All of Arun C.'s Comments + Replies

This is entirely true and my original comment only stated there would be "many" deaths because of poor word choice from my sleep deprived self.

Arun C.*30

If the Killing Curse has an indefinite lifespan and ends only upon severing a soul, there may be accidental casualties of humans on the other side of the earth or perhaps alien life. Perhaps a hive mind would die instantly to a Killing Curse.

8gwern
I wouldn't expect many accidental deaths. Think about how often people shoot off guns in crowded urban areas and no one is hit. The Killing Curse is cast very rarely; there are no recreational curse ranges you go out to. The other side of the earth is millions upon millions of square kilometers; humans take up much less than a meter each. So... For aliens, it would be astronomically more so: probably not a single Killing Curse would ever come anywhere near an inhabited solar system, much less hit someone there on a planet. (That would happen only if driven by plot necessity, which famously sneers at mere probability.)