Seven Horcruxes (HBP Spoilers)

[Vivamus]

No: HPFGUIDX 133804

SPOILER WARNING!!!!












> On 7/19/05, Rachel <rachel at phony-art.com> wrote:
> > --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Amanda" 
> <exslytherin at h...> wrote:
> > > So if we are to agree that 4 Horcurxes are objects from the four 
> > > houses, a fifth is the gaunt ring and a sixth is 
> Voldemort himself 
> > > that still leaves the seventh and final Horcrux missing...
> > >
> > > I'm putting my money on Harry at the moment.
> > 
> > 
> > How about Nagini?  I think she might have one, and he might 
> not have anything from GG.
> > 
> > Rachel
> > 
> You're forgetting Riddle's diary, it was a Horcrux too, one 
> that has already been destroyed.
> 
> Four items from founders, the ring, the diary, the makes six. 
> It means that there are no horcruxes in Nagini or Harry/Harry's scar.
> 
> Alina.

Vivamus:
I understood Tom Riddle's comments about seven horcruxes to mean that he
intended to make seven external to himself, so they (the magical number of
seven) would support him if his body were killed.  If Harry was to be the
seventh murder, creating the seventh horcrux, then it could be (1) that
there are only six horcruxes, because he did not succeed, (2) there is a
seventh but not "filled", or (3) LV had an accomplice with him, who removed
the horcrux from the scene, as LV DID split his soul in attempting to kill
Harry, even though he was not successful, or (4) the seventh HC is Harry's
scar or GH or some such, due to the interrupted murder.

If (3) is the case, then there ARE seven horcruxes to be found.  It also
means that LV did have accomplices at GH, because he would also have made
horcruxes for the murders of James and Lily.  The accomplices would have
removed the three final horcruxes.  I doubt LV would do it this way, as it
would mean he would have to entrust his DEs with the importance of the HCs.


The concept of (4) has a very nice symmetry to it, particularly if the HC is
the scar.  We know that "scar" is the last word in book seven, and we know
that the scar has been Harry's connection to LV all along.  We also know
that Harry has been feeling LV's feelings ever since LV got his body back --
which might well imply that the slice of LV's soul that was in the scar was
part of what supported LV returning to his body.  (Hmmm.  Implications for
the gleam of "something like triumph", anyone?)  Harry has always hated the
scar, since it always set him apart, so it would be nice to see him destroy
it as part of the final destruction of LV.

If LV committed the attempted murder of Harry with the intention of
splitting his soul off into a HC, then there are probably three magical
objects which were at GH.  Two of them are genuine HCs corresponding to the
deaths of James and Lily.  The third would most likely be empty, because the
HC would instead be the scar.

An alternative is that LV probably made more than seven murders, so he might
have made all seven HCs as a young man.  (Balancing that is Sirius' comment
in GoF that he only did "important" murders.)   If the murder of the entire
Riddle family is only considered one horrible act, then that could have been
the splitting of the soul that resulted in the Diary as the first HC.  If in
fact the murder of each individual Riddle was a separate act, then he could
have pulled out his wand, trapped and horrified them all, then coolly
murdered them all one by one, decanting (or whatever is done) his soul into
a different object with each murder.  (There were just three present, were
there not -- Tom Sr. and his parents?)  If that is the case, then two more
HCs would be objects he could attain as a 16-year old.

Candidates for the seven HCs as I see it would be (although there *might*
only be six):

1. Riddle's diary (confirmed and destroyed)
2. Slytherin's ring (confirmed and destroyed)
3. Hufflepuff's cup 
4. Ravenclaw's locket (confirmed, and probably the one that was in GP,
stolen by Regulus)
5. Gryffindor's _________ (sword? hat? something new? tomb?  bones?  [JKR
did say a graveyard at Hogwarts would play an important part in the plot.
What better place for a hidden HC than a headstone?])  I'm inclined to think
it could not be either the sword or the hat, since DD asserted the sword was
clean, and the hat clearly has a personality that (it seems to me) would be
contaminated in some way by a slice of LV's soul.  That does fit very
nicely, doesn't it?
6. Nagini (Although there may be a problem with Nagini as a HC.  JKR once
said she originally intended the boa constrictor in PS/SS to be Nagini,
which would mean LV acquired Nagini long after the attack upon the Potters.
I was under the impression Nagini was acquired after LV had been
disembodied, which would rule her out as a HC.  Anyone have canon on this?)
If there is not the timing problem of Nagini's acquisition, then I agree
that Nagini makes a perfect HC.
7. Harry or Harry's scar.  (I'll vote for the scar.)
8. Ginny (from CoS interaction with TR's diary)  (I regard this as not
likely, but barely possible.  I *still* expect Ginny to be a parselmouth.
She may well use that power to help Harry destroy Nagini.)

Vivamus