What is 'Dark Magic'?

[Jo Ann]

No: HPFGUIDX 95891

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at m...> 
wrote:

> I wonder if wizards always agree on what is dark and what isn't. We 
> know from canon that DADA includes fighting off creatures like 
> Boggarts and imps (demons?) and in repelling certain curses. Arthur 
> says that the diary is obviously full of dark arts, but it's 
> uncertain if that's because he knows (after the fact) who made it
> or because of something else about it.

I suspect that "Dark Magic" has the same nebulous qualities in the WW 
as "art" or "obscenity" have in RL: "I may not be able to define it, 
but I know it when I see it!"

My best guess is that the term "Dark Arts" can encompass bits and 
pieces of what several people have been saying: ill intent, 
inherently corrupting spells, pacts with malevolent forces, crossing 
the line between life and death...the mix might be quite different 
for each Dark Magus, and the point at which the crucial line is 
crossed--the point of no return?--would also differ.

If I had to pick one factor as *most* important, I'd have to say it's 
the ill intent, which can lead to nearly anything being used for evil 
purposes.  But that doesn't preclude spells, artifacts, etc. that are 
evil by their very nature.

Jo Ann