Horcruxes (HBP)
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Horcruxes is the twenty-third chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Contents |
Lucky
Harry returns to the castle, feeling Felix Felicis wearing off along the way. He meets Peeves on the third floor, and only barely avoids meeting him and getting a detention. The teenager uses a shortcut, but ends up arriving late at Gryffindor Tower anyway; the Fat Lady is in a terrible mood.
She grumpily informs him that the password changed at midnight, as per the headmaster's orders, and instructs Harry to go complain to Dumbledore if he so wishes. The boy is delighted to find out from Nearly Headless Nick that Albus is, in fact, at Hogwarts.
The ghost mentions that the Bloody Baron (who is now "groaning and clanking up on the Astronomy Tower, it's a favourite pastime of his") saw Albus arrive one hour ago. Harry runs off to the headmaster's office, ignoring the Fat Lady's cries that she lied; the password is still 'tapeworm'.
He gives the correct password—'toffee éclairs'—to the gargoyle guarding the office, and sprints up the spiral staircase. Dumbledore beckons him inside, appearing to be very tired, and is stunned to see the boy there so late. When he learns that Harry has acquired the memory from Horace Slughorn, he is thrilled.
Albus empties the bottle with the Potions master's thoughts into his own Pensieve. Both headmaster and student enter the memory.
Gang
They find themselves once more in Slughorn's office, several years ago (HBP17). Horace himself, sporting a thick and shiny straw-coloured hair and a ginger-blond moustache, is sitting in an armchair, drinking wine and eating crystallised pineapples.
Six other teenage boys are in the room: Tom Riddle is in the middle of them, with Marvolo's ring on his hand.
A fifth-year Tom Riddle asks Slughorn whether Professor Merrythought is truly retiring. He seems a tad surprised and yet somewhat proud that the teenager is so well-informed than half the staff. The other boys throw him admiring looks; they obviously think of him as their leader.
"What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter — thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you're quite right, it is my favourite — I confidently expect you to rise to Minister of Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple, I have excellent contacts at the Ministry."``
Tom points out that his background is unsuitable for politics. Some of the students smirk. Slughorn brushes aside his concerns, stating that, judging by Riddle's abilities, it is obvious that the boy comes from "decent wizarding stock". Horace further announces that Tom will certainly go far: the teacher has yet to be wrong about a student.
Soul-splitting
The clock chimes eleven o'clock, and Slughorn sends the students to bed, two of which are Lestrange ("I want your essay by tomorrow or it's detention"), Avery ("Same goes for you.").
Only Riddle stays behind. Horace says that Tom is a prefect, and should not be caught out of bed after hours. The student ignores this, and instead asks Slughorn what he knows about Horcruxes.
Horace asks whether that is a project for Defence Against the Dark Arts, not quite believing it to be. Tom denies it; he says simply that he saw the term while reading. Slughorn replies that he will be hard-pressed to find a book regarding Horcruxes at Hogwarts—it is "very Dark stuff".
``"But you obviously know all about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you — sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me, obviously — I just knew if anyone could tell me, you could — so I just thought I'd —"
Harry appreciates the mastery with which Riddle employed flattery; it is clear to him that Tom desperately wants the information, and has possibly been working on obtaining it for weeks.
Slughorn agrees to give Riddle some basic information. "A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of that soul," he says. "You split your soul, see, and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But of course, existence in such a form... few would want it, Tom, very few. Death would be preferable"
Tom continues questioning Slughorn, who is visibly uncomfortable.
"[The] soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it in an act of violation, it is against nature."
"[You do it by] an act of evil — the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: He would encase the torn portion —"
"Encase? But how — ?"
"There is a spell, do not ask me, I don't know! Do I look as though I have tried it — do I look like a killer?"
Tom hurriedly apologises. Horace brushes it off, acknowledging that "[it] is natural to feel some curiosity about these things... Wizards of a certain caliber have always been drawn to that aspect of magic."
'"'What I don't understand, though — just out of curiosity — I mean, would one Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul once? Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces, I mean, for instance, isn't seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn't seven — ?"
Horace looks troubled by the idea, and not only because the murder of seven people is at stake. He instructs Tom not to reveal their conversation to anyone: Horcruxes are a banned subject at Hogwarts—"Dumbledore's particularly fierce about it".
