Was Lily’s Love on Harry Actually a Form of Dark Magic?

Let’s start with the basics by defining the term “enchantment.”

Enchantment: the act or art of enchanting, placing a spell.

Lily did not cast a spell; she took Harry and ran. She was cornered and she died. No spells were cast, no chants uttered, and no wands waved, save for Voldemort’s.

So what transpired? A series of unfortunate—yet fortunate for Harry—events awakened a primal magic, inadvertently channeled through Lily. It was not cast by Lily but merely unwittingly channeled through her.

Lily didn’t know that Voldemort was going to ask her to step aside and live. She didn’t know he would ask her three times. All she knew was that the bad man caught them without their wands and that they were all going to die. There was no way out.

The facts did not involve any “blood,” as some say because AK (Avada Kedavra) is said to be bloodless death. They also did not involve any dark magic because the protection existed purely because of love, not hate.

The best part is that it was entirely selfless. Lily had no clue that her actions would save her son. If she did, it wouldn’t be entirely selfless, as it would be driven by the desire to see her son live, even if she wouldn’t be around to see it.

Classification as Dark Magic:

It is probable that this could be classified as Dark Magic due to the involvement of blood. However, it’s worth noting that the “Light” and “Dark” classifications aren’t accurate measures of whether magic is good or evil. After all, one could use the Unforgivable Curses for good and noble reasons:

Imperio: to stop someone from committing a crime. Cruciatus: as an alternative to using a taser. Killing Curse: to spare someone a lingering and painful but inevitable death when there are no other alternatives, such as overdosing them on sedative potions.

With this, one could use any number of spells, both known and unknown, for evil ends. For instance, levitating someone off a building and letting them fall, or petrifying them and then filling their lungs with water to cause drowning.

Lily Evans’ sacrifice was a profound act of love and protection, not an act of dark magic. It was a selfless deed that unknowingly gave Harry an extraordinary form of protection.