Amycus Carrow

Amycus Carrow
Biographical information
Blood status	Pure-blood
Title(s)	Professor Death Eater
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color	Black
Skin color	Pallid
Relationship information
Family members	Alecto Carrow (sister) Flora Carrow (possibly) Hestia Carrow (possibly)
Magical characteristics
Patronus	None
Affiliation
Occupation	Professor of Dark Arts (1997—1998) Deputy Headmaster (1997—1998)
Loyalty	Death Eaters Lord Voldemort Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Carrow family

Amycus Carrow: "We can push it off on the kids. Yeah, that's what we'll do. We'll say Alecto was ambushed by the kids, them kids up there, and we'll say they forced her to press her Mark, and that's why he got a false alarm… He can punish them. Couple of kids more or less, what's the difference?"

Minerva McGonagall: "Only the difference between truth and lies, courage and cowardice. A difference, in short, which you and your sister seem unable to appreciate."

— Amycus attempting to blame children to avoid being punished by Lord Voldemort.

Professor Amycus Carrow was a wizard, brother of Alecto Carrow and a Death Eater. Amycus fought in the First Wizarding War along with his sister. They did not search for Lord Voldemort after his first downfall but were forgiven after Voldemort's return in 1995 and joined the Death Eater ranks in the Second Wizarding War. After the fall of the Ministry of Magic in 1997, he was made Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, which for all intents and purposes simply became "Dark Arts" and, along with his sister, Deputy Headmaster. He liked to punish and torture the students who opposed them. In the evening of 1 May, 1998, shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts, he was tortured by Harry Potter when he spat on Professor McGonagall's face. He was then Imperiused and tied up in Ravenclaw Tower by McGonagall herself. After the battle, he was likely sent to Azkaban along with his sister.

Biography

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A wanted poster of Amycus Carrow.

Early life

Amycus Carrow was born sometime before 1981 into the Pure-blood or Half-blood Carrow family, somewhere in the British Isles. At some point before his instruction in the magical arts, he acquired a wand.

Given that he seemed to have been acquainted with Albus Dumbledore, it is possible he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in his youth.

First Wizarding War

Amycus and his sister supported Lord Voldemort, and became Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War. After Voldemort's downfall in 1981, they did not search for their master, believing that Voldemort was gone forever, and managed to avoid imprisonment in Azkaban.

Despite all this, the Carrows were among those who, after Voldemort's return, resumed their Death Eater activities. The two siblings were fairly active during the Second Wizarding War.

Second Wizarding War

Rebirth of the Dark Lord

Amycus and his sister were, most likely, among the Death Eaters that were summoned by Lord Voldemort to the churchyard at Little Hangleton on 24 June, 1995, as their absence was not noted by Voldemort himself.

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Amycus atop the Astronomy Tower with Fenrir Greyback.

Battle of the Astronomy Tower

Yaxley: "No. We've got orders. Draco's got to do it. Now, Draco, and quickly."

Amycus Carrow: "He's not long for this world anyway, if you ask me! Look at him — what's happened to you, then, Dumby?"

Albus Dumbledore: "Oh, weaker resistance, slower reflexes, Amycus. Old age, in short… one day, perhaps, it will happen to you… if you are lucky…"

Amycus Carrow: "What's that mean, then, what's that mean? Always the same, weren't yeh, Dumby, talking and doing nothing, nothing, I don't even know why the Dark Lord's bothering to kill yeh! Come on, Draco, do it!"

— Albus Dumbledore and Amycus Carrow moments before the former's death.

In the evening of 30 June, 1997, Amycus and his sister participated in the assault on Hogwarts Castle, orchestrated by Draco Malfoy, that resulted in the death of Albus Dumbledore. When the Death Eaters arrived at the top of the Astronomy Tower, where Dumbledore was trapped, Amycus tried to make fun of the Headmaster and turned suddenly violent when Dumbledore hypothesised that he, Amycus, might not reach his old age. When Severus Snape arrived at the scene, Amycus hurriedly said that Draco was not able to kill Dumbledore, and Snape cast the curse that ended the Headmaster's life.

On Snape's orders, he and his sister quickly left the Tower panting excitedly. On the corridors below, Amycus duelled Ginny Weasley, sending multiple Cruciatus Curses at her. Harry Potter shot an Impediment Jinx that made him slam into the opposite wall. Amycus and Alecto retreated after Snape with their arms over her head, under blasts by Minerva McGonagall. As brother and sister descended the Marble Staircase, Harry took a shortcut and arrived at the grounds before them.

