On Dark Magic in "In Loco Parentis"

[hobgoblinn]

My Snape essay got kinda taken over by this one. Thanks to the denizens of the Yahoo Group loose_canon for the recent discussions that led me to realize I need to get these issues straight before I can do much more with the story. They led me to pose the question there, in what sense is Dark Magic Evil? (Dark chocolate isn't, after all.) And here's what I've come to, for the purposes of my AU.

Dark Magic is unadulterated Evil, and it is somewhat sentient, fed and fueled by the elemental spirits of this world. It Wants to be used, because each time it is used, the collective Darkness is fed by the life force or magic of living beings. And it wants to corrupt the user to make him tap into and steal others’ energy, to actively participate in evil against others, because by doing so, it ensures its continued survival and growth. Most Dark Arts practitioners eventually die and become subsumed by Darkness, unless they turn away from it and redeem themselves prior to their death. Thus there is evil, the small petty crimes a man may do, and there is Evil, a cosmic force bent on seducing the living and slowly crushing out of its victims all sparks of kindness, compassion, love, and humanity.

Seduction is the key— whether there is a personal Devil or not, something offers a wizard something he wants, and lies to him about the price he will pay for it, and what he’s actually getting. Young Severus Snape wanted knowledge and to undo the victimization he’d suffered in childhood and at school. He would be more powerful than those who sought to hurt him, and he would achieve the recognition and acclaim he’d been denied. The Darkness used Tom Riddle, and his and Snape’s hatred of their Muggle fathers to sell a Wizards-only racial agenda, but the racial agenda was not the chief draw for either or them. It just happened to be in the air— the previous Dark Lord had used it to manipulate bitter angry bigots a generation back, and Tom found it molded his organization well. As swythyv says, this is a very old war.

I posit this because Tom is, at best, evil with the small “e” if all he’s got is bigotry and the desire to live forever. Even as a man who kills and tortures others, he’s hardly a threat to the World Itself. He’s more Faustus than Antichrist. And in my story, he needs to be Evil. And Snape needs to have rejected him, then have spent the next nearly 2 decades treading the dangerous and draining line between Light and Darkness so well that the Darkness never suspected his true loyalties. Lucky for him, the Darkness is not able to read the heart, only to suck its pain and energy to sustain itself. And Tom was not able to read Snape’s true loyalties, either. So there has to be a force behind Tom that seduced them both, and Tom is still there fighting the Evil fight, while Snape has broken off, in part because he could not let go of his childhood love, but also in part because the Evil sickened him, and he saw through the empty promises and was at heart a good and honorable man. The one thing Snape might have traded all for was his integrity, and it’s the one thing the Darkness could not offer him.

But it’s important to note that my Snape *was* a Death Eater— he was wholeheartedly following the Darkness when he joined Voldemort, and when he was developing and studying the age regression curse for his Master, and when he was taking the half heard and understood prophecy back. Realizing Voldemort intended to kill Lily was the catalyst for his change of heart, but he could not have gone on to live the kind of life he did if there hadn’t been more to it. And it certainly explains how he could be so verbally and emotionally nasty to those around him— between stress and the need to keep everyone at arm’s length to maintain his cover as a spy it’s a wonder he wasn’t much, much worse. Also, to keep up appearances, he has been feeding the Darkness just enough to cover his true intentions. The fact that he’s managed to hold on to as much of his integrity as he has is even more remarkable.

Now, he has to study the Dark Arts again to figure out what Dumbledore wanted him to know— not study Defense books and teach it, but the actual, unadulterated Real Thing. And he has to let Hermione be exposed to it, at least a little, and he has to worry that the same things that drew him might entice her, as well. She has some character flaws that would make her ripe for seduction by the Darkness— her domineering and controlling nature, her belief that she truly knows better than everyone around her what should be done, and more recently, a trauma that leaves her very motivated to never be that powerless again. And Good Intentions should not be discounted— she really wants to protect Harry and Snape. Getting her on the slope will not be nearly as hard as getting her off it.

In some ways, seeing the world like this solves some Dumbledore sized problems— D serves the light, but he is hardly its embodiment. Like an impious priest, the man’s faults or lack of faith do not affect the reality his ceremonial actions represent. In other ways, it's even more of a problem-- how does Dumbledore with the same character flaws not get seduced by the darkness himself? Or does he and then pull back for much the same reasons Snape does? Possibly some of the backstory of the Prince's Tale will have to be jettisoned-- particularly the version of Snape's meeting with Dumbledore on the hilltop. At any rate, this Dumbledore is enough aware of the stakes to believe, rightly or wrongly, that every opportunity must be taken to ensure the prophecy comes true.

