It was requested by someone in a comment a few weeks ago that I lay out a summary of horcruxes thus far, and so here is my feeble attempt to do that. We’re addressing here the questions, What are the known horcruxes, and what are the possibilities for other horcruxes? Voldemort wanted to have his soul split into 7 pieces, so we’d expect 6 horcruxes in addition to the portion of his soul the resides in his own body (p. 503). As we go through this, I’ll add page numbers from Half-Blood Prince as an easy reference for you (I’m using the Scholastic publication for USA).
Let’s start with what we know for sure:
1. Tom Riddle’s diary. This is definitely a horcrux, and we know it has been destroyed (pp. 500-501).
2. Marvolo’s ring. Definitely a horcrux, and destroyed by Dumbledore.
Now, let’s move to objects that are very likely horcruxes:
3. Slytherin’s locket.
4. Hufflepuff’s cup.
Of both of these, Dumbledore said,
I would be prepared to bet – perhaps not my other hand – but a couple of fingers, that they became horcruxes three and four (p. 505).
Since Dumbledore is so certain, there is a very high likelihood that these two are horcruxes, especially with what we know of the journey to the cave to find the locket and the mystery of RAB. There may be some room for Dumbledore to be wrong about the cup, but it’s highly improbable.
That leaves us with two: Here’s where things get sticky. Dumbledore figures that since Voldemort desires objects with a powerful magical history for horcruxes, that he would have searched for relics of the other two houses: Ravenclaw and Gryffindor (p. 505). Dumbledore cannot say whether or not Voldemort ever found a Ravenclaw relic, but he is quite confident that “the only known relic of Gryffindor [the sword] remains safe” (p. 505). This does not, however, lead us to the conclusion that there is no Gryffindor relic about which Dumbledore does not know, for throughout the rest of the conversation, a Gryffindor horcrux remains a possibility (though a Ravenclaw horcrux is more probable). Let’s spend a few words on Dumbledore’s speculations, and then a little time on common speculations of readers.
Dumbledore’s Speculations
Dumbledore suspects Nagini as a horcrux. His theory goes this way: Since Voldemort saved horcrux creation for significant deaths, he planned to create his sixth after the murder of Harry, which failed. After he returned to power, he needed a sixth, and so he used the murder of Frank Bryce to create a horcrux from Nagini (p. 506). Given this speculation, Dumbledore’s theory of horcruxes is summarized by Harry in this way:
…the diary’s gone, the ring’s gone. The cup, the locket, and the snake are all intact, and you think there might be a Horcrux that was once Ravenclaw’s or Gryffindor’s? (p. 507)
Dumbledore calls this “an admirably succinct and accurate summary.” So if Dumbledore is correct, the last two horcruxes shape up this way:
5. Ravenclaw or Gryffindor Relic.
6. Nagini.
Other Speculations
Dumbledore has been wrong before, and even if his theory is correct, it leaves one horcrux (the Gryffindor or Ravenclaw one) a mystery to us. What are some other options out there in the world of Harry Potter fandom?
Perhaps the most controversial of theories is that in some way, either Harry or Harry’s scar is a horcrux, accidentally. We can go back and forth forever about whether accidental horcruxes are possible or whether Harry or his scar could be a horcrux at all. The bottom line is, we can’t know for sure. Absolute certainty on any theory would be unwise, because JKR is bound to surprise you. But an accidental horcrux creation in Harry or his scar might cause an interesting situation: If Dumbledore’s theory is correct, and Harry’s scar happens to be a horcrux, then there would have been 7 horcruxes created, not just six. Follow me here:
(1) Riddle’s diary, (2) the ring, (3) the locket, (4) the cup, (5) a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor relic, (6) Harry, accidentally and without Voldermort’s knowledge, and (7) Nagini. Of course, with the early destruction of the Riddle diary, there would still be no more than 7 at any given time. But the overall creation of 7 horcruxes and not 6 would throw Harry’s count off by one as he seeks to destroy them. One can imagine the intensity of a final duel between Harry and Voldemort. Harry approaches him, confident that he has destroyed every horcrux, and killing Voldemort will destroy him forever, only to have Voldemort reveal to Harry that he (Harry himself) is a horcrux.