File:AlectoAmycusMalfoyManor.jpg

The Carrow siblings during the Meeting at Malfoy Manor.

As the two Death Eaters closed in after him, one of them cast a spell that sent Harry to the ground. Harry hit one of them, who stumbled and fell, tripping up the other, with another Impediment Jinx. The two siblings then ran to the gates, and Disapparated beyond the school boundaries.

That summer, the Carrows attended a Death Eater meeting at Malfoy Manor concerning plans to capture or kill Harry Potter and take over the Ministry of Magic.

Appointment at Hogwarts

Neville Longbottom: "It's been… Well, it's not really like Hogwarts anymore. Do you know about the Carrows?"

Harry Potter: "Those two Death Eaters who teach here?"

Neville Longbottom: "They do more than teach. They're in charge of all discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows."

Harry Potter: "Like Umbridge?"

Neville Longbottom: "Nah, they make her look tame. The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don't, though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do. Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to practice the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions –"

— Neville Longbottom tells Harry Potter about the Carrows.

File:AlectoSnapeAmycus.jpg

Headmaster Severus Snape with Deputy Heads Alecto (left) and Amycus Carrow (right).

On 1 August, 1997, the Death Eaters managed to stage a coup over the Ministry of Magic, thus gaining influence over all wizarding Britain. A month later, on 1 September, Amycus and Alecto were made Defense Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies, respectively, as well as Deputy Headmasters under newly-appointed Headmaster Severus Snape.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum was changed so that it was now simply "Dark Arts". Amycus had his seventh-years practice the Cruciatus Curse on people who have had won detentions. His syllabus also apparently covered the usage of the Killing Curse and Fiendfyre.

As Deputy Headmasters, the Carrows were put in charge of all punishment. The members of faculty were obliged to report any rule-breaking student to them, although they did not if they could avoid it. Punishments given out by the Carrows included torture, via the Cruciatus Curse, as well as chaining students and corporal punishment in the form of beatings and slashes with knives.

File:AmycusStaircase.png

Amycus Carrow controls the Hogwarts students.

Dumbledore's Army, led by Neville Longbottom, led the resistance against the Carrows. Amycus made a particularly deep gash in his cheek after he refused to use the Cruciatus Curse on students in detention. The group, now made illicit after the reenactment of the Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four, used to sneak into the corridors at night and put up graffiti on the walls with messages like "Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting". Michael Corner was caught releasing a first-year the Carrows had chained up, and was violently tortured.

Once the Carrows realised they had no hold over Neville, particularly after the Death Eaters' failed attempt to abduct his grandmother, they planed to kill him or send him to Azkaban. As the Carrows chased him, Neville chose the Room of Requirement as a hideout and the rest of the Dumbledore's Army soon followed his footsteps and moved into the room as the Carrows tried to hunt them down.

Overthrow

Minerva McGonagall: "But let me make one thing very clear. You are not going to pass off your many ineptitudes on the students of Hogwarts. I shall not permit it."

Amycus Carrow: "Excuse me? It's not a case of what you'll permit, Minerva McGonagall. Your time's over. It's us what's in charge here now, and you'll back me up or you'll pay the price. (spits in her face)"

Harry Potter: " (emerges from invisibility cloak) You shouldn't have done that, Crucio!"

— Minerva McGonagall confronts Amycus Carrow, and Harry Potter curses him.

By the evening of 1 May, 1998, news of Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger's break-in of Gringotts Wizarding Bank reached the student body; Terry Boot was beaten up by the Carrows for yelling about it in the Great Hall over dinner.

That same day, as Lord Voldemort became aware that Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger were hunting down and destroying his Horcruxes, he instructed Amycus and Alecto that Harry might try to get into the Castle and Ravenclaw Tower. At the Carrows' urgent request Professor Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House, let Alecto into the common room, where she stood guard.

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Amycus is hit by a curse.