Riddle promises to follow that order. Harry a familiar wild, inhuman happiness on his features (HBP13), and leaves the Pensieve along with Dumbledore.
Six Horcruxes
Albus announces that this evidence confirms a theory he has been working with for a long time. All the old headmasters and headmistresses in the room were awake and paying attention; one corpulent wizard actually uses an ear trumpet.
Dumbledore believes that Voldemort had by then split his soul into several parts. No wizard before him had ever done so more than once, to Albus' knowledge. Harry guesses that was the reason that Voldemort did not die on October 31, 1981.
Albus concludes that they are closer to knowing how to vanquish Lord Voldemort than anyone before them: Riddle made six Horcruxes—the seventh part of his soul is still in him. This part is the last that anyone wishing to kill him must attack.
Out of the six Horcruxes, two have been destroyed: the Diary (CS17), and Marvolo's ring (HBP4).
The diary
Four years ago, Albus received certain proof that Voldemort had made Horcruxes: Tom Riddle's diary. A memory alone would not have enough power to act and think for itself: more than that lived in that book. It was at once a safeguard and a weapon—the latter because Tom certainly wanted the diary to be read. He wished to take credit for opening the Chamber of Secrets.
The careless way with which that Horcrux was handled—not keeping it extremely safe and hidden, and instead choosing to make it available to a regular student at some point—alarmed Dumbledore. The headmaster guessed that Voldemort had made more than one Horcrux.
After the Dark Lord's rebirth (GF32), Harry told Albus of Voldemort's proud statement: "I who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality." (GF36). Dumbledore knew what Voldemort meant, even if the Death Eaters did not.
"Lord Voldemort has seemed to grow less human with the passing years, and the transformation he had undergone seemed to me to be only explainable if his soul was mutilated beyond the realms of what we might call 'usual evil'..."
Harry asks why Voldemort did not attempt to make a Philosopher's Stone instead. Dumbledore replies that Voldemort did try; in any case, Horcruxes are far more reliable, in that the Elixir of Life must be drunk regularly in order to prolong one's lifespan—and, if the Stone were stolen or contaminated, death would be the inevitable outcome. The thought of depending on anything is certainly intolerable to the Dark Lord.
Marvolo's ring
The ring was heavily protected, and if not for Dumbledore's great knowledge and Severus Snape's quick thinking once the headmaster returned to the school, greatly injured, Albus would not have survived. The clearest sequel of his struggle against the ring's curse is his withered hand.
Dumbledore found the ring in the ruins of the Gaunts' house in Little Hangleton. Voldemort appears to have stopped wearing it once he had transformed the item in a Horcrux. The ring was hidden there, with complex magical concealments and shields, after Morfin was taken to Azkaban (HBP17).
The remaining four
Harry, thinking back on his experience with Portkeys (GF7), despairs over the fact that the other four Horcruxes could be anything, any undistinguished magical object. Dumbledore reminds him that Voldemort likes to collect trophies (HBP13), and had a fondness for objects with a powerful history (HBP17).
The diary was proof that Riddle was the heir of Slytherin; because of that, Voldemort certainly awarded it immense significance.
Harry asks Dumbledore what the other four Horcruxes could be, and the headmaster mentions searching for years records of powerful artefacts disappearing around Tom Riddle.
The three founder relics
The boy then remembers Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket.
Albus considers it highly likely that Voldemort would have procured an object related to Godric Gryffindor or Rowena Ravenclaw, given the wizard's fascination with Hogwarts. The only known Gryffindor relic, however (the sword), is quite safe inside the headmaster's office.
Harry suggests that Voldemort wanted to return to Hogwarts to find something from the two missing founders, under the pretence of teaching; Albus agrees, and further supposes that Voldemort never managed to complete the set of four. He has certainly two, and possibly three.
Nagini
Dumbledore guesses that the sixth Horcrux is Nagini: the snake's curious behaviour has intrigued him for a while. Harry is surprised to hear that animals can be used as Horcruxes.
Albus tells him that it is unwise to use something that thinks for itself as a carrier for one's soul. Nevertheless, Voldemort preferred using significant deaths for Horcrux-making, and the headmaster guesses that his sixth was meant to have been made at Godric's Hollow—the night he was to become invincible.
