Appendix: the use of the adjective "Dark" to describe magic
Appendix: the use of the adjective "Dark" to describe magic
| 'Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head Boy an' Girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before ... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.' [PS ch. #04; p. 45]The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble [PS ch. #05 p. 53]
[cut]Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945 [PS ch. #06; p. 77] '[Harry is] in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. ' [PS ch. #06; p. 79] 'Did you hear about Gringotts? [cut] someone tried to rob a high-security vault.' 'They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side.' [PS ch. #06; p. 82] 'Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape.' [PS ch. #07; p. 94] Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. [PS ch. #08; p. 105] 'Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark Magic' [PS ch. #11; p. 140] Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books and he knew he'd never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts and only read by older students studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts. [PS ch. #12; p. 145/146] '[cut]I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through --' [PS ch. #13; p. 166] 'If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell --' [PS ch. #15 p. 180] 'Haven't you heard what it was like when [Voldemort] was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! [cut] If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It's only dying a bit later than I would have done, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side!' [PS ch. #16 ; p. 196/197] At the age of one, Harry had somehow survived a curse from the greatest dark sorcerer of all time, Lord Voldemort [CoS ch. #01; p. 09] He had emerged into a dingy alleyway that seemed to be made up entirely of shops devoted to the dark arts. The one he'd just left, Borgin and Burkes, looked like the largest, but opposite was a nasty window display of shrunken heads and, two doors down, a large cage was alive with gigantic black spiders. [CoS ch. #04; p. 45] '[cut] what were you doing down there [in Knockturn Alley], anyway?' For a few horrible seconds he had feared that the hat was going to put him in Slytherin, the house which had turned out more dark witches and wizards than any other [CoS ch. #05; p. 61] 'Me,' he said, pointing at it and winking as well. 'Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, third class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League' [CoS ch. #06; p. 77] 'No second year could have [Petrified Mrs Norris],' said Dumbledore firmly. 'It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced --' [CoS ch. #09; p. 108] 'Nonsense, O'Flaherty,' said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone, 'if a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing---' But Harry, who had already heard of Slytherin house's reputation for turning out dark wizards, had thought desperately, 'Not Slytherin!' [CoS ch. #09; p. 116] 'I was a Seeker, too. I was asked to try for the National Squad, but preferred to dedicate my life to the eradication of the Dark Forces.' [CoS ch. #10; p. 123] '[cut] Harry Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the Dark days would never end, sir ...' 'Hannah,' said the stout boy solemnly, 'he's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue.' 'You know the Ministry of Magic raided our Manor last week?' 'You're the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher!' said Harry. 'You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!' [CoS ch. #16; p. 220] '[Tom Riddle] disappeared after leaving the school ... travelled far and wide ... sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable.' [CoS ch. #18; p. 242] 'Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of dark magic!' [CoS ch. #18 ; p. 242/243] They had been murdered, murdered by the most feared Dark wizard for a hundred years, Lord Voldemort. [PoA ch. #01; p. 10/11] 'Professor Snape's very interested in the Dark Arts,' he blurted out. [PoA ch. #08; p. 118] 'Do you know, I still have trouble believing it,' said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. 'Of all the people to go over to the Dark side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought ... I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts.' [PoA ch. #10; p. 151] 'But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh? I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes' friend's son! But when a wizard goes over ter the dark side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to em anymore ...' [PoA ch. #10; p. 154] 'Well?' said Snape again. 'This parchment [the Marauder's Map] is plainly full of Dark Magic.' 'And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it ...' [PoA ch. #18; p. 261] 'He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!' Pettigrew shouted shrilly. 'How else did he get out of there? I suppose He Who Must Not Be Named taught him a few tricks!' 'But then I saw Peter in that picture ... I realised he was at Hogwarts with Harry ... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again ...' [PoA ch. #19; p. 272] 'Harry, what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?' said Hermione. Harry had been a year old the night that Voldemort -- the most powerful Dark wizard for a century, a wizard who had been gaining power steadily for eleven years -- arrived at his house and killed his father and mother. [GoF ch. #02; p. 23] What he really wanted [to discuss why his scar was hurting] was [cut] an adult wizard whose advice he could ask without feeling stupid, someone who cared about him, who had had experience with Dark Magic ... [GoF ch. #02; p. 25] 'The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand.' [GoF ch. #09; p. 119] 'You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure [the Dark] Mark! [cut] 'I read about [the Dark Mark] in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts.' [GoF ch. #09; p. 126] '[cut] it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure [the Dark Mark]' [GoF ch. #09; p. 128] 'Ministry blunders ... culprits not apprehended ... lax security ... Dark wizards running unchecked ... national disgrace ... [GoF ch. #10; p. 131] 'He was an Auror -- one of the best ... a Dark-wizard-catcher,' he added, seeing