SOTHICK revisited: Harry-as-Horcrux (HBP Spoilers--LONG)

[antoshachekhonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 135386

A few months back, we were discussing a theory that I dubbed S.O.T.H.I.C.K. (Soul of Tom, 
Harry Is Carrying--Krickey!), which posited the idea that a portion of Voldemort's soul was 
deposited inside Harry at GH.

We now have a mechanism by which LV might have done such a thing--on purpose. Harry, 
according to this theory, would be the last Horcrux, the Gryffindor heir-and-heirloom.

Let's talk about Horcruxes.

Dumbledore's guesses as to the identity of the seven bits of LV's soul seem pretty good. 
There was the diary and the ring--that's two, both destroyed. There is Nagini, Hufflepuff's 
bowl (a Smith family heirloom--Zacharais, anyone?), and the locket that R.A.B. stole 
(probably Regulus Black; it's probably the one the kids couldn't open in OotP that Sirius 
said was cursed)--that's five. Then of course there's the last little bit left in Voldemort 
himself--that's six.

Dumbledore thought the last bit would be some relic of Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's. The 
sword is the obvious choice, but it couldn't be connected with both Rowena and Godric, 
and LV seems unlikely to leave a Founder out. The Sorting Hat seems an even better 
choice--it was Gryffindor's, but all four Founders poured bits of their brains into it--was it 
a Horcrux itself? It's creepy to think of Tom Riddle being part of the Sorting process for 
the past fifty years (he'd have had to deposit his bit of himself while he was still a student, 
since it seems unlikely that he would have been able to get at the hat or sword after 
leaving school). Another school 'treasure' that he might have found it appropriate to use is 
his award for special services.

Let's think about murders, since each Horcrux requires one: I don't think Myrtle counted, 
since she was killed not by Tom but by the Basilisk. So he couldn't start making Horcruxes 
until he killed his father and grandparents, between his sixth and seventh years. He shows 
up at school with the ring, so that's probably when that one was enchanted. The locket 
likewise. And the diary, obviously. But how could he have enchanted another Horcrux 
without committing another murder? So either he managed to sneak back into school--he 
certainly seemed eager to do so when he was asking Dumbledore for a job--or the sixth 
Horcrux isn't a school object.

In which case...

Could it be Harry himself?

The difficulty with this is that LV would have had to intend to do it when he came to 
Godric's Hollow--in which case the spell he cast on Harry wasn't an AK after all. That 
would be... interesting. It would also explain why he laughed when he killed James (that 
was the trigger murder for the Horcrux spell), and also why he didn't want Lily to die--he 
needed someone to take care of his little chunk of himself for safe-keeping; the problem 
with having a mortal Horcrux is that it might up and die on you. 

However, if that's the case, it would be a seriously twisted bit of self-protection; he knows 
from the prophecy that "the one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord approaches" and 
has guessed that it's Harry. So what does he do? Rather than kill the baby, he decides to 
try to possess him, which would mean that Harry could never kill LV (which seems like it 
would be the only definition of defeat that LV would consider) as long as he, Harry, was 
alive. Truly Machiavellian. 

The problem with this is trying to figure out just what the spell was that backfired and 
destroyed LV's body, because Harry did get parts of LV, so the Horcrux spell itself was at 
least partially successful.

Mind, I'm not sure that JKR hasn't shot down the Harry-as-Gryffindor's-Heir theory in her 
Leaky Cauldron/MuggleNet interview, but I may have misunderstood that bit.

I've thought of at least one other major problem with the Harry-as-Horcrux idea: 

If Harry's is a depository for a seventh of LV's soul, then why has he been trying to kill 
Harry? Diary!Tom wouldn't know, so I'll buy that, but Quirrell!Mort would have, as would 
LV himself in the Graveyard in GoF and the Ministry in OotP when he tries to get 
Dumbledore to kill Harry.

What do people think?