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The Peasant, the Tramp and Hepzibah Smith: A Horcrux Case Study
By WaggaWaggaWerewolf

Biography

I am an Australian librarian who has greatly enjoyed discussing the Harry Potter books on Leaky. I'd like to acknowledge the discussions in the Deathly Hallows Reading Groups, especially the Downstairs Drawing Room, and elsewhere on Leaky, which prompted my writing this essay.

As someone who has had good reason to appreciate the professionalism and hard work of Scribbulus staff, however difficult the conditions, I would like to express special appreciation of the time, interest, thought, courtesy and hard work my editor has devoted on this particular essay, which I have found particularly helpful.

Thank you, caltheous!



Abstract

When J K Rowling was asked on the Bloomsbury webcast who died to make Voldemort’s seven Horcruxes, she listed them as Moaning Myrtle, Hepzibah Smith, Bertha Jorkins, Tom Riddle Snr., an Albanian peasant and a tramp.

But what is significant about the death of a tramp or a peasant? Examining the deaths of all the people who died for each Horcrux, which object they were attached to, where they were stored, and the people who destroyed them provides an answer. Maybe each person who died is connected to one or the other of the Seven Deadly Sins. It is even possible to see how such magic works for Voldemort’s downfall.

This essay can be found here.

This post has been edited by AnguaTLC: 01 March 2008 - 02:45 AM

What a supremely satisfying read your essay was for me WaggaWaggaWerewolf. You presented the Horcruxes, the deaths behind them, and the characters who ended up destroying them in such an informative way - I never thought about all these connections based on the Seven Deadly Sins, that was rather fascinating.

I'm off to bed now, and as I'm exhausted I haven't any specific comments at the moment , but I did want you to know how very much I enjoyed reading your essay.

Kudos!

Thank you very much for your appreciative comments. Those comments have done much to make the efforts to get this essay finished worth the trouble of writing it. Thank you again.

You're very welcome.

I must ask - would you mind explaining where/how you got the inspiration for writing this essay? I apologize if it's mentioned somewhere (I'm planning on giving it another read when I have the chance), but was it something Rowling mentioned in an interview at some point? Was it born of a certain thread on these boards?

How perfectly all of your examples seem to fit to the Seven Deadly Sins! I would love to hear how you came up with all this - if you're interested in explaining, of course.

I think that since the publication of HBP, Horcruxes have been a hot topic, not only on Leaky. On this now read-only Mugglenet thread the theme was 'who died for the Horcruxes', and I am sure that there were equally cogently argued Leaky equivalents not only in GWE but also in the post DH forum, Deathly Hallows Unfogged. Even after JKR's July 30th Bloomsbury interview, when she did answer a whole swathe of questions, some people were still puzzled that so-called 'significant deaths' could have included an Albanian peasant and a Muggle tramp, and not the likes of Frank Bryce, Dorcas Meadows or one of Tom Riddle's grandparents. Up until this interview, Moaning Myrtle didn't even figure, because of a perception that she was probably killed by sheer happenstance, and that the Diarycrux must have been made from the Riddle murders. And up until that point I would have been one of the misled.

Then there were the Edinburgh Castle Reading Groups, in which I took an extensive part, firstly in the Downstairs Drawing Room and then in the later Rooftop garden. Reading along with DH, how does one account for the events surrounding the Locketcrux, not to mention the Cupcrux, Diademcrux, and Naginicrux? Personally, I wanted to know why so many people were involved in Horcrux destruction, when Harry at the end of HBP expected to destroy all remaining Horcruxes himself. I even asked this question in an early edition of my essay. But then, why did Harry think in the 'Silver Doe' chapter that Ron is the one to destroy the Locketcrux? And why did Ron later think that 'it was only fair' that Hermione should destroy the Cupcrux? Crabbe was an anomaly, until you think about it, but why did Harry ask Neville to get rid of Nagini? And what is the real significance of Neville destroying the Naginicrux, let alone Bertha Jorkins' role in making it?

Some of the threads I visited to discuss my concerns that are still in operation include these 'Magical Theory' threads: Cup and Locket's powers and the already pinned Horcruxes thread.

This post has been edited by WaggaWaggaWerewolf: 04 March 2008 - 05:45 AM

Wonderful essay, WaggaWaggaWerewolf!

