HBP: Chapter 23 - Horcruxes



Ha! The Fat Lady says the password changed at midnight cause the headmaster has tightened security... so how does this explain why the front door has been so conviently unloked all night? Has anyone besides Harry taken advantage of this lack of security? Anything/anyone get into the castle tonight? Was the door left open on purpose by Dumbledore so Harry could get the memory from Slughorn?

Amazing timing Dumbledore... arriving back at the castle almost the exact minute Harry gets the memory from Slughorn... was that a coincidence or the reason you returned? How would Dumbledore know that Harry had obtained the memory he so desperately wanted to get? Where was Dumbledore while he was gone from Hogwarts? Why is Dumbledore so tired? What has he been doing? Convient Dumbledore was still up in his office and not busy when Harry arrived... a little too convient?

What books were Riddle reading when he learned about Horcruxes? Where did he get these books? Did someone give them to him? If so who would have given his books that discussed Horcruxes? One of the professors at Hogwarts? Dumbledore possibly? How did Tom know to ask Slughorn about Horcruxes? What does Slughorn know about Horcruxes? Why does he know about them? What did Tom mean when he said "But you obiously know all about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you..." (496) Was Tom just saying this because he knows he is more likely to get his way with Slughorn through flattery or did his words have deeper meaning. "A wizard like you"... why does this phrasing make me very uneasy?

How do these Horcrux things work? How does one split their soul and place part of it in a Horcrux? Is murder the only evil act that would split a wizards soul so they could make a Horcrux or is there other evil acts that work just as well? Is there a spell or ritual someone has to go through? Can it be done alone or is a second wizard required to create a Horcrux? How many times can one split their soul? Are Horcruxes hard to destroy on their own or does that all depend on the types of protection a wizard choses to use to prevent them from being destroyed? Would a wizard know if one of their Horcruxes were destroyed or would they have no knowledge that part of their soul had been destroyed?

Slughorn states that there is a spell a wizard must use to place a part of their soul in a Horcurx. Slughorn also says that he doesn't know what the spell is. So how did Tom find out what this spell is? Why did Slughorn get so defensive at this point of Tom's questioning? "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?" (498) Is there something you are trying to hide from us Slughorn?

What was so important about this memory? It looks like Tom just got some background information on Horcruxes... or did something else happen here too?

Dumbledore says that he and Voldemort know that "no wizard had ever done more than tear his soul in two" (500) Who had made Horcruxes before? Was it Grindlewald? Some other wizard? Someone we know?

How many Horcruxes did Voldemort make? Is it 7 like Dumbledore suspects? Again we are going along with Dumbledore's theories and assumptions... are they all correct? Have you make any mistakes in your theories Dumbledore? Dumbledore suspects that Riddle's Diary in COS was a Horcrux but he wasn't positive of this. Is Dumbledore's assumption correct? If Voldemort knew this piece of his soul had been destroyed would he have attemtped to replace it by making another Horcrux? Other possible Horcruxes: the locket, Hufflepuff's cup. Is the sword the relic of Gryffindor's out there? Would Voldemort have been willing to use a descendent of Gryffindor instead of a relic to fulfill his mission of getting something from each of the founders? What could he have gotten of Ravenclaw's? Was there anything we might have overlooked in the first 5 books? Could Nagini be a Horcrux? Ergh.... I guess its possible...

So Dumbledore finally tells us that his hand was injured while he was destroying one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, Slytherin's ring, in the Gaunts' old house. Why don't I believe he is telling us the whole truth... Was the ring really a Horcrux and has it really been destroyed? How could you tell Dumbledore? What did Snape do to help you recover from your injuries Dumbledore?

"...to confide a part of your soul to something that can think an move for itself is obviously a very risky business. However, if my calculations are correct, Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short of his goal of six when he entered your parents' house with the intention of killing you. He seems to have reserved the process of making Horcruxes for particularly significant deaths. You would certainly have been that. He believed that in killing you, he was destroying the danger the prophecy had outlined. He believed he was making himself invicible. I am sure that he was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death. As we know, he failed." (506) Did he really fail Dumbledore? There is still so little that we know about that night... maybe what we do know is wrong... could Voldemort have actually made a Horcrux that night?




Previous... Next... Half Blood Prince... Harry Potter: Theories... Harry Potter: Main... Home


- - last updated: 6-28-06 - -