Dark Magic No More
by Alexandre Vachon
Gryffindor
Dark magic is an old term used to describe wizards and witches who practice forbidden magic in order to obtain power. It is however not the case for most wizards who do practice forbidden magic.
Knowledge and our intellectual evolution depends on unorthodox approaches, which is exactly what us modern day wizard are doing. That is what my amazing late professor of potions once taught me, there are no boundaries for advancement, but never does advancement overshadow morality. He is not with us anymore but Severus Snape lived with the stigma associated with studying darker arts. It is in his honour that I debate whether this derogative title, “black magic” or “dark magic” should be of no longer used in our enlightened society.
Magic itself does not infer any colour or any benevolence. Magic is a tool that is inherited or arbitrarily acquired at birth by a muggle that makes the user’s life much easier. We have witnessed the art and the beauty that this tool can create. Unfortunately, we have also witnessed the atrocities it has created, and its destructive power when harnessed by the wrong hands. Hence we have conceptualized the beautiful and safe magic as magic; and the more extreme and destructive magic as dark magic. During the reign of terror of the late villain Voldemort (an appropriate name if you ask me) the wizards who practiced such magic were truly seeking the worst for this world. We can never undermine the terror the world of magic faced with this monster on the loose. We however live in a new and different world.
“Knowledge and our intellectual evolution depends on unorthodox approaches”
The threat against our world has been eradicated, the noble Harry Potter rid us of that fear, we are the new generation that gets to decide how we will shape our future. We cannot be a people who will forever be scared by our horrific past. There is a new path ahead of us and primitive terms such as “black magic” only serves as a reminder of our victimization. Magic was never our enemy, magic was never our sanctifier, magic was, and still is, another one of our beautiful talents. How can we diminish this uniqueness by associating it to the monsters of our past? We cannot hold the proud title of wizard and witch if we so easily tarnish the name of magic. By using these words we are letting ourselves be leashed by our past, and in that sense we continue to live our horrible past.
It is right to say that there is no differentiation between magic, a wizard cannot be labeled for being curious. It is this curiosity that is vital for our evolution, if this curiosity is accepted than there would no fear of a second Tom Riddle. “Black Magic” and “Dark Magic” are completely archaic, though rightful at the time, they only serve to regress our society. Our past is not reason enough to restrain us from moving on. We cannot live in the shadow of the dark ones, because magic will always be fruitful, regardless of who or how it was used in the past.