It's fascinating reading about the same subject I've been frying my brains on from a totally different point of view.

Thanks for the excellent read and new food for thought. It'll need some digesting before I can rearrange thoughts and comments a bit

Your essay is marvelous! It is very well-written, and extremely insightful!

By the way, just an aside. I really like how you equate the Locketcrux to envy. Isn't it fitting that Voldemort placed this horcrux in a basin filled with green poison? "Green with envy!"

I will write more at a later date. I need time to digest your material.

Thanks again for your efforts!

Thank you both for your kind thoughts.



I know exactly what you mean by 'frying your brains'. I felt the same way about your essay. Two totally different angles on the same subject.

QUOTE(lirene)

I really like how you equate the Locketcrux to envy. Isn't it fitting that Voldemort placed this horcrux in a basin filled with green poison? "Green with envy!"

Yes, the green poison was rather apt for envy. So was the incident when he took the two other orphans into that cave. I think that LV was jealous of any of the other orphans who had anything of their own at all. He certainly regarded them as competitors or worse, to want to take their small possessions as trophies, and to want to dominate them.

Very fun and impressive theorizing.

My problem with it is that once one starts looking at the deadly sins metaphorically they bleed into one another. Metaphorically speaking, greed and gluttony are very much alike, and it can sometimes be arbitrary to classify a behavior as one or the other. Metaphorically lust can be very close to the former two, or it can be close to envy (or lead to it), and envy can be very close to wrath or be a cause to it. Pride and envy can be entwined with one another. Thus while your theory appears a neat explanation of the whole Horcrux theme it isn't necessarily the only one. But it definitely is intriguing.

Thank you for your kind thoughts, which are much appreciated.

QUOTE(Oryx @ Mar 7 2008, 06:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My problem with it is that once one starts looking at the deadly sins metaphorically they bleed into one another. Metaphorically speaking, greed and gluttony are very much alike, and it can sometimes be arbitrary to classify a behavior as one or the other. Metaphorically lust can be very close to the former two, or it can be close to envy (or lead to it), and envy can be very close to wrath or be a cause to it. Pride and envy can be entwined with one another. Thus while your theory appears a neat explanation of the whole Horcrux theme it isn't necessarily the only one. But it definitely is intriguing.

I sort of know what you mean about sins bleeding into one another. In researching a previous Scribbulus essay, Seven Lords = Seven DADA teachers I used a reference to a radio show transcript, called "Phyllis Tickle discusses Greed". This interview with Neil Conan was quite interesting, since it also discussed Greed from an Islamic point of view. Unfortunately, that reference was through an E-library database subscription which has been reformatted since then.

Phyllis Tickle, in the transcript, did present the sin of Greed as the fundamental sin to end all sins, which is applicable in some degree or other to the rest. Such as, anger is a greediness for revenge, or pride is a greediness for self-justification. And yes, I can see the connections you make between all the sins and with the deepest desires of one's heart. Whilst doing the essay, I even noticed that Hepzibah's own greedy expression did seem to be for Tom Riddle, himself, rather than for Hufflepuff's cup when she was displaying Hufflepuff's cup to Tom Riddle Jnr.'s greedy admiration in HBP. Maybe Hepzibah Smith had more in common with Bellatrix L'Estrange than keeping Hufflepuff's cup in storage.

But the trouble is with Greed, is that it doesn't match what we know about the other Horcrux victims, other than rich Hepzibah, wanting more than she had already. I can't really see Tom Riddle Snr as being greedy, despite being as rich as his parents. Greediness or lust was not why he left Merope, or his unborn son to be raised in an orphanage. Nor do I see other, more needy, victims such as Moaning Myrtle, the tramp or the peasant as being greedy.

As atschpe's essay proves, of course there are plenty of other ways to explain the Horcruxes. All the same, I think there is a real distinction between Greed and Gluttony. The former has to do with priorities, and with taking more than one's due, or taking things unethically, reckless of the consequences. Gluttony is to do with lack of restraint, conspicuous over-consumption and doing things to excess. Was Bertha Jorkins really greedy, when she was waylaid by Wormtail? Or was she curious too often for her own good?

This post has been edited by WaggaWaggaWerewolf: 07 March 2008 - 05:55 PM