all 9 comments

[–]420SwagBro 22 points23 points  (0 children)

In canon, the Dark is described as an Art, which lures with power and is highly addictive. Dark magic is inevitably stronger than other magic, but it corrupts the caster, either by magic itself or just with power is unknown. We do know that some things are darker than others, and that these things will actually corrupt to a deeper level, up to the Horcrux, which corrupts the Soul itself.

Dark Magic is said to dampen some emotions and heighten others, as well as erase inhibitions and change the personality of the wielder. Most dark magic users are cruel, sadistic and derive joy from chaos.

Based on all this, I've come to a symbolic depiction of the Dark.

The Dark is the taint that clings to one who immerses in it. The deeper one delves, the thicker it becomes, until eventually the way back out is gone and they are lost. It will stain your soul forevermore, and it will warp and bend it with time. If you go so far as to foolishly damage it, then it will seep into the cracks and become a part of you.

This is as far as canon goes. The Dark is corruptive, it is "evil", and it was likely mever meant to be wielded by humans. Indeed, many dark rituals require you to sacrifice parts of your humanity itself. Dark Creatures on the other hand exhibit some of these aspects, but they are almost never corrupted by it. In them it is nature, in humans it is unnatural.

I'm pretty sure this is basically all fanon, not canon. The most the 'Dark Arts' are actually explained in canon, that I can remember, are Snape's class and Bellatrix talking about unforgivables:


“Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?” she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now. “You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain — to enjoy it — righteous anger won’t hurt me for long — I’ll show you how it is done, shall I? I’ll give you a lesson —”

Pretty vague, and consistent with your theories or the 'dark magic is just harmful magic' fanon, except for the special case of unforgivables, where you have to 'mean them' or enjoy them for it to work.

[–]TaureRead the standing orders, Dolores 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Your description of canon is not supported by the text. Dark magic is never said to corrupt the caster or to alter their emotional state. The only thing we're told damages your soul is the act of killing, and all killing counts, not just killing with Dark magic.

In canon, the word "Dark" is used in numerous ways - to mean magic which is, variously, "morally wrong", "gruesome", "dangerous", or "invasive". But the only magical difference we're told about is that Dark magic resists healing/reversal.

Canon characters are in fact a lot more casual about Dark magic than fanon often recognises. All those fics where the Order is aghast at Harry using Dark magic go completely against canon.

In canon, all jinxes, hexes and curses have a measure of dark magic to them, in varying degrees. This type of magic is referred to as "Dark Charms". Their use in a defensive manner is taught at Hogwarts and is considered completely fine. Contrary to how most of the fandom treats it, Hogwarts teaches Dark magic, it just couches that education in the context of using those spells in a morally acceptable way, i.e. defensively.

It is a debate among wizards, in canon, whether this position is sustainable or not. In OotP Umbridge and Hermione have this argument. Umbridge's position, reflected in the Ministry-endorsed textbook, is that it's never OK to use Dark magic: a "counter-jinx" is just a jinx*, and sticking the word "counter-" in front of it doesn't change the nature of what you're doing. Hermione argues against this, saying that the context of your magic use determines its morality.

Professor Umbridge blinked but recovered her poise almost instantly.

ʹWell, then, you should be able to tell me what Slinkhard says about counter‐ jinxes in Chapter Fifteen.ʹ

ʹHe says that counter‐jinxes are improperly named,ʹ said Hermione promptly. ʹHe says ʺcounter‐jinxʺ is just a name people give their jinxes when they want to make them sound more acceptable.ʹ


ʹBut I disagree,ʹ Hermione continued.

Professor Umbridgeʹs eyebrows rose a little higher and her gaze became distinctly colder.

ʹYou disagree?ʹ she repeated.

ʹYes, I do,ʹ said Hermione, who, unlike Umbridge, was not whispering, but speaking in a clear, carrying voice that had by now attracted the attention of the rest of the class. ʹMr Slinkhard doesnʹt like jinxes, does he? But I think they can be very useful when theyʹre used defensively.ʹ

Another example of wizards disagreeing about the use of Dark magic is Harry's use of Secumsempra in HBP: Ginny is completely fine with it; Hermione disproves. In reality, neither of them are really arguing about the spell itself, whether the magic is inherently moral or immoral; rather they are debating the correctness of Harry's actions and attitude towards using unknown magic of dubious provenance.

At the same time, it is clear that there is some magic which is viewed as inherently immoral, its very nature being repugnant. This is especially true when you move away from Dark Charms to pieces of magic which are wholly within the realm of Dark magic such as horcruxes or the creation of inferi.

