Math of ripping (was: Every killing tears the soul?)

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 141556

"Edis" <A.E.B.Bevan at o...> wrote:
> 
> The simpe  case is creating first Horcrux. Murder done with 
inetntion 
> of Horcrux creation. Soul rips in two, half goes to Horcrux, half 
> stays in Voldy. No counting problems.

zgirnius:
Ah. The Mathematics of Soul Ripping. I cannot resist this thread...

It is not creating a Horcrux that tears the soul, nor a murder done 
with intent to create a Horcrux. It is *any* murder. Was Riddle's 
first Horcrux created from his first murder? Not necessarily. So the 
soul bit placed in the first Horcrux could be much "smaller".

"Edis" <A.E.B.Bevan at o...> wrote:
> so that for the seventh Horcrux Voldy would be left with 
> 1/128th of his original soul and 1/128th encased in Horcrux number 
> seven.

zgirnius:
According to Dumbledore, Voldemort has killed enough people to make 
an army of Inferi. Knowing V, I would guess the vast majority of 
these killings were murders. So again, the encased soul bits could be 
far "smaller", leabing far "more" of V's soul left in attached to his 
body.

"Edis" <A.E.B.Bevan at o...> wrote: 
> My reading of canon suggests that JKR does not intend to imply 
this, 
> and implies instead that each Horcrux ends up with an equal share 
of 
> Voldy's soul with an equal remainder in Voldy's body. That would be 
> 1/8th of the original soul in each. 

zgirnius:
A quibble, 1/7 of the original soul in each, as there are six 
Horcruxes and one Voldemort. Seven, the most magical number, of bits.

"Edis" <A.E.B.Bevan at o...> wrote: 
> Implying some interconnection 
> between teh Horcruxes -which is contradicted by Canon statement on 
> Voldy not being aware that two Horcruxes have been destroyed.
> I think there may be agenuine difficulty on this one that JKR may 
> not have figured out as yet, even realise there is a problem. Or 
> she may surprise as all!

zgirnius:
Here's what I think is going on. The image of an innocent soul as a 
pure white piece of cloth, and Voldemort's as a ragged, tattered, 
blackened, and bloody mess with missing pieces is compelling. (That's 
how I picture it myself...) But it is a metaphor, one which captures 
an important aspect of the Potterverse reality. (The hideousness of 
the act of murder vs. the attractiveness of innocence, in this case). 
But the soul is not actually a piece of cloth. Or any other known or 
unknown material substance. As such, it can't really be "measured" as 
one would measure a lenth of cloth with a ruler and rip it in half. 
(Hence my use of quotes around words describing relative sizes of 
soul bits).  

So I would argue all soul-bits are equal in "size", since none of 
them actually have a "size" which can be measured. The meaningful 
distinctions which can be made between them relate to their other 
properties. One difference is that one or more privileged pieces 
reside in the body of a Horcrux-making wizard. Those are what gets 
anchored in this world by the others, granting the wizard a form of 
immortality. Another, is that the soul bits which are permanently 
removed from the wizard by being encased in Horcruxes, cease 
to "grow". The soul bit in the diary seems to correspond with young 
Tom, having no memories of Tom's later doings. Presumably other soul 
bits, were they to be given a semblance of "life" as that one was, 
would remember V's life up to the point at which they were encased.