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Dark Wizard

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At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Hogwarts Legacy, Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery.
As such, spoilers will be present within the article.

"But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there’s nothin’ and no one that matters to em anymore..."
—Rubeus Hagrid about the nature of Dark Wizards[src]

A Dark Wizard[1] or Witch is any magical person who primarily studies and/or practises the Dark Arts, otherwise known as Dark Magic. They often partake in the illegal breeding of Dark creatures, use or create dark objects, or inflict injury or death on others often using dangerous curses, and other dark charms.

In recent history, two dark wizards of particular notoriety were Gellert Grindelwald and Lord Voldemort, the latter considered to be the most powerful dark wizard of all time. Grindelwald sought the Deathly Hallows to become the Master of Death and to establish a global wizarding order that would dominate Muggles all "For the Greater Good",[2] while Voldemort sought to gain unmatched power, immortality and to impose pure-blood supremacy on the wizarding world.

Overview

"A wizard who’s about to put an illegal curse on you isn’t going to tell you what he’s about to do. He’s not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared."
—Bartemius Crouch Junior to fourth year Defence Against the Dark Arts students about Dark Wizards[src]

Some of the magic Dark wizards have been known to practise includes the use of the three Unforgivable Curses[3] and other dark charms, creating or brewing dark or poisonous potions,[4][5][6] utilising and creating dark or cursed objects,[7][8][9] animating Inferi,[10][11][12][6][13] attracting all kinds of Dark and dangerous creatures to make huge armies and command them to attack their enemies,[14][15] along with the breeding of them, such as Basilisks.[16][17][18][19] Noted Dark wizards and witches include Herpo the Foul, Raczidian, Morgan le Fay, Emeric the Evil, Salazar Slytherin, Merwyn the Malicious, Ekrizdis, Barnabas Deverill, Loxias, Gellert Grindelwald, and Lord Voldemort, as well as the latter's followers, known as Death Eaters.[20][21] According to the journalist Rita Skeeter, in a list of Most Dangerous Dark Wizards of All Time, Grindelwald would miss out on the top spot only because Voldemort arrived, a generation later, to take his crown.[2]

Types of wizards

"Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were — were — bad Dark wizards!"
—Dobby telling Harry Potter about the nature of Malfoy family[src]

Others who might be considered Dark wizards are the owners and customers of shops such as Borgin and Burkes,[22][23][24] and arguably students of Durmstrang Institute, as the curriculum there teaches much of the Dark Arts.[25] Many Dark wizards and witches appear to believe in the importance of blood purity and to hate Muggles and Muggle-borns, though there is not necessarily a connection. Many historical dark wizards, such as Gellert Grindelwald and his followers and acolytes, supported the ideology of Wizarding supremacy, as opposed to Pure-blood supremacy.[26]

In Great Britain, many well-known Dark wizards and witches come out of Slytherin house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,[27] though this is not universal to this house. For example, Peter Pettigrew was in Gryffindor, yet he betrayed the Order of the Phoenix and joined Voldemort;[28] Quirinus Quirrell, a Ravenclaw also allied himself with the Dark Lord;[29] and (albeit only in an alternate timeline) Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff would become a Death Eater,[30] whereas Slytherins such as Horace Slughorn,[15] Regulus Black,[31] Andromeda Tonks[32] and later Severus Snape[33] opposed the Death Eaters and fought against them.

Known Dark Wizards and Witches

"Did I know that I had just met the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time?"
—Albus Dumbledore regarding Tom Riddle[src]

Dark Wizards and Witches

Fictional Dark Wizards and Witches

Possible Dark Wizards and Witches

See also

Behind the scenes

  • In the Harry Potter films, most Dark Wizards appear to Apparate differently than other wizards. Dark Wizards Disapparate by turning into a whirlwind of black smoke and flying into the air, and then spiralling back down to the desired spot. Meanwhile, other wizards can just pop and disappear, or similarly can disappear in a whirlwind of white smoke. The ability to conjure this whirlwind may reflect an advanced dark wizard or witch.
  • In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and its sequel LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, only Dark Wizards can use dark magic on items that are black and glow with red sparks, symbolising dark magic. Also in this game and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, most if not all playable dark wizard characters, including Death Eaters, can perform the Patronus Charm, despite this not being canonically possible, as most dark wizards are not capable of performing this charm, due to them being impure of heart and their frequent associations with Dementors.[49] Voldemort can incorrectly cast this spell in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, but is correctly unable to perform it in Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 (although his younger-self still inaccurately can).[50][34]

Appearances

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 8 (The Potions Master)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 18 (The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore)
  3. ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 14 (The Unforgivable Curses)
  4. ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 1 (The Riddle House)
  5. ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 32 (Flesh, Blood and Bone)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 26 (The Cave)
  7. ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 6 (The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black)
  8. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 12 (Silver and Opals)
  9. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 23 (Horcruxes)
  10. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 4 (Horace Slughorn)
  11. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 9 (The Half-Blood Prince)
  12. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 21 (The Unknowable Room)
  13. ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 3 (The Dursleys Departing)
  14. ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 20 (Hagrid's Tale)
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 31 (The Battle of Hogwarts)
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 9 (The Writing on the Wall)
  17. ↑ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 16 (The Chamber of Secrets)
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 17 (The Heir of Slytherin)
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
  20. ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 9 (The Dark Mark)
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 33 (The Death Eaters)
  22. ↑ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 4 (At Flourish and Blotts)
  23. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 6 (Draco's Detour)
  24. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 20 (Lord Voldemort's Request)
  25. ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 11 (Aboard the Hogwarts Express)
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 26.6 26.7 26.8 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay
  27. ↑ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 5 (Diagon Alley)
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 19 (The Servant of Lord Voldemort)
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 17 (The Man with Two Faces)
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
  31. ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 10 (Kreacher's Tale)
  32. ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 5 (Fallen Warrior)
  33. ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33 (The Prince's Tale)
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 29 (The Lost Diadem)
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 30 (The Pensieve)
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
  39. ↑ Writing by J.K. Rowling: "Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" at Wizarding World
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 The Tales of Beedle the Bard (real)
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 27 (The Lightning-Struck Tower)
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 21 (The House-Elf Liberation Front)
  43. ↑ Pottermore
  44. ↑ Wonderbook: Book of Spells
  45. ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 13 (Detention with Dolores)
  46. ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 32 (Out of the Fire)
  47. ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 1 (The Dark Lord Ascending)
  48. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 10 (The House of Gaunt)
  49. ↑ J.K. Rowling and the Live Chat, Bloomsbury.com, July 30, 2007
  50. ↑ LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
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