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Originally Posted by Kath
Yes but this is also the case with Tolkien surely. From what I remember of the Silmarillion Morgoth was originally as 'good' as Manwe, it was his use of what he was given by Eru that he became evil no?
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Well, Morgoth perverted the Good 'powers' he received from Eru, but the Good pre-existed - it had its source in Eru Himself. What I was saying was that in HP, magic seems to be a kind of neutral power which can be used as the wizard wishes - there is no 'Good' magic which is qualitatively different from bad magic. A wizard is 'good' if he/she uses the morally neutral magic to help others, he/she is 'bad' if they use the morally neutral magic to hurt others. But the 'good' wizards are using the
same power as the bad wizards.
Of course it could be argued that in LotR 'bad' magic is corrupted 'good' magic, so everyone is using the same magic there too - the good magic users are using it as Eru intended, the bad in a way He didn't intend, so I don't know how far the idea can be pushed of different kinds of magic. We do have Galadriel distinguishing clearly between what the Elves do & 'the deceits of the Enemy', so I think the real difference between good & bad magic in Middle earth is down to Eru's intent for its use. Gandalf uses magic as Eru intends him to use it, Saruman, et al, mis-use it. So, it is the existence & will/desire of Eru that is the yardstick.
Because 'God' (in some form - ie an absolute moral yardstick) is not present in the HP universe magic is simply a kind of 'natural' force, like electricity, to be used as its operators wish - but then, who decides what a 'good' or 'bad' use of magic is? Where/what is the yardstick? The wizards in HP are fumbling around in an amoral universe, trying to do the best they can - this makes the HP universe more interesting in some ways than Arda, but it also makes it more 'dangerous' for child readers - what moral criteria are they given by Rowling - how do they judge whether the action of a particular wizard is good or bad? Where is the absolute moral standard by which magical acts can be judged to be good or bad?