What defines Dark Magic?

[maria_kirilenko]

No: HPFGUIDX 53540

Psy wrote:
>I was just thinking.  Dark Magic is always hailed as being evil and 
>wrong.  However, who decides what is Dark and what isn't?  Curses, 
>one would think, would all be considered Dark Magic.  However, many 
>of them are not.  There are only three curses we know of that are 
>defined as Dark Magic (the Unforgivable).  The rest seem perfectly 
>accepted in everyday use.

>Can Dark Magics be used for good?  Or is it inherently evil?  One 
>would think that with one of the overall themes of the books being 
>how you use what you have, I would think that you could use them for 
>good, but that doesn't seem to be the case.  There are 
>certainly "good" spells that could be put to evil use if the 
>practitioner has an evil mind, so why not the other way around?  
>Where is the line drawn? 

>Obviously, killing someone with a curse is a bit different than 
>causing carrots to grow out of their head - but think about it.  
>Could a spell/curse that causes one's head to suddenly sprout 
>vegetables be put to a positive use at all?  It's just very 
confusing.

Well, first of all I'd say that there is no definition, nor a 
definite boundary between the two. I think that there is `obviously' 
Dark Magic, `obviously' not-Dark Magic, and lots of spells and 
potions that fall into a grey area in-between.

I explain the difference to myself like it was explained in some 
fanfics I read (Primer to the Dark Arts, for example). It's basically 
this – the Dark Arts are the spells and potions that cannot be 
undone. Then, the curses that aren't Dark magic would be those that 
have counter-curses, not-Dark potions would be those that have 
antidotes. All the silly stuff, like Jelly-Legs or Hair Loss wouldn't 
be Dark, even though it can't be used for any good purposes. 

But Dark magic is either completely unblockable or nonreversible. I'd 
also classify as Dark the kinds of magic that leave a permanent mark 
on the one they were used on – like Imperio or Crucio. Even though 
you can fight Imperio, and patch up after suffering Crucio, you still 
can't forget what they were like, and, in a way, they affect you even 
after they stop working. No canon for any of this, of course.

The presence of a destructive element in Dark magic, as bboy_mn 
pointed out, is also important, IMO.

>Durmstrang has a stigma about teaching it's students Dark Magic.  
Are 
>they wrong to do this, or are they just letting the young wizards 
see 
>more options?

I don't know. I'd guess that would depend on what kinds of Dark magic 
they teach. I suppose that doing Dark magic requires a certain 
technique that's different from the one you use to do non-Dark 
spells – a different way to channel your intent, maybe. So, in a way, 
they are giving young wizards a broader outlook.

I suppose that there must be some Dark magic that *can* be used for 
good purposes – maybe they teach those there. I don't really believe 
that they would teach the Unforgivables in Durmstrang. <g>

Not that teaching any Dark Arts is necessarily good, of course. I 
think JKR is unequivocally telling us that the Dark Arts are evil. 
But, IMO, any thing that is described as such can't really be 
strictly separated from not-so-evil things.

Hope at least some of this makes sense, 

Maria