What are Dark Arts?

[severelysigune]

No: HPFGUIDX 91065

potioncat wrote:
<< I have some questions about Dark Arts and DADA. DADA in the first 
years is more about getting rid of magical pests than fighting dark 
arts.
After Ron attempts the slug curse on Malfoy, Hermione comments "That  
curse is difficult to do under the best circumstances." (paraphrased 
from CoS) 
Hermione puts a spell on the D.A. list that hexes anyone who betrays  
the group.(OoP)  With all the hexes, curses and jinxes that are being 
performed by fairly young students at Hogwarts, just what separates 
dark magic from regular magic?

We're told in OoP that young Snape was up to his eyeballs in dark 
magic, and that James hated dark magic.(by Sirius)  We're told in PoA 
that the Marauders' map is full of dark magic.(by Snape) Lupin later 
gives it back to Harry, so he must not think it's dark magic.  We 
don't know if Snape was just poking at Lupin, setting up a red 
herring for Harry, or in his opinion it is dark. I'm under the belief 
here that Snape knows who created the map.

Just about any of the magic the students are being taught could be 
used for good or evil.  So, what are Dark Arts?  Does anyone have a 
good feel for this?  Does anyone have a canon reference about this?>>


Sigune here:
This is a very interesting question. I am trying my hand at fanfic 
and find that I really have trouble finding out what 
constitutes "Dark magic" - I'd be happy with any canon references, 
but I don't think much can be found. However -

The HP Lexicon says that the Darkness of a spell has everything to do 
with the intention of the caster. Hermione's jinx would not qualify 
as Dark magic because she casts it in order to protect the DA rather 
than harm someone. But the same reasoning would make Ron's Slug-
Thingy-Curse Dark, as his intentions towards Malfoy are obviously 
less than friendly. 
(As to the Marauders' map, I believe, like you, that Snape knows very 
well who made it; and I think his purpose in calling it Dark is 
simply to confront Lupin with it.)
The Lexicon's explanation certainly seems to make sense for the 
Unforgivable Curses: you cannot possibly cast them /without/ the 
intention to harm someone; indeed, they are apparently fuelled by 
hatred and an ardent wish to cause pain.

On the other hand, I don't think intention is all there is to it; and 
as you remark, students use jinxes and hexes and curses on each other 
all the time. I am also thinking of the Duelling Club: surely 
Dumbledore would not have allowed it if duelling qualifies as Dark 
magic, and I should think that duelling /always/ implies an intention 
to hit the other person with a spell. If the very nature of a jinx 
makes it Dark, then we end up with an Umbridgean definition of Dark 
Arts :).

I believe that a classic example of Dark magic (I am in fact thinking 
of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus here) would be Necromancy. In Faustus' 
case this involves conjuring a devil to serve him. There are the 
obvious religious connotations here - Faustus' magic (as indeed /all/ 
magic, in this context) is Dark because he forsakes God and calls in 
a devil to help him to whatever he may like. There is nothing of this 
kind in the Potterverse; there is not a single mention of devils or 
demons, so that is not very helpful to any attempt at definition. 
As to Necromancy, there is the well-known instance where Voldemort 
tries to lure Harry into helping him by promising to bring back his 
parents; that qualifies as Dark Arts to me. But then I wonder if 
Voldemort really has this kind of power. If he has, he could conjure 
back his fallen Death Eaters to help him and, God forbid, create an 
army of zombies (blèh).

Lastly, I suppose anything that involves mutilation or sacrifice or 
blood of a human being would be considered Dark - like the potion 
that restored Voldemort to his body. The Darkness here has less to do 
with intention than with the obvious fact that you need to physically 
hurt someone in order for the magic to be done.

Hm - re-reading what I just wrote I think the points I made are all 
rather obvious. Sorry for that - just the first thoughts that crossed 
my mind when reading your post...

Yours severely,

Sigune