We present a x-ray dichroism study of graphite surfaces that addresses the origin and magnitude of ferromagnetism in metal-free carbon. We find that, in addition to carbon $pi$ states, also hydrogen-mediated electronic states exhibit a net spin polar
ization with significant magnetic remanence at room temperature. The observed magnetism is restricted to the top $approx$10 nm of the irradiated sample where the actual magnetization reaches $ simeq 15$ emu/g at room temperature. We prove that the ferromagnetism found in metal-free untreated graphite is intrinsic and has a similar origin as the one found in proton bombarded graphite.
