Harry’s Quest – Two Down and Five to Go
After my initial shock and mourning period for Professor Albus Dumbledore, I, too, turned my attention to Horcruxes. But what and where in the Wizarding world could they be? So I started looking for clues hidden in the books. To rephrase the Grinch, I puzzled three hours, ‘till my puzzler was sore, and then I thought of something I hadn’t before! (The Grinch That Stole Christmas).
There are seven parts to Voldemort’s soul, and hence six Horcruxes. In the Mugglenet/Leaky Cauldron interview, JKR said, “Dumbledore’s guesses are never very far wide of the mark. I don’t want to give too much away here, but Dumbledore says, ‘There are four out there, you’ve got to get rid of four, and then you go for Voldemort.’ So that’s where [Harry] is, and that’s what he’s got to do” (JKR interview, 16 July 2005). That will be Harry’s quest in the final book. So let’s analyze some of the tantalizing clues in the books:
Horcrux #1: Voldemort’s Diary
Voldemort gave the diary to Lucius Malfoy for safekeeping, but Lucius Malfoy didn’t know it was a Horcrux. Harry destroyed the diary in the Chamber of Secrets, and Voldemort was furious when he found out (CS17, HBP23).
Horcrux #2: Slytherin’s Ring
Dumbledore found Slytherin’s ring in the ruin of the Gaunt’s house. Dumbledore destroyed it, although the ring had been terribly cursed (HBP23).
Horcrux #3: Slytherin’s Locket
Here starts a long, long explanation. It begins with R.A.B., who is now generally believed to be Regulus Black. To overanalyze the clues hidden in the note:
To the Dark Lord – Only Death Eaters called Voldemort the Dark Lord (OP26). So R.A.B. must have been a Death Eater.
I know I will be dead long before you read this. – What could have horrified a Death Eater so much that he refused to do it, knowing that to do so was to sign his own death warrant? Perhaps he knew that Voldemort planned to kill an innocent baby?
I have stolen the real Horcrux. – This wizard thought that Voldemort had only one Horcrux. As Dumbledore told Harry, “Do not forget that Lord Voldemort believes that he alone knows about his Horcruxes” (HBP26).
and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. – The wizard intended to destroy it, but he may not have been able to before he was killed. Regulus was killed just a few days after he defected.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match. – Now this is very interesting. Note that R.A.B. said, “When you meet your match.” Did R.A.B. know about the prophecy concerning Voldemort and Harry Potter? Now I digress a little before I continue my analysis. Snape could NOT have overheard the first part of Trelawney’s prophecy. Dumbledore told Harry: “The eavesdropper was detected only a short way into the prophecy and thrown from the building” (OP37). But Trelawney told Harry: “I remember I was starting to feel a little odd … there was a commotion outside the door and it flew open, and there was that rather uncouth barman standing with Snape (HBP25). Trelawney did not go into a trance, begin the prophecy, wake up when Snape intruded, then go back into another trance and finish the prophecy. She only woke up after the full prophecy was given and a second eavesdropper (Severus Snape) was detected outside the door. Snape heard the last part of the prophecy: “And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies” (OP37) and he told Voldemort what he heard. It is entirely possible that it was R.A.B. who overheard the first part of the prophecy.
you will be mortal once more. – As Dumbledore told Harry, “Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul” although “his brain and magical powers remain intact” (HBP23). Voldemort can then be destroyed.
Slytherin’s locket was last seen in the Black family home, which Harry now owns. As JKR said, “I'm prepared to bet you now, that at least before the week is out, at least one of the Horcruxes will have been correctly identified by careful re-readers of the books” (JKR interview, 16 July 2005). The only problem is, of course, that Mundungus Fletcher may well have stolen it, and perhaps even sold it on, and whilst it was once right under Harry’s nose, right now it could be anywhere.
Horcrux #4: Hufflepuff’s Cup
We know what the cup looks like and how Voldemort got it (HBP20). But where could it be hidden? I put together the following clues:
“Tom Riddle like to collect trophies” (HBP13).
“[Tom Riddle] searched … on the shields in the trophy room” (HBP17).
“Voldemort was … more attached to this school than he has ever been to a person. Hogwarts was where he had been happiest” (HBP20).
Tom Riddle was the winner the Award for Special Services to the School, which is now in the trophy room at Hogwarts (CS7, 13; HBP20).
“[Voldemort] wanted the two fabulous trophies that poor, besotted, old woman showed him” (HBP20).
“I think he still felt a great pull toward the school and ... an object so steeped in Hogwarts history” (HBP20).
“Voldemort liked to collect trophies, and he preferred objects with a powerful magical history” (HBP23).
Put these clues together, and what do you get? The trophy room at Hogwarts! After all, who would notice another gold cup amongst the “cups, shields, plates, and statues [that] winked silver and gold” (SS9). And, as Hagrid said, there’s no safer place to hide anything than Hogwarts (SS5).
Horcrux #5: Gryffindor’s Sword
This is another long and complex analysis. Let’s go to an extremely important chapter, “Lord Voldemort’s Request” (HBP20). Three times Voldemort asked Dumbledore to let him return to Hogwarts:
“I have come to you to ask that you permit me to return to this castle, to teach.”
“Will you let me return?”
“Will you let me share my knowledge with your students?”
Three times Dumbledore responded to these requests:
“Why have you come here tonight … to request a job we both know you do not want?
“You do not want to teach any more than you wanted to when you were eighteen.”
“I don’t think for a moment you expected me to [give you the job]. Nevertheless, you must have had a purpose.”
And what was Voldemort’s purpose? I believe it was to get into Dumbledore’s office to gain access to Gryffindor’s sword. Let’s go to the JKR interview again. When she was asked, “Do the memories stored in a Pensieve reflect reality or the views of the person they belong to?,” JKR answered, “It’s reality. It’s important that I have got that across … what you remember is accurate in the Pensieve … the Pensieve recreates a moment for you, so you could go into your own memory and relive things that you didn’t notice the time … things that you don’t know you remember are all in there somewhere” (JKR interview, 16 July 2005). Harry saw something in this memory that Dumbledore did not notice:
“For a second, Harry was on the verge of shouting a pointless warning: He was sure that Voldemort’s hand had twitched toward his pocket and his wand” (HBP20).
This is when Voldemort used a nonverbal spell to make Gryffindor’s sword a Horcrux. And what safer place is there? It will be interesting to see who inherits Dumbledore’s possessions – Harry, perhaps?
Horcrux #6: Nagini
Dumbledore thought the sixth Horcrux could be Nagini, who “underlines the Slytherin connection” (HBP23). This is certainly possible, and she could be hiding in the Riddle House in Little Hangleton.
The Final Piece: Voldemort
After his Horcruxes are destroyed, “Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul” although “his brain and magical powers remain intact” (HBP23). Voldemort can be vanquished.
To conclude, Dumbledore believed that Voldemort could not actually feel when a Horcrux was destroyed (HBP23). So he may only know that the diary is gone, and still thinks that the locket and ring are still where he left them. And it will be Harry who will find the Horcruxes, destroy them, and then vanquish Voldemort.
At least, that’s the idea. It’s going to be far from easy, of course, and knowing what you have to do is the easy part. Putting it all into practice is far more difficult, and whether it all goes to plan or not remains to be seen.
Written by Elizabeth
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