We know that Voldemort killed James and Lily, presumably with Avada Kedavra and then used the same spell on Harry. But the curse, thanks to the Evans Blood Charm, rebounded on Voldemort and did its job: ejected the life essence of Voldemort from its body. But remember that Voldemort did many, many things to prevent himself from dying. Here's what I think: these magical transformations were to prevent Voldemort's life essence from passing through the veil into the beyond.

Voldemort realized that as long as his essence remained here in this world, he had a chance. His "loyal" Death Eaters would find the essence and do as he instructed and help create a new body. Of course that didn't happen. His essence was ejected, his old body useless. So he floated away, still of conscious mind.

I think that in order to power an AK incantation, a person needs to tap into a bit of their own life essence in order to forcibly remove the essence of another. I arrived at this theory because of Quirrell. It was Quirrell that led me to the idea that a person needs to be able to tap into his or her own life essence and use just a smidge of it to eject the essence of another living creature.

So what I think happened that fateful Halloween was that the Evan's Blood Charm saved Harry and was what caused the spell to backfire. But the scar... the scar is another matter. You see, Voldemort's little bit of essence used to power the AK hit Harry, I believe, in the head. But the baby's body was shielded from Voldemort's spell by the protection his mother gave him. A magical effect took place. That little bit of essence lingered on the boy and etched a scar onto Harry's head, forever linking him with the Dark Lord.

I wrote that November 30th of last year. It's actually rather scary how close I was. Substitute "soul" for "life essence," and you have the basics of Horcrux theory. Granted, to be fair, I did say in that episode that the soul and life essences were different, but we can't always be 100% right. The point is that after reading Book Six, I believe that not only do I know precisely how Book Seven will end, but I believe I know the location of the missing Horcrux. I submit for your entertainment and consideration: HARRY & THE HORCRUXES!

Horcrux: An Overview

Let's quickly, using only JKR as a source, define what Horcruxes are and how they are made.

- A Horcrux is "the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul (497, HBP)."

It is inadvisable to turn a living creature into a Horcrux since it can think and move for itself.

To create a Horcrux:

• You must SPLIT your soul and hide part of it outside the body.
• To split the soul, you must commit the supreme act of evil: MURDER.
• There is a spell to encase the soul in an object.

That is basic Horcrux 101. Now what does it mean? We know Harry's mission: hunt down the remaining Horcruxes before going after Voldemort himself. Now, this is the part where theory comes in. I have a theory as to exactly what must occur in order to make a Horcrux.

Now obviously, everyone who uses Avada Kedavra to kill something isn't out to make a Horcrux, otherwise TFPWWNBN could have made one upon killing Dumbledore, or Peter Pettigrew could have made one upon killing Cedric, or Imposter Moody could have made a Horcrux when he killed the spider (remember all it says in the book is KILLING and MURDER - that does not exclude animals).

I believe that before you decide to make a Horcrux, you need a sort of point-and-click selection spell. In other words, I believe you must somehow MARK a victim as being a catalyst for Horcrux creation. Then, of course, you need an object handy to receive the soul fragment. After the death, you must then "mark" the object to receive the Horcrux. Now in order for my theory to be plausible, we have to work also off the assumption that when murder is created and the soul is split, the soul can remain split until an object can be found in which to store the broken soul fragment. I think that upon performing the spell AVADA KEDAVRA, the soul is set to split. Remember that Imposter Moody said anybody could SAY Avada Kedavra and nothing would happen. You have to WANT to do death. Therefore, I think it a safe assumption that after the "point and click" spell, the soul is prepared for splitting and upon performing the SPELL Avada Kedavra, the soul is split and waits for an object to house it. Then, after the person has been killed, the killer must then "point-and-click" the object that will receive the Horcrux. With that theory in place, we must now explore the known Horcruxes.

The Known Horcruxes

Based on information compiled by Dumbledore from his research and assumptions, the following are the seven known incarnations and locations of Voldemort's soul:

1. Tom Riddle's Diary
2. Marvolo Gaunt's Ring
3. Hufflepuff's Cup
4. Merope Gaunt's Locket
5. ?????? (Something of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor's... maybe) 6. Nagini
7. Voldemort

Now, using my point-and-click selection spell, let us look at each Horcrux one by one and try to figure out where it came from and why.

