How do you destroy a Horcrux?

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 135262

This might be insanely out there, but it hit me in the middle of the 
night last night and I just have to see if anyone is thinking along 
these lines. 

So, what is a Horcrux? It is a peice of a mortal soul, stored in an 
object in order to prevent the soul's owner from ever dying/being 
killed. They are created using a powerful, if as yet unidentified 
spell, and only after the subject's soul has been divided, which can 
only occur after the subject has comitted the ultimate evil: murder. 

And what is the only being (that we know of) in the WW that deals 
almost exclusively in souls? Dementors, those rotted, happiness-
draining, soul-sucking feinds that once guarded the Azkaban inmates 
and have now abandoned the Ministry for LV. 

Did anyone else catch Fudge's offhand comment in (IIRC) Chapter 1, 
the Other Minister, in which he stated that the reason it had been 
so misty lately was because the Dementors are breeding? How exactly 
do they breed (we all ask JKR in unison) and what happens to the 
soul that has been sucked? The only character that we know of that 
has been officially soul-sucked is Barty Crouch, Jr. and we haven't 
seen hide nor hair of him in two books. 

But, moving on, what if the power that a Dementor uses to suck a 
soul can be harnessed by another wizard and used to destroy a 
Horcrux? Could all that energy/power (probably, from what we know of 
the nature of a Dementor, negative) have been enough to burn DD's 
hand like that? I know this sounds a little far-fetched, but think 
about it. I mean, we have to assume that Harry is pretty well 
prepared for the upcoming destroy all Horcruxes mission (seeing as 
DD is dead and can no longer help him in the physical realm) and he 
has been able to successfully deal with Dementors since he was 13. 
It wouldn't be too far gone to assume that with his powerful 
Patronus he could maybe do some Dementor wrangling, figure out their 
basic nature and manipulate their powers into Horcrux guided missles 
or something. 

I do come up with one hitch in this idea: LV has called the 
Dementors to his side, but if they could destroy his Horcruxes why 
would he do that (unless he ascribes to that old adage, "Keep your 
friends close and your enemies closer"). And then again, it is 
possible that by providing them with entertainment that is right up 
their alley maybe he hopes to keep them distracted enough so they 
don't notice the bits of his soul lying around. 

Anyway, I must be cracked right? Has DD's death put me over the 
edge? Must go home, sleep and rest brain. 

Meri - who also realized last night that June is not a good month to 
be a FOH (Friend of Harry)