Quote from Angela on May 10, 2022, 9:37 pm

A very warm welcome to our Wizarding Corner.

We hope our younger readers are staying safe, and magical.

Speaking of magic, we thought it would be fun to take a peak behind the scenes of Hogwarts Dark Arts.

What are they and where did they come from?.

Please enjoy the article and as always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and contact me in the comment section below.

Because i'm sure you will agree that learning together is double the fun.

The Dark Arts featured in Harry Potter are, of course, fictional to the Harry Potter universe. Usually, witches and wizards will use the accepted magic spells. However, there is a very clear distinction between ‘traditionally accepted magic’ and ‘dark arts’. 

You see, the majority of Muggles’ records on history and wizardry lore failed to survive the past three millennials of wars and natural disasters which struck Europe. Magic in general was already a confined niche, the Dark Arts even more so.

In the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Magic would give authority to use Dark Magic whenever considered necessary, including the three curses which usually land wizards and witches in prison known as The Unforgivable Curses.

Former Deatheater, Igor Karkaroff, allowed students to enroll in Dark Arts learning at his Durmstrang Institute.

Dark Arts are purposely summoned with evil intent. Such spells, used to cause harm, are called ‘curses’. Curses are considered very dangerous and, the curse caster must proceed with great caution. 

The Dark Arts can have deadly effects, this is why Defence Against The Dark Arts was taught at Hogwarts, unlike at the rival school, the Durmstrang Institute, where Dark Arts and Dark Art magic were taught.

However, the Dark Arts were so much more than just a handful of curses which could torture or kill their targets. Dark Magic, just like normal magic, ranged from curses to enchanted objects. The two main categories of the Dark Arts are ‘charms’ and ‘potions’.

Let’s discuss them here and if any of you have any questions, please drop me a comment at the end of this article. 

CHARMS

We can break charms down into three sections, those are hexes, jinxes and curses.

Jinxes are the least powerful, for example the Knockback Jinx. This was a typically beginner friendly jinx, as described in ‘The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self Protection’ by Quentin Trimble. Professor McGonagall once used it to hurl her opponent physically backwards, during her early years as an instructor at Hogwarts.

HEXES

Up next are hexes, which are considerably darker with more devastating effects such as The Illegal Growth Hex which caused a persons head to grow uncontrollably and painfully. There is also the Horn Tongue Hex which transforms tongues into horns and the Pus Hex, which manifests aggressive boils and painful blisters on the skin.

However, if any wizard ever used these spells on another wizard they risked facing a life sentence in Azkaban Prison because these are classed as an ‘Unforgivable Curses’.

CURSES

Curses are the most dangerous and damning spells a wizard can produce. The Cruciatus Curse causes its victims to suffer excruciating pain. The most feared of all curses is the Avada Kedavra Killing Curse and also the Imperius Curse which steals your option of free will and allows the dark to control you. 

POTIONS

Dark Magic is often applied to potions with ingredients such as Unicorn Blood (to manifest your desired result). During ingredient selection processes, Wizards were allowed to select a ‘different’ physical body for themselves, which Voldemort ultimately did.

Another potion example is The Emerald Potion (used to protect Salazar Slythers golden locket) and The Drink of Despair (Dumbledore has to drink the potion in order to retrieve a Horcrux).

Even a wise old wizard such as Albus Dumbldore was unable to overcome the powerful effects of this potion which was one of many inventions the Dark Lord himself, Voldemort, claimed to have achieved in his many years of studying the Dark Arts, and he claimed it with victory.

Using such potions, a wizard could enchant objects with harmful intentions and curse items such as books, pens and even houses. For example, the Hogwarts Founders enchanted the Sorting Hat.

Unlike the magic used by Goddric Gryffindor and other Hogwarts founders, Dark Magic could summon innate evil, yet magical, beings. Dragons and manticores ate people.

Creatures such as vampires, hags, zombies and rougarou (werewolves) actively preyed on witches and wizards throughout the centuries. 

Please enjoy our linked article discussing the legendary rougarou right here

https://boiseghost.org/resources/forum/topic/the-real-bogeyman-rougarou-legend-folklore-or-fact-community-discussion-boicgh/

The Basilisk was a creature conjured during experimentation, whilst Boggarts (shapeshifting creatures) and Dementors (wraithlike gliders) occurred naturally in the wild forests.

If someone uses a spell to harm someone, it is considered Dark Magic. However, just because a wizard uses Dark Magic it doesn’t necessarily mean they are exclusively Dark Wizards. For example, Severus Snape used The Killing Curse to deceive Lord Voldemort. 

And who doesn't love Severus Snape?

It also became apparent that honest and good wizards (Snape) were indeed capable of using the Dark Arts without damaging their souls.

The historical texts seen in Madame Irma Pinces library we find that many of the Dark Arts books are heavily guarded behind lock and key. If you were to gain access you would find that the history of dark wizards and their magic was first recorded around 100BCE, far later than Muggles’ records. 

Even though Voldemort created many Horcruxes and potions, we see that the Dark Arts had already been established by wizards who had long ago preceded him. 

When we step back and look at the fascinating journey the Dark Arts comprises, the legacy of magic it leaves behind, its trail leaves an echoing mist of timeless wonder tinged with debilitating terror.

Were most Dark Arts practitioners bad? Of course they were. But were ALL of them evil. Absolutely not. Many simply recognised their higher levels of ‘sentience’ (capacity to experience feelings/sensations/emotions at deeper levels).

Know your Hogwarts history, I may be checking homework next week! (just kidding i promise).

A very goodnight from the Wizarding Corner.