Horcrux and Lily Stepping Aside

[lagattalucianese]

No: HPFGUIDX 146215

> 
...> 
> zgirnius:
> Yes, but there is a complicating issue here. Voldemort is a mass-
> murderer. We are talking tens, possibly hundreds of soul pieces. Yet 
> Voldemort is not happy with using just any one of these bits to make 
> a Horcrux, oh no. It must the the particular soul bit created by 
> a 'special' murder. But with all of those bits wandering about, how 
> is he to make sure he uses the right one? Perhaps (as you speculate) 
> he can somehow sense them and tell them all apart. But perhaps he 
> cannot. The spell Betsy suggests Voldemort cast in preparation might 
> have been to ensure that the NEXT soul bit created gets used in the 
> Horcrux-making.
>
La Gatta Lucianese:

Voldemort is a mass murderer indirectly; isn't the actual killing done 
by his Death Eaters et al.? He can afford to be selective about the 
murders he commits personally, so maybe his soul isn't as fragmented 
as all that.

A couple of questions:

1. Does a multiple murder committed at one time split the soul only 
once? That would account for one soul-splitting, and therefore only 
one horcrux (the diary?, resulting from the death of his father and 
grandparents. Likewise, perhaps, one soul-splitting resulting from the 
deaths of James and Lily, whether or not he used that particular split 
to make a horcrux.

2. How long after a particular murder can a wizard wait to plant the 
soul fragment in a horcrux? Does it have to be done immediately, or 
can he wait until conditions are a little less fraught? I.e., could he 
have used the deaths of James and Lily to create a horcruz at some 
future time when he was well away from Godrick's Hollow and away from 
the eyes of whichever Death Eater (Peter?) was with him?