AK the most dangerous curse ?

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 46790

YY wrote:
> I've been reread the GOF, and it bothers me .. why are there only 3 
> most forbidden curses, one of which is avada kedavra.
> 
> In GOF was told that Wormtail blowed up a dozen of muggles with one 
> curse and it seems to me a more dangerous curse than AK. Or do I 
> misinterpret it ?, because i'm not from an english speaking country.
> 
> -YY-

A few things: the technical definition of AK, Imperio and Cruciatus is 
"unforgivable". They are curses that, if used in a human being, will 
take you directly to Azkaban, without even requiring a judge. This is a 
legal definition, one I think has included other curses in ages past. 
It does not say that these are the most dangerous (althought they 
probably are).

The question is, of course, what is so bad about those three that makes 
them unforgivables. Without going into that right now, lets compare AK 
with the explosion one used by Peter.

There is one particular thing about AK that was especifically pointed 
out: it's unstoppable. No matter how powerful you are, if you're hit 
with an AK, you're dead (with the notable exception of Harry and 
Voldemort, that is). There is nothing you can do to stop it. This 
implies that other curses can be stopped. In fact, we see Harry 
practicing a shield charm in GoF, just before the 3rd task. Now, the 
shield he was using wasn't very powerful (only for minor curses, IIRC), 
but that sort of implies that there are *other* shields which will stop 
more powerful magic. Which means that there might be one that defends 
you from magical explosions. There is extra canon for that one, too: 
Sirius must have been using it, and so must have Peter, since they 
weren't scratched by an explosion that killed a dozen people around 
them (especially Peter, who was in the *centre* of it).

Chocobo answered:
> Well, I don't know anything for sure here, just guessing...  it does seem like that spell (some kind of explosion) does have a stronger effect, but maybe it also has some drawbacks to it. Maybe a spell with such a big effect takes a long time to set up, maybe it's hard to aim the effects, maybe it's easy to avoid if you're a wizard. AK is instant death and can be done quickly, so that could definitely be more dangerous.
> 
> "Chocobo"

As I said before, I feel that all (ofensive) spells & curses have 
probably a defence charm (in form of a shield, for example) that will 
allow you to ignore them even if they hit you. All, that is, except AK 
(which we know is unstoppable) and, IMO, the other two unforgivables: 
Cruciatus and Imperio (both can be resisted, but none "stopped" before 
they affect you, at least so far). Which means that, in a duel, 
anything short of an unforgivable can fail, if your oponent happens to 
have the correct shield up.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf