Final answer:
A magnetic compass in the northern hemisphere points toward Magnetic North because the north pole of the compass needle is attracted to Earth's north magnetic pole, which is located near the geographic North Pole. This is the current orientation despite past pole flips.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the northern hemisphere, a magnetic compass will normally indicate a turn toward Magnetic North. The north pole of a compass needle is attracted to the north magnetic pole of Earth, which is effectively the south pole of a bar magnet and is located near the geographic North Pole of Earth. If we think of Earth as a big bar magnet with magnetic field lines pointing from north to south, it illustrates why the compass points to what we call the Magnetic North. This Magnetic North is different from True North, which corresponds to Earth's axis of rotation and is used for navigation along with latitude and longitude.
Another important aspect to note is that the Earth's magnetic north pole has flipped its polarity multiple times throughout Earth's history, meaning that it has switched from being the effective north to south pole of Earth's magnetic field and vice versa. However, today's compasses are aligned with the current orientation of Earth's magnetic field. As such, they point to the Magnetic North, which also aligns near the geographic North Pole due to Earth's magnetic south pole being in that vicinity.