A Horcrux in each book

[jelly92784]

No: HPFGUIDX 144093

Laura: 
And, to follow up on my own post, it could explain why James
had to die and Lily didn't when Voldemort tried to kill Harry.
Both James and Voldemort were Head Boys.  Perhaps there
is only one Griffindor Head Boy badge and it gets passed down
from year to year if a Griffindor is Head Boy.  It would therefore
have special meaning to Voldemort, and by using James' death to
make it into a Horcrux, it would have something from Griffindor
in it.  Since the Horcrux was already made before Voldemort
attacked Harry, Lily would not have had to die.  It could have
been just lying around in the rubble when wizards came to clean
up after the disaster and have been reclaimed then.
A bit convoluted, but still might work.

Janelle:
I got all ready to write and say that this wouldn't work because James
had obviously left hogwarts by the time that he died and there would
have been several new headboys since then who needed the badge.  Then
I reread your post and realized that you had said maybe there is only
one *gryffindor* headboy badge.  This is an interesting idea.  We
would have to assume that there had not been a gryffindor head boy
since James, something that we have no real way of knowing unless we
ask Jo herself.  We would also have to assume that the previous
headboy would hold onto the badge until another gryffindor was chosen,
instead of leaving it in the care of the head of house or headmaster.
 This is a lot of guess work for your theory, however it does fit well
with the idea of a horcrux in the beginning of each book.  i actually
really like this theory, and i'll have to take a look at the beginning
of book one and three to see what other possibilities there are.  good
work to everyone who's helped out with this theory- i can't wait to
find out if its true!