Intention in Magic (was Re: Motivations for Joining DEs)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 141161

Lupinlore:
> Does it?  Does intention count in magic?  If it does, HOW does it 
> matter?  I think that is a very important question to which we
> have no really clear answer.

Jen: A clear answer, no. That would probably be too much to ask  
until the encyclopedia of the WW comes out. 

Intention does count, though. "Destination, Determination, 
Deliberation"--you don't want to end up in Jersey during beginning 
apparation. Some of the elementary magic, such as 'swish and flick', 
relied more on the proper spell. By third year we see Riddikulus, 
when a wizard must bring to life an idea envisioned in the mind. By 
sixth year, intention is a much larger part of magical training with 
the focus on nonverbals. Saying the spell over and over in your head 
is no guarantee the action will happen, it requires a concentrated 
effort: "Mustering all his powers of concentration, Harry thought, 
Levi-" (chap. 28, p. 604, Scholastic)

If more complex magic requires intentionality, then dark arts must 
as well. Unfortunately, most of our information about dark magic 
comes from two rather dubious sources: Crouch Jr. & Bella. I believe 
JKR meant for them to be reliable sources of information because 
they're characterized as devoting their lives to dark arts, but 
other readers don't find them so convincing.

Lupinlore:
> First of all, I'm not sure if Tempted!Harry is the direction JKR
> is going.  It sounds a LOT like Star Wars cross-contamination. 
> I'm not at all sure that JKR views the Dark Arts in the same way 
> Lucas portrayed the Dark Side.  

Jen: Whatever JKR intends with the tempation idea, she's the one who 
put the issue on the table in the Horcrux chapter:

"You are protected in short, by your ability to love!" said 
Dumbledore loudly. "the only protection that can possibly work 
against the lure of power like Voldemort's! In spite of all the 
temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure of 
heart, just as pure as you were at age eleven..." (p. 511, 
Scholastic).

Why is Dumbledore saying Harry is pure of heart? Because he was 
never lured to Voldemort's side, never gave into the temptation he 
endured. Not, 'temptation dangled in front of him which he never 
noticed and was able to ignore easily', no, but which Harry 
*endured*. I don't think Dumbledore is pronuoncing him immune, just 
commenting on the state of his soul at the moment (prior to the 
Sectumsempra and chase across the grounds, I might add).

Lupinlore:
> Is Harry in serious moral danger?  I don't know.  If he were a
> Jedi, he would be.  But he's not a Jedi, and this isn't long, long
> ago in a galaxy far, far away, and I'm not at all sure that what
> we have seen in him and his attitudes/actions constitutes being in
> mortal peril of Darkness in JKR's world.

Jen: I don't get why temptation is only a Star Wars theme! We're in 
agreement Harry is not the next Anakin, but that doesn't mean 
temptation won't be a theme in Book 7. So far Harry thinks pretty 
much like you do, he saw what happened with the Sectumsempra when he 
used it on Draco and felt remorse, but there he is, still trying to 
use it on Snape plus a couple of Crucios. I don't think this 
qualifies as serious moral danger yet, but I do think the more he 
gives in to hatred, the less that power which saves him from 
Voldemort will be operational in protecting him. 

Lupinlore:
> Let us look to the figure who, by common consensus, is viewed as
> the loadstone of Light Magic in the Potterverse, Dumbledore.  DD
> shows no sign of thinking that Harry is on the road to darkness.
> Far from it, he is serenely confident that Harry is not in danger
> of such a fall.  We don't know if he is aware of Harry's attempted
> crucio at the MoM. If he is, however, he seems not to be at all
> troubled by it. Nor does he say anything to Harry regarding the
> Sectumsempra episode. 

Jen: Funny you should mention this, because *Snape* is the one most 
aware of Harry's attempts at dark magic. Whether anyone knew about 
the incident in the MOM with Bella is pretty tough to say. Harry, at 
least, never told anyone. The Sectumsempra I feel certain Dumbledore 
didn't know about. Hermione, our expositional mouthpiece, told Harry 
Snape wouldn't have wanted Dumbledore to know about the potion book. 
And Dumbledore was gone for the chase across the grounds, when Harry 
really started to get in the groove with his new, cool spells! 

That Snape is being set up to address this issue, rather than 
Dumbledore, is a very good choice in my book. JKR has been working 
toward a parallel between Snape and Harry since the Pensieve 
incident in OOTP, and she cemented their similarities by allowing 
Harry and Ron to relate to the HBP as a young guy much like 
themselves. Dumbledore, too 'noble' to use any type of dark magic, 
is out of Harry's league on this one. Much better to learn this from 
a person who allowed hatred, resentment and the study of dark arts 
to ruin what may have been a promising life at one time.

(I snipped the part about Unforgiveables because there are some 
great debates in the past about this, and I'm hoping someone else 
will provide links <g>.)

Lupinlore:
> For that matter, if intent is the road to darkness, then how is
> Harry supposed to deal with Voldy and the DEs?  As far as I can
> determine, he intends to kill the man, and DD, loadstone of Light
> Magic, seems perfectly happy with that.

Jen: Because Dumbledore knows Harry won't murder Voldemort. There 
are options for 'vanquishing' Voldemort which don't require murder. 
>From my reading, Dumbledore seems convinced Harry needs no 
particular magical power to defeat Voldemort, which means he's 
naturally suited for the job. Either by being willing to sacrifice 
himself, which he has a proven ability to do, or because Voldemort 
will make Harry impossible to kill by his own hand with all these 
weapons he's handing him, or something else entirely. Whatever it 
is, Harry is capable just the way he is at the moment.

Lupinlore:
> So, in sum, I have my doubts as to whether Tempted!Harry is really
> a theme JKR is interested in exploring, at least in the way many
> people seem to expect.  Maybe she is, but if so then we really
> need to know a lot more about the Dark Arts, specifically what
> makes them dark and what they do to those that practice them.

Jen: Oh, I certianly hope we'll get more on this issue. I do think 
JKR was merely building the foundation with Slughorn's 'murder rips 
the soul' comment; I expect certain subtleties to be fleshed out 
before the end. 

Jen, sorry if this posts twice, waited a good 30 minutes but 
Yahoomort is being unreliable at the moment.