Because the Prophecy—that only Harry can be the one to cause Voldemort’s end— is another of the Elemental Truths of this story’s universe. It has and creates a Reality of its own. Dumbledore has tried to set up and manipulate a situation where Harry will do the right thing at the right moment. But I think in this version we’re going to see that it’s love— first from his mother before he was old enough to remember it, and later from Hermione and Snape— that cause him to rise above the same kinds of experiences that turned Tom into an evil man, and later, a vessel for Evil itself.

I honestly think this is the kind of story JKR wanted to be and thought she was telling, and it’s why so many times she just asserts things and moves on, never really showing them to be true or not, and sometimes tripping over her assertions later. We’ll see whether or not I can avoid the same, which given I’m only showing a few weeks of this AU, I should be able to pull off. There's something to be said for limits, after all.

Thoughts? Comments?

Comments

[snarkysneak.livejournal.com]

Why would you have to jettison the scene on the hilltop? I think that Dumbledore did have some of the character flaws that led him to be seduced to the Dark, but I think that he may have gotten out a bit sooner than Snape did. I also think that one of Dumbledore's flaws is being a bit blind to his flaws. I think he sometimes forgets how similar he and Severus actually are in their mistakes with the Dark. I agree that Dumbledore also lost the plot a bit and forgot about the fact that Harry (and Snape for that matter) are human and the whole love thing in his manipulations. He took thinks he knows best. I like your AU.

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

Good question. I've been reading a lot of stuff on Dumbledore and this hilltop meeting on loose_canon, and I just can't get a Dumbledore who asks "what will you give me" to save a person he should have as a rep of the light been more than willing to save anyway, and who says "You disgust me" to fit into my AU. Also, I can't work with a Snape who seems, in that scene, to Only care about Lily and nothing else. I think I have to keep some of Dumbledore's faults, but I think the story (canon) would have been much more coherent and rich if Dumbledore and Snape could have some of the common ground and experiences you allude to. Both were seduced, both pulled themselves back, both suffer the after effects (maybe for Dumbledore, that becomes the explanation for some of the machinations and manipulations-- a little backsliding into controlling and lack of faith. Yeah, that might work. For this story. Not sure what to do with the more canonical Dumbledore in my Lost Boys Sequel. But one disaster at a time, shall we?)

Thanks.

[snarkysneak.livejournal.com]

I truly wonder if Snape only cared about Lilly and none of the others. I believe that he was in shock once he realised what he had done and Lily was the most immediate of the people and the one that he could best relate too. It's kind of like when there is a tragedy and a wife remembers to ask about her child and forgets about her spouse for a while or visa versa. While Snape may not have given a rat's ass about James, he would have wanted him to survive for Lily's happiness and I truly don't think he wanted a child to die.

[clavally.livejournal.com]

Your concept of Dark Magic is very, very, very close to what was presented in "Cloak of Courage." Have you read it? It's on my rec list. The author is kinda territorial about the whole concept *rolls eyes* so just thought you should have a heads up about it in case she comes across your story and gets bitchy.

Otherwise, I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I especially disliked the hilltop scene. I thought it was out of character for both of them.

I haven't caught up reading the last couple of chapters yet, but I intend to, soon!

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, thanks for the title-- I was thinking of referencing that fic to say "This is not a new idea" but couldn't remember for sure which fic it was. Yes I have read it, and I intend to stay as far as possible from that formulation-- as far as I can while assuming a Light and Dark that actually make some kind of sense. Still, if I get close, I'll add an author's note to acknowledge the similarity.

[wynnleaf.livejournal.com]

I didn't find this through Loose Canon, but through your link on your ff.net page. Just so you'll know.

I think DH blows a lot of theories about Dark Magic and makes Snape's question to Lily, about why the Dark Magic joke was somehow worse than all the stuff the Marauders did, one of the Big Unanswered Questions of the series.

