Chapter 17:
Harry stared for a moment, unbelieving that Tom had just come out with such a statement, so openly.
Of course, Tom knew perfectly well Harry already knew about his 'darker' side, but it was still at complete odds with the model student persona the Slytherin played with for the rest of his day.
"I hate it," he replied, fiercely, eyeing Riddle. "I think it's vile and evil."
Tom looked at him for a few moments.
"You have had some training then," he murmured, a vicious smile twisting his lips.
"What?" Harry's brow furrowed, confused.
"Well, I say training..." Tom corrected himself lightly. "Indoctrination, might seem a more fitting word."
Harry's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he strongly had to resist the urge to punch Riddle across the face again, his jaw tightening, his shoulders tensed.
"I am not indoctrinated," Harry stated firmly, icily. Riddle didn't seem fazed, merely patting his cheek, that awful gleam in his eyes.
"Sure you're not, pet."
That name did have him punching, and the next second Riddle had reacted too, catching the fist and twisting his arm behind his back, simultaneously twisting him so Harry's back rested against Tom's chest.
"First rule of proper defence against the dark arts," Riddle murmured. "Whilst fast and spontaneous attacks can often work to your advantage, attacking on ridiculous notions of sentiment and without a clear head is never good. Did I touch a nerve?"
"I'm not your bloody pet, and I'm not indoctrinated! It's the Dark Side who does that, not the li-"
"-I wasn't asking for your opinion on the dark side, Harry," Tom interrupted, smoothly. "I was asking for your opinion on dark magic."
"What's the difference?" Harry scoffed. Tom's grip tightened slightly.
"And therein lies the indoctrination," he said, quietly. "Now, can I let go of you, or are you going to attempt to punch me again? I demand respect as your teacher here, but if you feel you can't...ah...control yourself, I will simply break your arm to make it easier for you."
Harry stiffened. He could control himself! He gritted his teeth, with the reluctant acknowledgement that Riddle had just hit a bullseye.
"You can let go of me," he said coolly. He was released instantly, shoved away again, and Tom returned to surveying him, continuing almost as if nothing had happened.
"On the subject of your indoctrination, such a response clearly suggests you know little to nothing about the true meaning of the dark, and the dark arts," Tom stated.
"You would say that," Harry muttered. Riddle shot him a warning look, before that too faded, and his head tilted.
"Define Dark Magic, Harry," he instructed with an unexpected patience. "What's the difference between dark and light magic, aside from the names?"
"One's good and one's bad," he said, automatically, before pausing, actually thinking about it. His eyes flickered, and he met Tom's gaze. The other offered him a not-particularly nice smile.
"Would you say dark chocolate is evil?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Harry muttered, feeling a headache building.
"Then you can understand that dark does not equate to evil, if one was to simplistically and childishly assume evil even exists?"
Harry frowned marginally. Of course evil existed, he'd seen it. It was called Voldemort. Nonetheless, he could perhaps concede the first point...possibly. Maybe.
"Dark magic and dark chocolate are very different things."
"And we're back to what Dark Magic is. Tell me," Tom instructed, studying him almost lazily.
Harry scowled.
"I don't know," he admitted, barely audibly. Tom's eyebrows rose, a smirk capturing his lips.
"What was that, Evans?" he purred. Harry's scowl only deepened.
"You tell me, Riddle. What is Dark Magic then?"
"Dark Magic is magic that is spurred by dark emotions like anger or hatred, as opposed to Light Magic which is catalysed by lighter emotions, like happiness, or hope."
"...and that makes Dark Magic more negative," Harry argued, after thinking for a moment on the definition. "Being consumed by hatred and bitterness is not a good reason for doing something."
"It's nothing to with intentions," the Slytherin Heir returned. "It's just what you're using to power your magic. Yes, perhaps that creates more of an offensive magic base in Dark Arts, but does that make it worse or 'evil'?" Tom questioned. "I believe not. You can use Dark Magic to protect your friends, and to heal people, while powering your spells with 'negative' emotions as much as you can use Light Arts to cause damage and pain."
