How do the horcruxes work and why does the prophecy contradict it?

[davenclaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 135539

The main question I have about horcruxes is, when Voldemort AK'd 
himself via Harry, did the piece of soul in him get destroyed or was 
it living a "spectral existence"?  Or was the "spectral existence" 
some other part of his soul from another horcrux?

Since DD said that his body still has one part of the soul and JKR 
said that DD's has pretty accurate intution about the location of 
the horcruxes, it sounds like the part in his original body is what 
is still occupying his new body.

This is unfortunate in my mind because the most sensible explanation 
of the horcrux, to me, is that it is like a surrogate body which 
houses a piece of the soul in the same way that the body does.  When 
the body containing a whole soul dies, the soul goes to the 
afterlife. When a horcrux is destroyed, that piece goes to the same 
place.  

But apparently the piece of soul that is still in the body gets 
special treatment if there are horcruxes out there.  Not beyond 
explanation, but not quite as neat and clean as describing horcruxes 
as surrogate bodies.  (Although it saves the trouble of explaining 
how a piece of soul in a horcrux can manage to "get out" and 
possess/regenerate a body as Voldy did, so maybe it's for the best.)

- davenclaw