We’re working through the possibilities of Harry as a horcrux in the comments section of my previous post, Is Harry a Horcrux? – join us if you’ve got theories about it!
From this point onward, everything concerning horcruxes is high speculation. The tiara in the Room of Requirement has been suggested by some. Others have posited the Sword of Gryffindor or the Sorting Hat, but these are nigh unto impossible. Dumbledore says the Sword is safe, and the Sorting Hat talks – and we know from the diary what happens when horcruxes come to life in any way. Fawkes has been suggested, but I find this more unlikely than all the rest. The feather from Fawkes in Voldemort’s wand, however…well, perhaps another time.
Feel free to include your ideas, theories, and speculations in the comments.
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Remember that he has, or had, 5 others that would keep him alive. And when Nagini died the remains might still be a horcrux- we don’t know enough about horcrux magic. He could make another if she died and didn’t remai a horcrux. He’s interested in keeping 7 parts to his soul.
Matthew
I don’t really like to give much credit to Nagini being a Horcrux, Voldemort has just been too risky with that snake. Sending it into the Ministry of Magic, as well as out to spy on people, seems far too blatant for it to be housing a portion of his soul. I can’t imagine Voldemort being so non-chalant about a Horcrux, with the extent of protection he placed on the locket, I think it would be safe to assume that all of his Horcrux are fairly well guarded or protected.
Weasly are suspected to be related to Ravenclaw through Molly. Perhaps Molly’s relatives had owned something from Ravenclaw which became a horcrux. It might have been tiara, but we need something more: suspiosos death in the family. There is such a death, Ron´s uncle Bilius died soon after he saw Grim. I must confess I do not have a clue to who’s brother Bilius was: Molly’s, Arthur’s or perhaps neither of them?
Ginny and Ron refers to Muriel as an auntie. In fact she is not. Mr. Weasly has mentioned Muriel was a grand-auntie. Since Ron’s references about family members are somewhat misleading, Bilius might be even grand-uncle to Ron. Anyway, now I think Bilus death was related to creation of a horcrux, the one which belonged to Rawenclaw once.
KC,
I agree Nagini is not a horcrux. Something in your post stroked me; it was your note about protection. Could post something more ideas, how Voldemort protects his horcruxes? I am really interested.
Well Martin, of what we know about Horcrux so far, we have the diary of Tom Riddle which had very little protection, although it was admitted that its purpose was to be used as more than just a Horcrux, it was meant as another way to open the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts. However, the other Horcrux, the Locket was placed under extreme magical protection. It was essentially guarded as well as any object can be guarded with only using magic. Similarly, the ring was well protected as it almost killed Dumbledore to which he admits in HBP “had it not been for my protigious skill, and Snape’s quick action” he would have died. I imagine at least 2 of the remaining Horcrux must be under similar protections.
Parts of Lord Voldemort’s Soul:
1. Lord Voldemort
2. Diary
3. Ring
4. Locket
5. Nagini
6. Cup? (im not sure about this one)
7. Harry Potter
Harry does not house a portion of Lord Voldemort’s soul. As stated by Dumbledore, Voldemort could not even stand to possess Harry because of the Love he is capable of feeling. If a portion of his soul was housed in Harry, then the soul would have died long ago. Also, since Dumbledore thinks Nagini is a Horcrux because of the extreme amount of power Voldemort has over the snake (even for a Parseltongue), this would lead us to believe that any sentient being which houses a portion of Voldemort’s soul would behave similarlyand that Voldemort would be able to easily control it.
I’m sorry KC, I guess i wasn’t clear enough. Harry’s SCAR is the horcrux. This explains a lot because it is nowhere near Harry’s heart (where the love is) and is close to the brain (explaining the mental connection).
With luv to all
An old man (who is now cranky)
KC, go see this and be amazed: http://swordofgryffindor.com/2005/09/21/is-harry-a-horcrux/ !!!
With LUV to KC,
a cranky old man
I have placed my guesses about horcruxes on Sybilcast. Now I only hope the chair on which portrait of headmaster Fortescue is sitting and the chair in Riddle’s house are not the same.
Sorry cranky old man
But I do not think Harry or his scar could ever possibly be a Horcrux. I have spoken about this above, but I’ll make a quick note of it again. We may not know much about Horcrux, but we know that it does involve an incantation (as stated by Slughorn in HBP). Since it must occur after a death, then either Voldemort meant to make Harry into a Horcrux with the death of James Potter, and it was the incantation to make him into a Horcrux which backfired and nearly killed LV. However, we’ve been told on numerous occassions that the curse which Harry survived was the AK curse. We can fairly safely assume that LV is the most knowledgeable wizard to have ever lived when concerning the creation of a Horcrux as well as the procedure in making one, this makes me believe that there is no way he could just accidentally create a Horcrux without an incantation.
As far as that other thread you posted, I don’t see where they are getting Harry as the Heir of Gryffindor from, I suppose there could be some merit that James Potter is the long long long ancestor of Gryffindor, but I find it highly unlikely that LV would know this information. All of the family tree research LV did to find his own origins came from while he was still an unwanted man, by the time he would have received the half-prophecy there is no way he could have gained access to historical documents which would trace Gryffindor’s ancestry. Not to mention, that it is likely Dumbledore would have known Harry’s ancestry seeing as he has also been Headmaster when James was at school. If he had been the descendant, I would bet that Dumbledore would have shared that information with him during one of the private lessons in HBP as it is a fairly important and empowering bit of information for Harry to have.
All in all, Harry or his scar being a Horcrux is just too highly illogical for me, and thus far JKR has not made any actions which were not entirely justified and logical to the previous story plots.
My guesses that the Horcrux would have to be:
Diary, Ring, Locket, Cup, Nagini (though I’m not even certain of that one, I think this is one of Dumbledore’s “really important mistakes”), and the tiara that will be used in Bill and Fleur’s wedding. An alternate Horcrux could possibly be a wand which may have belonged to Ravenclaw, I think this becuase Ollivander’s shop was raided/abandoned suddenly during HBP with no further explanation. This leads me to think that JKR was trying to introduce an important story point for the final book without making it seem so important.
I do not agree with KC
Yes, and he doesn’t agree with me.
We will not fight
there will be no plight
Let us see how Deathly Hallows will be!
Agreed
I must concede defeat Mr. Cranky, I stand corrected. Great book though, I enjoyed it, despite the deaths.
Winner! I also enjoyed the book.
I have a few questions though,
How did the elder wand come to be Draco Malfoy’s?
And how did Harry not die, but the part of Voldemort’s soul did?
Heh, well in my defense, Harry was not a Horcrux, the portion of the soul had merely clung to him (for a Horcrux, there must be an incantation). Anyways, the power of the Elder Wand is removing the wand from the previous owner’s possession. Malfoy was the one who used the Expelliarmus curse on Dumbledore, Snape merely killed Dumbledore after he had been ‘de-wanded’. So the Elder Wand became Malfoy’s by right, and when Voldemort took the wand from Dumbledore’s tomb, he was not actually taking it from the rightful owner, so it did not answer to him. Hope that answers the question.
Phew!!! What a ride! I am in awe both of JKR for her storytelling and you all for your often eerie insights given the timeline of various comments. As a mom and English major, I can confidently declare this series, and especially the final three books (I started reading #5 on Saturday morning and finished #7 at 7am Monday), some of the most elaborate, intricate, and engaging stories of the modern era. What a pleasure! This series appeals to all ages. I must say, by the end of five, or certainly by the middle of 6, I was certain I was reading what would become a tragedy of heroic proportions. By the end of #7 I was reminded of a movie I recently saw, Stranger Than Fiction. Emma Thompson’s character says that when a character is willing to walk into his own death with resoluteness and determination (paraphrase), isn’t that the kind of person you would want to keep alive?
Salutations to all you who have “stuck with Harry until the very end” !!!
I think that harry was not killed because of the elder wand in the forest he was and not LV the rightfull owner of it.
what do you think?
Laurien,
I have not seen you for ages, have you passed your exams?
Regarding the attack I think Voldemort had bonded Harry to live when he had used Harry’s blood. However Harry as a master of death had a choise: he could die.
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