I keep wondering about one thing in particular. In all the Dark! Harry fanfic I've read so far, most of them involves a version of Harry that is darker and more skilled than the Canon Harry we read in the books.

It seems that in most Dark!Harry fanfics, Harry being dark is equivalent to being skilled.

Has there been a story where Harry Potter may subscribe to the dark arts, yet remains as a pretty average wizard?

 

Subscribing to the dark arts implies some sort of dedication to them. Canon Harry has never really been dedicated to anything that wasn't Quidditch or the Patronus charm.

 

i agree with the statement. However, it is all illustrated that Dark Arts are addictive and such. So in a way the more you delve into the art the more you want to learn and practice as the urge of using them increases. Of course one's overall skill in magic does not increase necessarily but their skills in dueling and dark arts increase i guess.

 

So basically you want a Draco Malfoy!Harry?

It is? I must have missed the memo...

 

I just noticed the black guy in the far right doesn't have a light saber.

 

It's because he's Irish...

 

It's because in the original picture he didn't have his wand out, which was what the lightsabers took the place of.

 

I've made the point before, the only curse you actually need to know to be an effective dueler is the killing curse. It doesn't matter if you suck at the rest, because there is no reason to use anything else in a life or death duel, which makes me wonder why anyone does.

So yea, this really is compatible. If canon!Harry is capable of using the cruciatus and the imperius, there is nothing to indicate he shouldn't be able to use the killing curse too.

 

The AK can be blocked fairly easily. Summon, animate or conjure something and you are pretty much set. Furthermore, the AK requires a head on approach. If instead of using an AK, a dark wizard uses a spell that causes lances to spring from the ground and skewer his opponent, that's a different story.

And of course, there is the whole mind fuck aspect of using other spells than the AK. Sure the AK kills if it hits, but there's a difference to the population between a quick and painless death where the body is left in pretty much perfect condition, and finding someone whose had their skin slowly peeled off and then burned with acid and then decapitated.

 

There is nothing to indicate that that's easy. If it was, we'd've seen a lot of people doing it, but the only people who we've seen doing it was Dumbledore, who was a transfiguration genius. Besides, aside from blocking the Killing Curse they would also block everything else, so that's still not an argument for using other curses.

And lances from the ground, please, this isn't D&D.

That is only an issue for the DEs who are out to inflict terror, not for someone who just wants to end a duel and get out alive.

 

I think the usage of Intelligent!Harry as a dark arts convention is fairly common because the story just isn't much fun without it. Sure, we could read about how Harry mopes his way through learning the dark arts, doesn't do his dark essays, and makes up answers when he doesn't know them, but it wouldn't really be that interesting, especially if the dark arts aspect is the focus of the fic.

 

It seems to me that if you're using only one offensive spell then the Killing Curse is not the best choice. The Stunning charm has a much shorter incantation, is easier to cast, carries no legal penalty, knocks a person out just as instantly as the Killing Curse, travels just as fast, if not faster (I've always imagined the Stunning charm, when well cast, to be very fast), carries less of a light show and is thus subtler, and is more versatile (you don't always want to kill your opponent).

So what if the Killing Curse is unblockable? At the highest level of duelling, this has little effect as the outcome of the duel is not the result of the attributes of the spells you are using but rather good duelling style.

 

Taure, first, I was obviously only referring to life or death duels; obviously I wouldn't recommend using the killing curse in a dueling competition, or as part of DADA training. :awesome

Also, the discussion in this thread was in the context of dark arts, which I assume the stunning spell isn't considered as (I may be wrong though, there is some technical wankery about Rowling's definitions IIRC). However, it can be blocked by a shield.

You're right that it does have a shorter incantation, but presumably this could be countered by using the Killing Curse non-verbally like Bellatrix did in the beginning of HBP. Try saying both incantations in your mind, and you'll find that mentally the difference is only fractions of a section.

Isn't the stunning spell's appearance basically like that of the killing curse, only having a red ray instead of a green one? Anything regarding speed of travel is probably speculation; I may be wrong, please feel free to provide canon evidence to the contrary.

