Horcrux hunting

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 153143

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tonks" <tonks_op at ...> wrote:
> Tonks:
>
> DD said, and we have seen, that the horcruxes are also a weapon.  
> They kill anyone that tries to destroy them.  ...edited...
> 

bboyminn:

Sorry, but I think you are assuming facts not in evidence.

My read is that Dumbledore was injured by a SEPARATE Protective Curse
that was placed on the Ring to prevent anyone from /getting/ the Ring
and releasing the soul-bit. 

I readily admit that we don't now how Horcruxes are destroyed in the
sense that we don't know what is required to release the Soul-Bit, and
we further don't fully know the repercussion of releasing a Soul-Bit.
But we do have some examples to draw from.

Harry and the Diary-

This was a Memory/Horcrux combination that was /meant/ to be found and
used, so naturally it doesn't have a load of extrenal protections
placed on it. When Harry destroyed, or significantly damaged, the
object that held the Soul-Bit, that Soul-Bit was released from the object.

Harry, the Cave, and the Locket-

Here we clearly see the Voldemort has placed many enchantments,
obsticals, and dangers between the entrance to the cave and the
Locket. These are all dangerous things that we do not see guarding the
Diary. And, indeed that are dangerous and deadly; the interferi, the
Green Potion, injuring oneself to open the gate, etc...

Dumbledore and the Ring -

We don't get the detail of what Dumbledore did to release the Soul
from the Ring, but we do see that the Ring is damaged. With a degree
of speculation, we can assume that that damage was all that was
necessary to release the soul bit. But, just as the Locket had many
protection and enchantments protecting it, we can reasonably assume
that it to was protected. 

Now the two circumstances are different. The Locket hidden in a secret
cave is the perfect place for a long complex set of wizardly and
magical challenges to be face by anyone seeking the locket. But the
Ring was buried at the Gaunt farm, near a passing muggle road, and
that is not the place for magic boats, countless dead bodies, and a
glowing-green pedestal and bowl. That is all much to obvious for an
area frequented by muggles. So, Voldemort chose a completely different
method of protecting the Ring. He chose to curse the Ring to injure
any one who found it and tried to destroy it. There may have been an
assortment of dark enchantments protecting the Ring, but the ultimate
Dark Curse, was to kill a person who attempted to destroy the Horcrux.

I think with each Horcrux, we will see it stored under very different
circumstances, and each set of circumstances will require a completely
different set of protections, and that will be part of the challenge
that Harry has to face.

So, my central point is that Dumbledore was most likely injured by one
of the external protections guarding the Ring and not simply by the
process of releasing the Soul-Bit, or by reversing the Horcrux spell. 

Still, we really don't know clearly how you destroy a Horcrux. Hints
seem to indicate that if you damage the object the soul will be
released. Harry's experience with the Diary seems to indicate that
that's all their is to it, but Dumbledore's experience with the Ring
hints that it might not be quite that easy.

Only time will tell.

Steve/bboyminn