Harry's blank look. 'Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though ... the families of people he caught, mainly ... and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone any more. Sees Dark wizards everywhere. [GoF ch. #11; p. 144] 'Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defence rubbish we do ...' Harry wondered whether Baddock knew that Slytherin house had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other. [GoF ch. #12; p. 158] '[Moody] Knows what it's like to be out there doing it,' said George impressively. 'Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures -- you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas and werewolves, is that right?' 'Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year.' [and then he shows them the Unforgivables] [GoF ch. #14; p. 187] 'I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realising it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously ...' Moody had told them all during their last Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup. [GoF ch. #19; p. 282] 'And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well.' [GoF ch. #19; p. 291] When Lupin had lived here, you were more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark creature he had procured for them to study in class. [GoF ch. #20; p. 299] On his desk stood what looked like a large, cracked, glass spinning top; Harry recognised it at once as a Sneakoscope, because he owned one himself, though it was much smaller than Moody's. In the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. It was humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite Harry on the wall, but it was not reflecting the room. Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus. 'Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were -- were -- bad Dark wizards!' [GoF ch. #21; p. 332] While many of the giants who served He Who Must Not Be Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark side, Fridwulfa was not among them. [GoF ch. #24; p. 382] 'Put it this way, Potter,' Moody muttered finally, 'they say old Mad-Eye's obsessed with catching Dark wizards ... but Mad-Eye's nothing -- nothing -- compared to Barty Crouch.' [GoF ch. #25; p. 413] 'No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark side ...'[cut] 'Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards,' Harry told Sirius. [GoF ch. #27; p. 460] 'I know Dumbledore's brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him --' [GoF ch. #27; p. 460] 'Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was,' Sirius added [GoF ch. #27; p. 460] 'Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing information to Lord Voldemort's supporters,' [GoF ch. #30; p. 514] 'Er,' he said, 'Mr Bagman ...' Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defence League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue 'as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic and are historically associated with evil-doers.' [cut] 'I knew that to achieve this [Voldemort's resurrection] -- it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight -- I would need three powerful ingredients.' [GoF ch. #33; p. 569] 'And both of us had the pleasure ... the very great pleasure ... of killing our fathers, to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!' [GoF ch. #35; p. 589] 'You're an Auror?' said Harry, impressed. Being a Dark-wizard-catcher was the only career he'd ever considered after Hogwarts. [OotP ch. #03; p. 52] 'In the old days he had huge numbers at his command: witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one of the groups he's after.' [OotP ch. #05; p. 88] 'You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day --' [OotP ch. #12; p. 219] 'You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead --' When Lupin had occupied [the DADA office], it was likely you would meet some fascinating Dark creature in a cage or tank if you came to call. In the impostor Moody's days it had been packed with various instruments and artefacts for the detection of wrongdoing and concealment. [OotP ch. #13; p. 239] 'I ... I think I do see something ... something that concerns you ... why, I sense something ... something dark ... some grave peril ...' [OotP ch. #15; p. 282] [cut] he had found himself thinking about the spells that had served him best in his various encounters with Dark creatures and Death Eaters [OotP ch. #16; p. 295] 'And just look at these books!' said Hermione excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. 'A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions ... The Dark Arts Outsmarted ... Self-Defensive Spellwork ... wow ...' [OotP ch. #18; p. 346] 'Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?' asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass. Sirius and Lupin had given Harry a set of excellent books entitled Practical Defensive Magic and its Use Against the Dark Arts, which had superb, moving colour illustrations of all the counter-jinxes and hexes it described. [OotP ch. #23; p. 443] 'And Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts, and James -- whatever else he may have appeared to you, Harry -- always hated the Dark Arts.' [OotP ch. #590; p. 29] 'I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete --' [OotP ch. #36; p. 715] 'He wouldn't give me the Defence Against the Dark Arts job, you know. Seemed to think it might, ah, bring about a relapse ... tempt me into my old ways.' [HBP ch. #02; p. 32] 'I should remind you that when Potter first arrived at Hogwarts there were still many stories circulating about him, rumours that he himself was a great Dark wizard, which was how he had survived the Dark Lord's attack. Indeed, many of the Dark Lord's old followers thought Potter might be a standard around which we could all rally once more. ' [HBP ch. #02; p. 35/36] 'I spun him a tale of deepest remorse when I joined his staff, fresh from my Death Eater days, and he embraced me with open arms -- though, as I say, never allowing me nearer the Dark Arts than he could help.' [HBP ch. #02; p. 36]
Issued on Behalf of the Ministry of Magic
PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY AGAINST DARK FORCES The wizarding community is currently under threat from an organisation calling itself the Death Eaters. Observing the following simple security guidelines will help protect you, your family and your home from attack.