It may be the case that the 'dueling styles' may be a very important determining factor, but even if that is so there is no reason to handicap yourself using spells that leave your enemy able to retaliate.

Once again, note that I am thinking of this as a life and death situation, not one where you want to capture your enemy to interrogate him, or where you think letting your enemy live to kill and torture other people makes you morally superior because you at least kept your hands clean. (that was a dig at canon, not you, in case you couldn't tell )


Moreover, if you are fighting more than one person, even if you manage to stun one their comrades would just wake him up when they got a chance. With the killing curse there is no such problem.

Sorry if I ramble, but these things come to me in a pretty stream of consciousness way.

 

Stunning spell is a charm, so not Dark arts. However, the "we're only talking about Dark arts" stipulation seems a bit restrictive: if a spell is the best to use then it doesn't matter what it is.

I've always pictured the stunning charm as not a jet spell but a "magic missle" type spell: a nimbus of red light shot from your wand. My thoughts regarding the spell of the spell are mostly circumstantial: the fact that people have the time to hear the rushing sound of death with the Killing Curse seems to indicate that it takes some time to travel, whereas people have always seemed to need fast reflexes to block the stunning charm. Plus, the stunning charm is much faster than the AK in the movies. Which aren't canon, but I've always loved the speed of spells in them.

If you're fighting multiple people and stun one and then another takes the time to revive them then this is the perfect opening to stun the one doing to reviving too, and then stun the revived but still recovering enemy as he's getting up.

 

Can't it be said that those kind of fics are simply harder to write, hence making it difficult to find stories that depicts an pretty average dark wizard?

I mean just because a person's skill is average doesn't mean he has to mope his way through learning dark arts. He could be above average in some areas but below average in other areas.

Also, why do we need protagonist that has above average skills to make a story interesting? Given the fact that there are plenty of good stories that puts a pretty ordinary guy into extraordinary circumstances.

 

If they are more than two, It'd be hard not only to protect yourself against the ones who aren't busy reviving or being stunned, but also target the one who does the reviving.

And if the enemies are more intelligent than a cockroach then they'd take cover before reviving their comrades.

About the difference between a stunning spell and the Killing curse: what would happen if Harry hits Voldemort with the stunning spell?

Would Voldemort be stunned or resist the spell? Or would the stun work only a couple of seconds?

 

If the odds are that stacked against you then you're screwed anyway, unless you're skilled enough to fight that many people at once, in which case your skill will see you through.

And I don't see any reason why Voldemort wouldn't be stunned if hit by a Stunning charm as any other person would be.

 

Very good point. Gives me an idea of Dumbledore 'eliminating' Voldemort by stunning him, sealing him in a cement block covered with anti-portkey/apparation wards, and other wards and notice-me-not charms, and dropping it in the ocean. Sure, sure, he's still technically alive. But he's not a problem anymore.


On the subject of the average darkarts user- this discussion isn't really about the average, because we've never seen an average darkarts user. For all we know, the intelligent protagonist of most dark arts stories is fairly average, and gets through on hard work. Since there's no baseline, and the only thing we have for measurement is extremes, I don't see the problem.

What's being discussed, however, is taking an average wizard, and and having that average wizard learn the dark arts. And sure, it can happen- just look at Crabbe and Goyle. But again, unless done well, it can be very bland. I don't know about you, but while I enjoy a good balance of challenges and successes, I don't want to read the fic where the author makes every effort to prove how totally mind numbingly average Harry is.

 

Agreed, the flow of the story must be natural.

Although if we assume that dark wizards are really skilled as a whole, then I have to wonder how did the magical community on the "light" side managed to stay in power in the first place. If the dark wizards are really that skilled, then the only thing preventing them from waging a war against the light wizards year after year is the will to do so.

 

Assuming that the dark wizards are stronger, [which is debateable, especially as the supposedly second strongest dark witch was killed by a housewife...] light wizards still have numbers, unity, will and a factory of soldiers, assuming the dark wizards don't take over Hogwarts - which is unlikely....