Dark Magic and Snape / Dark Creatures

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 161627


> Betsy Hp:
> Ah the love thing.  I'm still unclear about what this is exactly.  
> Harry certainly isn't an above average loving person.  His mother 
> provided him a physical shield of some sort which is great, but 
> still just a tool.  And Harry won't think of joining Voldemort 
> because Voldemort killed his parents.  Which isn't magical at all.
> 
> So I'm still not seeing an active magic that actually shapes the 
> user any more than any tool will. 
> 


Pippin:
Lily gave Harry more than a physical shield, at least, I don't think
we're supposed to imagine that if she had stumbled into Voldemort's
AK by accident instead of throwing herself in front of Harry with
the intention of sacrificing her life, it would have had the same effect.

There is a bond between intention and outcome in magic that
doesn't exist in the real world -- a cake recipe doesn't care
whether you are a true Gryffindor  but the Sorting Hat does. This
element of intent seems to be more necessary to some spells
than to others. JKR says you have to shut down your compassion
to be a Death Eater, and it may be that this is literal:  in 
order to do the darkest spells, your compassion must be
shut down.

That would mean that Harry will probably never be able to
do the Unforgivables, as Snape said "You haven't got the
nerve or the ability--", and that the AK curse could not have
been used compassionately to kill Dumbledore.

I suppose the Ministry/Hogwarts definition of Dark Magic is
simply any spell which is used to cause harm and hasn't been
Ministry/Hogwarts approved. We do get hints of debate  at the 
Ministry/faculty level over what should be approved and what 
shouldn't. We know that Crouch's decision to authorize the
use of the Unforgivables against DE's was controversial,
that Dumbledore objected to teaching about horcruxes, and
that magic which is considered Dark at Hogwarts is 
rumored to be taught at Durmstrang.

We can imagine what sort of questions are asked...
Is it harmful, can it be used compassionately, does it exploit
the dead (society's most helpless members)? It's
inevitably a political process as well as an ethical one --
the worst way of reaching a group decision except 
for all the others. Politics have to have a place because
ethical issues aren't clear cut, even in the wizarding world.

Take Grindylows. They're water demons, so they probably
wouldn't exist if humans weren't afraid of drowning, but
to the merpeople, who don't need to fear drowning, they're
pets.


Pippin