Embora a palavra "mago" não apareça em nenhum dos livros de Potter, ela aparece em um artigo de Pottermore sobre Vernon e Petunia Dursley:
Petunia did not want Lily as a bridesmaid, because she was tired of being overshadowed; Lily was hurt. Vernon refused to speak to James at the reception, but described him, within James’ earshot, as ‘some kind of amateur magician’.
Isso obviamente pode ser considerado um insulto dentro do mundo dos bruxos.
Note que a palavra " ilusionista " também está conspicuamente ausente.
Curiosamente, Alan Rickman descreve seu personagem, Snape como um "Mago Negro" em um interview com Unreel
I think at heart Snape is basically quite an insecure person, he's always longing to be something else that people will really respect like a black magician not just a school master. That's why he envies the more popular and successful boys like Harry. He does have his positive side though even though Harry's a thorn in his side he doesn't let it worry him too much.