavra? That spell simply takes our innermost magical core and shuts it off completely, ending it so that it can no longer run again! Those of you who are more familiar with Muggle technology, who think of spellcasting as being similar to programming a Muggle computer, can think of these Unforgivable curses as being the equivalent of "assembly code": the language that affects the innermost workings of a Muggle "computer"!
THE END OF MINISTER GAMP'S CAREER
Let us finish this lesson by getting back to Minister Gamp. Although his decision to brand three spells as "Unforgivable Curses" lives on to this day, it was considered wildly unpopular at the time and ended up as the death knell of his political career. Wizards who were already frustrated with being unable to interact with Muggles were now livid that they weren't even able to explore the depths of their own magic - and within a year the pressure on Minister Gamp was so intense that he was strongly "encouraged" to resign in 1718. His replacement, Damocles Rowle, was able to ride the resulting anti-Muggle sentiment (people felt that "if not for the Muggles we would have much more freedom with our magic") to victory as Gamp's successor. It is highly ironic that as of the three hundredth anniversary of Minister Gamp's resignation, we finally have the opportunity to look more closely into the spells that Minister Gamp wanted hidden from us!
Click on the link at the end of this page to proceed to the first assignment: Assignment 1
1717 was a dark year for those interested in learning more about using magic to explore the very essence of our innermost selves. The Ministry of Magic had just been founded ten years prior, and the first Minister of Magic, Ulick Gamp, had mainly been tasked to do whatever he could to keep the magical world hidden from the eyes of prying Muggles. The International Statute of Secrecy, which had come into effect back in 1692, had gone against the natural instincts of us witches and wizards across the world: instead of being able to draw inspiration from the Muggles around us, we now had to look deeper into the roots of our magical being to come up with new ideas. During the first ten years of his term, though, Minister Gamp wasn't particularly interested in the ways the magical community was developing new ideas. His focus was more on establishing a new Department of Magical Law Enforcement to ensure that the Muggle and magical worlds were separate; when he did focus on intra-magical affairs it was on easy political wins such as when, in 1711, he allowed the Quaffle (a large ball used for scoring points in Quidditch) to be colored scarlet.
But ten years into his term, Minister Gamp made an unprecedented decree under which he staked his entire career and legacy. Just over 300 years ago, in 1717, Minister Gamp took three of our most powerful Charms and decreed them to be "Unforgivable Curses", a categorisation of magic that never existed before! At the time, those three spells had been known as the Imperius Charm, the Cruciatus Charm, and the Killing Charm. Their incantations are well-known and have survived to this day: "Imperio", "Crucio", and "Avada Kedavra" respectively. Minister Gamp's decree, however, changed the colloquial names of these Charms to Curses: we now refer to them as the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse. To prevent us from using these three spells, Minister Gamp established particularly strict sentences: a lifetime sentence in solitary confinement for anyone who was caught using any one of those three spells on another human being. (This would ultimately be replaced by "a life sentence in Azkaban" once that island became the standard British Wizarding prison after Gamp's time.)
THE SPELLS THEMSELVES
Now, what makes these three spells sufficiently different from all of the other spells that they should be branded "Unforgivable"? Sure, we know them primarily as Dark spells used by Dark wizards to wreak havoc on unsuspecting people (magic or Muggle), but then again, isn't the same true about the jinx Quirinus Quirrell used to try to destabilise Harry Potter during his first Quidditch match? Or about that special curse, purple in color, that Antonin Dolohov managed to cast on Hermione Granger several years after that? If you ask me, the difference is that the three spells known as "Unforgivable Curses" can reach into the essence of one's inner soul and alter one's very innermost core. For example, the Imperius Curse goes into the depths of one's mind and replaces the target's thoughts with an alternative way of thinking, suggested by the caster ("You really want to jump onto the desk right now" as a prime example). The Cruciatus Curse goes into the parts of us that control how we feel - and make it so that the target feels specific sensations controlled by the caster (think about Death Eaters who really want to make their targets feel a very specific kind of pain). And Avada Kedavra? That spell simply takes our innermost magical core and shuts it off completely, ending it so that it can no longer run again! Those of you who are more familiar with Muggle technology, who think of spellcasting as being similar to programming a Muggle computer, can think of these Unforgivable curses as being the equivalent of "assembly code": the language that affects the innermost workings of a Muggle "computer"!
THE END OF MINISTER GAMP'S CAREER
Let us finish this lesson by getting back to Minister Gamp. Although his decision to brand three spells as "Unforgivable Curses" lives on to this day, it was considered wildly unpopular at the time and ended up as the death knell of his political career. Wizards who were already frustrated with being unable to interact with Muggles were now livid that they weren't even able to explore the depths of their own magic - and within a year the pressure on Minister Gamp was so intense that he was strongly "encouraged" to resign in 1718. His replacement, Damocles Rowle, was able to ride the resulting anti-Muggle sentiment (people felt that "if not for the Muggles we would have much more freedom with our magic") to victory as Gamp's successor. It is highly ironic that as of the three hundredth anniversary of Minister Gamp's resignation, we finally have the opportunity to look more closely into the spells that Minister Gamp wanted hidden from us!
Click on the link at the end of this page to proceed to the first assignment: Assignment 1