[HPforGrownups] Re: Of Souls and Death

[Kathryn Jones]

No: HPFGUIDX 148805

catherine higgins wrote:

>   The real question is how exactly is a Horcrux made? Let's take for example the 
> FC "an immensly complex charm..." that we read in canon, it seems to me that 
> hiding a secret in a living being is pretty hard work. So how can a Horcrux be 
> made by mistake? If to hide a secret inside of somebody takes skill, then it 
> seems pretty likely to me, that encompassing a part of your soul takes a bit of 
> skill and power as well. If a Horcrux could be created accidentally, then there 
> must be a whole bunch of other Horcrux around of all the DE who have commited 
> murder.
>   
>   It doesn't really make sense that either Harry or the hat could be a horcrux. 
> When did Riddle have a chance to make the Hat a Horcrux? He would have had to 
> kill DD to rip his soul apart to then be able to encompass it inside the hat. He 
> was in the process of killing Harry to possibly make a Horcrux out of that bit 
> of soul, but he didn't finish the job, did he? His soul couldn't have been torn 
> apart at that time.
snip
>   Catherine

KJ writes:

    I think that JKR answered some of these questions by stating that 
this was something that had never happened before, that Lily did not 
intentionally provide any specific protection for Harry other that 
choosing death rather than giving Harry up. Voldemorte had no idea that 
protections had been put in place and the backlash of the killing curse 
was completely unexpected. Indeed, throughout the books, it has been 
emphasized that no one, other than Harry, had ever survived the killing 
curse.
    For this reason, we are made to understand that something happened 
that night that would never be guessed at because there was no prior 
history of anything similar happening.
    If we look at it logically, we know that Harry has a scar, which 
means that some foreign body penetrated his flesh. We know that the 
force of the backlash destroyed the house, and Voldemorte's body. We 
know that a special connection was forged between Harry and Voldemorte, 
which never bothered Harry until V. began gaining in strength. We know 
that Harry also has some of the same abilities as V. We also know that 
V. had split his soul into at least two parts just prior to the attempt 
on Harry, so we know that there were pieces available, and finally, as a 
result of HBP we see that while Riddle may have killed his Riddle 
relatives during the summer before his seventh year, he had not yet made 
a horcrux. For this reason, I believe that once the split has been 
accomplished, the horcrux can be made any time afterward. It was not 
necessary for Voldemorte to prepare anything to make a horcrux of Harry, 
  as it was never his intention to do so. He was intending on making a 
horcrux as a result of the split in his soul after Harry's death. With 
the force of the blast and the loose pieces of soul waiting for a 
horcrux home, I think we are led to the conclusion that while not an 
actual horcrux, Harry is carrying a piece of V. soul which will have to 
be destroyed one way or another. "A difference which makes no difference 
is no difference".  JMO
KJ