Dark Arts or also known as Dark Magic often refers to a type of Magic that is mainly used to cause a lot of negative effects on people and objects. Dark Arts can be used to harm, to curse, to control, or even to kill a victim. Throughout the generations, Dark Arts have always been viewed as “bad” and “dark” magic by many people in the wizarding world due to their history, but the Dark Arts aren’t necessarily "evil".

Even in the Muggle world, the Muggles used another name for the Dark Arts, which is called the Black Magic. In both the medieval and modern times, they viewed the Dark Arts as evil supernatural power, or satanic ritualistic practice. You can do some research and find that in some Muggle’s legends, folklore and children fairy tales, all dark magic requires a sacrifice in order to have a better and higher success rate to preform it. For example, how evil witches sacrifice young children and use the dark magic to keep their youth and beauty. Or a cult sacrifice a lamb or a human to summon a powerful spirit or devil to grant their wishes.

Unlike the magical spells that were taught in wizarding schools, Dark Arts contain a lot of spells from very powerful curses, dangerous or venomous potions to breeding Dark creatures. All of these are considered to be illegal and are heavily being seen as a taboo in the Wizarding World. It’s understandable that many misunderstood the Dark Arts being “evil” but in reality, Dark Arts is not so different from other magic, it really all depends on the users who practice the Dark Arts. There are still a lot of things to discover about Darks Arts and to truly understand this complex magic.

The Nature of Dark Arts Any Wizard or Witch who used it will be regarded as being corrupted, which is a very good reason why they are considered to be “dark”. Those who practice the Darks Arts are called Dark Wizards or Dark Witches. The most well-known Practitioner in Wizarding History was undoubtedly Lord Voldemort and his followers, known as the Death Eaters. The appearance of Voldemort (who was once Tom Riddle) was the best example of corruption from using Dark Arts. It had been mentioned by Albus Dumbledore as a suggestion before that if an individual who used any form of Dark Arts to kill someone, their soul would be damaged. There is an object called the Horcrux that is hidden in a Dark Wizard or a Dark Witch’s soul, the purpose of creating a Horcrux is an attempt to be immortal. However, this object can only be created after a murder is committed, which is a supreme act of true evil. However, there were also wizards and witches who didn’t really use Dark Arts for evil. There were those who used it due to unique circumstances. The most common reasons were either to bring their loved ones back from the dead or revenge against their enemies. Or worst, that they were being forced or manipulated by evil people to use Dark Arts.

The Dark Arts in Wizarding Society

Dark Arts are mostly being frowned upon by many wizard kinds in the Wizarding world, and it's still strictly prohibited. However, there are certain exceptions or the possibility of a legal defense for wizards to use Dark Arts.

In Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they teach students not only the Defense Against the Dark Arts, but they also need to teach them about the Dark Arts theoretical in order for them to identify the danger of the Dark Arts and to learn how to deal with different kinds of Dark Arts in future situations. But Durmstrang Institute is the opposite, they teach students the Dark Arts and aren’t against it. There are even shops like the Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley that openly trades in Dark artifacts. Already been patronized by a majority of people, which implies in some aspects these Dark artifacts are being accepted in a social way or at least being considered legal among parts of the wizarding community.

During the Wizarding War, the Aurors were given permission to use powerful Dark Arts against the enemies by the Ministry of Magic. However, in late 1997 to 1998 when Lord Voldemort was in control of wizarding Britain. All aspects of the Dark Arts were legalized since it was Voldemort controlling the Ministry at the time, so it may not be standard protocol.

Dark Charms

Charms that affect people or an object negatively or a certain level of discomfort will be considered as “Dark Charms”.

The Dark Charms are classified into three groups: Jinxes, Hexes, and Curses. It has a hierarchy with Jinx at the base, Hex in the middle, and Curse on the top. The most dangerous and wicked ones are the ones that are further up in the hierarchy. The most powerful Dark Charms in existence are the Unforgivable Curses, their effects are very strong and deadly that require a lot of skills in order to use them.

The Dark Charms are the following:

• A Jinx is minor dark magic that only causes small inconvenience to the target. Example Jinxes are Knockback Jinx (Flipendo), Oppugno Jinx (Oppugno), and Revulsion Jinx (Relashio).

• A Hex is moderate dark magic that can cause major inconvenience to the target. Example Hexes are Bat-Bogey Hex, Knee-reversal hex, and Toenail-growing hex. The incarnations remain unknown.

• A Curse is the worst kind of dark magic compared to Jinx and Hex, due to its intention to affect the target in a very strong negative manner that can cause great discomfort. All the wizards and witches know the three main Unforgivable Curses, they are Cruciatus Curse (Crucio), Imperius Curse (Imperio), and Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra).

Dark Potions

Potions can heal or fix things, but there are other kinds of potions that can cause harm, whether physically or mentally, and these potions are known to be “Dark Potions”. Dark Potions may include certain ingredients that are quite uncommon or rare or have strange equities, different from the regular potions.

For example, the Dark Lord, Voldemort himself, once invented a Dark Potion of his own, it was called the Rudimentary body potion. With the help from one of his followers, Peter Pettigrew, this Dark Potion was used to create Voldemort’s rudimentary body. The two of the main ingredients were the blood of a unicorn and the venom from Nagini’s snake. In combination with a few of Voldemort’s self-created Dark Spells. Even though this Dark Potion was made in order to sustain the Dark Lord’s body, the only flaw was that the drinker must drink the potions every few hours in order to maintain their health, otherwise, their body would slowly become damaged again.

Killing a magical creature, such as a unicorn, is considered a very horrifying criminal act in the wizarding world. Or using parts from a dangerous dark beast like the Nagini’s snake and used it as ingredients for the sake of creating powerful and deadly potions that can lethal to any living beings would also be something terrible.

Negative or harmful effects that were caused by potions can be considered as Dark Potions as well. Another example, Drink of Despair, also known as the emerald potion. This potion’s liquid has the color of a green emerald, and it glows. Despite how elegant this potion might look, the effect of this potion can cause the drinker to hallucinate and make them see "terrible things", or make them feel extremely dehydrated, or experience something awful like intense stomach pain. The Drink of Despair was possibly created by Voldemort himself, he used this potion in a stone basin in order to protect the hidden locket Horcrux from people who wanted to get the locket.

Sometimes Dark Potions can be used as a defense or to protect certain items or someone, so not all Dark Potions are inherently “evil”. It really depends on the user’s intention.

Dark Items

There are magical items that are enchanted by Dark Charms or a Dark Wizard purposely casts a curse on the item for unknown reason or agenda. These items usually become the Dark Magic Artefacts or simply known as the Dark Items.

The Dark Items can harm people due to the effects of the Dark Magic. A Horcrux is a Dark Item, an object that contains a fragment of a Dark wizard's soul after committing murder and to provide immortality. Or the cursed books for example can hurt those who read them without any cautions.