The first Wizarding War was one of the darkest times ever in the Wizarding World. Just a mere fifty years after the rise of Grindelwald in New York, Voldemort struck, and he became a more dangerous and powerful wizard. After over ten years of fighting, Barty Crouch issued his edict in 1981 that would change the Wizarding World forever.

Barty Crouch’s Edict was a law decreed that all Aurors and other fighters against the Dark Army could use Unforgivable Curses and other curses without consequence. This, in basic, made it so that the fighters against Voldemort could use the Unforgivable Curses, and would let the Aurors do the same thing that the Dark Army was. This led to a huge turn in the tide in the war against the Dark Army and would help lead to their eventual defeat later that year.

Many pondered the question of whether what Barty Crouch did was right. At that time, he was in an impossible situation, but was it the right decision? Was letting the heroes use the same spells that the villains were being put in jail for right? This was a question many asked for a very long time, and no one will ever get an answer. Less than twenty years later, Barty Crouch was murdered by his son, leaving no one ever knowing why he issued the edict or what toll it took on himself.
On one hand, the Wizarding War was in shambles. Muggles and magical beings alike were being tormented by the Dark Army, and thousands of lives were lost. Many went into hiding, and every single wizard and witch in the world was affected. Though this war took place in Europe and not on a global scale, the threat of Voldemort’s army spreading to the rest of the world led to even more paranoia. Everyone just wanted the war to end, and after so many years of suffering, Barty tried to do that.

The edict did, in fact, lead to the end of the war, as it sped up the defeat of the Dark Army by a huge amount. Instead of trying fights against giants or other creatures, the Aurors could just kill them, and that would be that. It led to a quicker end to battles, and the Dark Army continued to retreat. It was at this time that the prophecy from Sybill Trelawney was given that Voldemort would fall, and that too led to more panic from the Dark Army. Once Voldemort disappeared at the Potter house in late 1981, the war quickly ended as the Dark Army had no ruler left to listen to and the Aurors kept attacking. This eventually led to the Wizengamot Trials, where the Dark Army was tried for their crimes, but no Aurors were convicted of any.

However, though most were happy about the edict being passed and the swift end to the war, others felt that the decision was morally wrong. To give the Aurors the ability to do what the Dark Army felt was hypocritical to some, people began to lose faith in the Ministry of Magic. Some believed that this edict should never be passed again, even in the face of another war, as the people that they wanted to protect shouldn't have to stoop down to the level of the Dark Army. This is part of the reason why the edict was not passed again during the Second Wizarding War.
So was it right to pass the edict? In my opinion, yes and no. Like many things, it is for us wizards and witches to see what the muggle world did in a situation like this to see what we should do. In the first World War in the early 1910’s, the gas bomb was used in the trenches to kill soldiers. During the war, it was legal; however, after, it was made illegal for being too inhumane. This, I believe, is the same as the edict. It should not be criticized now for being used at that time, but it should never be used again. The edict reflected the state of the wizarding world during the war, but it never has to be used in that way again.

Written by Michael Isserles and proof-read by Eleanor Raven