'Rufus is a man of action and, having fought Dark wizards for most of his working life, does not underestimate Lord Voldemort.' [HBP ch. #04; p. 62] '[Inferi] are corpses,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'Dead bodies that have been bewitched to do a Dark wizard's bidding. Inferi have not been seen for a long time, however, not since Voldemort was last powerful ... he killed enough people to make an army of them, of course.' [HBP ch. #04; p. 63] 'My dear Horace,' said Dumbledore, looking amused, 'if the Death Eaters really had come to call, the Dark Mark would have been set over the house.' But Knockturn Alley, the side street devoted to the Dark Arts, looked completely deserted. They peered into windows as they passed, but none of the shops seemed to have any customers at all. Harry supposed it was a bit of a giveaway in these dangerous and suspicious times to buy Dark artefacts -- or at least, to be seen buying them. [HBP ch. #06; p. 120] 'If Malfoy wants something fixing, and he needs to threaten Borgin to get it done, it's probably something Dark or dangerous, isn't it?' [HBP ch. #07; p. 129] 'I have not asked you to take out your books,' said Snape, closing the door and moving to face the class from behind his desk; Hermione hastily dropped her copy of Confronting the Faceless back into her bag and stowed it under her chair. 'I wish to speak to you and I want your fullest attention.' 'Did you hear him talking about the Dark Arts? He loves them! All that unfixed, indestructible stuff --' '[cut] Filch ran over all of us with Secrecy Sensors when we got into the Entrance Hall. Any Dark object would have been found, I know for a fact Crabbe had a shrunken head confiscated. So you see, Malfoy can't have brought in anything dangerous!' 'What does it matter if we're smuggling Dark stuff OUT?' demanded Ron, eyeing the long thin Secrecy Sensor with apprehension. 'Surely you ought to be checking what we bring back IN?' [HBP ch. #12; p. 228] 'She appears to have brushed the necklace with the smallest possible amount of skin: there was a tiny hole in her glove. Had she put it on, had she even held it in her ungloved hand, she would have died, perhaps instantly. Luckily Professor Snape was able to do enough to prevent a rapid spread of the curse --' 'Did I know that I had just met the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time?' said Dumbledore. 'No, I had no idea that he was to grow up to be what he is.' [HBP ch. #13; p. 258] 'And he was a Parselmouth,' interjected Harry. 'Secrecy Sensors detect jinxes, curses and concealment charms, don't they? They're used to find Dark magic and Dark objects. They'd have picked up a powerful curse, like the one on that necklace, within seconds. But something that's just been put in the wrong bottle wouldn't register -- and anyway, love potions aren't Dark or dangerous --' [HBP ch. #15; p. 287/288] 'The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They're working from within to bring down the Ministry of Magic using a combination of Dark magic and gum disease.' [HBP ch. #15; p. 299] 'What does it matter?' said Malfoy. 'Defence Against the Dark Arts -- it's all just a joke, isn't it, an act? Like any of us need protecting against the Dark Arts --' [HBP ch. #15; p. 303] '[Horcruxes] must be really advanced Dark magic, or why would Voldemort have wanted to know about them? [HBP ch. #18; p. 350] 'The Inferius is a corpse that has been reanimated by a Dark wizard's spells. It is not alive, it is merely used like a puppet to do the wizard's bidding.' [HBP ch. #21; p. 431] '[cut] you'd be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom. That's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed,' said Slughorn. [HBP ch. #23; p. 464] '[cut] despite your privileged insight into Voldemort's world (which, incidentally, is a gift any Death Eater would kill to have), you have never been seduced by the Dark Arts, never, even for a second, shown the slightest desire to become one of Voldemort's followers!' [HBP ch. #23; p. 477] 'Apparently I underestimated you, Potter,' he said quietly. 