"Yeah, except surely the negative emotions make it negative over-all?" Harry questioned, brow furrowed. "The Unforgivables are Unforgiveable for a reason. They're certainly not good."
"You're one of those people who insist on degrading everything into an ethical issue, aren't you," Tom muttered, darkly, before shaking his head. "Say I indulge your pointless morality for a moment, and we take an intentions based view on magic as you're insisting, instead of looking at this from the purely magical basis...what if one used the Imperious curse to save someone's life? Get a man with a fear of heights to jump to safety despite his phobia? Would that make the Imperious curse 'good' or 'evil'."
Harry thought for a few moments; this would suggest a good intention in the spell, and a good consequence, but the action itself still wasn't good in itself - surely stripping someone of their free will was never good?
"The unforgiveables are called so," Tom continued, watching his expression closely, "because there is always an inherent immorality to them, or what is by society traditionally considered an immorality."
"But you disagree with that," Harry noted.
"I disagree with the notion of morality, and don't follow any outside of what benefits me the most in any given scenario," Tom dismissed. "Morals are society's oppression, and I don't like limitations. I have no morality, and so thus such matters are of no concern to me. This illustrates how unforgiveables are an anomaly within the Dark Arts, which is why they are categorized differently...within most dark magic, there is nothing inherently bad within it to make it any worse or 'viler' than light magic."
"But surely when your spells are powered by hatred-" Harry began, frustrated, bewildered.
"Magic is like any other tool, if you want to look at it morally," Riddle interrupted. "Dark and Light are just different ways of using it, and the ethics of the method depend entirely upon the person and whichever moral system one desires to apply."
Harry felt shaken, as if his entire worldview had just been tossed, scattered and ripped apart. He stared straight ahead, his gaze distant. Why didn't they teach this in first year? If it was such basic knowledge? He wasn't sure if he trusted Riddle's words.
Tom was continuing again:
"There are very few examples of straight light spells, or straight dark spells. Normally, it is more varied than that. One notable example, however, would be the Patronus Charm, which is powered by the 'light' feeling of happiness. Yet, consider, what if your happy memory is of destroying a Dementor entirely? Or of committing a murder?"
Harry frowned, thoughtfully.
"Or," Tom said, "there's a dark spell called Transire Vulnus, it's a healing spell powered by vengeance. It transfers the injury from the 'victim' to a person of your choice. Healing is 'good' is it not? Protecting your allies is generally not considered an 'evil' thing?"
"Yes, I get it," Harry cut in, tersely, when Riddle seemed about to continue once again with no doubt many more examples. "Light does not necessarily equal good. Dark does not necessarily equal bad. It's just different...fuel."
Tom had a self-satisfied gleam in his eyes.
"Exactly. Therefore, I'll repeat, how do you feel about Dark Magic? And learning it?"
Harry was silent for a minute.
"If this is the only difference...and I will be researching this, because you could be lying...how come Dark Magic is so stigmatized? Surely people know this? So why is Dark Magic so banned in comparison?"
"Because it's powerful, and the people who are the best at it tend to be of a darker character, and use it for darker ends. Dark Wizards don't tend to have led the kindest of lives, their magic is fuelled by pain."
Riddle's eyes met his, intently.
"You may be on the Light side, Harry Potter, but you most certainly are not a light wizard."
"I can cast a Patronus," Harry bit out, before he could stop himself. "I'm a light wizard."
"Most people don't swing entirely one way or another," Tom dismissed. "Your dark magic will probably be far superior. Is it smoky?"
"It's a stag," Harry said coldly, his mind spinning. He was Light. Of course he was Light, wasn't he? "It has been since I was thirteen."
Tom froze on the spot, staring at him.
"You've been able to cast a corporeal patronus since you were thirteen?"
"Corporeal?"
"It has a distinct shape," Tom clarified.
"Yeah," Harry said. "So? I told you I was a light wizard." Tom was still staring at him, his head tilting. "I guess you had me figured out wrong then," Harry added. "Does that bother you?"
