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harry potter - Why doesn't the Order use unforgivable curses in case of life threatening situations?


Why don't members of the Order of the Phoenix use any of the Unforgivable Curses in life-threatening situations?


I remember Harry (in the last part when he encounters Death eaters) and Dumbledore not using those curses when faced with mortal peril. None of the Order members tried to use these Curses in The battle fought at the end of the Order of the Phoenix.


Do people (Excluding Aurors) not use the Curses as they believe it would ensure a cell in Azkaban; even if they use them in life-threatening situations?



Answer



There are five reasons:





  1. Ethical.


    Both Harry and Dumbledore feel that using Unforgivable curses isn't exactly a Good Thing to do (Harry ends up using them when absolutely required in DH, however).




    • Harry is well known for relying on Expelliarmus (See the Seven Potters battle in DH as well as him using the same on Voldemort in the end)




    • Dumbledore is discussed as possessing knowledge (presumably of powerful dark spells) as deep as Voldemort's but choosing to not use it.





    • Dumbledore specifically is aware that power is his weak point. He understands that he's more in danger of corrupting his soul than Harry from using powerful Dark spells






  2. Practical


    Leaving aside ethics, Harry's not able to use Unforgivables well:





    • Fake Moody (Barty Crouch Jr) explicitly says when teaching them in Year 4 that you can't cast Avada Kedavra unless you're powerful; and if any of them cast it; they would at most give him a nosebleed




    • Harry tries to use Cruciatus on Bellatrix and she sneers at him explaining that you must put the full power of your hatred behind it to make it work






  3. Legal.


    Technically speaking, Unforgivables are illegal. The Ministry would be all too happy to stick the entire Order into Azkaban as you yourself stated, especially before Year 5 was done and Fudge was kicked out. Hell, they wanted to convict Harry for casting a bloody Patronus.





  4. Propaganda.


    It's easier to gold the moral high ground propaganda wise when you don't resort to using Unforgivable curses.


    As an example, witness issues that USA has with holding moral high ground against, say, Iran or North Korea, when detractors can easily bring up "well, let's see, who's the only country to actually drop a nuke on someone?". The nuances and context of decision to use or not use the weapon are irrelevant in that sort of propaganda war.


    Given that the other side here has Rita Skeeter and the Ministry flacks, letting them have the propaganda wins isn't a good approach.




  5. Usefulness.





    • Leaving aside the other two, Crucio isn't really a very useful curse for the Order. They never had a chance or a reason to interrogate someone (never mind real world debate on whether torture is useful during interrogation).




    • When absolutely needed, they use it (they use Imperio during the Potter's Eleven… errr…. the Great Gringotts Robbery)






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