Tom Riddle's Diary and Marvolo's Ring

Tom Riddle's Diary and Marvolo's Ring are inextricably linked in that I believe they were the first two Horcruxes. Recall that in my theory, the soul can remain split until the killer creates a Horcrux (the logic being that you can't repair your soul if you have committed murder). What is intriguing is what Dumbledore said about reserving Horcruxes for special victims. Killing his father and grandparents, thus eradicating all of his ties to the Muggle world has a flash of grandeur to it. I believe it was his father and grandfather (being the males) that became the catalyst murders for Horcuxes one and two. Obviously he didn't know how to make a Horcrux at the time, but I believe that the soul was still split and upon learning how to make a Horcrux, those two murders were the ones that did it. Not to mention those two objects (since he would have had ready access to them) would have been perfect practice for Horcrux creation as his soul was already split. At that point, he returned to the Gaunt shack and replaced the ring (hidden under magical concealment) back there immediately. I am going to mention something about Marvolo's ring a little later but for right now, let's move on to Horcruxes three and four.

Merope's Locket

We all know, or are pretty sure, that Merope's Locket is safely tucked away at 12 Grimmauld Place. After the fake-out in the underground lake... excuse me... underground cave, we are all pretty much under the same conclusion that R.A.B. is one Regulus Augustus Black and that the locket, mentioned in passing in OotP, is in Sirius'... excuse me... Harry's house.

Now for a "brief" aside about the locket: during my anal retentive reread of Six, I noticed something very odd about Regulus' note. Let's look at it, shall we:

This note is very curious. My initial problem was the phrase "I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret." If you wanted Voldemort to know it was you, why did you use only your initials, you wuss? Also, Sirius said that Regulus was killed BY Voldemort (but hastily adds "or on his orders, more likely") because he "got in so far, then panicked about what he was asked to do and tried to back out." I think Sirius had it right the second time. Sirius posited that Regulus couldn't have been important enough to be killed by Voldemort personally. The Black family tree says that Regulus died 15 years before Book Five, meaning that he died around the time of the prophecy (again, it all goes back to that darn prophecy).

What intrigues me even more is how braggy this note is: "I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret" and "I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can." But what is interesting is this statement: "I know I will be dead long before you read this..." Unless he was writing the note as Inferi were slowly creeping up to kill him, how did he know he was going to die BEFORE Voldemort found out about the missing Horcrux? Regulus would have to have been really clever to single-handedly enter the cave, drink the demon potion, substitute the locket for the fake one, and escape. Now, all we have to go off are Sirius' feelings toward his brother, which is to say the brother was pretty useless (or so Sirius says). How could he have done this on his own? DUMBLEDORE couldn't do it alone, so that really doesn't bode well for Regulus. In fact, Dumbledore specifically states (as well as using the Galadriel Waters Rule of Ellipsis) that "one alone could not have done it..." Couple that with the statement "do not forget that Lord Voldemort believes that he alone knows about his Horcruxes," and something doesn't add up.

I submit that I'm not sure that Regulus (if it even is him) was working alone. On one hand, one can bring the braggy nature of the note as evidence: "I wanted you to know that it was I..." Obviously, if you succeeded in discovering a secret so magnificent, you would want Voldemort to know in a very nah-na-nah-na-nah-nah kind of way. Ah, the male ego. But let's look at Regulus, shall we? We know very little about Reggie except that he's Sirius' little brother and that he became a Death Eater. Working off the supposition that Sirius was about 22 at the time of the prophecy, Regulus would be in his very, VERY early 20s, perhaps fresh out of Hogwarts. Sirius' judgment of his brother is harsh, but through the judgment we see that Reggie's only flaw was conforming to his parents. If he did indeed come to regret this decision and try to back out of the Death Eaters and even find and destroy a Horcrux, are we to actually believe he was a part of Voldemort's inner circle?