When that failed, and years later the Dark Lord used Nagini to kill Frank Bryce, it probably occurred to him that he could use her for a Horcrux. Nagini is, after all, a snake, which highlights the Slytherin connection. He seems to an incredible amount of control over her, even for a Parselmouth (OP22).
The quest
Dumbledore explains that he has been looking for Horcruxes during his prolonged absences from the school. He notes that he may be close to finding another hiding spot (HBP26).
Harry asks to be taken with Albus, should his search be successful. Dumbledore agrees, much to the boy's surprise. "I think you have earned that right," replies the headmaster.
Several of the paintings seem to disagree with the decision; Phineas Nigellus Black snorts.
Harry asks Dumbledore whether Voldemort feels it when a Horcrux is destroyed. Albus believes that he doesn't; his soul has been parted for so long that he does not feel their absence—he may, however, notice the lack at the moment of death.
When Voldemort discovered that the diary had been destroyed, he was extremely furious; Dumbledore was told that his anger was terrible to behold. The Dark Lord had once meant for Lucius Malfoy to smuggle it into Hogwarts—back when he was still strong enough to create moer Horcruxes—, but on his express command only, and Malfoy never received it.
Lucius intended simply to incriminate Arthur when he slipped the diary into Ginny's school items (CS4), and also to get rid of the dangerous magical object, with which, in all likelihood, Voldemort had trusted him with the explanation that it was enchanted to open the Chamber of Secrets.
Dumbledore theorises that Lucius may even be glad to be in Azkaban, and away from Voldemort's wrath.
After a brief silence, Harry concludes that Voldemort can be killed if all six Horcruxes are destroyed. Dumbledore agrees; nevertheless, the Dark Lord's brain and abilities are not harmed by the maiming of his soul, and killing him is doubtlessly a difficult task, even for an uncommonly skilled wizard.
Harry cannot help pointing out that he has no such skill. Dumbledore says that he does have a power that Voldemort never did, to which the boy retorts impatiently, "I know! I can love!"
Albus acquiesces, and adds that Harry is too young to understand how remarkable that is in a boy who has lived through so much. Harry is disappointed to realise that so-called power the prophecy refers to is only love.
"But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the end of last year (OP37). Voldemort singled you out as the person who would be most dangerous to him — and in doing so, he made you the person who would be most dangerous to him!"
Dumbledore impatiently rebukes Harry for setting too much store by the prophecy. If Voldemort had never heard it, it would not have been fulfilled, like so many others in the Hall of Prophecy.
Harry is bewildered. Albus clarifies, "If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of course not! If he had not forced your mother to die for you, would he have given you a magical protection he could not penetrate? Of course not, Harry! Don't you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back! Voldemort is no different! Always he was on the lookout for the one who would challenge him. He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons!"
Dumbledore is more agitated than Harry's ever seen him. He stresses that it is essential for Harry to understand this: it is Voldemort's fault that the boy is a Parselmouth (PS2), that he could see into the Dark Lord's mind (OP21), and that the two have so much in common (CS18). Despite all this, Harry has never felt attracted to the Dark Arts.
The boy indignantly replies that indeed, he hasn't, because Voldemort killed Lily and James. Dumbledore repeats that Harry is protected by his ability to love—the only protection possible against the lure of power. When Harry stared at the Mirror of Erised, it showed him the only way to thwart Voldemort, and no selfish desire (PS17); few other wizards would have seen the same.
The Dark Lord now knows whom he is dealing with, but not exactly why: "he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole."
Harry says that it doesn't matter; it is his duty to try to kill Voldemort. The Headmaster interrupts him—yes, Harry must try, not because of the prophecy, but because the boy will never rest until he's tried.
Regardless of the prophecy, he would have wanted Voldemort finished. The prediction, in fact, does not bind Harry in the least; it simply caused the Dark Lord to mark him as his equal, and it will ensure that Voldemort continues to hunt Harry. That, in the end, is what will cause one of them to die at the hand of the other.
It was, [Harry] thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew — and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents — that there was all the difference in the world.
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| After the Burial | Horcruxes | Sectumsempra |