Further, in DH we get to see the Trio using unforgivables with no comment. There's no sense that they're getting too focused on the goals of the here-and-now and standing too close to the slippery slope down to the Dark. And even later, when JKR was asked about Harry's use of unforgivables, she just said that well, he's flawed just like Snape was flawed. Well, that makes using the Dark Arts spells just some sort of not-so-good choice, but not actually indicative of any particular dreadful proclivities.

The other point in DH is where McGonagall responds to Harry's use of Crucio with the adjective "gallant". If use of such a spell was truly dangerous for the caster, or somehow gave us a clue or cue that the caster was toying with something seriously dangerous, wouldn't McGonagall have reacted differently? And of course, that's completely aside from the aspect of McGonagall calling the torture of another person gallant.

Before DH came out, JKR posted something, I think on her site, about curses being Dark, while hexes and jinxes were milder. But then we look back through the series and see the Trio and others using curses and even being taught curses in school. So how could they be Dark?

I participated in a very long thread on the Harry Potter Lexicon Forum regarding this whole topic of Dark Magic and what made it so bad. We never came to any conclusions.

As for your ideas, they are certainly very good ones, but you might find that you need to somehow explain some of the things in DH and the attitudes that the Trio and even McGonagall had to the use of unforgivables. Come to think of it, the aurors were given permission to use them during the first Voldemort war. If use of such spells was damaging in more ways than just the immediate effect of the spell, why would that have been allowed?

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

Wow. Thanks very much for this response. It's quite helpful. Since I'm starting at the end of HBP and going AU, there are a lot of things that never will have happened in my timeline (even though I do not in any way plan to take this timeline up to the defeat of Voldemort.)I'm even more glad there are a lot of things about DH I will never have to explain, because they have no place in my version of events.

As to where you found this-- did the links not come through on loose canon, or did the post get skipped by in all the other traffic on the board this past week?

I'm going to go ahead and post this in its entirety on the board, as some people did express a preference for that. But I'm very glad to have your response here for later reference.

[wynnleaf.livejournal.com]

I didn't ever see the post on Loose Canon. It may have been there and I somehow skipped it. I was trying to catch up on a lot of posts. Was it in the post about Evil Voldemort?

Anyway, I think posting directly on Loose Canon might work better, especially become a number of the members don't seem to have lj accounts, so they'd be hesitant to come over here and not be able to answer here. And as Claire said, it's easier to answer if you can use "reply" and include quotes in your post.

[kibatsu.livejournal.com]

Hello. My name is Kayla and I came to this journal because I saw the corrections you did for whitestar who is one of my betas. I was amazed by your ability to write and I've come hear hoping to learn more of it myself. I began reading and writing HP fanfictin last summer in order to learn how to write.

Personally, I always viewed Snape as a combination of Faustus and Frankenstein, but then I am a scientist myself and base my view of Snape off of that. I see Snape as a man who wasn't seduced by the darkness but by the power and thrall of all these new and forbidden spells. He was a man who was constantly experimenting with magic and developing and creating his own spells and I think that he saw Voldemort as a sort of father figure who could teach him all these new and amazing things. With Voldemort, he could become more than what he was; someone that others would be proud of and admire. He wanted to be accepted but more than that, he wanted to be respected.

I see Voldemort as a quasi-father figure who took Snape to the side and said, "I don't care what you are or were, that doesn't matter to me. What matters is what you will become." And Snape fell so easily into that trap because all he ever wanted but never really received was love and acceptance. I also think, like Marlowe's Faustus, he really believe that with his increase in power he could do some good and wasn't signing his heart over to darkness and hellfire. However, I think that, ultimately, Snape was so obsessed with seeing what he could do that he didn't stop to think about what he should do and he let his quest for power consume him utterly.

Personally, my mother and I (who are both huge Snape fans, she got me into HP last summer) think that DD is very Machiavellian (and JK later agreed) and never cared a whit about Snape nor really understood why Snape was the man he was. I think that that he was all to willing to ascribe the blame with Snape without thinking for a moment about why Snape developed the way he did because if he had, I think he would have found his own actions wanting and it was his own favouritism of James and the mistreatment of Snape that helped push Snape over to the dark side. DD's sacrificial treatment of Snape in the 7th book, his surprise that Snape still loved Lily, etc, all of those suggested to me that DD never really understood Snape and only saw him as a useful tool. I love to write DD as sort of twisted like this because I think it shows that sometimes those who work for the 'good' side and do lots of things that most of us would approve of can be very twisted and have many flaws.

