Unforgivables and the Dark Arts....

[Silverthorne]

No: HPFGUIDX 95029

Ah....something to safely sink my teeth into...lol...thanks, Carol!

Okay....so we're defining Unforgivables...and the Dark Arts, right?
Let's see if I can help here....(or if I only make it worse...^^;) Of
course, by the time I finish typing this out, I'm sure someone will have
already covered all this...lol...so please forgive any boring repeats...^^;


I'll start with my Webster's New World Dictionary,Third Edition, 1986
Printing (Run, folks, she's dragged out the books!)

*************************

*UNFORGIVING*-(Adj.): Not able or not willing to forgive.
*UNFORGIVABLE* {Note that the dictionary did not list this word, so am
basing definition on the preceeding definition}-{Adj used as a noun.} An act
or situation that cannot be forgiven.

*DARK*-(Adj)
         1) Entirely or partly without light ('light' can be taken into
metaphysical terms for our uses here--I think that's the meaning most people
would apply in this subject at any rate)
         5) Hidden or Secret
         6) Not easily understood, hard to make clear, obscure
         8) Angry or Sullen
         9) Evil--Sinister
         10) Ignorant, uneducated.
(Other meanings were not repeated since they did not seem to directly relate
to the subject....)

**************

Okay, 'Unforgivables' first--this one will take less time (and everyone is
doing a good job of presenting info already).

An Unforgivable curse, if we used the dictionary meaning as a basis, would
be a curse that cannot 'be forgiven'--in other words, the result of its use
would be abominable to most, if not all, people within a given 'lightside'
culture.

--Killing (Avada)--Torture (Crucio)--Mind/Body Control (Imperio)--

In most societies, these three acts are considered an abomination--crimes of
the highest order, coming into question even when they are used in time of
war (think about how we feel if we hear abnout 'our' men torturing and
killing, seemingly aimlessly, through enemy lands during war. Even if we
think it was justified, we still cringe at the thought that it was done...).
Essentially, because it completely dehumanizes the target, taking away all
will and chance at self defence, it is abbhorent. It is also 'permanent'.
You won't come back to life after being AK'd (and you have no chance to
avoid death), Crucio appearently can leave lasting affects (The Longbottom's
madness), and Imperio will leave you with the consequences of you
actions...and your conscience. As was pointed out, it ruins your life.

For these reasons, these three curses have the distinction of being
"unforgivable". In and of themselves, they have no use other than complete
subjugation of another person. Other spells can *lead* to a bad end, but
usually only in conjunction with other spells and intent. Unforgivables are
the whole package all by themselves....(I hope that made sense).


******************************

'Dark Arts'

Possible ways to define the "Dark Arts":

They are obscure, hard to perform magics, perhaps requiring a lot of
preparation and a good grasp of obscure and/or ancient magical knowledge.
(See definitions 5, 6). Because of this, novices and people who are not
completely familiar with the processes of performing Dark Arts should not
practice them--for the simple reason that without full command of the
subject and self it can result in undue damage to self, others, and the area
around. (refer to definition 6, 10).

They probably also include 'questionable' arts, such as Blood Rites, High
Ritual (which in popular media is most often associated with Satanism and
similarly 'evil' practices), and perhaps even severe alterations in
'natural' law--even as defined by WW standards (Enchanting a broom to fly is
'natural'--where as throwing a fireball, calling a zombie army from the
grave, ressurrection of a dead soul, and 'forcing' certain events, or
emotional/mental states on people, and otherwise using magic to create a
result that would not otherwise happen might all be considered 'unnatural'.
Nicholas Flamel's Philospher's stone might be borderline Dark Arts--it is
because it spanned his life past where it should have gone, it is not
because he was a willing recipient and participant).

Unforgivables are probably considered the "highest" (or lowest, depending on
your POV and preferred definition) form of the Dark Arts. Other Dark arts
are not considered as 'bad', just undesirable, since they may take away free
will of another target, but can be successfully countermanded by a
knowledgable, prepared wizard.

