Worst RAB idea ever

[Miikka R.]

No: HPFGUIDX 137990

A newly arrived thought claims that R.A.B. is Lord Voldemort. The fake
Horcrux is not a fake at all, save for the slip of paper inside it
that's a subtle hoax.

Someone smarter than me could whip up an acronym - generously assuming
that someone smarter than me actually likes this theory. Feedback is
hoped for.

==Premise==
Bear with me here. I propose a possible way to help keep a Horcrux
safe even if it's captured: The enemy would have to be kept from
finding out that it's a Horcrux. It's remotely feasible that Voldemort
did this with the locket.

Of course something hidden in the bottom of a basin full of poison
that's in the middle of an Inferi-infested lake that's in a remote
cave that requires a blood sacrifice to enter is unlikely to be an
ordinary Muggle mouth organ, so it takes a bit of doing. (Personally,
if I was the Dark Lord I'd construct more full-fledged Horcrux dens
than I had Horcruxes, but that's beside the point)

==Evaluation==
I'll go through several associated matters and give my opinion on how
they affect the plausibility of the theory.

A Horcrux is a powerful artefact and that could be picked up by the
wizarding equivalent of "Detect Magic". But there likely are ways of
shielding magic from detection, and should Voldemort actually try this
he'd use them to the fullest.
AGAINST - It's not certain if enchanted items give off magic, but it
seems likely, and if they do there has to be a way of concealing it
completely for this to work.

If a Horcrux tried anything sneaky or acted independently it'd give
itself away, but as DD says their purpose is to keep a part of the
self *hidden* and safe - the diary was highly exceptional in that it
was a weapon as well and the rest should be inert.
NEUTRAL - The remaining Horcruxes can't be expected to be detected
this way.

As always there's a lot that we don't know. If RAB took the Horcrux,
why'd he place another in its place? Voldemort can't feel the status
of his Horcruxes, or can he? Could he have a picture on his bedroom
wall which displays their status? He certainly wouldn't trust Death
Eaters enough to reveal the locations. Why didn't RAB engrave a great
big warning in the stone saying 'TAKEN CARE OF'? Of course if LV did
find out that a Horcrux had been destroyed, he should remove all
traces and hope that some other enemy of his still falls for it.
NEUTRAL - Insufficient data for meaningful predictions.

The process of destroying a Horcrux is a complete ?. We do know that
the Gaunts' ring wounded even Dumbledore terribly and he would've died
unassisted. The process could very well be too demanding to allow
using it on things to find out if they are Horcruxes.
FOR - Raises the treshold for attempting to sort out fakes by
destroying them.

It's a cost-effective fail-safe and most likely requires relatively
little work. Even if the Horcrux couldn't stand an extended period of
study, it would not necessarily be subjected to one. At the least,
this method buy him time.
FOR - What would LV lose by this?

==Conclusion==
In HBP we see the events unfold in a way that's consistent with the
theory - in fact Voldemort's attempt would have succeeded
magnificently. The locket may be real or fake, but if the greatly
weakened Dumbledore can even tell he never gets a suitable chance to
reveal this. It passes to Harry, who believes the slip of paper hook,
line and sinker. Instead of destroying an item closely associated with
a master of trickery and cunning, Harry goes as far as carrying it on
him. Only a handful of people know of its existence in the first
place, and outsiders would hardly check the Boy Who Lived for items
vital to Voldemort.

It's my conclusion that the possibility is feasible and suitable to be
used by sufficiently crazy speculators.

- Kizor