Editing Magic in Harry Potter (section)

==Dark Arts==
The Dark Arts are magical spells and practices that are usually used for malicious purposes. Practitioners of the Dark Arts are referred to as Dark wizards. The most prominent Dark wizard is Voldemort (having previously been Grindelwald until his defeat to Dumbledore in 1945), who has followers called [[Death Eater]]s. The type of spells characteristic of Dark Arts are known as ''curses'', which usually cause harm to the target.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rowling |first=J. K. |title=Spell Definitions |url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=24 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080124192524/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=24 |archive-date= 24 January 2008 |website= jkrowling.com| publisher= J. K. Rowling}}</ref>

Use of Dark Magic can corrupt the soul and body; Voldemort has used such magic in his quest to prolong his life and obtain great power. The Dark Arts also cause Voldemort to look deformed and inhuman, a side effect of splitting his soul into Horcruxes.

In the wizarding world, use of the Dark Arts is strongly stigmatised, and certain spells are illegal. Hogwarts and other schools instruct students in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Some schools, such as [[Durmstrang]], teach Dark magic. While Hogwarts is under Death Eater control, a Dark Arts class is taught.<ref>{{HPref|book=7|chapter=29}}"Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defence Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to {{sic?|practice}} the Cruciatus Curse on people who’ve earned detention..."</ref>

===Unforgivable Curses===
The Unforgivable Curses are the three worst known spells of the Dark Arts. Their use is punishable by a life sentence in [[Azkaban]] prison.

* The '''Killing Curse''' causes immediate death. It has no cure and cannot be blocked by most magical means. Harry Potter is the only person known to have survived this curse. The incantation for this curse is ''avada kedavra''.
* The '''Cruciatus Curse''' causes the victim intense pain and is used for torture. The strength of the curse is determined by the motivations of who casts the curse. For example, a sadistic desire to inflict pain will produce a more effective curse than righteous anger. The curse has been used to torture victims to the point of death or insanity. The incantation for the Cruciatus Curse is ''crucio'', which is Latin for "I torture".
* The '''Imperius Curse''' is used for mind control or hypnosis. It can force the victim to do things they normally would be unwilling or unable to do. The incantation for the Imperius Curse is ''imperio''.

=== Dark Mark ===
The '''Dark Mark''' is the symbol of Voldemort and the [[Death Eater|Death Eaters]]. It appears as a skull with a snake for a tongue, and it is cast into the sky whenever a Death Eater commits a murder. Every Death Eater has the Dark Mark branded on their left forearm. This brand allows the Death Eaters and Voldemort to summon each other.

===Inferius===
An '''inferius''' (plural: '''inferi'''){{efn|The Latin word ''inferus'' (plural: ''inferi'') means "those below", often referring in the plural to "the gods below" (see ''[[di inferi]])'' or the spirits of the dead (q.v. ''[[lemures]]'' and ''[[manes]]'').<ref name="lexicon">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Charlton T. |last2=Short |first2=Charles |title=A Latin Dictionary |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1879 |place=Oxford, UK |chapter=q.v., ''inferus'', as positive noun I.{{sc|B}}, as comparative adjective II.{{sc|A}} |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dinferus }}</ref> ''Inferius'' is a neuter singular form of ''inferior'', a [[comparative adjective]] meaning "lower".<ref name="lexicon"/><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=inferius&la=la |title=Morphology of ''inferius'' |website=The Perseus Project |publisher=[[Tufts University]]}}</ref>}} is a corpse that is animated and manipulated by a Dark wizard. An inferius is not alive, but has been bewitched to perform a specific duty. An inferius carries out its assigned task mindlessly and cannot think for itself. In the novels, the Ministry of Magic fears that Voldemort is killing enough people to make an army of ''inferi''.

Inferi appear in ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', in the cave where one of Voldemort's Horcruxes (the locket of Salazar Slytherin) is kept. They inhabit the lake surrounding the island where the locket is; if the water is disturbed through means other than the enchanted boat, they will attack the intruder, killing them if they have consumed the emerald potion in the locket's cauldron.

===Horcrux===
{{See also|Magical objects in Harry Potter#Horcruxes}}
A Horcrux is an object created using dark magic to attain a type of immortality. The concept is first introduced in the sixth novel, ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'', although Horcruxes are present in earlier novels without being explained or identified as such.

To create a Horcrux, a witch or wizard must first prepare the chosen object<ref>{{cite podcast |title=The one with J.K. Rowling |series=PotterCast |date=17 December 2007 |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/2NYzGwi0Hye4qHwOUwDcgX?si=43_yp50yQD-Ch-5KAEUHsQ}}</ref> in a ritual which Rowling described only as "too horrible to go into detail about". Following the preparation of the object, the witch or wizard must then take a life, an act which splits the soul. Following that, further dark rituals are required in order to remove the soul shard from the maker and place it into the prepared object. Once this is done, the Horcrux becomes magically protected from almost all forms of destruction, requiring extremely powerful magic or especially destructive substances to do so.

Ordinarily, when one's body is killed, the soul departs for the next world. If, however, the body of a Horcrux maker is killed, that portion of his soul which was still in his body will not pass on to the next world, but will rather exist in a non-corporeal form capable of being resurrected by another wizard. If all of someone's Horcruxes are destroyed, then his soul's only anchor in the material world would be his body, the destruction of which would then cause his final death. To destroy the Horcrux, the destroyer must destroy it in such a way that it is put beyond magical repair.