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Horcruxes: Facts and Opinion

Before I begin, I would like to say that if you have not read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yet, I highly recommend that you do not read this article. Huge, major spoiler warning goes out for all of those who have not completed the book.

Alright, so let's begin. We know Horcruxes are extremely Dark Magic, as Dumbledore went as far to ban the subject from school. The one mention of Horcruxes in the Hogwarts School came from a book in the library, but all it stated was that Horcruxes were very Dark Magic, too dark to be talked about.

First, we�ll examine how Horcruxes work. A Horcrux is produced by physically placing part of one�s soul into an object or animal. The soul must be divided into two, one to remain in the human and the other for the Horcrux. This splitting is accomplished by an extreme act of evil, a murder, which splits the soul apart. A powerful spell has to be used to obtain control over the divided soul to permit the witch or wizard to manually move it into the item they have selected for the Horcrux. Creating a horcrux is immoral. Professor Slughorn says that "the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole...splitting it is an act against nature." It is very clear that splitting the soul is an act of supreme evil, is very unnatural, and is frowned upon at the very least in the wizarding community, mainly shown by Dumbledore's prohibiting of its discussion at Hogwarts.

Ok, so we know how Horcruxes work, but what is their significance? To be legitimately and permanently killed, all of a person�s soul must be destroyed. If part of the soul lies in a horcrux, it is impossible to kill the witch or wizard without first destroying the Horcruxes they created. Clearly, this is of vast significance to those dark wizards seeking immortality, especially if the location of the Horcruxes used is unknown to everyone except the one who created it. Most importantly though, is Voldemort's Horcruxes. It clearly explains why he wasn't killed that night when the Avada Kedavra curse bounced off him as he tried to kill Harry as a child.

We know that Dumbledore stated there are seven horcruxes, one of which remains in Voldemort�s body. They are:


      1. Gaunt ring   -gone
      2. Tom Riddle Diary   -gone
      3. Nagini, the snake
      4. Slytherin�s locket, stole by R.AB   ??
      5. Helga Hufflepuff�s cup
      6. An item of Gryffindor�s or an item of Ravenclaw�s.

The last of the list seems to be the problem. Ravenclaw has always been described as wise and shrewd, suggesting she wouldn't allow an object of hers to be used for such evil. Moreover, Godric Gryffindor's sword and the Sorting Hat (which JKR told us was not a Horcrux), the main items of Gryffindor that are of vast importance, currently rest in Dumbledore's Office. Since Dumbledore told Harry only a Gryffindor could pull the sword out of the (sorting) hat, it seems unlikely Voldemort would be able to use it.

So, where could this mysterious last Horcrux reside? Although I don�t like the idea, if Voldemort didn�t use something of Ravenclaw�s or Gryffindor�s, perhaps Harry himself would be the last Horcrux. He tried to create a horcrux by killing Harry, but failed. Perhaps by killing Lilly or James, he made Harry a horcrux (accidentally, as he wouldn�t then try to kill a part of himself.) Dumbledore always says that Voldemort left something inside of Harry the night he tried to kill him. Perhaps what he meant was Voldemort left a piece of his soul in him. So, going by this assumption, we can conclude that Harry would either have to kill himself and Voldemort at the same time, or kill himself so that Voldemort would be mortal, and anyone can kill him. Of course, we have to consider the possibility of Harry dying, even though I wish that would not be the case.

The one big knock against this idea of Harry being a Horcrux is that we simly do not have enough knowledge of how one is made to jump to any conclusions. We do not know if a horcrux can be made accidentally, if it has to be done right away, or if it can be made any time after the murder. For the most part, we'll have to wait for book 7 to find out.

That pretty much raps up the discussion on Horcruxes, but I wanted to touch upon one more thing, and that is the case of the fourth horcrux on the list, Slytherin�s locket, stole by R.A.B. Now, there has been much speculation that R.A.B is Regelus Black, a former Death Eater. There was a locket mentioned in Order of the Phoenix, in the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black chapter. While cleaning out the glass cabinet, Harry discovers a heavy locket that would not open. This could possibly be Slytherin�s locket, although not much time at all is spent on describing the locket. We find out later that Mundungus was selling the items of Number 12, Grimmauld Place to Aberforth Dumbledore (owner of the Hog's Head) in Half-Blood Prince. So, where are they now?

Well, thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed this small editorial on Horcruxes, and watch out for more articles in the coming weeks to appear in the information index.

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