I recently read a few fics I really liked which had Harry getting into the Dark Arts but in these stories, dark arts weren't inherently evil but rather were a different kind of magic which was stigmatized for one reason or another. For example, I really liked Evitative by Vichan and Oath Breaker by Goblin Cat KC. I especially liked the world of dark arts in Evitative: Harry is drawn to the dark arts because of his darkness affinity and feels really good when he performs dark magic. It connects him with ambient magic all around him in a way that light magic doesn't.

I haven't been able to get into most of the Dark!Harry stories because he'll be either really unlikeable or it'll be HP/LV slash (which I really just can't get into personally).

Any suggestions for stories that explore the dark arts without making Harry or other dark magic practitioners inherently evil??

P.S. I'm new to DLP and to forums in general so apologies if my posting isn't correct in some way.

 

Work your way through the Dark Arts section of the library.

Off the top of my head, I'd say give Lesser Evils and Renegade Cause a shot.

 

I think most indy!Harry fics use dark arts as a convenient tool to make Harry stronger in a short time. Same is for independent!Harry, Slytherin!Harry and dark, but not evil Harry. Searching through these tags (even on Reddit) you should be able to find something to your tastes.

If you want a fic where dark arts affect the caster, one of the best examples is On the Way to Greatness by mira mirth and if you want it to be stigmatized due to political reasons you can check Sarcasm and Slytherin series. IF you search for the magical theory behind the dark arts I'll have to disappoint you because there are only a few done well and none of which I can remember right now.

 

There's a new fic on Ao3 called "How to Succeed in Dark Wizardry (Without Really Trying) by technically_direct that seems to fit.
Just as a heads-up, it's Ron centric, and it's a WIP with only 2 chapters (but 12k words already)

 

Raining Ink's fic (I think entitled "Out of the Night"?) is great for depicting the Dark Arts and the subculture that surrounds it. It's set in Knockturn Alley and has really rich worldbuilding. Sadly, it's abandoned!