Dark Arts

The **Dark Arts**, also known as **Dark Magic**, or **Dark Side** was a term that referred to any type of magic that was mainly used to cause harm to, exert control over, or even kill people and creatures. Most people who practised what was known as the Dark Arts were evil, but not all.

The Dark Arts commonly referred to spells and actions that could be used to harm others, ranging from the powerful Unforgivable Curses, to brewing dark potions and breeding dark creatures. These acts were often illegal or at least heavily discouraged in the wizarding world.

Practitioners were referred to as Dark wizards or witches. The most prominent and powerful of these was Lord Voldemort, who was widely considered to be the most evil Dark wizard in all of history. His followers, known as Death Eaters, also heavily practised the Dark Arts.

## Nature of the Dark Arts

The Dark Arts were generally regarded as corrupting to those who use them (which is part of the reason they are called "dark"). After engaging in them extensively for many years, even Tom Riddle's appearance demonstrated his corruption — he lost his former handsomeness, eventually taking on serpentine physical qualities such as red eyes.

Albus Dumbledore, in particular, suggested that engaging in any of the Dark Arts that involve murder was damaging to the soul; for instance, he told Severus Snape that Draco Malfoy's soul was "*not yet so damaged*" that he was probably capable of murder, but that if he did go through with murder, his soul would be "ripped apart". This suggested that using very dark magic, such as the Killing Curse, damaged an individual's soul. The dark art of creating a Horcrux involved literally splitting the soul for the unnatural purpose of achieving immortality. Quirinus Quirrell was interested in dark magic, initially by a theoretical view to gain recognition, but his curiosity turned to avarice, and eventually he was completely drawn in and corrupted.

According to Snape, the Dark Arts were pragmatic in nature, where every time a branch was defeated, it only came back "*fiercer and cleverer*" than before. It is therefore imperative that one's defences had to be as versatile as these foul arts themselves.

Powerful dark spells also required malicious intent in order to be successful. To cast the Cruciatus Curse, for instance, one had to truly desire to cause pain in and of itself, according to Bellatrix Lestrange. The Dark Arts could also be difficult to control; for example, Vincent Crabbe lost control of the cursed fire he created in 1998 during the Battle of Hogwarts and was killed by it. Injuries caused by dark magic sometimes never fully healed, such as George Weasley's ear after it was cut off by the *Sectumsempra* curse (he was struck with during the Battle of the Seven Potters).

Some curses could remain in one's genes, being passed down through generations as recessive, or could reemerge in a descendant that could lead to frail health. For example, Astoria Malfoy was one such victim of her ancestor's curse.

Dark creatures could also have lasting impacts that were deadly or incredibly harmful to those who came into contact with them. Basilisks had the ability to petrify people who saw them indirectly or kill them with their gaze, or from the venom in their fangs. While petrification could be cured by the Mandrake Restorative Draught, and wounds from Basilisk fangs cured by phoenix tears, these treatments were quite difficult to prepare or obtain. Dementors had the ability to consume human souls with their kiss. There was no cure for someone who has had their soul removed, as they spent the rest of their lives in a vegetative state which is even considered worse than suffering a painful death.

### Protection

According to Albus Dumbledore, the only power strong enough to enable a person to resist the temptation of the Dark Arts, and to defeat them, was pure love. He was perhaps referring to the sacrificial protection which Lily Potter inadvertently used to protect infant Harry Potter, and Harry himself later used to protect the defenders of Hogwarts by letting himself willingly be hit by a Killing Curse from the Lord Voldemort.

However, Harry was not killed by this curse, since it only destroyed the part of Voldemort's soul inside him; he spent a brief time in limbo before returning to the land of the living.

### Ethical considerations

While the Dark Arts had a bad reputation, overall, dark magic was not, by definition, "evil" magic, as reflected in some of the people using them not being evil. Dark magic could be used for good as well as evil. Even the Killing Curse could be used for good, as Albus Dumbledore said that it would not harm Severus Snape to kill him (Dumbledore) as he had asked Snape to kill him since he was going to die anyway (and it would ultimately serve to fool Voldemort and lead to his destruction). Using the Dark Arts in an act of true mercy in and of itself contradicted the very stark moral view that many such as Bartemius Crouch Senior publicly espoused regarding them.

At the same time, dark magic was not the only type of magic that could be used with the intent to kill. For example, the Severing Charm could kill if used irresponsibly or maliciously.

The only exception to this rule was the spell which created a Horcrux; this was an entirely selfish act — taking a life in order to prolong one's own. This act was so reprehensible that the caster's soul became fragmented, allowing the creation of a Horcrux. The soul could only be restored by complete remorse for the murder, or repentance, which was actually painful enough to cause death.

### Wandlore

The suitability of a wand to perform dark magic depended, at least partly, on its core; dragon heartstring, phoenix feather, and rougarou hair had reputations for being suitable for it, while it was hard to perform dark magic with unicorn hair wands. In addition, wands made of applewood mixed poorly with dark magic. Yew retained a particularly dark and fearsome reputation in the spheres of duelling and all curses.

