What constitutes "Dark Arts"? (Was: Marauders and Lord Voldemort)

[ohneill_2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 109243


Amey:

> > Polyjuice Potion is never mentioned as a piece of Dark Art or 
else 
> >Dumbledore would have told Harry in CoS.

RMM:
 
> Actually the recipe came from a book in the restricted area of the 
> library and Hermione said that the book was full of the Dark Arts.
> 

Now Cory:

I've been following this thread a bit, and I can't help wondering: 
who is to say whether a particular bit of magic is or isn't "dark 
arts"?

One theme that I have gathered from my reading of the series is 
that "good" and "evil" are not absolutes.  Or to put it another 
way, "The world is not divided into good people and Death Eaters."  
(Sirius).  I don't know whether JKR intends to convey this message or 
not, but it is one that I have taken from the series nonetheless.

Take Harry, for example.  He is a "good" character, but he undeniably 
has some "evil" qualities (his rule breaking, and his overall 
aggressive nature in OotP).  That doesn't change the fact that he's a 
good character though.  I would analogize it to Star Wars: Luke is a 
good character, and he does not, in the end, turn to the dark side of 
the Force...but he does have "dark" qualities, and it is his dark 
qualities that eventually allow him to defeat Vader.  His power lies 
in the fact that he can possess those powers without truly turning 
evil.  I see Harry the same way.

I don't know whether or not the Marauder's Map contains "dark" magic 
or not, but what if it does?  Or what if Polyjuice Potion is 
considered by some to be "Dark Arts"??  Does the question or whether 
Harry, Hermione and Ron are good or bad characters turn on whether or 
not the use of polyjuice potion fits someone's definition of "evil" 
magic?  I think not.

For me, the message is that there is some "evil" in all of us, and 
there is some potential good in all evil.  The strength of the truly 
good and righteous characters in the story is that whatever they do, 
they do it for a worthy cause.  It matters not that they use a spell 
or a potion that some would call "evil"; rather, we judge the 
characters by whether or not their purpose is evil.

--Cory