Harry Horcrux redux

[Ken Hutchinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 155050

> Carol wrote:

> 
> At any rate, I see no reason for the object to be present at the
> murder, or for the Horcrux to be created immediately. The important
> point is that a Horcrux is almost certainly a deliberate creation, and
> you don't make a Horcrux out of a person you're trying to kill even if
> you're unwise enough to use a living creature like Nagini that can
> think for itself (and is subject to death, a point that neither
> Dumbledore nor Voldemort seems to have considered).
> 
<snip>
> 
> So, as I see it, there's no plot reason for Harry (or his scar) to be
> a Horcrux, and no need for the complications that would arise when he
> tried to figure out how to destroy himself (the last Horcrux) and
> still kill Voldemort, or how to kill Voldemort without leaving one
> last Horcrux (himself) to be destroyed. I imagine (and hope!) that JKR
> will find a way for Harry to destroy Voldemort that involves neither
> murder nor suicide. I think, as I said or implied, that it will
> involve possession.
> 

Ken:

I'm not firmly on either side. There are hints both ways and since
this author delights in giving out red herrings as well as hints it is
quite difficult to pierce the veil and see beyond HBP.

However, I think that you and a lot of other people are making an
assumption about living horcruxes that may not be true at all. You do
not necessarily destroy the soul fragment by killing the host. You do
not necessarily kill the host if you remove/destroy the soul fragment.
Assume for a moment that Nagini is a horcrux. What if the soul
fragment is actually embeded in her skull? You can kill the snake
without damaging the skull. Why would killing the snake destroy the
soul fragment? Is there any canon to support this notion? Likewise if
Harry's scar, a superficial skin condition, is surgically removed (by
Muggle nutters?) and the soul fragment embedded in it then destroyed
why on earth would that kill Harry?

Riddle's diary survives intact physically (except for the Basilisk
fang hole that Harry punched in it), only the living bit of Riddle
inside it is poisoned and killed. The ring survives almost intact.
Only the stone is cracked and that implies that the soul fragment was
embedded in the stone, not the entire ring. A cracked skull would give
Harry a terrible headache, it would not necessarily kill him. If the
scar is indeed a horcrux its removal would not be much of an issue
except that I expect that if it is a horcrux its removal will occur in
a dramaticaly painful or frightening experience of some sort. A very
long shot would tie this scar/horcrux notion to the stated fact that
the Last Word is currently scar and has been for some time. If the
horcrux/scar is removed and destroyed the last sentance could read
something like this: "In all his long life although he missed his
parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, <your guess here>, and <your guess here>
painfully, the one thing Harry never, ever missed was that horrid,
lightning bolt shaped scar."

If Harry's scar is a horcrux that was created by the confused and
unexpected consequences of LV's and Lilly's spells that night at GH it
is possible that neither LV nor DD knows that Harry is a horcrux. At
this point in time Harry does not seem to suspect that he is, or could
be, a horcrux. If this is the case LV's determination to kill Harry
would be easily explained, he simply does not suspect the full
significance of Harry's scar. Another simple explanation is that while
7 is the most powerful number of soul fragments to *have*, it may not
be the limit on the number of times a soul can be fragmented. LV is
already down one fragment, what's the problem with losing another if
it also kills the Chosen One? This guy is probably willing to make
more if he needs to. He may already have replaced his diary for all we
know. There's a possible twist for book 7.

If killing the host does not automatically affect the soul fragment
then LV would have no problem at all with killing Harry even if he
does realize that Harry is a horcrux. What better place to hide a
horcrux than in Harry's dead bones, lying in his grave? LV could have
used James' or Lily's death to make Harry's skull a horcrux *before*
he attempted to kill him way back in GH for that matter. I can see him
going to GH, intent on killing Harry to make a horcrux and then things
get a little out of control. After killing Lily he pauses and then has
a sudden insight: I will not only kill the one with the power to
defeat me, I will first make his very bones the repository of a soul
fragment that will make sure that I am never defeated! I don't think
LV's murderous intent towards Harry is a *certain* indicator of his
status as a possible horcrux. It doesn't seem to me that we know
nearly enough about horcruxes to be sure of that.

I think the story allows Harry to be a horcrux and to survive the
experience. I do not think the story requires either Harry or Nagini
to be a horcrux. I am all but certain that in order to pull this
conclusion off in a single volume Rowling is going to have to give
Harry some kind of shortcut to finding at least some of the horcruxes.
Maybe he can use a dementor as a "soul niffler", maybe Pettigrew is
involved somehow. I am certain that Harry will not murder LV. Even if
Harry kills him directly it will be a case of justifiable homicide if
ever there was one. I have a growing suspicion that Harry will use his
power to love to turn some of LV's allies against him and a dementor
seems a powerful friend to have, hard as that is to imagine.

Ken