legalities, dark magic, and dark wizards

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 151230

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, stevemac <yahoo at ...> wrote:
>
> stevemac:
> 
>  From reading some of the recent posts about DD and Parseltongue, I  
> thought it was interesting that I did not have a clear distinction  
> between these categories...
> 
> Although it is easy to get the general 'dark magic = bad'  
> connotations, I'm really curious about what others have to say on  
> where the definitions and dividing lines are. ...edited
> 
> I'm just wondering where the boundries lie between illegal magic,  
> dark magic, and dark wizard.
> 
> stevemac
>

bboyminn

I've always made a distinction between "Dark" (with a capital 'D')
magic and 'dark' (with a small 'd'). Bad, evil, rotten, nasty magic is
definitely 'dark' but it is not necessarily 'Dark'. There is a lot of
magic in the books that people are assuming is 'Dark' (capital 'D')
when it is not, or at least, it is not established as so in the books.

My theory is that there has to be some underlying aspect, some aspect
in the very nature of the magic that makes it 'Dark' because use and
intent are not enough to explain it. Certainly good magic can be used
for a bad purpose, so does that make 'light' magic 'dark'? And I would
assume under the right circumstances bad magic could be used for some
good purpose, so does that make 'dark' magic 'light'? It really can't
be explained by intent or purpose, so I speculate it is something deeper.

I speculate that in the very core nature of Dark Magic it is somehow
destructive. Remember that at Durmstrang Dark Magic is taught, how can
that magic be classfied as 'dark' when it can't have evil intent or
purpose when it is used in the classroom? Yet, if it is destructive in
the /Creation/ of the magic, then even minor seemingly harmless spells
can still be qualified as 'dark' if the aspect of destruction is
involved in their creation.

Her is an example to illustrate what I mean. Perhaps these minor
seemingly innocent spells draw on the life force that surrounds us.
These spells steal, perhaps even totally consuming, the life force of
plants, animals, and humans that surround the wizard. That represents
an unacceptable element of destruction that 'Light' wizards would not
accept. 

So, there is a whole range of magic from simple and minor to totally
evil and destructive that falls under the official classification of
DARK MAGIC.

There are other spells that are bad by their nature, application, and
intent that, while not DARK MAGIC, are 'dark' magic.

For example, we know that the Unforgivable curse are 'dark' (small
'd') but we really don't know that they are 'Dark' (capital 'D'). We
know that they are bad, we know that they are evil, but we don't know
with absolute certainty that they are DARK. 

Yet, evil as these Unforgivable spells may be, it is possible to
conceive of, admittedly unlikely, circumstances in which they could be
used for good. For example, Aurors in the last Voldemort war were
authorized to use the Unforgivables in the line of duty, so, a quick
stroke of a pen, and suddenly the spells turn from 'dark' to 'light'?
Even better, let us assume that someone was about to be killed (hit by
a train, or whatever) and they were too far away to affect by other
means, you could Imperius them and compell them to move off the track
and out of harms way. (Remember, I did say 'unlikely' circumstances.)
Is that likely to be preceieved as a 'Dark' action? It that likely to
be preceived as using 'Dark' magic?

Again, my purpose in proposing such an unlikely scenario is to show
that intent, purpose, and result can't possibly be the determining
factor in determining truly 'Dark' (capital 'D') Magic. It has to be
something deeper, something at the very core of the creation of the
magic. 

The above explanation is only a summary. There are many ways in which
magic can be destructive and consumptive in its creation process that
I have not mentioned such as consuming the body, mind, and soul of the
 Dark Wizard, consuming and destroying the humanity of the Dark
Wizard, and, manyy other apsects of destruction and consumption.

For a more detailed discussion, please see -

From: "Steve" <bboyminn at yahoo.com>
Date: Wed Oct 5, 2005  2:09 am
Subject: Nature of Dark Magic
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/141171

I'm particularly fond of the 'Well of Darkness' discussion in that
thread. 

I'm sure there is an older discusion of this, but it took long enough
to thing the above thread.

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn