Horcruxes 101:, What are they and how do they work? |
 Aug 1 2006, 10:15 AM
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Loyal Lockhart Fan  Posts: 4,285 Joined: 10:42am February 15, 2005 Location: Embracing my Inner Slytherin   |
HBP was the first introduction we had to the idea of Horcruxes. The only knowledge we have of them comes from two characters - Slughorn and Dumbledore - and yet the concept is so complicated and extraordinary that it has generated myriad discussions and theories.
Because (in the HBP) universe at least we don't have much concrete evidence of what a soul actually is (is it physical? spiritual?) it is hard to work out the logistics of what happens when they are tampered with. Does it affect the brain? The heart? Do Voldemort's horcruxes make him supernatural, preternatural, or less than natural 
This post has been edited by Perenelle: Sep 1 2006, 06:03 PM -------------------- |
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Aug 13 2006, 01:53 PM
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Professional Diagon Alley Window Shopper  Posts: 59 Joined: 7:54am June 14, 2006 Location: USA, MASS. |
Here is part of a thread I started and was told it was a duplicate, maybe it will do better here.
Work in progress  What is a Horcrux? A Horcrux is described to be an object, usually of great value to the owner that the owner has transferred part of his soul into. This gives the owner a faux or false immortality, while part of the owners soul lies in this said object if the owner’s original body were to parish he/she would not die as long as the Horcrux exists. This leaves a lot to be explained, for instance, does this object stay a Horcrux forever? Or, how do you create a Horcrux? I will try and answer these questions as I go along. How do you create a Horcrux? We know the creation of a Horcrux calls for the murder of a human being (we don’t know if this person has to be a Wizard or a Muggle.) and In doing this heinous act the Murderer is able to split his soul into halves (one would assume, however, the soul could in fact split into unequal parts) We do not know whether the vessel receiving the soul needs to be present at the time, but more than likely this act would have to be done within a short amount of time, ones does not want his/her soul floating about while they look for an object to become the said Horcrux. Faux or False Immortality Knowing the basic information on what a Horcrux is and what it does you should ask your self this question; Does making a Horcrux make you immortal? Having a Horcrux will keep you from dieing in that if you were to die then the Horcrux would activate and the part of your soul would leave that Horcrux and re enter your body bringing you back to life. If your body would be destroyed than what would happen, would the Horcrux recreate your body? From what we know about Riddles Diary I believe this to be true, If Young Riddle had succeeded in sapping all of Ginny’s soul then he would have became a physical being instead of a memory from a diary. This is a case of a Horcrux becoming sentient; do all the Horcrux have the capacity to think for its self? Does this object stay a Horcrux forever? We do not know this for sure, however, more than likely the Horcrux will stay a Horcrux until it is used up (I will explain this later on in my theory) This poses some odd questions like, if the Horcrux does not make the person immortal then does this person get old, and if so if the person died of old age will he just be revived by his Horcrux. Most likely the soul does not age thus the Horcrux would exist forever. *update* another theory on how a Horcrux is used. They are described as an "anchor" for the soul. When a person is killed, normally the soul inside their body would move on to the next place. When they have a horcrux, the soul inside their body stays put because other parts of the soul are still on the earth acting as an anchor. The horcruxes remain horcruxes until they themselves are destroyed. -from 'KyleJRM' What happens when the creator dies? In my opinion the time line should go as follows. -Person creates a Horcrux -Person dies or is killed -Horcrux is activated -The Horcrux becomes the newly restored person. -Since the Horcrux released its part of the person’s soul the Horcrux stops being a Horcrux. -The Person lives on to create more Horcrui / Horcruxes The purpose of having Multiple Horrcrui / Horcruxes. In the case of Voldemort, having multiple Horrcrui / Horcruxes is something that has never done before, knowing that Voldemort does not want to be like everyone else decides to have multiple ones. Being afraid of death, having multiple Horrcrui / Horcruxes is the most logical choice. Having multiple ones is also a good idea if one has many enemies, if they figure out about them and go hunting them down, the chances that one will survive becomes better if there is more than one Defensive Horcrux. Because the Horcrux have part of Voldemort’s soul in them they tend to mimic him. Voldemort’s Horcrux have the capacity to defend it's self, I.E. the ring that destroyed Dumbledore’s hand. They do not just defend themselves; they do it in a horribly violent manner. Last of the Horcrux. It has been said that the last Horcrux Harry should look for is the one in Voldemort. The last part of Voldemort’s soul is held within Voldemort himself thus making him a Horcrux. I believe in the final moment, Voldemort, will find out he has no more Horcrux by Harry telling him that he has no more. Horcrux within a living being? I believe this to be an impossible task, because, as we have seen with the Diary, the soul that inhabits an object tends to think for it’s self and take over the object. If Voldemort had made such a living Horcrux would his soul be fused with the living creature’s soul? Perhaps it would not even work correctly. Hopefully this spurs some good ideas. -------------------- "It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more." - Dumbledore
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Aug 23 2006, 05:14 AM
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Cauldron Bottom Measurer Posts: 112 Joined: 1:56pm September 12, 2005 |
 why didnt LV leave a body behind after the potter murders? he was totally transformed into a wraith. i reckon that killing tears the soul, rips pieces from the original, but the original remains in lv with the other six little pieces anchoring him to this world. the soul that is linked to the body remains dominant. i also think the horcrux thing is what dd saw in the little smoke machine in book 5.  maybe its time i stop thinking |
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Aug 23 2006, 07:19 PM
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Just Through the Brick Wall Posts: 1 Joined: 7:15pm August 23, 2006 |
hmm...maybe because the curse couoldn't actually destroy his spirit, it compensated...it just stripped him of his body, otherwise, he wouldn't have dissapeared, he could've crawled back into his own body
And that's a good idea! --------------------  |
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Aug 23 2006, 08:43 PM
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Being Eaten by the Pea Soup Posts: 36 Joined: 12:38am July 5, 2006 Location: In the Hogwarts lake, swimming with the mermaids |
I really don't think that a horcrux is used up when the creator is killed. If that was the case, Dumbledore would have taken that into account when he was giving Harry his theories on what objects Voldemort made into horcruxes.