## The Dark Arts and the law

Although many members of the wizarding world appeared to frown upon the Dark Arts, they were not prohibited (with the exception of the Unforgivables) and may have had even — under certain conditions — been encouraged. For example, while Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry taught only Defence Against the Dark Arts, Durmstrang Institute taught the Dark Arts itself. During the height of the Wizarding War, Bartemius Crouch Snr. authorised the use of killing instead of capture and the Unforgivables to Aurors. Under this, it can safely be assumed the Dark Arts were encouraged by the Ministry to combat, ironically, the Dark Wizard followers of Voldemort.

Moreover, shops like Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley openly traded in Dark artefacts, and were patronised by "hundreds of people", which suggested that at least some aspects of the Dark Arts were somewhat socially acceptable or at the very least legal among parts of the wizarding population.

Also, in times of war, the Ministry of Magic had been known to permit Aurors to use strong Dark Magic against its enemies. When Lord Voldemort was in control of wizarding Britain in late 1997 to mid-1998, every aspect of the Dark Arts was legalised and taught at Hogwarts by Death Eater professor Amycus Carrow. However, Voldemort was controlling the Ministry at this time, so it was not standard protocol.

In addition, there was a matter of degree. The three Unforgivable Curses were punishable by an automatic life sentence in Azkaban prison when used on fellow humans, except when permitted in wartime, whereas some types of magic could have more benign uses as well as Dark uses and, thus, were presumably not always illegal.

Of course, the law may have differed from country to country. For example, Japan did not permit its citizens to practise the Dark Arts; to do so was a violation of the Japanese wizard's code, and anyone who did so would face trial in front of the Japanese Ministry of Magic. Furthermore, if the offender was a student at Mahoutokoro School of Magic, said offender would be immediately expelled, in addition to facing legal repercussions.

## Known Dark Magic

### Dark charms

*Main article: Dark charm*
A dark charm was primarily defined as any charm that consistently affected the object in a negative manner, usually associated with varying levels of discomfort.

Dark charms could be classified into three groups: jinxes, hexes, and curses. These groups form a hierarchy, with jinxes at the base, hexes in-between, and curses at the top. The further one ascended up this hierarchy, the more wicked, the stronger, the longer-lasting and the less reversible the Dark spell's effects appeared to be. The Unforgivable Curses were the strongest known Dark spells in existence, as their effects were very powerful and their use required skill.

The Unforgivable Curses were shown to Hogwarts students in Defence Against the Dark Arts class in the sixth year, but Bartemius Crouch Junior (disguised as Alastor Moody using Polyjuice Potion) in the 1994–1995 school year showed these curses to fourth-years instead.

Other dark spells could be used not physically on their intended targets, but could cause great harm to them nonetheless. The Taboo was a jinx that allowed the caster to track anyone who said a certain word or name. This gave the caster a great deal of power over people's speech, which spread great fear. It was notably used by Death Eaters to track their enemies during the Second Wizarding War, when they made name "Voldemort" taboo. Lord Voldemort himself placed a powerful jinx on the position of the Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in revenge after he was refused the position himself, which resulted in every hired teacher of this subject being forced out of their job at the end of each school year, in various unfortunate circumstances.

The following are examples of dark spells and what hierarchy they belonged to:

Minor dark magic, small inconvenience to the target.
Moderate dark magic, causing major inconvenience to the target.
 **Curse**
The worst kind of dark magic, intended to affect the target in a strongly negative manner.

### Dark potions

These potions caused negative effects on those who drank them, or caused harm in some way or another. Dark potions may have also included ingredients that were not common in regular potions, or possessed usual properties. Some Dark potions included the following:

 Regeneration potion
 Drink of Despair

### Dark items

Some items could be bewitched with Dark Magic for various purposes. They then became known as Dark Magic artefacts (or simply Dark items). The following items were associated with Dark Magic:

 Hand of Glory
 Horcrux
 Opal Necklace
 Objects in the Black house
 Black Quill
 Unidentified relic

### Dark creatures

Many magical creatures were considered Dark, all of which were deeply feared and/or despised by numerous wizards and witches as a result of the danger these creatures posed to all living things. Some of those creatures included the following:

### Dark practices

Some other practices that would be considered dark included: breaking the Ban on Experimental Breeding by hatching a Basilisk, consuming the blood of a unicorn, and Necromancy, the Dark Art of raising the dead.

## Known practitioners

The following wizards and witches were known to have heavily used and practised Dark Magic. Note that as above, the Dark Arts encompassed many different types of spells and practices, including many that seemed to be in everyday use by most wizards — this section was limited to those who had used strong dark magic at least once, with malicious and selish intent.

## Known texts

The following texts were known to discuss the Dark Arts:

* *Secrets of the Darkest Art* by Owle Bullock
* *Magick Moste Evile* by Godelot
* *Curses and Counter-Curses* by Professor Vindictus Viridian
* *Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed*
* *Jinxes for the Jinxed*
* *Unforgivable Curses and Their Legal Implications*
* *Slytherin's Spellbook*
* *The Nightshade Guide to Necromancy*
* *The Dark Arts: A Legal Companion*
* *The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts*
* *The Imperius Curse and How to Abuse It*

## In wizarding fiction

The Warlock in the wizarding fairy tale *The Warlock's Hairy Heart*, found in *The Tales of Beedle the Bard*, utilised a piece of Dark Magic to remove his heart from his body to ensure he would never fall in love, while keeping himself alive without this vital organ within his body.