[kibatsu.livejournal.com]

Now I have a very different view of what makes Dark Magic Evil (I feel I should put a TM here). I've developed very scientific explanations for why magic exists, how it works, etc, and I think what makes magic light or dark depends on the intent of the caster, rather than the spell or magic itself. I don't like to divide magic up into light and dark because I love moral ambiguity. I have Snape once say "good and evil are illusions that weak minded children build into great solid foundations with sharp edges and distinct values" and while I don't agree with him entirely, I find the whole idea of these good, Light Magic using members of the Order who always do what's right in a battle with these evil, Dark Magic using members of the Death Eaters who have hearts blacker than ink very unrealistic and tiresome. Give me a world in shades of grey.

Therefore, I prefer to think it's not the spells but the intent of the caster that makes Dark Magic Dark. When Harry casts Crucio on Bellatrix, she laughs and tells him he has to mean it. He has to have hatred in his heart in order to be able to properly cast it. It's not the spell that's dark, it's Harry's heart. It also explains why McGonagall didn't get too upset about Harry successfully casting it in front of her. He was in a situation where it was very human to be angry and, as long as he doesn't continue carrying that anger, or use it inappropriately, he will not be harmed by casting that dark spell.

I agree with you, canon Voldy seems a weak evil rather than a hugely dominant force. I'm a bit surprised a man like him could've gained so many followers. That's why, I've kept most of my fic canon but I've made Voldy (and some of the Death Eaters) a lot more openly evil and sadistic. I don't want to shy away from the dark edges of humanity because I think it does a disservice both to the readers and the characters. At the same time, I've tried to show glimpses of their humanity because I don't want to make the mistake I think JK made.

But you know, canon can only take you so far and there are many inconsistencies and flaws within canon. I think ultimately you need to decide what type of story you wish to tell and then use the universe to tell that story. In a world where Dark Magic is an outside force turns you even darker, you could bring up several interesting questions and debates that are loosely touched upon in canon but never fully explored.

Some of my own personal favourites are the old free will versus fate, choice versus manipulation, and how we define good and evil.

Good luck!

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

Wow, welcome, and thanks for this response. Seeing Dumbledore as you do (and liking Snape as you also do) you might really enjoy the yahoo group loose_canon, where this kind of discussion happens quite often. They've also influenced me to see Dumbledore as having mild autism or Asperger's syndrome. He just doesn't process emotion or get the feelings of others quite the way we do. There's some speculation that JKR may have some tendencies that way as well. She identifies with and idealizes him, and she also doesn't quite get some very obvious things. They both seem to share the seeing people as objects to be manipulated and used to build something. I think Albus connects more deeply with his plans than with any person in his life.

He's complex as a character, and ultimately, a little sad. I have some work to do, in this and in my sequel to Lost Boys, to figure out what sort of Albus I can write who fits the facts as I know them and fits the emotional tenor of the stories as I read them.

Again, welcome and thanks for dropping by.

[kibatsu.livejournal.com]

I'm new to this. How do you join the yahoo group? I don't think Dumbledore has autism or Asperger's Syndrome, he doesn't fit with my friends who have it. I think it's more likely that he was so hurt by Grindewald that he emotionally shut himself off in a lot of ways. I want to do a fic exploring their relationship together where I explain why DD developed the way he did. I think it would be a wonderful medium in which to explore several political matters such as the trade-off between freedom and security and the problem of living in large social groups. I need to improve in my writing abilities before I can begin it though.

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

Yahoo Groups are the wave of the past, but let me see if I can get you there.

Go to www.yahoo.com on the lefthand side of the web page should be a list of topics. Select "Groups"

A page should come up with a listing of any groups you belong to and there should be a search box at the top center of the page.

You may have to create a yahoo account before any of that works-- the basic email account is free. I prefer gmail, but I still use yahoo for all my hobgoblinn mail and comments people make on my Live Journal. You might ask in introduction if one of them has compiled an essay of their analysis of the Dumbledore as autistic. At least one of our members is herself autistic, and she can vouch for the accuracy of a lot of the observations.

[etherian46.livejournal.com]

Very good essay. I do like your explanation of what is Dark about Dark Magic and what its draw is. It makes me very afraid for Hermione and I'm pleased that Snape is enough of a good and honorable man that he'll keep her safe.

Thanks for pointing me out to your essay.