Traditionally in RL beliefs, Dark Arts practitioners are constantly walking
a balance between "Light" (Consciencious Use, moralistic codes to keep on
'the right path', following established laws and applying to selves when
using the arts) and "Dark" (Amoral decisions, Inhuman treatment of intended
target, etc.). The sheer ability to be able to hurt and control everything
around the practitioner, in essence, the chance to become 'godlike', is a
constant temptation. It is very easy to 'loose oneself" while practicing
such arts, leading practitionors into more and more amoral, sadistic, and
compassionless acts. If a practitioner already has tendencies towards this
end (violence, antisocial behiavior, controlling tendencies), it only makes
it easier for them to keep sinking (Snape, anyone?). Eventually, the
practitioner would no longer be able to tell 'right' from 'wrong' (this
assumes the Arts themselves are a corrupting influence). It is assumed that,
in most cases, this is an eventuality, and not merely a possibility. Just as
there are not many people who can resist Imperio sucessfully, not many
people have the self awareness to 'catch themselves' before they decend
beyond an irretrievable level.

Unforgivables, then, would be considered the ultimate expression of this
theory.

*********************************

----Possible "Dark Arts"

Poison works, plague creation, certain forms of control (Via Potions)

Spells designed to control others--through such mediums as Voodoo dolls,
ritual, certain charms, etc.--NOTE: This would include such innocous things
as Love Charms *in certain circumstances* (Think back to the Memory Charm
discussions). The Wicca/Pagan have an example of this...a 'Good" love charm
would simply draw a person with the traits you wanted in a mate to you (The
rest would be up to the two of you once you met)--where as a "Bad" love
charm would force a *specific* person to fall in love with you (Thus taking
away his/her freedom of choice in the matter).

Blood/Viscera magic--uses blood and internal organs essentially as a 'power
source' or 'foci'. Since the practitioner has limited resources in his own
body, this art would require 'donations' from other sources (or else you
would have a *very* short life span as a blood mage).

Necromancy--usually requires the violation of a dead body to perform certain
spells, or the forced control of a dead spirit linked to a specific dead
body.

Brain Eaters (Also called..*gasp* Death Eaters)--a subset of Necromancy--the
practitioner eats the brains of the dead in order to gain knowledge and/or
power.

Immortality Rituals, Spells, devices and so forth. They extend a life beyond
its normal span (Unnatural), and would defientely fall under this moniker if
it was accomplished at the expense of another's life. Many times, these
spells require a 'balancing factor'--the victim replaces the practitioners
soul in the afterlife, or other wise 'balances out'  the unnatural
ressurrection of a life that should not have returned, usualyl by dying
themselves.

---Potions as a Dark Art--why is it not a Dark Art (but close)

(This is an assumption via cannon ingredients that have been listed in the
books)
In usual circumstances, it would not be a considered a Dark Art, even though
many of its ingredients are from living creatures (Harvesting organs and
other things from even an animal is often considered...'wrong' in todays
standards). One of these reasons is because the ingredients (thus far) have
been taken from plants and animals, and not people (as far as we know).
Another is because they are *appearently* obtained in an 'acceptable manner'
from the animals (Plants don't have a version of PETA...^^;) ...IE: Taken
from dead animals, donated from a living animal, and/or the animal is not
considered 'sentient' enough for the sacrifice of its comfort, quality of
life, and/or it's death to serve the purpose to count as a concern (Think of
lab mice). Potions *Does* start to edge into Dark Arts though, when the
ingredients are gathered 'illegally'--from a rare/sentient animal, in an
unsually cruel manner, or when it invovled harvesting of human/sentient
parts. It would then be further exasperated by the intent of the potion....

Anyway, I could go on, but hopefully that helps to define Unforgivens and
Dark Arts...

*************************************

Anne/Silverthorne
Silverthorne.Dragon at verizon.net (Nights and Weekends)
Anne-TMC-RCVG.Campbell at tenetheath.com (6am-3pm American Central, Mon-Fri.)

"It is better to die than to loose your wrench"--Paraphrased from a former
Navy Mechanic.