Evil Is As Evil Is, But What Is Evil?

[dicentra63 <dicentra@xmission.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51600

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "abigailnus <abigailnus at y...>"
<abigailnus at y...> wrote:
> 
> Evil is not something 
> you become - Bad and Good are.  Evil is the boogeyman, the monster, the
> demon.  The thing that comes from outside ourselves....  I don't 
> believe it can be argued that there are any characters of that type
in > the Potterverse.

You're right, there are no Evil people (as you define Evil) in the
Potterverse. That's why I can't accept your definition of Evil when
analyzing Draco et al.: it's a non-concept.  

The Evil characters you're describing do come up in Lord of the Rings,
however.  Some creatures are Designated Evil Creatures, and were
created as Evil from the beginning.  They don't have free will--they
just run around Threatening To Devour The Heroes Or Worse.  We might
be able to count Dementors, Werewolves (in their non-human form),
Trolls, Acromantulae, and other Dangerous Creatures as Evil by your
definition, but none of them are people.

And none of them exist in the real world.  Someone like Draco can.

--Dicentra, who's known a few Dracos in her time