Defintion of Dark Arts / Dark Mark

[leslesaja]

No: HPFGUIDX 31372

Hello to all,

is there a definition of what _exactly_ the Dark Arts are?
First of all it is because of the name: for me "dark" is not totally 
the same as "evil". And "arts" seems to implicate that there is 
something "admirable" to it, something that deserves appreciation.

It seems to contain a psychological component, like to control 
someones acting (Imperius) or to visualise the biggest fear someone's 
got - what means to read his/her mind, doesn't it? - but is a torture 
like Cruciatus only a psychological one, that makes someone only
think 
that he/she is feeling pain?

Draco (?) said that the Dark Arts are teached to the pupils of 
Durmstrang, and not only the defense against them. So the Dark Arts 
are not completely forbidden in the magican world?
Because their power can be useful, although the abuse is dangerous
and 
/ or not ethical?

There are spells that don't belong to the Dark Arts, like petrifing, 
that are some kind of injuring or compulsion (at least for me), but 
these ones are allowed.
So it can't be the point of aggression or something like that that 
makes something belong to the Dark Arts.
So what is the dark nature of the Dark Arts?


And at last about the Dark Mark: It "burns black", does that mean
that 
it hurts?

Is this Mark done by Dark Arts? The Dark Mark is a sign of LV's power 
over the DE's, too, but a mark that would allow a kind of 
communication (bidirectional would be better, I think) / bondage
could 
be very useful for the good guys (e.g. as use for a silent cry for 
help working over long distances).

What do you think?

Les
(who has just started to read the books in english and hopes that she 
was able to find the right words in this foreign language to express 
her thoughts as they were meant to be)