Nature of Dark Magic (was Motivations for Joining DEs )

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 141226

 
> bboyminn:
> 
> I would mostly agree with your list. By my point, my theory, is that
> it is the nature of the creation that makes Dark Magic 'dark' and 
not
> the nature of it's use. Also, we need to make a distinction between
> 'Dark' with a capital 'D' and 'dark' with a small 'd'. 
> 
> Dark with a capital 'D' defines a class of magic which by the nature
> of its creation is, in some way, destructive. Again, I emphasize the
> CREATION. Magic that is 'dark' with a small 'd', is magic that is 
dark
> in the evilness of its nature, referring more to its application
> rather than creation. Dark Magic/Dark Arts are a specific
> classification of a special type of magic, whereas dark magic is
> general magic of no redeeming quality, it is generally evil in 
nature.
> 
> So, I agree that Sectumsempra is dark (with a small 'd') magic, but 
I
> don't think it necessarily qualifies as Dark (with a capital 'D')
> magic. Whereas the Blood-Flesh-Bone Spell is both Dark and dark.
> 
> This is really just one of my theories. It is supported in the books
> only by the vaguest interpretations. But it seems a reasonable
> interpretation that a very evil wizard could live a terrible life
> without ever engaging in truly Dark Magic/Arts. I feel that true 
Dark
> Magic/Arts has to have something very specific in its nature to
> classify it as Dark. It can't just be used for evil, because we see
> magic that is not classfied as 'Dark' being used for evil purposes.
> That leads me to conclude that there is something special and unique
> in Dark Magic/Arts, and I conclude that it's creation is a 
destructive
> process of some type. 
> 

Neri:
My theory is that what makes dark magic *Dark* is INTENTION. That is, 
the very power of Dark Magic comes from intent of the wizard to harm 
somebody else, and it won't work at all unless there is an evil 
intention.

So for example, you can kill someone with "Reducto" if you apply it 
to someone's head, but that doesn't make Reducto Dark. You can 
levitate a big club with Wingardium Leviosa and then drop it on 
someone's head, and unless someone is a troll he might get killed, 
and yet Wingardium Leviosa isn't Dark. This is because Reducto and 
Leviosa don't require the *intent* to harm in order to work. You can 
kill somebody with Leviosa by pure accident, without any intention, 
like Fred and George in OotP levitating a knife and nearly dropping 
it on Sirius. 

In contrast, Bella tells us that Crucio won't work unless you want to 
hurt someone, and even this won't be enough – you need to actually 
*enjoy* it. I think this is the principle behind all Dark Magic. We 
might theorize that Dark Magic draws its very power from harnessing 
evil feelings and intentions. Using true Dark Magic in an effective 
way thus proves that the user has an evil intent. 

This theory has a slight problem with Harry using Sectumsempra on 
Draco without meaning it. We can solve this by assuming that 
Sectumsempra is "dark" but not "Dark", but it might be something 
else. I think Harry's Sectumsempra wouldn't have worked at all if he 
didn't hate Draco so much. JKR builds Harry's hate for Draco during 
all of HBP, and in fact during the whole series, and then uses the 
bathroom incident as a warning: this is what happens to you if you 
let your hate towards your enemy take hold of you.

Neri