Why Harry DIDN'T Use Avada Kedavra on Voldemort - Harry Potter Explained

Why Harry Didn't Use Avada Kedavra on Voldemort - Harry Potter Explained

Hey guys,

Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. First things first, I just want to say a big thank-you to everyone for helping us hit 100,000 subscribers. This is a massive milestone and we really appreciate all of your support. In this video, we’re going to be discussing Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, the final battle of the franchise, and avada kedavra.

Now, Harry and Voldemort meet on numerous occasions, and each time that they meet they engage in a clash of magic. And, seemingly every tim,e the pair end up choosing their signature spells to use against the other. For Voldemort, this is avada kedavra, and for Harry, it’s expelliarmus.

We see this in their graveyard duel:

“A jet of green light issued from Voldemorts wand just as a jet of red light blasted from Harry's — they met in midair — and suddenly Harry's wand was vibrating as though an electric charge were surging through it”

And we also see this in their final duel at the battle of Hogwarts, depicted in Chapter 36 of the deathly hallows:

“‘Avada Kedavra!’”

‘Expelliarmus!’”

“The bang was like a cannon-blast and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead centre of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided Harry saw Voldemort’s green jet meet his own spell’

Yes, I know what you’re thinking, expelliarmus worked, and Harry ended up winning due to some extraneous circumstances- but you have to wonder why Harry would continually opt for the disarming charm, of all spells, to use against arguably the most powerful dark wizard of all time.

There are a few reasons that I think that he kept using it.

For of all, Harry has a lot of experience with Expelliarmus. He uses it all of the time, it’s his go-to, and he is completely comfortable casting it. We never actually see Harry use avada kedavra, and he was ‘relatively’ unsuccessful, having mixed results when casting other unforgivable curses. He used the Imperius curse successfully while breaking into Gringotts, but when he tried to use the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix he had a less than favourable result.

Next, because of his experience with the spell, he knew that it was reliable. It had worked for him thus far, so-why would he switch? Why even consider using another spell? He defeated Voldemort in the graveyard doing the exact same thing.

The next reason for Harry using expelliarmus on Voldemort, was the fact that Harry wanted to, in spite of all of the horrible things that he had done, show Voldemort some mercy. In the books, we learn that an act of great remorse may repair a soul which has been split using horcruxes, and Harry offers Voldemort this chance for redemption:

“Yeah, it did,” said Harry. “You’re right. But before you try to kill me, I’d advise you to think about what you’ve done… Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle…”

“What is this?”

Of all the things that Harry had said to him, beyond any revelation or taunt, nothing had shocked Voldemort like this. Harry saw his pupils contract to thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten.

“It’s your one last chance,” said Harry, “it’s all you’ve got left… I’ve seen what you’ll be otherwise… Be a man… try… Try for some remorse…”

By using a spell like expelliarmus on Voldemort, rather than a killing curse, Harry was giving Voldemort one final chance. Harry never actually kills Voldemort- it was Voldemort’s own curse rebounding back at him. By casting expelliarmus, Harry was giving Voldemort this one final opportunity.

And lastly, Harry just didn’t want to stoop to Voldemort’s level. The killing curse was an ‘unforgivable curse’, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Harry associated it with the death of his own parents.

Harry was a very morally righteous person. If he didn’t need to kill, he would always avoid it. He didn’t need to stoop to the level of the other side.

And that’s it for this video!

LIKE / SUBSCRIBE / SHARE to support the channel

Leave your video ideas down below!

Thanks!

All content falls under fair use: any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.

[stellasteve]

Because as hermione said, getting expelled is worse than death

[sohamabrahmachari]

Harry on Draco: sectumsempra
Harry on Voldemort: Expelliermus!

[natina]

''I fear not the man who has practiced 10, 000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10, 000 times.'' - Bruce Lee. So this is Harry's case, he performed Expelliarmus so many times :)

[philothemell]

*Imagine if when Voldemort says " Harry Potter. The boy lived, come to die" and I then the magic car comes out and runs down Voldemort.*

_19 years

*" Ford Angelina Potter, you were named after the bravest car I ever knew"*

[sn]

Imagine what could've changed if Harry potter didn't stop them to kill the Rat ..

[MountainFisher]

Harry was extra powerful with defensive spells. His Protego shield charm was very powerful.

[nobody_]

Simply, he is one with a Good Soul... 😩😇

[kkitchens]

Actually, Thanos snapped right as he dropped the wand.

[unknown-hrb]

When you realise Harry hit puberty before Dudley

[hidingtk]

He did use the Crucio curse quite effectively in Raven Claw's Common room on the Carows wizard in Deathly Hallows.

[thomasmoeller]

Harry weakened Voldemort's hold on Wormtail when he refused to allow Moonie or Padfoot to kill him. Compassion weakened Wormtail and like using a spell that you know well, he tried to show Riddle compassion.

[Kalahridudex]

Imagine if Sirius struck Pettigrew with avada kedavra at the end of PoA. Voldemort rots in his non-state. Cedric, Sirius, and everyone killed in DH all live. Dumbledore personally seeks and destroys the horcuxes after figuring out thats what's going on.

[tzmhh]

I honestly think he didn't know how to use it and he didn't want to risk it.

[ghostoperationswithcheukgu]

"harry is not a killer"
11 yers harry : *kills 2 people with his bare hands*

[musicalhistory]

Harry never really wanted to kill anybody including Voldemort, but instead wanted to protect himself.

[LM-zeqv]

I was wondering if you could do video on what happened to hogwarts after the battle and also what happened to the death eaters

[arrowghost]

#Question
When Voldemort took the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's grave, we saw lightning shot into the sky. Isn't that a potential Force Lightning spell can be used as a weapon?

[bluecherry-chan]

My childhood long I thought:
Why can’t Harry just use the spell Accio Voldemort. And than he can kill Voldemort?
No?

[BroodingMango]

I like to think that if Harry lost that inner fight he was waging, and stopped trying his best to be noble and good - the universe would stop helping him. He was meant to win from the begining: the prophecy, the hallows, everything just perfectly aligning itself to help him win. Even his own wand protecting him. If Harry stopped being good, he would have lost on all battlefields.

[minight]

I think Harry had what it takes to successfully cast avada kedavra to Voldemort

He is a skilled wizard

He had the necessary hate as well as the motives for the hate towards Voldemort (the one who killed his parents and the reason of all the bad things that happened in his life)

The killing curse also require true intent, and Harry mentions many times through the story that he does mean to kill him with conviction

And lastly, although the hero, it is stated that Harry has many similarities with Voldemort, mostly due to being a Horcrux