Possible Horcrux Complication

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 139517

lupinlore:
*(snip)*
> The problem is that Voldemort may very well know that the diary has 
> been destroyed.
*(snip)*
> Dumbledore is basing the idea that there are seven soul shards on 
> Voldemort's talk about the magical significance of seven.
*(snip)*
> For that matter, what happens to the soul shard inside a Horcrux 
>when the Horcrux is destroyed?  Does it return to the wizard?  If 
>so, then the danger of Voldemort creating a replacement Horcrux 
>would seem to be acute.  Or does it go directly to where ever bad 
>little wizards go?  If the latter is the case, then creating a 
>replacement might well be much more difficult, particularly if there 
>is some kind of limit on how often a soul can be divided.

Ceridwen:
I think it would depend on whether the significance, in LV's mind, is 
on how many horcruxes, or how many pieces of soul are removed.  If 
his fixation is on the number of horcruxes, then he may have created 
another one to replace the diary.  If the matter is of how many 
pieces of shattered soul he removes, then he won't.  Unless, as you 
say, the piece reverts to its original owner upon the destruction of 
its host.  However, IMO, if it did come back, then LV would know that 
a horcrux had been destroyed, and could take measures to replace it, 
ensuring a never-ending stream of horcruxes and an extremely daunting 
task for Our Heroes, as they would have to be destroying horcruxes 
until the end of the Final Battle.

lupinlore:
>How can they know that Voldemort didn't change his mind and go with 
>another mystical number, such as nine?

Ceridwen:
I don't think they can.  They can only go with their most recent 
information and hope that LV hasn't changed his mind.

On another post about splitting the soul:
I don't think it matters how many times the soul is split.  The 
extreme degree of evil is in removing a split and creating a 
horcrux.  I think, just since the text doesn't address it, that the 
split soul continues to reside in its original body, like fraying 
curtains in a window, unless one is removed.  If something else 
happened to the split soul other than remaining as a damaged part of 
the original, I think it would have been mentioned somehow, by one of 
the 'mouthpiece' characters (Dumbledore, or Hermione).

And, I truly doubt if there's an actual limit to how many pieces of 
soul can be removed.  Though, I think that first, each time the soul 
is split, the fragments get smaller since the original soul it comes 
from is smaller, and second, that there will come a point where the 
soul (including if it is in fragments from other killings) becomes so 
small that dividing it any further would be at the least, difficult, 
if not downright impossible.

Ceridwen.