That diary.....

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 161812

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, doug rogers <dougsamu at ...> wrote:
>
> Is it possible that Tom Riddle, so full of himself, built the diary  
> as a magical artifact solely to release the monster at another time,  
> but knowing that the artifact would need not only memory, but some  
> intelligence and will, managed somehow to instill it with a bit of  
> soul? He had a few spare bits floating around. I suggest here that it  
> wasn't intended, perhaps, as a horcrux at all... but 'acccidentally'  
> became one because the enchantment required a future will and  
> intelligence to direct the consequent action.
> 
> Riddle might then have realized what he had done - created a horcrux  
> - and then sought out information from Slughorn on creating others. (?)

Carol responds:
That makes sense to me, especially since the original purpose of the
diary was clearly to release the Basilisk. Maybe a soul bit was
attached to the memory(ies) because Myrtle's death counts as a murder?
Not a perfect explanation, but I don't see why he asked Slughorn about
Horcruxes if he was certain he had already created one. Maybe the soul
bit was placed in the diary accidentally but not permanently *encased*
there and consequently not a true Horcrux. I keep coming back to the
idea that the diary was *already* important to Tom Riddle, proof that
he was the Heir of Slytherin, *before* he made it a Horcrux. Also, I
really don't think he knew enough about Horcruxes to create one at
sixteen, despite having placed the *memory* of his sixteen-year-old
self in the diary, or he wouldn't have asked Slughorn about them. (Can
you make more than one is just not an important enough question to go
to all that trouble for.) The instructions for making one would not
have been available at Hogwarts, even in the restricted section, and
we know he didn't get them from Slughorn. 

Carol, interrupted by a phone call and not sure what else she was
going to say