The Nature & Destruction of Horcruxes

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 191216



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "bearhugger48" <bearhugger48 at ...> wrote:
>
> > Steve:
> > The Diary might have been singed and soggy, but it was still a
> book, ... The Cup was still a cup, ...
> >
> > The Diadem is unique as it is the only thing we see destroyed by
> Fiend Fire. Yes, it broke apart, but it didn't turn to dust. <snip>
> >
> <snip>
> > The Locket is referred to as "Shattered", but do we really know
> > that it was reduced to a handful of metal fragments? <snip>
> 
> 
> bearhugger48:
> ...
> This piece of dark magic Tom Riddle came to know as horcrux from
> the forbidden library says that a wizard can separate his soul into
> 7 pieces? Or more, nevertheless has to have some sort of scientific
> background even in the WW.

Steve:

This is your first mistake. Historically, people would just place one piece of one soul in one object, then if the event of death, their own soul/self would remain earth bound. 

However, Tom Riddle thought that the number 7 was an auspicious number. A magical number of power, so he personally concluded that 7 Horcruxes would be extra powerful. But, that idea was purely his invention. 

One could have 100 Horcruxes, but it would mean personally killing 100 people, and it would mean fragmenting the soul into 100 pieces. To most, that would be unthinkable.

> bearhugger48:
>
> It would seem that LV had to have control of these pieces and know
> what he wanted to do with them to make them horcruxes. Then he had
> to make a decision in what to place them, where to hide them and how
> to protect them.

Steve:

It has been discussed that a very specific act of magic must occur to create a true Horcrux. And yes indeed, Harry was not make a Horcrux with that magic. The soul bit was NOT bonded to him, it merely clung to him. 

> bearhugger48:
>
>  Given that Lily & James were murdered just before Harry was touched
> in the head, would account for two pieces of soul not yet placed
> anywhere. Then LV lost his powers and poof gone. Was the piece
> attached to Harry-Lily's? And what happened to James' piece?

Steve:

Again, a slight misconception. You can create many soul fragments that are never placed any were. Voldemort tended to use significant death to specifically create Horcruxes. But not every soul fragment was committed to this purpose.

> bearhugger48:
>
> Can we name all 7 pieces.
> ...

Steve: 

Yes we can, and though I don't recall it, we can speculate on whose death went into each Horcrux. I'll leave that aspect to someone else. Though it is probably available from the Harry Potter Lexicon. 

1.) - Diary
2.) - Ring
3.) - Locket
4.) - Cup
5.) - Diadem
6.) - Snake
7.) Though not technically a Horcrux, the seventh piece of Voldemort soul is in Voldemort. This is the piece that is held earth bound by the other pieces. This is the piece of Voldemort that survived to live again.

Taking this last point and expanding on it. Voldemort asked Slughorn about splitting his soul into 7 piece (from memory), not about creating 7 Horcruxes. And those 7 piece are 6 Horcruxes, and then the bulk of his soul remaining inside himself for the auspicious 7.  

The unintended 8th Horcrux was Harry. The theory is that by the time Voldemort reach Godric's Hollow, he had killed many times, and by that time, his soul and his self were very unstable. Next, the magic that saved Harry was extremely rare and unusual, not a lot of documentation or knowledge of such an event. 

When the curse rebounded from Harry onto Voldemort, a shattered bit of Voldemort's soul was blasted free, and it clung to the only living thing it could find - Harry. 

As pointed out earlier in this thread, Harry was Horcrux-like. He was functionally a Horcrux, but because the specific magic hadn't been performed, he wasn't technically a Horcrux. 

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn