Concerning Horcuxes

[nervewracker2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 169883

Anna:
does the mere act of killing someone -- anyone -- split the soul, or 
is the soul only split when one does a particulary nasty/evil 
murder, or has the concious intention of creating a Horcrux?  
Voldemort did countless murders, yet he only supposedly created 6 
Horcruxes.  Do you think his soul is really split into a hundred-
some-odd pieces?  

Geoff:
> Killing rips the soul apart..."'
> (HBP "Horcruxes" p.465 UK edition)
> 
> In a war situation, people are killed but his stress lies on 
murder as a premeditated act against another person which I think is 
not quite the same.
> 
> Even so, if the souls of Aurors are split, it doesn't follow that 
they are going to rush off and create Horcruxes; perhaps the soul 
pieces remain together but separate - if you see what I mean.


Nervewracker:

The act of killing a human being even if unintentional can tear a 
person apart. Even those who have steeled themselves to do it (if it 
is part of their job) as in the case of the aurors, the act of 
killing somebody is bound to affect them in some way.

I think the killing involved in creating a horcrux is different in 
that it is just a means to an end, there has to be a conscious 
intention of sending that broken piece of the soul into the 
repository.  Not every act of murder leads to the creation of a 
horcrux.  Few wizards know how to do this since it is very advanced 
Dark Magic and it is considered a taboo even to discuss about it. 
Even if known, few would willingly part with a piece of their soul 
just to achieve immortality.