The bloody axe (Was: Mysteries of The Room of Requirement)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 148942

Allie wrote:
> Alternatively, a lot of people have speculated that a Horcrux may be
hidden inside this room when it functions as a hiding place. It's 
unlikely to be found there, or if it is found, it's unlikely to be
recognized for what it is. Suppose that Harry was just wandering  by,
musing, "I need to find the last Horcrux," and a door suddenly 
appeared, would he realize the Horcrux was inside? This thought 
actually occurred to me when I was reading about all the junk in the
room when it functions as a hiding place. (Aside - a blood-stained
axe?? That struck me as suspicious - when did a violent, bloody
old-fashioned Muggle-type crime occur at Hogwarts and are we going to
hear about it?)
> 
Luckdragon responded:
I think the axe belongs to The Bloody Baron. I believe the horcrux is
the tiara which belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw.

Carol adds:
Agreed on the tiara (which Harry might see if he looks into Mirror of
Erised when he wants to find the Ravenclaw Horcrux).

But the two characters I can think of specifically associated with
axes are Nearly Headless Nick, who died after something like fifty
strokes from a blunt axe, and Walden Macnair, ex-Slytherin, would-be
executioner of Buckbeak, emissary from Voldemort to the giants, and
current resident of Azkaban. Since I believe JKR has said on her
website that NHN was executed for failing to practice magic correctly
on a Muggle, it seems to me that Macnair is the more likely candidate
for association with the axe (not to mention that he's still alive and
potentially more interesting for that reason). He has appeared in
every book since PoA and has, I think, some role yet to play--*not*, I
hasten to add, as a candidate for redemption. Possibly a would-be axe
murderer, practicing on animals at Hogwarts and hiding the bloody
weapon to avoid getting caught?

The axe could, of course, just be an irrelevant detail thrown in with
the tiara (which I definitely think we'll see again because of Mrs.
Weasley's not-so-coincidental reference to an apparently different
tiara later in the book) as the music box is thrown in with the locket
that won't open in OoP to hide a Horcrux in plain sight (nods to
Nora). But I think we may hear more of specific Death Eaters,
especially the really evil ones now in Azkaban, and I predict that one
of those will be Macnair, who'll be given Muggle necks to hew. Or
maybe he'll slaughter a few Thestrals, which he would unquestionably
be able to see.

Carol, wondering if the hippogriff formerly known as Buckbeak will be
a casualty in Book 7