Six Horcruxes - is Dumbledore right?

[Miles]

No: HPFGUIDX 169787

Hi all,

usually I do not like to discuss topics for the 77th time, not to speak of
starting discussion #78 about a question that has already seen hundreds and
hundreds of mails.
But - never say never, and here it is: How many Horcruxes of Lord Voldemort
were created?

Well, Dumbledore tells us there are six, and so most of the time we
discussed what are these Horcruxes. From time to time mails, mainly from new
members, are sent to the list, speaking of seven Horcruxes. These mails are
answered by the old listies - seven is the total number of soul pieces,
because one resides in LV's body, and six Horcruxes keep this piece
earthbound. This is what Dumbledore tells, this was my own point of view
until recently - but I'm really not sure anymore after my last rereading of
HBP before the last book is published.

Though, the HP Lexicon still is clear:
"Riddle hit upon the idea of creating not just one Horcrux to protect part
of his soul, but several at once: a grand total of six Horcruxes, so that he
would eventually have a seven-part soul, with six parts concealed in various
Horcruxes and the seventh remaining in his body."
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/magic/devices/horcruxes.html

Let me quote two pieces of canon -  HBP, ch 23, Horcruxes

"What I don't understand, though - just out of curiosity - I mean, would one
Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul once? Wouldn't it be
better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces? I mean, for
instance, isn't seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn't seven -?"
(...) "Seven! Isn't it bad enough to think of killing *one* person?

Please forget about Dumbledore's interpretation and tell me - six Horcruxes,
or seven, and are you sure?
Slughorn had explained about how to make one Horcrux, that means one soulbit
in the body plus one soulbit in the Horcrux. Riddle questions "split your
soul ONCE" and contrasts it with the magical potential of "seven" -
splitting the soul seven times for seven Horcruxes. His next sentence seems
to indicate seven soulbits (that's six Horcruxes), but Slughorn again seems
to speak of seven Horcruxes (seven murders, seven splits).

In my opinion this dialogue is at least not clear. I really have problems to
believe Tom and Slughorn speak about six Horcruxes without mentioning the
word "six" once.

Let me skip some pages and come to the discussion about this very question
between Harry and Dumbledore in the same chapter.

"He made seven Horcruxes?", said Harry, horror-struck, while several of the
portraits on the walls made similar noises of shock and outrage.(...)
"... no, Harry, not seven Horcruxes: six. The seventh part of the soul ...
remains inside his regenerated body."

Harry obviously has the same problems as I do ;). His interpretation of the
dialogue Tom-Slughorn is "seven Horcruxes". Dumbledore is very clear,
though. But he doesn't explain why.
So we have an - at least in my opinion - unclear dialogue about the number
of Horcruxes in question, but Dumbledore clearly states that there must be
six. There are various interpretations of this.

a) The vagueness of the Tom-Slughorn dialogue is not intended by JKR, she
simply didn't manage to make the situation clear.
I do not like the interpretation, and it contradicts my estimation of her as
a writer. On the contrary I believe, that she has written the Horcrux
related parts of the text very carefully.

b) Dumbledore intentionally misleads Harry.
This would fit into the "Harry is a Horcrux" theory. I don't like it too
much, since I'm not a Harrycrux supporter, but here it is.

c) Dumbledore is wrong, and we will learn it at a crucial point of the story
An unclear dialogue, all characters interpretating it incorrectly, so there
is a good opportunity to have a major plot twist. For example, Harry
destroys the sixth Horcrux, confronts Voldemort - Voldemort laughs and
presents Horcrux #7. Now, THIS would be the JKR I know. Besides, c) could be
combined with b).

d) I'm hunting for a fake locket :).

Well, you are free to rip my soul.... erm posting into seven pieces. Or
eight.

Miles