I do like that anchor theory, though. But I'm not quite sure you could call what was left in Voldemort a soul. He was already less than human before he tried to kill Harry. Afterward, he was even less of a human. (I wonder, if he kept making more horcruxes, would he continue to lose more human features and become that fetus thing he was in the graveyard?) I also agree that having horcruxes keeps you from aging. That's one of the reasons Voldemort isn't getting any weaker with age. He just looks different. QUOTE Because the Horcrux have part of Voldemort’s soul in them they tend to mimic him. Voldemort’s Horcrux have the capacity to defend it's self, I.E. the ring that destroyed Dumbledore’s hand. They do not just defend themselves; they do it in a horribly violent manner. I'd have to disagree with that as well. The ring destroyed Dumbledore's hand because of the protective spells placed on it. As for the diary, Tom Riddle's memory was placed in it before it became a horcrux. That's why he deemed it an important enough object to store his soul inside. It can respond to whoever writes in it just like the Marauder's Map can "talk" to certain people about certain things. Part of Voldemort's soul could be placed in a living creature. I don't think that Harry is a horcrux (I used to be a fan of that theory, but now I'm not) but Nagini could be. The soul would probably be running through her blood then or something. I've been wondering... do you think that everyone who splits their soul would start to look like Voldemort? With the slits for nostrils and the red eyes and everything? Or would they look less human in different ways? -------------------- icon by last5 |
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Aug 25 2006, 07:44 AM
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Freelance Daily Prophet Reporter Posts: 1,537 Joined: 3:18pm August 30, 2005 Location: Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver.  |
I'm in the camp that thinks Voldemort may have left a piece of his soul in Harry's scar. Not a Horcrux because there was no intent to do so; the intention was to kill, but that is why the scar is so different from scars left by other curses. And someone was killed - Voldemort himself.
-------------------- "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Hunter Thompson
"Shun the non-believers! Shun! Shun!" from Charlie the Unicorn |
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Aug 25 2006, 08:23 AM
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Shopping for a New Firebolt Posts: 828 Joined: 10:52am August 24, 2006 Location: Persuading Voldie to wear a necklace of butterbeer corks with me, come on, Snape's doing it! |
When the curse reveresed to Lord Voldemort, did he kill that piece of his soul? I knw that would mean his body would be useless but maybe by the reverse f that curse, LV had to undo a horcrux and put it back int his body. I dunno ... I'm just conspiring
 But I'm sure that Harry is a hrcrux even if JK proves he isn't in book 7  , I'll always believe it!
-------------------- Miss me much? I solemnly swear that I trust Severus Snape.  JK: "I would like to take this opportunity to say that the practise of calling Lord Voldemort ‘Voldie’ must stop, as must the insistence that with a bit of therapy ‘Voldie’ would be a real sweetheart." |
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Aug 26 2006, 08:46 AM
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Freelance Daily Prophet Reporter Posts: 1,537 Joined: 3:18pm August 30, 2005 Location: Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver. |
You know, that is a consideration. Just because the body that Voldemort inhabited was destroyed does not mean that a portion of his soul was torn again because technically - Voldemort did not die. But no one has ever attempted to do what he has done so who knows.
-------------------- "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Hunter Thompson
"Shun the non-believers! Shun! Shun!" from Charlie the Unicorn |
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Aug 28 2006, 09:36 PM
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Daily Prophet Photographer Posts: 866 Joined: 7:26pm June 10, 2005 Location: Curled up on the sofa with coffee, my dog, and Harry Potter |
QUOTE(~Voldie~ @ Aug 25 2006, 08:23 AM) [snapback]928713[/snapback] When the curse reveresed to Lord Voldemort, did he kill that piece of his soul? I knw that would mean his body would be useless but maybe by the reverse f that curse, LV had to undo a horcrux and put it back int his body. I dunno ... I'm just conspiring But I'm sure that Harry is a hrcrux even if JK proves he isn't in book 7 , I'll always believe it!I don't understand... if Harry turns out not to be a Horcrux-- if they find and destroy all the horcruxes, defeat LV, etc-- why would you always believe it? Why do you *want* Harry to be a Horcrux so badly? I'm just curious! I find it an interesting theory, but will be happy to know how it really is, when book 7 comes out! --------------------  |
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Aug 29 2006, 08:54 AM
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Shopping for a New Firebolt Posts: 828 Joined: 10:52am August 24, 2006 Location: Persuading Voldie to wear a necklace of butterbeer corks with me, come on, Snape's doing it! |
 I just think it would be the perfect tragedy that in knowing he is a horcrux, Harry would have to kill himself (assuming he had killed the other horcruxes) which would leave Voldie as a mortal to be killed by Snape or someone else.  (I hope it's Snape  )Also, to me, it would help explain about their amazing connection. I have a bundle of theories some are completely contradicting of each other but I want every theory to be the theory,  That's just me.
-------------------- Miss me much? I solemnly swear that I trust Severus Snape. JK: "I would like to take this opportunity to say that the practise of calling Lord Voldemort ‘Voldie’ must stop, as must the insistence that with a bit of therapy ‘Voldie’ would be a real sweetheart." |
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