Dark Wizard

Dark Wizard
Organisation information
Intentions	Study and practise the Dark Arts
Affiliation	Dark Arts
Enemies	British Ministry of Magic Magical Congress of the United States of America Order of the Phoenix Dumbledore's Army Aurors

"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

A Dark Wizard or Witch was any magical person who primarily studied and/or practised the Dark Arts, otherwise known as Dark Magic. They often partook in the illegal breeding of dark creatures, the usage or creation of dark objects and artefacts, or inflicted 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. Both were considered the most powerful Dark Wizards of their time, with Voldemort 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", 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 (disguised as Alastor Moody) regarding Dark Wizards

Lord Voldemort's serpentine appearance after immersing himself in the Dark Arts

Some of the magic Dark Wizards had been known to practise included the use of the three Unforgivable Curses and other dark charms, creating or brewing dark or poisonous potions, utilising and creating dark or cursed objects, animating Inferi, attracting all kinds of dark and dangerous creatures to make huge armies and command them to attack their enemies, along with the breeding of them, such as Basilisks.

Noted Dark Wizards and Witches included: 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. According to the wizarding 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.

Types of wizards

"Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were — were — bad Dark wizards!"

— Dobby regarding the Malfoy family to Harry Potter

Durmstrang Institute taught the Dark Arts

Others who might be considered Dark Wizards were the owners and customers of shops such as Borgin and Burkes, and arguably students of Durmstrang Institute, as the curriculum there taught much of the Dark Arts. Many Dark Wizards and Witches appeared to believe in the importance of blood purity and to hate Muggles and Muggle-borns, though there was 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.

In Great Britain, many well-known Dark Wizards and Witches came out of Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, though this was not universal to this house. For example, Peter Pettigrew was in Gryffindor, yet he betrayed the Order of the Phoenix and joined Voldemort; Quirinus Quirrell, a Ravenclaw, also allied himself with the Dark Lord; and (albeit only in an alternate timeline) Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff would become a Death Eater, whereas Slytherins such as Horace Slughorn, Regulus Black, Andromeda Tonks and later Severus Snape 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 a young Tom Riddle

Dark Wizards and Witches

Abernathy Avery II Cassius Bell Regulus Black Walburga Black Borgin Bly Burke Owle Bullock Caractacus Burke Carrow Alecto Carrow Amycus Carrow Barnaby Lee's father Barnaby Lee's grandmother Barnaby Lee's mother Crabbe Vincent Crabbe Corrine Cribb Bartemius Crouch Junior Dark Witch in Knockturn Alley Dark Wizard in Knockturn Alley Delphini Antonin Dolohov Ekrizdis Emeric the Evil Ethelred the Ever-Ready Gormlaith Gaunt

Gibbon Godelot Goyle Gregory Goyle Gareth Greengrass Fenrir Greyback Gunnar Grimmson Gellert Grindelwald Herpo the Foul Igor Karkaroff Krafft Krall Nagel Jugson Loxias Bellatrix Lestrange Corvus Lestrange IV Rabastan Lestrange Rodolphus Lestrange MacDuff Walden Macnair Merwyn the Malicious Morgan le Fay Mulciber I Mulciber II Merula Snyde's father Merula Snyde's mother Draco Malfoy

Lucius Malfoy Narcissa Malfoy Niko Nenad Nott Peter Pettigrew Matthias Pickering Quirinus Quirrell Raczidian Patricia Rakepick Tom Riddle (commonly known as Lord Voldemort) Augustus Rookwood Victor Rookwood Evan Rosier Vinda Rosier Thorfinn Rowle Dai Ryusaki Scabior Selwyn Kazuhiro Shiratori (known as the White-robed wizard) Salazar Slytherin Severus Snape Travers Dolores Umbridge Members of The Unforgivable Wilkes Zenith Xeep Corban Yaxley

Fictional Dark Wizards and Witches

• The Warlock from The Warlock's Hairy Heart.
• The Evil Sorcerer from The Fountain of Fair Fortune.

Possible Dark Wizards and Witches

Members of the Black family (Except Sirius Black) Members of the Carrow family Members of the Crabbe family Members of the Crouch family

Members of the Gaunt family Members of the Goyle family Members of the Lestrange family Members of the Malfoy family (Except Scorpius Malfoy)

Members of the Nott family Members of the Rosier family Members of the Selwyn family Members of the Travers family Members of the Yaxley family

See also

• Dark Arts
• Unforgivable Curses
• Death Eaters
• R
• Alliance
• The Unforgivable
• Elder Wand

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. 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).

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• The Archive of Magic: The Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore: Movie Magic
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Motorbike Escape
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault (Mentioned only)
• The Queen's Handbag (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Creator: Harry Potter
• Creator: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
• LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Dimensions
• Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy