There is, as was to be expected, a growing debate about whether or not Harry is the Gryffindor horcrux. I’m leaning one way, but I want to try to set out some of the arguments on both sides and leave it to discussion in the comments section to try to sort some of this out.
Two disclaimers: (1) I tend to think that predicting what will happen in the final book is one of the most fruitless endeavors, albeit interesting. JKR is just too good at the surprise plot turns and endings. (2) I’ll certainly not come at every angle of the argument here, so please add other arguments/thoughts in the comment section.
Let’s look at the Pro and Con arguments for the “Harry as Horcrux” theory, with counterarguments in italics after each point.
Pro:
(1) There seems to be no other option for the Gryffindor horcrux. As Dumbledore stated, all Godric left behind was the hat and the sword, and both remain in the office. I always chuckle when someone who read the exact same book I read proclaims with certainty that we know the Sword of Gryffindor is a horcrux. But if Harry is a horcrux, that fills the need for a Gryffindor horcrux.
See “Cons: (1)” below for counterargument.
(2) There was indeed reference in HBP to the possibility of a living being becoming a horcrux, surrounding the discussion of the potential for Nagini to be the 6th.
This doesn’t prove anything, although JRK’s vague references often turn into something bigger.
(3) If you agree that the books are couched in deliberately Christian imagery and themes, the idea that Harry would have to sacrifice himself in order to defeat Voldemort might fit into the plot.
At the same time, this would almost seem like suicide would be necessary, and the death of Jesus was not suicide, although He laid down His life willingly. Furthermore, Harry would have to die before Voldemort died, if he were a horcrux. As long as Harry survived, Voldemort would survive, even if his physical body was abolished again. This would be a direct contradiction to the prophecy that neither can live while the other survives, because if Harry has destroyed all the other horcruxes, then indeed Voldemort can only live if Harry survives.
(4) It is highly unlikely (to the point of absurdity, im my opinion) that Voldemort would intentionally try to make Harry a horcrux. However, there is no question that two murders, James and Lily, had just taken place. It is possible, since we know so very little about the process of horcrux creation, that the Dark Lord’s failed curse somehow made Harry into a horcrux, since certainly a piece of his soul had been split in that very room.
Accidental horcruxes seems a stretch. If curses like avada kedavra can only be performed if you “really mean it,” so to speak, then it’s hard to believe that such dark magic as horcrux creation could occur accidentally.
Con:
(1) We know that Voldemort had not completed 6 horcruxes when he went to Godric Hollow to kill Harry. It is reasonable, then, to conclude that there had yet to be, and therefore never was, a Gryffindor horcrux. Perhaps it is even this fact that gives a Gryffindor an upper hand in the final battle.
The alchemical themes of the book may necessitate, or at least lend itself towards the unlikelihood of only 3 of the four houses (representing the elements) coming into play in the whole horcrux deal. I’d need to look into this more.
(2) It seems almost inconceivable that Dumbledore would not have explored and uncovered this possibility.
Dumbledore has been wrong in the past, and he has said that when he makes a mistake, it’s a huge one.
(3) If Voldemort accidentally made Harry into a horcrux, then it is likely there are 7, not 6 horcruxes, since Voldemort would have wanted to create what he thought was the 6th (likely Nagini).
Perhaps Rowling will use her narrative misdirection to lead the readers to believe that all horcruxes are destroyed before the final battle, only to reveal Harry as horcrux in the final scene. Certainly the destruction of 6 horcruxes would lead readers to believe they were all destroyed.
(4) Voldemort’s frequent attempts to kill Harry seem out of place if Harry is a horcrux.
Only if Voldemort knew Harry was a horcrux. In fact, follow this order of events: in HP4, Voldemort tries to kill Harry after coming back to life. in HP5, Voldemort discovers part of his soul in Harry through occlumency, resulting in his shutting off the connection by the start of HP6. At the end of HP6, Voldemort’s distinct command is for the Death Eaters not to kill Harry, which makes no sense unless Voldemort actually wants Harry alive for some reason.
There is so much more to consider, I’m sure, but this is a good start, I suppose. I’ll say from the beginning that I lean towards the “Con” side; I just don’t buy that Dumbledore would have missed this. But I’m willing to hear either side out.
Travis Prinzi on 
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1 more day you guys!!!! can everyone PLEASE come back after the book comes out so we can discuss what happens????????!!!!! please!
I want to read it so much but I will have to wait until Christmas. I am not sure if I will come back here before I read it. I dont want to learn the end from you guys. You are so lucky.
sure, “I’ll be back!”
Ok! Good idea!
:):):)
ok
im going to get it first thing in the morning. the if i dont stop reading for like 2 days……… i should finish 
to travis prinzi check jkrowling . com look at the front page and select a language, then read all the way through her diary, it scrolls down. read all of it. then tell me she didnt say it, then i wont complain
Travis
i trust that you trust hp lexicon right?
here go to this website
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/sources/jkr.com/jkr-com-diary.html#12
and read the diary entry for may 14, jk changed her diary so i cant show it to you on her website.
and quite frankly travis, id prefer to stay.
not go to a fandom site, thanks.
Harry, glad you want to stay, man. Yes, I do trust HP Lexicon. I’m quite certain J.K. Rowling was being sarcastic when she said that, but at the very least, you got it from a trusted source
Have fun reading Deathly Hallows!
wow people i cam back haha
1 MORE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
guys we should all come back to discuss plot points but we should agree not to add too many spoilers to the comments for the protection of whoever hasnt read it.:D
Ive been trying to stay away from all those spoiler sites, you all heard about the guy who photographed the book right?
right u r rae-mac :p(#1034)
srry i was in a bad mood
But yea
today’s the day. i am so completely depressed. and excited, so completely excited.
Please don’t die ron!
luv ya’all
Janelle
Is it okay to start talking now?
Well, I won’t say anything yet, because I know people are still reading it, but after 12 hours, I know it all. Overwhelming feelings of sadness and elation are what I’m contending with now, as I’m sure will be the feelings of everyone upon finishing the last segment of an unforgettable story. I’m only glad to have experienced it as it unfolded, and feel strangely humbled. God bless you all.
Morganna
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I TOLD YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
hey, harry here.
not even a full 48 hours since i get the book and im done.
wow
i simply cannot accept the thought that anybody in the universe could have created a final installment to the final chapter of harry potter.
J.K. Rowling, dont know if u read this site, but my hat is definitely of to you. i experienced every emotion as i read through your book, fear anxiety, shortness of breath, sadness, happiness, confusion, complete understanding, hatred and love.
i cannot truly express the joy i have had with harry potter, and it is truly sad that i have to watch him go. i crave nothing more than another adventure with harry.
Mrs. rowling, thank you, for giving me some of the most cherished times of my life. in reading harry potter i have felt like harry has become a close friend. now i have to feel like ill never talk to him again. once again thank you for giving me harry, thank you so much.
much love to j.k. rowling from harry (aka john C, from rogers arkansas usa. email: chaos.roar@yahoo.com)
anybody who has posted here feel free to contact me, specially you nelly my sweetheart.
and btw, im so totally coming back here every chance i get, just to talk with people about the book.
AND HA!!!!!!!!!!
harry is a horcrux B****es!!!!!!!!!!!
we win! we win! we win!
and i have one more mystery that maybe i just didnt get or maybe its a goal from j.k. what the heck was that baby thing making all the noise near the end of the book. i mean dumbledoor was all like “we cant help it, theres no help to be done.” im so confused j.k. has once again enthralled me to reread every H.P. book i own wich is all six in hardback form.
oh and J.K. thanks for making standing in line for 4 hours in walmart worth it
much love to everybody
lol whoops, its all seven not six hahaha
hi harry! i’ll email ya darlin’. lol.
i was so incredibly excited to get the book!!!!!! i woke up at 6:30, got a bracelot with a color to stand in line, got the book at around 12:10ish, and finsihed in less than 24 hours. me and a friend were up until 5:30 in the morning reading, slept for 2 1/2 hours, then got up and read again.
However i recieved quite a scare. some horrible person had told my sister two people who had died, she was like “janelle, did you get to the part where fred died yet?” i thought she said that Ron died. and started hypervetilating .literally. i couldn’t breathe, almost puked and ended up laughing hysterically when i finally found out it was fred, not ron who had died. that was scary. i started hyperventilating/going into hysterics again, when i only had 75 pages to go and was completely depressed about the series ending. i also completely flipped out when i thought harry died, someone else had to go to the next chapter nad tell me, “no, harry is not dead.”
BUT WE TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!!! me, and other people on this site who said it would happen were RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! mwahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i had debated about that forever with my friends and almost all of them disagreed with me so i had to send them a very gloating email last night. LoL. it was quite fun.
Thank you J.K. Rowling for giving me the chance to live in the world of my dreams. thank for the memories, the crazy debates, and the hysterics. thank you for the happy ending, and making the world a slightly better place.
thank you for Harry Potter.
Luv ya all! nad i’ll keep posting as long as you guys do, so please don’t leave!!!! harry, thanks for the address, you can expect an email. hahaha.
Love Janelle
oh, forgot to say that me and my friends went to Borders in Prom dresses, that got some weird looks. never gonna forget that night! hahaha
sorry, one more post.
harry, the baby thing (i believe) was the “evil” or part of voldemort soul that was in harry, just like he was in book 4 when he got ressurected. at least that’s what i thought. what do the rest of ya’all think?
Wow i have had it for maybe 24 hours and im done.
the book was, i thought, lacking in Rowling’s usual genius
I’m not sure if i missed it, but who was the one who used magic late in life?
lacking in genius???????????!!!!
no words can say how much i disagree with you.
it was the best yet. amazing. wonderful.
i think it really was great dont get me wrong but the time they spent in the tent was just too long for me.
I wouldve also liked to see harry and Voldemort actually duel. And i thought that the idea of 3 people battling all of britain by themselves was pretty unrealistic.
wait, 3 people battling britain? don’t really know what your talking about. ya, i KINDA sorta, myabe just a teeny bit know what your saying about the tent thing. maybe. but i still loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I dunno i did like the book…just not much
and I mean that harry Hermione and Ron
were battling all of the government plus the added bonus of Voldemort’s Death Eaters trying to do them in at every turn
But Nelly, to each his own. A lot of people did love it, just not me
I LOVED it! You do not know how much I loved it. And I disagree. I liked how much time they spent in the tent.
TTYL
~RM
The baby thing at King’s Cross is Voldemort’s soul. It’s all that’s left after the damage he did to it. And it’s a pretty horrible picture of hell and eternal damnation. Who knew that JKR was so unforgiving.
the final bok was soo good. i was so upset wen it sed harry was dead. then i read on. lol. i love the fact that they all grow up and have kids
i wonder what harrys children: lily and james middles names are?
i really love the bit wen harry and voldemort are circuling eachother.
And we were right, harry was a horcrux!
we were right right right!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!! yb, i agree with you! rae-mac, i also agree with oyu. (and just so ta’all know, rae-mac is my sister, the one whoi freaked me out about ron dying. LOL>) Boggart, we can agree to disagree.
Nelly,
i think we must on this one
i liked the ending. but theres a rumour going around that JK did not lke it and that she posted the proper one online. ive searched but its not anywhere ive looked. any theories?
WE WERE RIGHT…AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahaah
I still haven’t finished the book, what with 3 readers at my house, but Deathly Hallows is awesome!!!!!!!
I was lucky, I ordered the book, so it came to my house on the the day the book came out!
It may be because I haven’t read the whole book, but Boggart was right about one thing. Who uses magic later in life?
I wasn’t ever positive that Harry was a Horcrux, but I was reading it with my best friend, (Kate, see above) and she ruined that particular surprise by gloating 200 pages ahead of me. It was SO SO AMAZING!!!!
IT could be Crabbe – he hasnt hsown any evidence of doing magic before in the books but makes fiedfyre and other spells in the RoomOfRequirement. Though its unlikely as he wouldn’t have got the Hogwarts letter unless he could do magic.
Also, hands down to JKR for making Voldemort truly evil, i thoguth she may go easy as lots who read the books are young but she kept him as merciless as he should have been, a brilliant character. Glad harry finished him off though!
The dumbledore backstory was also brilliant, shows that he was able to make mistakes and wasnt just amazing at everything and always thoguht the best. made him more human and i liek him more now.
Dobby’s death and freds were very sad, but i guess they are there to show how necessary it was to finish voldemort. Remus and Tonks clearly died so that harry can be to teddy liek sirius waas to him.
Molly was awesome! never expected her to battle.
Also it was obvious with Ron starting to liek Kreacher and Hermione’s thing for elves that their first kiss would be over that kind of moment- very realistic though as its the kind of impulse thing that is hard to capture in a book. and that impulse makes a first kiss so good so was very impressed with that bit of writing.
Sad its over, but happy i was able to be aroudn at time of anticipating and stuff. doubt i will ever have as much exitement for any book,movie,dvd or anythign liek that as i have for each and every harry potter book.
I was sad when Dobby died. To me it seems like too many people have died and harrys lost years of his life worrying about and fighting voldemort. Bless him
Still loved the book though. I liked the idea of The Seven Potters. And the 19 years later chapter, LOVED IT
xx
So, who do you guys think it was that did magic late in life that hadn’t done any before?
Having read the seventh book i know whether or nlt harry is a horcrux and lets just say i was astounding when i found out the answer.
Well i read 20 pages then realised it wasn’t worth it. It’s a lot quicker on wikipedia and you don’t have to put up with the bad writing!
Series is over!!!! yes!!!!
Bill, it IS worth it. congratulations, you got a quick overview of the story when you could have got the whole thing. And what in the world do you mean by “bad writing”? This is one of the best written series i’ve ever put my hands on.
grrr, lynch him, that is what i would do, just lynch him!
lol. I think JKRowlings style of writing is really good! It is one of the best in the series and u missed the good bits by just reading it on wikipedia!
Hi everybody i couldn’t find out exactly why do people become ghosts when they die? it was supposed that in this book we were going to see why they choose to exist as a ghost… Can someone explain me please? Thanks!
Lawtrix,
I ma not sure I can help you, the only significant conversation to the point I remember was held between Harry and nearly headless Nick at the end of OoP. There is a spell, wizard can decide not to go through the veil as a result he is neither here nor there. Nick stated he was afraid, such a reason might be common.
I’m not paying out the series, I used to love it. Then I turned 11. I am just saying a blind dog with all its limbs missing could throw up something that was more coherent and enjoyable than harry potter. It’s not like I don’t like it, you could just have more fun inhaling mustard gas. Sorry harry but you weren’t gifted with the most talented author. I mean i’m sure JK is a great writer, it’s just a young dyslexic child who speaks some mix of polish and kalahari bushspeak could have written a better book.
And ironically, this could be one of the most insane, poorly written comments I’ve read here.
Just for the record.
If it’s really that easy, you do it.
ok bill. if you don’t like it fine. But why do you have to come on here and put us all down?
its just sily.
wow you can tell that dudes a 13 year old trying to act cool, lol. im not even going to go any further, it would make others pee and bill probably commit suicide
bill: You suck.
at least back up your comments, if you don’t like the book that’s fine but at least have a reason.
Harry: I agree.
and everyone else who’s been writing before the book came out, i WAS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!! mwahahahaha. yes, i’m still on about that.
Lots of love,
Nelly
Hello yb, harry a Nelly,
As I saw your three comments and idea occur to me I say hello to you, three great pen friends. Since DH is a published fierce discussion are over, but without you this page would not be what it was.
I agree. with everyone. EXCEPT Bill.
awwwww, thanks Martin. your really sweet. same to you and yb and harry.
im not sweet, im an evil little git! i eat small children for breakfast and sometimes brunch!
lol jk i dont eat small children, well not normally, who knows, maybe one day ill try it. doubt it tho!
and as for you martin, thank you.
btw, bill if you rearrange the letters in your name it spells ilbl, illb, blil, blii, llib libl. none of which make any sense and sounds just stupid. which oddly enough is an exact description of you….odd how that works out isnt it….hmmm…… im hungry!
aww thnx same 2 u!
harry, please don’t eat little children for breackfast, that’s very rude, not to mention revolting.
I agree. with everyone, again. EXCEPT bill, ilbl, illb, blil, blii, llib, or libl.
hey now give bill a break, he is entitled to his opinion too. I can sort of see where he is coming from, harry potter is pretty bad. The storyline is cliched and corny, especially in the last one. Id put it down to how inept ol’ JK is at creating something new. She did it once then repeated the same stuff over and over. but on a happier note, she isnt going to write more harry potter books! high five bill!
John,
You’re right. Bill is entitled to his opinion and some of the responses above are a bit unfriendly. However, it’s not good form to blow in to a site and drop a flaming post full of unsupported opinion and not stay around to discuss your opinion.
Ok, you think Rowling’s writing is repetitive and derivative and “pretty bad” and that she’s inept at creating something new. I cannot see how you could honestly believe this.
Tell us why you think that or forever hold your peace.
Matthew
john: Yes, thank you for that highly intelligent post. May i ask what your doing on a harry potter debate website if you don’t like harry potter in the first place?
I bet he isn’t coming back.
no. I suppose not.
so everyone, on a scae of 1-10. how did you like the seventh book? I’m definitely a ten.
15 for me!
99999999999999999999999999999999999999
hmmm…although, did anyone think that Harry sort of didn;t lose very much…like maybe he should have lost his wizarding power or something??? Just an idea…
Interesting idea kate. To be completely and totally honest, i guess i’m just a teensy bit dissapointed in jk that a main character didn’t die, but i’m also extremely ecstatic about taht!
well a main character did die.
voldemort
i give the book a 9
wow, this is depressing me, noone comes to this site anymore and i highly doubt anyone will ever see this post. but thank you for everyone who did used to come on it, i had so much debating and talking and luaghing with you. i’ll miss you all and good luck to everyone, i hope we all get our hogwarts ending!
Nelly, actually, we still get over 1,200 unique visitors a week to this site, but this particular thread, of course, isn’t getting anymore attention, because we know the answer to the question, “Is Harry a Horcrux?” Feel free to check the other posts and comment there!
Well, I am sure that there are more people like me that have a RSS on the comments, so all comment entries show up on my firefox. I will read every comment, although as Travis said some discussions have died out.
V.
And for those who do have the comments on RSS, I apologize for the terrible amount of spam lately. I have no idea why my spam catcher isn’t grabbing it. I’m doing what I can to limit it.
Hahaha, yes I’ve noticed ! I run Akismet on my blog, I don’t know what you use, maybe you can install a back-up spam filter ??
V.
I run Askimet also. I don’t know why it’s suddenly missing stuff! Maybe a backup is a good idea. I’ll have to look around for one.
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