The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Harry's use of Black Magic
Melriken:
Molly used magic to impose her will over another person’s. That’s black magic. It doesn’t matter what the change was, therefore it doesn’t matter what the intention of choosing that change was. I think it does (should?) matter what Molly intended to do (in this case impose her will on another directly with magic), just not what she intended the outcome to be (help them).
If I intended to shoot you but wanted to hit your leg and slow you down I still intended to shoot you and if I hit your fimeral artery and kill you that’s murder.
If I try to take your picture and have no idea that the camera has been modified to shoot bullets not take pictures and shoot you in the head... not murder.
If I give you my blanket to keep you warm and help you survive the winter and have no way of knowing that it will give you smallpox... not murder...
Jim’s statements on these were fairly vague, I would love to get some more explicit commentary from him on them, but for now my interpretations stand. Your intended outcomes don’t matter, but what you intended to DO does.
g33k:
--- Quote from: morriswalters on February 04, 2020, 05:02:25 PM --- Just out of curiosity, is anything other than murder by magic true soul staining Black Magic?
--- End quote ---
Mind invasion, overriding other wills. Recall "the Korean kid" who was executed. He was corrupted into raving lunacy by what he did.
I suspect that ALL the laws lead there, eventually. Some of them just faster, maybe? Or harder to resist?
I don't think we've got all the information, enough to answer.
Bad Alias:
--- Quote from: Melriken on February 04, 2020, 10:15:27 PM ---Your intended outcomes don’t matter, but what you intended to DO does.
--- End quote ---
I think, but it's only a guess, that intended outcome does matter. I think an innocent intention mitigates the amount of corruption. Let's take Molly for example. Her intent was pure, mostly. If her intent was malicious, she would get 100% of the black magic corruption that comes with the act. But because that wasn't the case she only receives a portion of the corruption. For example 75%. Now, we don't know the amount of corruption that comes from any black magic act or how much mitigation intent would have if I'm correct at all.
Mira:
--- Quote ---I think, but it's only a guess, that intended outcome does matter. I think an innocent intention mitigates the amount of corruption. Let's take Molly for example. Her intent was pure, mostly. If her intent was malicious, she would get 100% of the black magic corruption that comes with the act. But because that wasn't the case she only receives a portion of the corruption. For example 75%. Now, we don't know the amount of corruption that comes from any black magic act or how much mitigation intent would have if I'm correct at all.
--- End quote ---
I think intent does count, but at the same time we are told that ignorance of the law doesn't always get one off. Molly's intentions may have been good, but committing mind rape isn't, irregardless of the outcome. The problem is if Molly believes her intentions were good, the next step is to justify them even though the outcome was bad for her friends. If she can justify them, what is to stop her from repeating the act? Nothing. That is the slippery slope, and it only gets slipperier and steeper sliding into warlockhood.
Bad Alias:
What you describe is a slippery slope. The Council wouldn't be executing people under that rationalization because such behavior can be corrected relatively easily. The twisting of the mind that results from using black magic is why the Council executes practitioners who use it.
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