'Who would have thought you knew such Dark magic? Who taught you that spell?' [HBP ch. #24; p. 490] [cut] it made a very nice change to be talked about because of something that was making him happier than he could remember being for a very long time, rather than because he had been involved in horrific scenes of Dark magic. [HBP ch. #25; p. 500] 'Now, I've been trying to find out a bit about who might make a hobby of inventing Dark spells --' [HBP ch. #25; p. 502] 'I was strolling along, brooding upon certain Dark portents I happen to have glimpsed ...' [HBP ch. #25; p. 505] 'No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf,' said Lupin, 'but that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully,' [HBP ch. #29; p. 572] 'Pure-blood mother, Muggle father ... ashamed of his parentage, trying to make himself feared using the Dark Arts' [HBP ch. #30; p. 594] He despised Malfoy still for his infatuation with the Dark Arts, but now the tiniest drop of pity mingled with his dislike. [HBP ch. #30; p. 596] 'But I can promise that anybody who still thinks Dumbledore was white as his beard is in for a rude awakening! Let's just say that nobody hearing him rage against You-Know-Who would have dreamed that he dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth! [DH ch. #02; p. 27] [cut] Death Eaters, Dementors, maybe even Inferi, which means dead bodies enchanted by a Dark wizard [DH ch. #03; p. 35] '[cut] there's no chance of replacing his ear, not when it's been cursed off --' [DH ch. #05; p. 64] 'I can't make it grow back, not when it's been removed by Dark Magic.' [DH ch. #05; p. 66] 'This is the one that gives explicit instructions on now to make a Horcrux. Secrets of the Darkest Art -- it's a horrible book, really awful, full of evil magic.' 'The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation gives the Ministry the power to confiscate the contents of a will --' 'Grindelvald. That is Grindelvald's sign.' 'Rita Skeeter hinted that Professor Dumbledore was involved in the Dark Arts when he was young.' [DH ch. #08; p. 127] 'Borgin and Burke were experts on Dark objects, they would've recognised a Horcrux straight away.' [DH ch. #15; p. 237/238] The enchantments they had cast around themselves ought to be sufficient, in the near total darkness, to shield them from the notice of Muggles and normal witches and wizards. If these were Death Eaters, then perhaps their defences were about to be tested by Dark Magic for the first time. [DH ch. #15; p. 242] 'If it's a symbol of Dark Magic, what's it doing in a book of children's stories?' 'Maybe you can't rebuild it?' Harry replied. 'Maybe it's like the injuries from Dark Magic and you can't repair the damage?' [DH ch. #17; p. 271] Now revealed for the first time, it calls into question everything that his admirers believed of Dumbledore: his supposed hatred of the Dark Arts, [DH ch. #18; p. 290] The name of Grindelwald is justly famous: in a list of Most Dangerous Dark Wizards of All Time, he would miss out on the top spot only because You-Know-Who arrived, a generation later, to steal his crown. As Grindelwald never extended his campaign of terror to Britain, however, the details of his rise to power are not widely known here. And how did the mysterious Ariana die? Was she the inadvertent victim of some Dark rite ? [DH ch. #18; p. 293] 'They were the same age as we are now. And here we are, risking our lives to fight the Dark Arts, and there he was, in a huddle with his new best friend, plotting their rise to power over the Muggles.' [DH ch. #18; p. 294] 'Maybe he did believe these things when he was seventeen, but the whole of the rest of his life was devoted to fighting the Dark Arts! Dumbledore was the one who stopped Grindelwald, the one who always voted for Muggle protection and Muggle-born rights, who fought You-Know-Who from the start and who died trying to bring him down!' [DH ch. #18; p. 295] [The silver doe] continued to step deliberately through the trees, and soon her brightness was striped by their thick, black trunks. For one trembling second he hesitated. Caution murmured: it could be a trick, a lure, a trap. But instinct, overwhelming instinct, told him that this was not Dark Magic. [DH ch. #19; p. 298] 'Witness that knuckle-headed young man at your brother's wedding,' he nodded at Ron, 'who attacked me for sporting the symbol of a well-known Dark wizard! Such ignorance. There is nothing Dark about the Hallows -- at least, not in that crude sense.' [DH ch. #21; p. 329] 'The Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny, they crop up under different names through the centuries, usually in the possession of some Dark wizard who's boasting about them.' [DH ch. #21; p. 337] 'Finally, we regret to inform our listeners that the remains of Bathilda Bagshot have been discovered in Godric's Hollow. The evidence is that she died several months ago. The Order of the Phoenix informs us that her body showed unmistakable signs of injuries inflicted by Dark Magic.' [DH ch. #22; p. 356] More shops than ever were boarded-up, though several new establishments dedicated to the Dark Arts had been created since his last visit. [DH ch. #26; p. 424] 'Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defence Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to practise the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions --' [DH ch. #29; p. 462] 'Fiendfyre -- cursed fire -- it's one of the substances that destroy Horcruxes, but I would never, ever have dared use it, it's so dangerous. How did Crabbe know how to --?' 'Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev? He's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?' The creation of Basilisks has been illegal since medieval times, although the practice is easily concealed by simply removing the chicken egg from beneath the toad when the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures comes to call. However, since Basilisks are uncontrollable except by Parselmouths, they are as dangerous to most Dark wizards as to anybody else, [FB A-Z; p. 4] If [Beedle's] stories accurately reflect his opinions, he rather liked Muggles, whom he regarded as ignorant rather than malevolent; he mistrusted Dark Magic, and he believed that the worst excesses of wizardkind sprang from the all-too-human traits of cruelty, apathy or arrogant misapplication of their own talents. [cut] There was once a handsome, rich and talented young warlock, who observed that his friends grew foolish when they fell in love, gambolling and preening, losing their appetites and their dignity. The young warlock resolved never to fall prey to such weakness, and employed Dark Arts to ensure his immunity. [BtB ch. #03; p. 45] Here, in an enchanted crystal casket, was the warlock's beating heart. [BtB ch. #03; p. 51] The hero in this tale, however, is not even interested in a simulacrum of love that he can create or destroy at will. He wants to remain for ever uninfected by what he regards as a kind of sickness, and therefore performs a piece of Dark Magic that would not be possible outside a storybook: he locks away his own heart. Tamper with the deepest mysteries -- the source of life, the essence of self -- only if prepared for consequences of the most extreme and dangerous kind. And sure enough, in seeking to become superhuman this foolhardy young man renders himself inhuman. [BtB ch. #03; p. 58/59] 6 The Cruciatus, Imperius and Avada Kedavra Curses were first classified as Unforgivable in 1717, with the strictest penalties attached to their use. [BtB ch. #04; p. 83] 1 {Necromancy is the Dark Art of raising the dead. It is a branch of magic that has never worked, as this story makes clear. JKR} [BtB ch. #05; p. 95] [cut] we remain incapable of raising the dead, and there is every reason to suppose that this will never happen. Vile substitutions have, of course, been attempted by Dark wizards, who have created Inferi,4 but these are ghastly puppets, not truly reawoken humans. [BtB ch. #05; p. 97/98] 4 {Inferi are corpses reanimated by Dark Magic. JKR} [BtB ch. #05; p. 98] In the days before there was a Ministry of Magic to regulate the use of Dark Magic, duelling was usually fatal. [cut] a hypothetical wand that had passed through the hands of many Dark wizards would be likely to have, at the very least, a marked affinity for the most dangerous kinds of magic. [BtB ch. #05; p. 102] |
