Re: Lily, Sev, Mary, dark magic
(Anonymous)
"Presumably, since Mary is also in Gryffindor"
Is she? Where does it say that? We don't even know that she's someone Lily knows personally. She could be just a face in the Great Hall crowd and Lily's going entirely on rumour.
"whether all dark magic actually is evil is never directly answered in the text"
"I think it is answered in the text. The Unforgivables are obviously Dark Magic"
1) And yet, Harry uses two of them and is still accounted "pure" and "gallant".
2) She said *all* dark magic. You reply with *some* dark magic. There is a lot more to Dark magic in canon than Unforgivables. Some characters use the term to mean anything forbidden or even just frowned upon by the ministry.
3) It's not even canon that *curses* are always dark magic, and they're certainly not always treated as evil. Some curses are taught or used at Hogwarts, for instance Body-Bind, Leg-Locker, Impediment... Dumbledore warns readers of a "Thief's Curse" on copies of QTTA, presumably placed by himself or Madam Pince. Harry and Hermione use Confringo or the Blasting Curse in DH and Gemino - the spell that multiplies copies of an object - is also a curse.
"so is 'Sectumsempra' (because its effects are so ghastly, it literally cuts people up)"
That's assumption on your part. We don't know if it was *created* for that purpose, or if Snape added the note "for enemies" as a secondary purpose. Is it worse than Diffindo? That cuts. Incendio? That burns. Confringo? That blasts. Conjunctivitis? That injures the eyes.
BTW, "cuts people *up*" is a bit of an exaggeration. Sectumsempra cuts through skin but we don't see it cut through bone even when used with all Harry's strength.
"contrasts Dark Magic, i.e. magic that hurts people"
For instance, casting Scourgify to choke someone?
Werewolves are dark creatures. Would you say that using magical means to free a dark creature to roam the countryside, putting people at risk, is dark magic?
duj
Is she? Where does it say that? We don't even know that she's someone Lily knows personally. She could be just a face in the Great Hall crowd and Lily's going entirely on rumour.
"whether all dark magic actually is evil is never directly answered in the text"
"I think it is answered in the text. The Unforgivables are obviously Dark Magic"
1) And yet, Harry uses two of them and is still accounted "pure" and "gallant".
2) She said *all* dark magic. You reply with *some* dark magic. There is a lot more to Dark magic in canon than Unforgivables. Some characters use the term to mean anything forbidden or even just frowned upon by the ministry.
3) It's not even canon that *curses* are always dark magic, and they're certainly not always treated as evil. Some curses are taught or used at Hogwarts, for instance Body-Bind, Leg-Locker, Impediment... Dumbledore warns readers of a "Thief's Curse" on copies of QTTA, presumably placed by himself or Madam Pince. Harry and Hermione use Confringo or the Blasting Curse in DH and Gemino - the spell that multiplies copies of an object - is also a curse.
"so is 'Sectumsempra' (because its effects are so ghastly, it literally cuts people up)"
That's assumption on your part. We don't know if it was *created* for that purpose, or if Snape added the note "for enemies" as a secondary purpose. Is it worse than Diffindo? That cuts. Incendio? That burns. Confringo? That blasts. Conjunctivitis? That injures the eyes.
BTW, "cuts people *up*" is a bit of an exaggeration. Sectumsempra cuts through skin but we don't see it cut through bone even when used with all Harry's strength.
"contrasts Dark Magic, i.e. magic that hurts people"
For instance, casting Scourgify to choke someone?
Werewolves are dark creatures. Would you say that using magical means to free a dark creature to roam the countryside, putting people at risk, is dark magic?
duj