His sister was keeping watch when Harry arrived with Luna Lovegood. Alecto immediately touched her Dark Mark, letting Voldemort and all the Death Eaters know that they had got him. Alecto was immediately Stunned by Luna, but Amycus demanded Minerva McGonagall to let him into the Tower. Once inside, he saw his unconscious sister but no sign of Harry, as both he and Luna were hidden beneath his Invisibility Cloak. Aware that they were going to feel Voldemort's wrath if they did not hand him Harry, Amycus planned to pass it off on the students, and when Professor McGonagall objected calling Amycus a coward in the process, he spat in her face. This show of disrespect for both human life and McGonagall enraged Harry to the point of disregarding stealth and revealing himself, throwing a Cruciatus Curse at Amycus with such force that he slammed into the wall. Minerva McGonagall used a spell to conjure a net, and the siblings were tied up and hoisted into the air, where were left dangling beneath the ceiling.

Post-war

Neither Amycus nor his sister fought in the Battle of Hogwarts as both of them were kept tied-up at Ravenclaw Tower. It is likely that after the battle and the end of the Second Wizarding War Amycus was imprisoned in Azkaban for his crimes under Kingsley Shacklebolt's de-corrupted Ministry of Magic.

Physical appearance

Amycus Carrow was squat and lumpy, with a lopsided leer and a wheezy giggle, much like his sister. Hunched, he had a pallid, doughy face and tiny eyes. He also had a pig-like face.

File:ProfessorAmycus.png

Amycus Carrow.

Personality and traits

Eagle door knocker: "Where do Vanished objects go?"

Amycus Carrow: "I dunno, do I? Shut it!"

— Amycus tries to enter Ravenclaw Tower.

Amycus was a sadistic man who enjoyed punishing and torturing students, ordering them to perform the Cruciatus Curse on students given detention. He was also a coward, as he planned to blame the Ravenclaw students for allegedly forcing Alecto to press her Dark Mark so that they would be punished by Voldemort instead of himself and his sister. He was also arrogant as he demanded that McGonagall would support him. He was rude and offensive, banging hard on the door to Ravenclaw Tower when he failed to solve the riddle to open it, putting his face close to Minerva to command her support and ended up spitting in her face. He was also hot-tempered, responding with violence without warning. Amycus does not seem to be very bright as he was unable to answer the riddle to get into Ravenclaw Tower when asked by the eagle knocker on the door or give a reason why Harry Potter would go into Ravenclaw Tower when he was of Gryffindor House, when asked by Minerva McGonagall.

Magical Abilities and Skills

• Dark Arts: Amycus apparently mastered the Dark Arts as he was a Death Eater. He could cast the Cruciatus Curse effectively and, apparently, the Killing Curse and could summon Fiendfyre. He was skilled enough to teach students in curses and was placed as a teacher of the Dark Arts class.
• Duellist: Amycus was somewhat skilled in duelling as he seemed too much for Ginny Weasley to overpower during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower.

Etymology

Amycus

• In Greek mythology, Amycus was the son of the sea god, Poseidon, and the nymph, Melia. He was a boxer as well as a soldier in the Trojan War.
• "Amycus" is also genus of South American spiders.
• "Amycus" may come from the Latin "amicus", meaning "friend" (however this is ironic, as Amycus is obviously not a 'friend' to the cause of good).

Carrow

• In English, the word; "Carrow", can refer to two places. "Carrow" in Norfolk, or "Carraw" in Northumberland. The first is assumed to have its name derived from the Old English word "carr", meaning "rock", and a word of Celtic origin; "hoh", meaning "spur of a hill". While the second appears to have been named either after the plural of the Old English word "carr", or after a mixture of a form of "carr", and another Old English word; "raw", meaning "row".

• It is also possible, that the surname was originally a shortnened version of the Cornish surname; "Nancarrow".

Behind the scenes

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Ralph Ineson as Amycus Carrow in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

• Amycus Carrow is played by Ralph Ineson in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2.
• Amycus role in the films is significantly smaller than in the books: in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, all of Amycus's lines were given to Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback; in the first part of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he was only seen in the Meeting at Malfoy Manor; and in the second part of the film adaptation he is only seen during the ousting of Severus Snape in the Great Hall, in which he is defeated as Severus Snape blocks a spell cast by Minerva McGonagall during their duel (possibly Confringo).
• In the second part of the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Amycus and his sister appear as bosses in the Great Hall shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts.
• In Deathly Hallows Part 2, Amycus is said to have instructed his students to practice the Cruciatus Curse on first-years.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Notes and references

Hogwarts Faculty