The ring and locket Horcruxes (Was: Book Covers)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 166928

Shelley wrote:
> I know everyone has interpreted the thing around Harry's neck as a
locket, but my son and I agree that it looks more like a small bag.
<snip> What would be in that bag is much a mystery to me, but it makes
more sence than Harry carrying around a Horcrux.

Carol responds:
Well, possibly Harry is wearing some sort of amulet, but for now, I'll
stay with the Slytherin locket, which is at least canonical--and
prominently featured on the Bloomsbury adult cover. Possibly it looks
rather dead because it's been de-Horcruxed. I think it makes perfect
sense to wear a former Horcrux to confront its maker. What a beautiful
taunt to Voldemort that would be. (The locket does seem overly large,
I agree, but I think GrandPre interpreted "large" and "heavy" a bit
too literally.)

Shelley wrote:
 Then again, why was Dumbledore wearing that Ring!Horcrux before he
was able to destroy it's contents, other than to make sure it didn't
disappear? Is the are any power to wearing or using a Horcrux before
it's destroyed? Did Dumbledore some how use the "power of the ring"
before he destroyed the Ring!Horcrux? 

Carol:
Actually, we only see Dumbledore wearing the ring after it's been
de-Horcruxed (at Slughorn's house, on the uninjured hand). He wants
Slughorn to see it and recognize it--also, no doubt to see the crack
and know that it's no longer a Horcrux. As I understand it, Dumbledore
detected signs of magical concealment, found the ring and destroyed
the soul fragment within it, and was cursed in the process. Snape then
did what he could to stop the progress of the curse (as he did later
with Katie), but he could not save the injured hand. Whatever powers
the ring may have had, and there's no indication that it ever had any,
would have been destroyed when the ring was cracked. (Hepzibah Smith
says that both the cup and locket are purported to have powers, but
they're not specified or confirmed, and those objects belonged to
Hogwarts founders, not some obscure pure-blood descendant of the Gaunt
clan.)

As for using a Horcrux, as I understand it, the Horcrux-maker doesn't
*use* the Horcrux. It just stores and protects the soul bit encased
inside. As long as even one Horcrux is intact, Voldemort can't die.
His own damaged soul, the part that fled after Godric's Hollow and is
now inside his resurrected or magically reconstituted body, is
"anchored" to the earth.

Shelley:
We know the Diary!Horcrux had powers- in controlling people, the
Chamber of Secrets was opened again, and havoc unleashed. That Horcrux
required a "life force" to enable the Horcrux, and we know that Ginny
nearly died so that Voldemort could achieve his means.

Carol:
Yes, but as Dumbledore notes in the chapter called "Horcruxes," the
diary was a special case. In order to prove that Riddle was the Heir
of Slytherin and unleash the Basilisk, it had to be used. Most
Horcruxes, it would appear, are not interactive. They are hidden and
protected. Voldemort wanted the diary to be used at some point (after
he'd destroyed the Prophecy Boy and made the last Horcrux), but he
didn't have any such use for, say, the ring or the locket, which were
heavily protected. They exist to store soul bits for all eternity--or
that's what Voldemort, in his deluded egoism, imagines.

Shelley:
> Part of that wonders if part of the Ring!Horcrux was used, as
Dumbledore's arm (lower part with the hand was dead). What did
Dumbledore gain? 

Carol:
The ring Horcrux was *destroyed.* That's what Dumbledore gained. To
quote DD himself, "a withered hand does not seem an unreasonable
exchange for a seventh of Voledemort's soul. The ring is no longer a
Horcrux" (HBP Am. ed. 503).

The Horcruxes are not like Sauron's One Ring, weapons to be wielded to
control people. With the exception of the diary, which was created to
carry on Salazar Slytherin's noble work, the Horcruxes are essentially
sealed containers. They are not intended to be opened or used. That
would defeat their purpose. Nor was any Horcrux "used" when Voldemort
was vaporized. All of them, at that time, were still intact. Two are
now destroyed, but he knows of only one. Harry has to find and destroy
the others (or have someone else destroy them). As long as even one
exists, Voldemort is to all intents and purposes immortal.

Shelley:
> All this makes me wonder what Harry has in store for him to destroy
these objects, as they can't be that easy to just remove those deadly
powers.

Carol responds:
Well, yes. If Dumbledore received a withered hand, and would have died
had it not been for Snape's "timely action," I'd say it's a safe bet
that most of the Horcruxes will be very difficult to destroy. The ring
had a protective curse placed on it (not a power of its own, or
Marvolo, Morfin, and Tom himself couldn't have worn it) that was
apparently activated when Dumbledore cracked it and released the soul
bit. I would not be surprised if the locket, cup, and unknown
Ravenclal Horcrux are similarly protected (unlike the diary, which was
designed to be interactive). Curse-breaker Bill may de-Horcruxify the
Slytherin locket, which will surely be the easiest to find. I don't
know who will destroy the others. (I'm betting that Snape plays a role.)

Judging from the Bloomsbury cover, which appears to show Nagini in a
crystall ball (it can't be a Prophecy Orb, which shows the Seer), it
seems likely that Dumbledore was right about Nagini being a Horcrux.
Given that drawing and the Sword of Gryffindor in the house-elf's
hand, I'm betting (as I have all along) that Nagini is indeed a
Horcrux and that Harry will kill her (as he did the Basilisk) with the
Sword of Gryffindor. She may be the only Horcrux that he destroys
himself unless the powers he shares with Voldemort give him immunity
to the curses, and that seems unlikely to me (too easy).

Carol, trying to figure out why HRH would be in Gryffindor's vault (if
that's what it is) when it's the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Horcruxes
they need to find