If one of the champions had killed one another, would that person be sent to Azkaban? Or are the Unforgivable Curses allowed during the Triwizard Tournament? (This question is meant for the third stage, which is in the maze)
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4Do you have any reason to believe the Unforgivable Curses would be allowed?– F1KrazyCommented Apr 28, 2019 at 9:01
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1@F1Krazy it’s not allowed. But a contestant could use it if he’s under imperius curse. Like Victor Krum did in the finale. I guess this is a valid question.– ShreedharCommented Apr 28, 2019 at 14:36
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@F1Krazy I asked this question because I was curious what would happen. Not that I had any reason to believe they would be allowed, if I had believed it would be allowed their wouldn’t be a reason for me to ask this question.– Jordan CarreiraCommented Apr 28, 2019 at 15:32
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Also, it was never implied that it was or wasn’t allowed.– Jordan CarreiraCommented Apr 28, 2019 at 17:38
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2Stated, maybe not. But...they don't state murder isn't allowed to win the Tour de France either. Implied? Very much so as the Triwizard Tournament being part of the wizarding world rather than being held in a legal vacuum.– TARSCommented Apr 29, 2019 at 17:20
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2 Answers
There’d likely be some penalty for murder.
Particularly in the Triwizard Tournament that Harry competed in, there almost certainly would be some sort of punishment for murdering another Triwizard champion. In this attempt to restart the Triwizard Tournament, the Ministries of each country involved worked hard to ensure the champions wouldn’t be in danger of death. Presumably this would also include death at the hands of other champions.
“However, our own Departments of International Magical Co-operation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that, this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 12 (The Triwizard Tournament)
Therefore, it’s very likely that there would be some sort of penalty for killing another champion intentionally. Since it’s highly probable that murder is illegal in all three countries involved, a jail sentence seems a fairly likely penalty.
Rules on Unforgivable Curses are unclear.
It’s not clear, though, what rules (if any) there are on using Unforgivable Curses during the Triwizard Tournament. While Dumbledore certainly wouldn’t approve of their use, the rules of the Triwizard Tournament were decided by the Departments of International Magical Co-operation and Magical Games and Sports of the countries involved (as shown in the earlier quote), and it’s unclear if they’d ban the use of Unforgivable Curses, since those three curses are only known to be classified as Unforgivable in Britain.
“However, our own Departments of International Magical Co-operation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that, this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 12 (The Triwizard Tournament)
The other countries involved may not share Britain’s position that those three curses should be illegal - for example, Hogwarts refuses to teach the Dark Arts, but Durmstrang does.
“Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defence rubbish we do …”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 11 (Aboard the Hogwarts Express)
From what we know of the Triwizard Tournament, it’s not possible to conclusively state whether using Unforgivable Curses would be permitted or not, due to its nature as an international event that isn’t subject only to British wizarding laws.
However, judges may deduct points for it.
Though it’s not clear if there’d be any legal punishment for using the Unforgivable Curses, it’s likely that at least one judge would deduct points for it. The judges can award points for “moral fiber”, so presumably they can also deduct points for anything they consider unsportsmanlike conduct.
“Mr Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect,’ Bagman continued. ‘He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own.’
Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks.
‘Most of the judges’ – and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look – ‘feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However … Mr Potter’s score is forty-five points.”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 26 (The Second Task)
Therefore, it’s likely that any champion who uses an Unforgivable Curse in the tournament and is seen by the judges doing so will have some amount of points deducted from their total, even if there are no legal consequences.
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1Does whether the tournament rules ban them affect whether British law bans them?– AlexCommented Apr 29, 2019 at 17:52
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3My point is that it might not be relevant what the tournament rules are. If it’s taking place on British soil then the participants are presumably bound by British law, unless there was a specific dispensation wherein Triwizard events are exempt from law.– AlexCommented Apr 29, 2019 at 18:43
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@Alex The tournament rules don’t affect British law, but for the tournament (as contestants in an international competition), it’s likely that its rules, decided upon by the participant countries’ Ministries, would supersede the laws of the host country in the case of any conflict.– ObsidiaCommented Apr 29, 2019 at 18:45
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If that’s the case it would still entail there being a specific rule allowing the curses, not merely a lack of a rule forbidding them.– AlexCommented Apr 29, 2019 at 18:47
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Is there a reason to quote the same paragraph twice? And points are not relevant to the third task.– user102803Commented Apr 30, 2019 at 5:17
Harry assumed (and it's always possible that he assumed incorrectly) that the Azkaban punishment applies even to Unforgivable Curses used during the Triwizard Tournament. From Chapter Thirty-One of Goblet of Fire:
Harry moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure he was moving in the right direction. It was between him and Cedric now. His desire to reach the cup first was now burning stronger than ever, but he could hardly believe what he'd just seen Krum do. The use of an Unforgivable Curse on a fellow human being meant a life term in Azkaban, that was what Moody had told them. Krum surely couldn't have wanted the Triwizard Cup that badly.... Harry sped up.
Additionally, we don't find anywhere that anyone mentioned a special dispensation for using such curses during the Tournament. The only dispensation mentioned was during the war against Voldemort. As Sirius stated in Chapter Twenty-Seven:
Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects.
Note that this does not necessarily mean that you would lose the tournament if you used an Unforgivable Curse. It is theoretically possible that you could simultaneously win the tournament and be sentenced to Azkaban. The tournament seems to only care about who actually ends up with the cup. Consider that Harry was declared the winner despite the following factors:
- He wasn't even eligible to compete in the first place.
- One of his competitors was eliminated by an attack from a non-participant.
- Another competitor was eliminated by a combined attack from a non-participant and a fellow competitor.
- The last competitor was eliminated by being kidnapped and killed by a non-participant.
Basically, the entire tournament was rigged, there was rule-breaking by all the champions, and a couple of Unforgivable Curses even got involved. Yet that apparently had no impact on the determination of the winner (though, granted, there were other problems that needed to be addressed first).
This can perhaps be best summed up by Moody(Crouch Jr.)'s comment in Chapter Twenty:
"It's all right," said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. "Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been."
On the other hand, it's possible that you wouldn't get disqualified for merely cheating but you would get disqualified for breaking the law. Hermione (in Chapter Twenty-Six) seemed to think so at any rate:
Ron quite liked the idea of using the Summoning Charm again – Harry had explained about Aqua-Lungs, and Ron couldn't see why Harry shouldn't Summon one from the nearest Muggle town. Hermione squashed this plan by pointing out that, in the unlikely event that Harry managed to learn how to operate an Aqua-Lung within the set limit of an hour, he was sure to be disqualified for breaking the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy – it was too much to hope that no Muggles would spot an Aqua-Lung zooming across the countryside to Hogwarts.