I don't believe Voldemort told many people about the Horcruxes because broadcasting the fact that you have pieces of your soul all over the world and that by destroying them you can eventually destroy him would not be a clever move for a future dictator. Soon, everyone would be making Horcruxes, and he could never get a moments' peace and it would be work, work, work all the time killing folk. So, we have to think about who would know. Obvious Lucius Malfoy didn't know or he never would have done what he did to the diary. But somehow, SOMEONE had to have known enough about Voldemort and been close enough to him, as well as know about Horcruxes, to figure out the location of that particular Horcrux. Are we to assume that some punk brother of Sirius was clever and powerful enough to deduce in a short time what it took Dumbledore DECADES to figure out, and more importantly, that he did it ALONE?! I don't buy it.

What is most important to me now - my new mission, even - is to discover the circumstances of Regulus' death and how he came to discover the Horcrux, and most importantly, how in the world that locket got to Number 12? As I said, I don't believe Regulus acted alone. And if he had an accomplice, who was it?

Hufflepuff's Cup and the Legacy of Founders

Dumbledore deduced that one of the Horcruxes was Hufflepuff's cup. He also theorized that Voldemort might want something of Ravenclaw and/or Gryffindor to complete the "set." I sincerely doubt that something of Gryffindor's would have been included. Voldemort liked his history, and he loved his Slytherin trivia. Question: what house is the rival to Slytherin? Answer: Gryffindor! I think Voldemort would like the idea of having five of his seven Horcruxes with ties to Slytherin (the diary that says he's Slytherin's heir, his mother's locket, Marvolo's ring, a snake that is Slytherin's emblem, and himself being the most famous of all Slytherins). Not only does this underscore his connection to Slytherin, but also it symbolically shows Slytherin dominating the other Hogwarts houses and completely ignoring Gryffindor. In a way, Voldemort's soul underlines the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor. In microcosm, Voldemort's soul plays out the rivalry's dream ending for a Slytherin: Gryffindor defeated and non-existent while Slytherin dominates.

However, I'm not entirely sure that something of Ravenclaw's actually made the grade... I'll cover that later.

Nagini and Voldemort

To find one is to find them both. Where one is, so is the other. I would like to see Fawkes be the one to take down Nagini in a battle of the mascots - that would be sensational. As for Voldemort, we know where his soul... or lack thereof... is. Destroying them is going to be tricky... I'll get to that later (I know you're getting tired of reading that but it'll all make sense shortly.)

To Be or Not To Be... A Horcrux

The $64,000 question: is Harry a Horcrux? The evidence can go either way. I shall present both sides and let you know where I'm leaning.

Harry is NOT a Horcrux...

The easiest and most simple way to prove that Harry is not a Horcrux is the use of simple logic. Dumbledore said that "anyone wishing to destroy Voldemort would first have to destroy his Horcruxes." Then, and only then, would he be mortal and therefore killable. Using simple logic, if Harry was a Horcrux, he would have to kill himself before he killed Voldemort which is logically impossible and quite silly (I guess 'Reason and Argument' isn't such a stupid class after all). Sure there are other compelling reasons, but that is the easiest and simplest. If Harry is a Horcrux then he would have to die before he killed Voldemort which is not possible... easy and simple... oh wait! JKR doesn't like easy and simple...

...Or Is He?

I am now leaning toward the notion that Harry IS a Horcrux. I was fervently against this notion until I reread my theory of how Voldemort and Harry would die.

Recall my notion from last season that Harry cannot possibly match Voldemort in a battle royale duel to the death. He'd get his clock cleaned. He'd be Avada Kedavra-ed faster than you can say "Protego!" I posited, therefore, that the only way Harry could justifiably kill Voldemort would be to force him into the veil. I have now amended that theory by adding that ALL HORCRUXES MUST BE THROWN INTO THE VEIL! Think about it. In the process of destroying the Horcrux in the ring, Dumbledore almost died. Harry, even with Hermione's help, won't have a bloody clue how to destroy a Horcrux left to his own devices. Now, the only other way Harry knows how to get rid of a soul is the Dementors kiss, and I can just imagine Harry walking up to a swarm of Dementors and going, "Excuse me, would you mind kissing this locket? No... no... the locket! Not ME!!! AHHHHH!!" It wouldn't go well. Though another possible way VOLDEMORT could die would be the Dementor's kiss... but I digress.