"The incantation is Transire Vulnus. Heal your ribs," Riddle ordered curtly, eyes hard. Harry's eyebrows arched.
"You want me to cast Dark magic. Desperate to prove your point, are we? You could just admit you made a mistake."
"If you're so sure of yourself, cast the spell," Tom challenged in return. Harry scowled.
"And if I refuse?"
"...then come fifty years, I promise I will break the ribs of the first one of your friends I come across," Riddle smiled sweetly. Harry glared.
"...what's the wand movement?" he ground out, reluctantly, heart pounding. Tom's expression seemed to lighten again as he showed him. Harry couldn't help but - grudgingly - note that he was a good teacher, and that he seemed to be enjoying it at least in part.
"You do realise I'm going to be switching the injury onto you?" he questioned. Tom shot him a 'you are an idiot, don't be so obvious' sort of look. Harry rolled his eyes, before summoning all the easily available desires for vengeance he had for Voldemort and Riddle, casting.
The next second, Riddle gave the barest hiss of pain, and his gaze snapped to the other. He'd...actually done it.
"First go, impressive," Tom breathed, smirking at him, though there was a strange edge to it. Harry's hand move to his ribs, automatically. No injury. Completely healed.
This time, it was Harry who'd frozen. He'd cast Dark Magic. And...it had felt... natural. His wand clattered from his hands, and Riddle laughed.
"Feel good?" the Slytherin Heir purred, still calmly seated. Harry grabbed his wand, leaping to his feet.
"I'm not doing this," he said flatly, unnerved.
Everything was upside down and wrong and...and he'd always been light. He couldn't be a Dark Wizard! Even under this new definition, he...dark magic sounded consuming. It held a predisposition towards being on the Dark side...he...whatever Tom said, indulging these types of emotions was dangerous.
The worst part was how good it had felt, just as good as Light Magic.
"No better than Light Magic," he said stubbornly. Well, the Patronus. He wasn't aware that he'd specifically dabbled in any other light magic. Most the stuff they were taught seemed pretty neutral.
Tom's eyes narrowed.
"You honestly feel no distinction between light and dark magic? That's impossible. Unless-" Riddle went still.
"Unless?" Harry prompted. The Slytherin Heir stood too, smoothly, flicking a wand with an unnerving casualness at his own ribs, fixing his own injuries. Harry felt rather uneducated. He didn't like it.
Healing spells - next on his list. Even if Riddle was 'tutoring' him, he'd work in his own time too, just to not be so horrendously at a disadvantage. He loathed the feeling of Riddle beating him, of having an easy victory, of himself being weak in comparison.
He wanted to be able to win.
"Next lesson tomorrow. Transfiguration," Tom said, with a sudden curtness. It was...disconcerting. He blinked at the mood swing, and Riddle had strode out the classroom without even a snarky comment.
He wasn't worried, it was just that...well...Riddle always made some form of parting shot, a taunt. That he wasn't didn't bode well.
The big question was whether he'd done something wrong, or something right.
Tom frowned, striding away from the room.
Harrison didn't fit. He clearly had a talent for Dark Arts in that he'd managed to cast the spell on his first try, which was only exacerbated by how he hadn't done any other Dark Arts before, presumably.
He was a natural at it.
But he could cast a corporeal Patronus.
Grey.
He'd read about Grey Wizards of course, but true Grey Wizards were extremely rare - or, at least, any Grey Lords. There were lots of Grey Wizards, most people were on the spectrum of light and dark rather than one or the other. But Grey Lords...
Harry was powerful enough to be one, though he needed more evidence.
He wasn't entirely sure, but the possibility was there - which was more than he'd ever come across before.
One thing was certainly clear though - the light side were not allowed to keep him.
He needed to plan.
A/N: I sincerely apologise for this chapter. Next one will be better, I promise! It's a bit of a filler, I suppose, though an important filler.
Anyway, thanks for the reviews 3 Much love!