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Introduction | How They Work
Significance | The Seven Explained | Questions?
To be killed permanently and absolutely, the entirety of a person's soul must be destroyed. When part of it lies hidden in a Horcrux, it is impossible to kill the witch or wizard without first destroying all the Horcruxes they created. Obviously, this is of immeasurable importance to those dark wizards seeking immortality, particularly if the locations of the Horcruxes they made are hidden.
Most significant, though, is Voldemort's use of Horcruxes. It explicitly explains why he wasn't killed when the Avada Kedavra curse intended for Harry rebounded and hit Voldemort instead. As Hagrid put it, "Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die."
Dumbledore said he believed Voldemort made six Horcruxes, with the original part of his soul still remaining in his body. The locations were:
- The Gaunt Ring (DESTROYED)
- Riddle's Diary (DESTROYED)
- Nagini, the snake
- Slytherin's Locket, stolen by R.A.B (which some have speculated is the locket that wouldn't open from the glass cabinet in Book Five)
- Helga Hufflepuff's Cup
- An item of Rowena Ravenclaw's or an item of Godric Gryffindor's.
Thus, speculation is rife about the location of the last remaining Horcrux. Some possible locations:
- Riddle's Award for Services to the school (Riddle liked to collect "trophies", which we assumed was a metaphor...but Jo might have meant for us to take it literally!)
- The sinister box from the glass cabinet in Book 5
- Harry Potter himself (Dumbledore keeps saying Voldemort left some of himself in Harry the night he tried to kill him, perhaps this is part of his soul!)
- Harry destroys all the Horcruxes except himself, then kills himself and Voldemort at the same time.
- Harry kills all the Horcruxes, including himself, leaving Voldemort completely mortal so that someone else can kill him.
Post Deathly Hallows Analysis
For the most part, our speculations about the final Horcruxes were correct. An item of Rowena Ravenclaw's was indeed a Horcrux and it was the tiara first seen in the Room of Requirement in Half-Blood Prince. Also, we deduced the sword of Godric Gryffindor was not made into a Horcrux. It instead turned out to be a destroyer of them.
And of course, we were right in guessing Harry Potter himself was a Horcrux. This concept, in particular, sparked many a heated discussion; and it often yielded the most depressing conclusions. So, for many of us, we accepted Harry's death before even turning the first page of Deathly Hallows.
And he did die in some capacity, didn't he? To our delight, he was virtually untouched after his visit to the different realm and completely purged of Voldemort's poisonous soul.
Once again, in Deathly Hallows, we were introduced to items that allow the user the to escape death's disasters. But different than the Philosopher's stone and Horcruxes, the Deathly Hallows held a certain, underlying idea - "The Master of Death."
At first glance, the Master of Death seemed to be a one who possessed all three Deathly Hallows; a person with the unbeatable wand; invisible from Death himself with the magic cloak; able to recall spirits long gone to the living world. With these powers it's easy to compare such a one to Voldemort, horribly equal in his rebellion against Death. But this is not so in the opinion of fellow conspirator Albus Dumbledore. He finds the truth and realizes they are entirely contradictory:
"The true master does not seek to run away from Death. He accepts that he must die and understands there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying."
Dumbledore page 720, DH
Even the greatest of witches/wizards/people have times in their life where they struggle with their own demise. But as Dumbledore has made quite plain, the story of the Master of Death refers to bravery - not cowardice. To face destruction openly when the lives of your loved ones are at stake; that is to be the real master.
This is why Harry Potter is our hero. Not because he's a particularly powerful wizard, not because he had a hand in slaying Lord Voldemort, but because he's an exceptional human being, a person who resists the temptations of darkness and uses love and courage to spread the light.
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