4

I was trying to count the number of times Voldemort attempted AK on harry. Before I started, I thought the number will turnout to be 7. The number appears many times in the HP series and seems to have some sort of a magical meaning. My count so far :

  1. Godric's Hollow - when Harry is still a baby. Fails to kill him and transfers a part of his soul into the Harry-baby.
  2. Little Whinging, the Graveyard where Tom Riddle Sr is buried - Harry is 14 years-old. Priori Incantatem occurs.
  3. Somewhere near Privet Drive 4 - The 7 Potters Battle in the beginning of DH. Harry's wand recognizes Voldemort and fires that golden spell.
  4. The Forbidden Forest - Harry sacrifices him self willingly & and goes to meet Dumbledore.
  5. The final battle in the Hogwarts main hall - Voldemort dies, since he no longer has Horcruxes.

Now you can see my problem, I am two AK occurrences short. Did I miss any other ones or it's just 5 times that Voldemort attempts AK on Harry?

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  • Sorry to disappoint you, but I think it is just the four. Without having the books, I can't be sure, but no other instances spring to mind.
    – alexwlchan
    May 22, 2015 at 10:49
  • Why did you think the number would be seven? Once per book?
    – Valorum
    May 22, 2015 at 10:49
  • @Richard No, not really. You see in the last book, Voldemort attempts to cast Avada Kedavra on Harry twice. May 22, 2015 at 11:10
  • I'm not sure Voldemort managed to cast Avada Kedavra at Harry during the Battle of the Seven Potters. Harry's wand reacted before that and destroyed the wand of Malfoy. So this reduces the AK attempts to 4. If you ask how many times Voldemort tried to kill Harry then maybe the answer is 7.
    – vap78
    May 22, 2015 at 11:21

4 Answers 4

14

He tried using "Avada Kedavra" 6 times, but one time he could not completely utter the curse. So that would keep the count to 5.

Instances when the curse ("Avada Kedavra") was completely uttered

  1. Godric's Hollow

    The child began to cry. It had seen that he was not James. He did not like it crying, he had never been able to stomach the small ones whining in the orphanage— “Avada Kedavra!” And then he broke; He was nothing, nothing but pain and terror, and he must hide himself, not here in the rubble of the ruined house, where the child was trapped and screaming, but far away. . . far away. . . “No,” he moaned.

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows CHAPTER 17. BATHILDA’S SECRET

  2. Little Hangleton

    Voldemort was ready. As Harry shouted, “Expelliarmus!” Voldemort cried, “Avada Kedavra!”

    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire CHAPTER 34. PRIOR INCANTATEM

  3. Ministry of Magic

    Voldemort paid no attention. “I have nothing more to say to you, Potter,” he said quietly. “You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!”

    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter 36 THE ONLY ONE HE EVER FEARED

  4. The Forbidden Forest

    Harry looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost control, before he betrayed fear— He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows CHAPTER 34. THE FOREST AGAIN

  5. The Battle of Hogwarts (in the Main Hall)

    Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand:

    “Avada Kedavra!”

    “Expelliarmus!”

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows CHAPTER 36. THE FLAW IN THE PLAN

Instance when Voldemort failed to completely utter the curse

  1. Somewhere near Little Whinging - The 7 Potters Battle (He could not completely utter the curse)

    Barely gripping the plummeting bike with his knees, Harry heard Voldemort scream, “Mine!!”

    It was over: He could not see or hear where Voldemort was; he glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out of the way and heard, “Avada—”

    As the pain from Harry’s scar forced his eyes shut, his wand acted of its own accord. He felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed eyelids, heard a crack and a scream of fury. the remaining Death Eater yelled; Voldemort screamed, “No!”; Somehow, Harry found his nose an inch from the dragon-fire button. He punched it with his wand-free hand and the bike shot more flames into the air, hurtling straight toward the ground.

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows CHAPTER 4. THE SEVEN POTTERS

1

There were also two incidents that can count as attempts to kill him:

One was when Voldemort was parasitizing Quirrel, who attempted to kill Harry but failed.

The second was in the Chamber of Secrets, when the Horcruxed fragment tried to kill Harry, and failed.

So while it looks like we fall short of seven attempts to use Avada Kedavra, broadening things to simple attempts to kill (by whatever means) might bring the total to seven. That's a fail video in it's own right.

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  • Good points even if the question is technically about AK.
    – Pryftan
    Aug 6, 2017 at 0:52
0

I chalk it up to how many times Voldemort tried to kill Harry, or Harry "defeats/evades Voldemort"...as opposed to how many times Voldemort used the Avada Kedavra curse itself.

  1. as a baby obviously
  2. "defeats/escapes" Voldemort at the end of Sorcerer's Stone
  3. Harry "defeats" Voldemort with the diary horcrux puncture in "Chamber of Secrets- Voldemort disappears
  4. Harry "defeats/escapes" Voldemort in the graveyard in Goblet of Fire.
  5. Harry prevents Voldemort from occupying Harry's body at the end in the Ministry of Magic during Dumbledore's battle with Voldemort.
  6. (and 7 and 8) Harry "defeats" Voldemort three times in Deathly Hallows....in the battle on the motorcycle; in the forest and at the end.

That makes a total of 8 occasions when Harry physically "defeated/escaped/or evaded" Voldemort at some point the entire series. The one at Bathilda's house doesn't count since Harry and Hermione got away before Voldemort could get there.

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  • 2
    While this is interesting information, it doesn't really answer the question, which is specifically asking about Avada Kedavra.
    – KutuluMike
    Sep 4, 2016 at 19:27
-3

Didn't he shoot AK at him several times at the ministry? Maybe non verbally but set a jet of green light many times

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  • 1
    I haven't downvoted, but this answer would be greatly improved by the addition of some quotes from the book.
    – Rand al'Thor
    Feb 28, 2016 at 12:07

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