In either case, I think Voldemort and the whole lot of Horcruxes will have to be pitched into the veil a la Terminator 2 when the T-1000 had to be pushed into the molten liquid and then they pitched in the microchip and the robot arm. But wait, something else went in, too... the Governator! Recall that Ahhh-nuld discovers that he, too, has a chip that must be destroyed to stop Judgment Day. Sounds a little familiar to me. Like foreshadowing... only not. Let me put it all out on the line.

Harry is a Horcrux by accident. Recall that Dumbledore posited that Voldemort intended to make his seventh and final Horcrux from Harry's death. Earlier, I mentioned the necessity for a "point-and-click" selection spell that targets the person you intend to kill as the impetus of a Horcrux. Here's what I think happened that night. For the most part I think it happened precisely as I have said in the past:

- Voldemort arrives at the Potter's hideout in Godric's Hollow (with or without Peter Pettigrew)

- He battles and kills James Potter

- He tries to get Lily Potter to step aside so that he can kill Harry

- Lily refuses

- Voldemort kills Lily, thereby creating the Evans Blood Charm that will protect Harry

HERE'S WHERE THE NEW BITS COME IN!!!

- Voldemort performs the "point-and-click" spell on Harry marking him as the necessary death for Horcrux creation. This mark is a glowing LIGHTNING BOLT! (OH SNAP!!! MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL!!) This mark forms a link between the soul of Voldemort and the person he is going to kill.

- Basically, since Harry is marked, as soon as Harry is killed, the mark sends a message to Voldemort's soul that it can now split and enter an object (in this case, I think it was supposed to be an object belonging to Ravenclaw; also a theory - when we get to Godric's Hollow in Book Seven, keep an eye out for mentions of objects in the ruins that shouldn't be there, like an object belonging to an ex-school founder)

- Voldemort then performs Avada Kedavra on Harry

- Because of the Evans Blood Charm, the Avada Kedavra rebounds and hits Voldemort

- The following magical effects takes place:

• Avada Kedavra hits Voldemort

• The spell ejects the split soul of Voldemort from his body. Voldemort's body is dead. Two pieces of his soul hover.

• Because of the nature of the Evans Blood Charm AND the "point-and-click" spell, half of Voldemort's soul enters the closest thing to it: HARRY!

• Remember, Harry has been "marked." Because Voldemort did not get the chance to mark the "object of reception" (see above), the spell assumes (I love personifying magical spells, but, in essence, you have to) that the only "marked" thing in the room is the object. Unfortunately, that is Harry.

• The lightning bolt glowing on Harry's face, permanently etches itself into his forehead and acts a receptor between the two people.

This might seem ludicrous, but let's look at the evidence. Avada Kedavra has never left a mark on anyone... except Harry. No explanation thus far has been given as to WHY Harry has a scar. It has been stated that the scar is a link to Voldemort, but no one has ever ACTUALLY stated why he got the scar in the first place. It makes sense that now that we know about Horcruxes, that it would be the final piece of the puzzle answering WHY Harry has a scar. Recall that in an episode last season, Attack of the Dueling Book Covers, I said that the "crack" in Marvolo's ring looked just like Harry's scar. What if that is the mark of a Horcrux? I would like to look very closely at the Horcruxes and see if there is anything resembling Harry's scar on the other "objects of reception."

Also, we know that when Voldemort tears a piece of his soul, he can no longer feel it after he has been away from it. It is therefore very plausible that Voldemort could have inadvertently put a piece of his soul into Harry and not be able to feel it. Remember Dumbledore's words: "it is inadvisable to put a Horcrux in anything that can move or think of itself." Especially if it already has its' own soul. I think it is logical to assume the possibility that Voldemort could be unable to tell that a fragment of his soul is in Harry.

Most important is my theory of Harry's death. As most of you know, I believe Harry will die in Book Seven by entering the veil. I believe that Harry will force Voldemort into the veil alone, then throw the remaining Horcruxes in and realize he is one short. His scar will tingle, and he'll realize that there is still one Horcrux left... and he'll enter the veil - and it'll be really sad, and we'll all cry.

How's that for controversy! ;-)

10/16/05

Posted by: Nicole

If you would like to contact Brandon, you may do so at Greatbman at aol dot com.

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