*Somewhat annoyingly, canon uses the phrase "counter-jinx" in two ways: (i) a spell which reverses a jinx, and (ii) a jinx used defensively.

[–]InquisitorCOC 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don't like this dark/light distinction at all, too much Star Wars.

I like JKR's approach a lot better:

  • If you have to euthanize Dumbledore with an Avada Kedavra, it's not going to damage your soul.
  • But if you confund (school level jinx) a house-elf to poison her master, it's a cold blooded murder that you can make a Horcrux from.

Now consider this scenario:

Harry: Red 7, release ward buster on my command, over.

Ginny: Raven, are you sure? There could be innocents in the manor.

Harry: I don't care. I will not risk a direct assault. I would rather kill hundreds of them instead of losing one of you.

Harry: Good, no more objections. Ward buster in 15 seconds, followed by the usual bunker buster penetrator and FAE.

Ginny: Roger that.

You don't need dark magic to kill and to carry out massacre. I would argue slowly beating someone to death with a Muggle golf club after a body-bind is a lot more cruel than Avada Kedavra.

[–]Kellar21 2 points3 points  (0 children)

People are treating this like Star Wars(and even there there's gray).

Dark Magic is more a label people place on it than a specification, unlike the Dark Side of the Force, it doesn't gradually corrupt the user by itself, the user is the one that does it.

In HP Dark Spells are merely "Spells that are meant to hurt" things like Sectum Sempra for example. The Unforgivables seem to be different, but I think it has more to do with the feelings one has to have than the spells themselves.

I like your Light and Dark theory, but I doubt JKR thought that deeply about it, and yours sound like something out of D&D where Lawful Good can be as bad as Lawful Evil depending on the circumstances.

[–]Sefera17Agent of Chaos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like the idea that there’s no such thing as truly Light and Dark magic the same way there’s no such thing as Hot and Cold. They’re just convenient little words we use to make our lives simpler. They’re Relative. Yea, the stove is hot enough to burn my hand, and liquid nitrogen is cold enough to freeze it, but there will always Be a Hotter or Colder thing. I mean, the Planck Temperature is 1.417x1032 kelvin. If you go Hotter than that, it breaks our understanding of the universe. Stuff stops making sense. You can get to Absolute Zero a lot easier, really. 0 kelvin. If you go lower, Stuff Stops Making Sense. But, you’re never going to SEE either of those temperatures. So, Hot and Cold are relative.

Light and Dark are relative.

There is Dark Magic, from the perspective of the Ministry, and then there’s Dark Magic from the perspective of a world renown Duelist, and then there’s Dark Magic according to Dumbledore, and Dark Magic according to Tom Riddle. There is still Dark Magic, but where you draw the line changes depending on who you are. You could even make an argument that Horcrux’s aren’t that bad if the MoD is the one making them. That depends on what Else the MoD can do. If they can make someone else’s Horcrux’s for them, how about an army of Shattered Souls? Can they also make Dementors?

[–]matgopack 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My understanding of the Dark Arts in canon is that they're simply spells that are determined to be dark in nature - ie, to hurt and harm other people, or dominate them, etc.

At the same time, there are other ones (like creating a Horcrux) that seems to be in a class of its own in how horrifying/dark the methods are.

For a fanon version of it, I would say that the 'Dark Arts' are not inherently Dark, by and large - but just what most people would view as a perversion of magic, or as immoral in its goal/techniques. For a real life analogue, torture or slavery or other such practices might fit - where the acts themselves aren't stemming from some dark force, but we condemn them morally - and I don't see a problem with taking that approach with magic, unless there's some major plot or symbolic reason to do otherwise.

However, a different interpretation is still fine. I've seen one that is similar to yours for light magic, actually - in With Strength of Steel Wings, the 'Light' magic is embodied by the Sun (& Phoenixes), and can indeed be very very harsh/unforgiven. If you haven't read it, I'd recommend giving it a try.

[–]ohboyaknightoftimeronarry is objectively the best ship 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always use Roald Dahl's "ugliness" quote for light and dark magics' respective improvement and deterioration of the caster.

[–]JalapenoEyePopper -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

"You need to mean them" --Bellatrix Lestrange, OotP

The only distinction we seem to get in canon is intent. e.g. You have to truly wish harm upon someone in order to successfully cast the Cruciatus curse.

My headcanon: the Dark Arts were not taught at Hogwarts because to do so you must breed ill intent. Yikes.

[–]Brilliant_Sea -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I like this. idea of dark and light magic