Resisting the Cruciatus Curse/Strength of Avada Kedavra

[Devika S. Lal]

No: HPFGUIDX 30480

Cindy wrote:

<<<On the one hand, Crouch Sr. authorized the use of the Unforgivable
Curses on suspects, presumably including the Cruciatus Curse.  So
that suggests that aurors (even Moody) could use torture to gather
information or confessions.  ::shiver::>>>

I agree.  I'm sure that there were some aurors whose methods of questioning
were less than humane.  Sirius did say that there were many people who fully
supported Crouch Sr. and his opinions on how Death Eaters--or even suspected
Death Eaters--should be treated.

<<<On the other hand, Karkaroff is able to cut a deal and willingly
disclose information to escape Azkaban.  So why didn't they (the
aurors or MoM) just torture him and get the information that way?>>>

Maybe they did torture him.  We don't know what happened to him before the
dementors brought him into the trial (dementors alone would be torture
enough, IMO).  Maybe the ministry just wanted to give the impression that
they were being just by giving him a trial.  Not that it mattered, as they
were determined to punish him anyway.

<<<Maybe Voldemort has trained his DEs to resist the Cruciatus Curse to
some extent.  Perhaps the Cruciatus Curse is only as strong as the
wizard casting it (which is how I imagine the Imperius Curse works).
So perhaps DEs can resist the Cruciatus Curse of an auror like Moody
and won't reveal Voldemort's secrets, but the DEs have no hope of
throwing off the Cruciatus Curse of powerful Voldemort.>>>

I think Voldemort would probably train his DEs in the use of the Cruciatus
Curse, but I doubt that he would teach them to resist it.  Even if his curse
would be the most powerful, I don't think that he would show the DEs
anything that might make his torture of them any less effective.  Somehow, I
don't think he would care if his DEs were tortured by aurors, either.  My
guess is that there aren't many of them who know enough of Voldemort's
secrets to really do enough damage if any one DE was caught and tortured.
Voldemort isn't the type to show mercy, even to his own followers, unless it
would suit his own purposes (Pettigrew's shiny new hand, perhaps?).

Devika