Harry Horcrux redux :)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 155036

Brothergib wrote:
> I just thought I would add a bit about the Horcrux timelines. First
of all, I believe DD when he says that LV was going to use Harry's 
death to make his final Horcrux. Therefore, when LV entered Godric's
Hollow he must have been in possession of 5 Horcruxes. The first four
 must be the diary (created whilst he was at Hogwarts), the ring 
(created probably with the death of his father), the locket & the cup
 (created before GH). As to the fifth Horcrux - it has to be Nagini.
LV's snakelike appearance is surely evidence of this. And if we 
follow the timeline - when LV talks to DD in the chapter 'Lord 
Voldemort's request' in HBP he is not yet snakelike. When he appears 
on the back of Quirrel's head, he is snakelike! He clearly would not
be able to make a Horcrux as the ethereal being he has been since GH,
therefore the Nagini horcrux was made before GH. <snip>

Carol responds:
I agree with everything you say here except that I don't think Tom
Riddle created any Horcruxes while he was still at Hogwarts. He
wouldn't have had the knowledge, and Dumbledore (though he wasn't yet
the headmaster) was adamant that Horcruxes not be taught and would,
IMO, have policed the restricted section to be sure that information
was not available. I think that the diary at this point was already a
Dark object intended to seduce the reader into opening the Chamber of
Secrets and releasing the Basilisk to kill "Mudbloods," but it was not
a Horcrux because he didn't yet have the knowledge. He *may* have
acquired it at Borgin and Burke's, or on a visit to Grindelwald before
Dumbledore defeated him (by, IMO, destroying his Horcrux). 

At any rate, Harry notes that Tom looks thinner, and, IIRC, his voice
is a bit higher when he visits Hepzibah than when he talks with
Slughorn about Horcruxes. However, it's possible that even then he
didn't have the knowledge to create a Horcrux and acquired it after he
disappeared to circulate "among the worst of our kind" (quoted from
memory. Certainly, he had created (at least) four Horcruxes when he
visits Dumbledore to apply for the DADA position, as the blurred
features and other signs indicate. And, as you say, he's not yet
snakelike, but does appear snakelike when Harry sees him sticking out
the back of Quirrell's head, which I agree indicates that he had
already made Nagini into a Horcrux. (Note that there's no sign of
dismay or horror on the part of the DEs in the graveyard scene.
Voldemort apparently looks exactly as he did when they last saw him,
some time before Godric's Hollow.)

Another point that I've made before but don't recall any responses to
is that Wormtail uses Nagini's venom (along with unicorn blood) to
create the potion that creates Voldemort's fetal form, and "milks" her
to provide more venom to sustain the monstrous fetus/infant. Nagini,
IOW, is a surrogate mother to Baby!mort, a horrible parody of the
mother/child bond depicted elsewhere in the books. (Will she die in a
futile attempt to defend her monstrous "child"?) Dumbledore points out
the strength of the bond between Nagini and Voldemort, which he thinks
can only be explained if she's a Horcrux, and I agree. I think that
he'd be certain that she's a Horcrux if he knew about the uses to
which her venom has been put. (How could her venom help to create a
rudimentary body for him, and how could even Voldemort not only
survive drinking it but require it for sustenance if she didn't share
a bit of his soul?)

Carol, agreeing that the snakelike features are an important clue but
thinking that we shouldn't overlook those additional clues