The Riddles' Murders (WAS: The only one he ever feared?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 117679


Kim wrote:
> > And I'll toss out this last question:  who do you think taught
young  Tom Riddle how to perform an Avada Kedavra? < 
> 
JP responded:
> 
> I think that Tom had "theoretically" known how to use the AK Curse,
you know, Knowing the incatation and everything... Let's also remember
that Tom Jr. is a gifted Hogwarts Student and he probably did the
curses first on animals. and i don't think that the Unforgivable
Curses is that hard to do. In OotP, Harry had used the Crucio Curse on
Bella and it worked... for a little while... and remember what bella
said? I dont have my book with me but I think that she said that anger
doesn't make the curse effective... the user must mean it... savor the
pleasure on hurting or killing someone in order to use it properly.
And I think that Tom Jr did: he meant to kill his family, and
following logically the attitude of the present day Voldy, had the
pleasure of doing so.

Carol notes:
IIRC, Crouch!Moody tells the fourth years that even if they all
pointed their wands at him and yelled "Avada Kedavra," he doubted that
he'd get as much as a nosebleed. While he may have been exaggerating
(partly for his own protection), it seems clear that two things are
required to perform an Unforgiveable Curse effectively: power and the
will to harm or control another person. Bellatrix's sadism, her
vicious desire to inflict prolonged suffering on others, makes her a
Crucio expert, but she seems to have learned from Voldie himself. No
doubt she could perform the others as well, but without the savage
satisfaction. Barty Jr., another powerful young wizard, seems to have
been motivated by fanaticism and hatred of his father to learn all
three Unforgiveables. Young Tom Riddle's cold hatred of his father and
his contempt for Muggleborns gave him the incentive to learn Avada
Kedavra at seventeen, quite possibly on his own, but we know that he
was an extraordinarily powerful wizard and had already killed using
the basilisk.

I don't think just anybody, even a powerful full-grown wizard, can
perform an Unforgiveable Curse. Sirius Black, I think, could have
managed to do it after all the time he had spent hating Peter
Pettigrew and plotting his murder. But Lupin, who has barely had time
to accept that Pettigrew and not Black is the traitor? Maybe all that
would have come out of his wand if he had tried would be a wisp of
green vapor.

Imagine if the Unforgiveables weren't difficult. Instead of magically
shoving walnuts up family member's noses during family arguments,
teenagers would shout, "I'll kill you! Avada Kedavra!" and the
offending family member would be dead. You have to be powerfully
motivated to kill or torture or manipulate others to perform them
correctly. And for that reason, the Curses are not only illegal but
Unforgiveable.

Carol