The Secrets of Dumbledore, featured another wizard seduced by the Dark Arts: Gelert Grindelwald. Grindelwald had a similar goal to Voldemort, to bring the wizarding world forward and conquer the Muggles, but they both used Dark magic in entirely different ways.
In the Harry Potter series, there are both good and bad forms of magic. However, the lines between the two can sometimes seem blurred. While Voldemort and Grindelwald both fancied the Dark Arts as a way to bring themselves power, there is a lot more to the mysterious form of magic than domination. From the legality of harmful magic to the type of people predisposed to its seductiveness, the books and movies within the franchise give details about the Dark Arts that many fans might have missed.
The Dark Arts Include Any Magic That Causes Harm
In Harry Potter, the Dark Arts aren't used to summon demons or commune with spirits. Instead, this term is used to describe any magic meant to do great harm. This means that any spell can be used as Dark magic if the person using it has that specific intention.
Wizards may want to cause harm for different reasons. In several cases throughout the Harry Potter series, wizards turned to Dark magic because of their anger toward Muggles. Some wizards had been treated poorly and wanted to seek revenge, while others just seemed to be born with the need to cause pain.
A Person Must Sincerely Intend To Cause Harm To Use Dark Magic
Harry Potter fans will often joke that someone might unintentionally use the killing curse if they absentmindedly say the incantation. However, Bellatrix Lestrange, who did some of the worst things in Harry Potter, explained that in order for an Unforgivable Curse to work, the has to truly mean to cause another individual harm.
When Harry tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix, he was unsuccessful as he was not wholly invested in torturing her. However, in Deathly Hallows, he tried to use the curse again while fully intending to punish Amycus Carrow, and it was successful. The Dark Arts are all about intention.
The Dark Arts Can Permanently Damage The Soul
Frequent intention to cause harm can significantly affect a person's soul, but the actual act of hurting others can cause irreparable damage. Dumbledore once told Harry that killing tore the soul apart. He also told Snape that he did not want Draco's soul to become damaged if he was ever ordered to kill — which he was.
Every time Voldemort murdered, his soul became more distorted. When he started making Horcruxes and pulling himself thinner and thinner, this damage became visible on the outside, which is why he looks the way he does.
Injuries From Dark Magic May Never Fully Heal
In Harry Potter, even the worst injuries can be healed with the flick of a wand. However, the series revealed several injuries that could not be mended so quickly, if at all. A prime example is Harry's scar. It resulted from a rebounded curse and the piece of Voldemort's soul that latched on to Harry. While many scars in the wizarding world can be avoided, Dumbeldore knew that one would last forever.
Other examples include George's ear and Bill's werewolf bites. Both of these injuries could not be healed since they were caused by a form of Dark magic. While magic could be used to stop the pain and bleeding, the wounds would never fully heal.
Some Creatures Are Inherently Dark
Some magic creatures are born evil. One example of this is the Basilisk, which according to the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book, was first bred by the Dark wizard Herpo the Foul. Herpo was a Parseltongue, and it is said that the Basilisk he bred by hatching a chicken egg under a toad is the same one Harry killed thousands of years later.
Another example of a naturally Dark creature is a Dementor. They are born when sadness and misery build in the air and materialize into a being of Darkness. By definition, they are Darkness itself and cannot be anything but evil.
The Dark Arts Are Not Illegal
The Dark Arts, in general, are not illegal in Harry's wizarding world (the United Kingdom), though the laws are unknown in other countries. Of course, the Unforgivable Curses are forbidden, with war being the only known exception.
However, Borgin and Burke's is a legal business that sells many curious items just outside of Harry Potter's famous Diagon Alley. Several of these items are not inherently Dark, like the vanishing cabinet, but their potential for mischief makes them appealing to Dark wizards. However, other items are intrinsically dangerous, like the cursed necklace Draco used on Katie Bell. The sale or purchase of these items is acceptable, but only to add to collections. Their use is strictly forbidden.
Some Wand Types Are Bad For Dark Use
The Harry Potter series reveals several superstitions and odd facts about wand lore. However, there are no specific wand combinations (wood and core) that are considered Dark. Even the Elder Wand, made from elder wood and a Thestral hair core, is not inherently evil. However, the Wizarding World website reveals that some wand cores are uniquely poor to use for Dark magic.
A wand with a unicorn hair core is unlikely to be effective at causing harm to others. The purity of the unicorn makes it unfit for Dark magic, and Ollivander noted that unicorn hair wands are sensitive and capable of "dying" if they are not treated well. This is very telling, as Draco Malfoy's wand had a unicorn hair core, proving Draco himself was likely incapable of true Dark magic.
Ordinary Objects Can Be Turned Dark
As seen several times throughout the Harry Potter series, any everyday object can be cursed with Dark magic. This is typically done to trick unsuspecting Muggles into using an item that can cause them harm, as seen with teapots, wastebaskets, and jewelry.
The worst way a regular item can become Dark is when it has been turned into a Horcrux. Horcruxes were invented by Herpo the Foul, who realized that wizards could take advantage of the damage murder causes the soul by fixing the fractured piece to an object. Unfortunately, no one knows the object he chose to use as a Horcrux or whether it was ever destroyed.
Dark Magic Doesn't Always Mean Evil
Since the Dark Arts encapsulates any magic intended to harm another, it includes several more spells, charms, and curses than people might have realized. This reveals that the Dark Arts are not always synonymous with evil. For example, Snape harmed another person, Dumbledore, but as it was planned and an act of mercy, it wasn't necessarily evil.
However, harming others still comes with several moral costs. Harry never killed anyone in the Harry Potter series, despite being in a war. Even his final battle with Voldemort saw him use a defensive spell to save the day, showing that there are other ways to survive without resorting to Dark magic.
Only Love Can Overcome Dark Magic
Voldemort called this "the old debate." He refused to believe Dumbledore's claim that the Dark Arts would always fall to the magical properties of love, but the theory was ultimately proven again and again. Lily's love for Harry was able to protect him from the darkest curse of all, but that isn't the only proof of the power of love.
Both Dumbledore and Snape were seduced by the want to harm Muggles. However, they both lost someone they loved, and this pain caused them to turn from their Dark intentions. This demonstrates that love can not only stop a Dark spell but can keep darkness from growing in an individual in the first place. This was why Harry, who had grown up with Voldemort's corrupted soul inside him, was never seduced by the Dark Arts.
