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Dumbledore's Horcrux

by Jan-Marie Spanard

How does a wizard learn about the existence and properties of Horcruxes? Who knows what they are, how to make them, what they can do? What wizard would make a Horcrux? Under what circumstances? And for what reasons? And why are they so evil? Hermione is working very hard to answer these questions. As Hogwarts virtual library search-engine, she is coming up empty. But Tom Riddle did it, somehow.

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Reader Comments: (Page 18)

Herve--
This is an interesting speculation, and I happened to read that chapter in Social Stus today. I am first off wondering how Voldemort would impersonate Slytherin if he {Slytherin} has been for several hundered years.
Only other thing id like to say is that you said the evil power thing went from MORFIN to Merope to Voldy. Morfin is Meropes brother: It seems to have gone from MARVOLO, her father, to her to Voldy

Posted by Ashley from Missouri on March 1, 2007 12:05 PM

Herv�,

I might be mistaken, but if my memory serves me well, the song sang by the sorting hat states that the houses must join together to protect Hogwarts. When I read this (before I read that Draco left with Snape to meet the Dark Lord) I was thinking that it was going to bi difficult for Harry and Draco to join forces to protect the school, and to vanquish He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but now there are two possibilities:

1.- That without Draco it be easyer for the Slytherins to Join forces with the rest of the school, as the other three houses did in �Dumbledore�s Army�, or,

2.- That Draco reacted to Dumbledore�s and to what he sees around him when he joins the Eaters, and decides that that is not what he wants, and joins the others, even if it�s at the last minute, in the fight against Lord Voldemort.

Posted by Emilio from Mexico City, M�xico on March 1, 2007 12:38 PM

Ashley: as you said, it's just speculation. I guess Voldemort could get Slytherin's soul - if Slytherin had made a Horcrux - the same way Quirrel has been possessed, on his own , by Voldemort's soul.

The Marvolo - Merope - Tom Riddle line works as well. I was just striken by Morvin's behaviour.

Posted by herve from strasbourg on March 1, 2007 11:42 PM

Magick Moste Evile! Less then ! Who would choose such an existence? Only the most evil of people. Ones with out a conscience or no moral values. Dumbledore would never choose this path just because it was available to him. Sometimes one most choose between what is right and what is easy. If anyone has higher moral fiber than Harry it would be Dumbledore. You make too many assumptions in your theory.

1st That creating a Horcrux is not an evil act. We're not sure but it is mentioned in the book Magick Moste Evile!

2nd That the soul is split in two when one commits . The soul is only ripped or torn. To create a Horcrux a wizard uses the damage inflicted on his soul to completely rip it in two. I'm sure this would be considered a most evil act and maybe even more so than . Many wizards have comitted but only two that we know of have made a Horcrux.

3rd You assume that Dumbledore has committed . We don't know for sure that he has ed anyone. Only that he defeated Grindelwald. Maybe Grindelwald d in the process but Dumbledore didn't him. Consumed be his own hatred.

4th How did he know about Horcruxes. You assume he knew because he made one. This is a huge leap of faith on your part. Dumbledore had to learn about Horcruxes because he faced and defeated a great evil wizard who had a Horcrux.

That's enough holes in the theory for now. I look forward to your responses and too seeing Dumbledore in DEADLY HALLOWS. I just believe he communicate from beyond the grave and not come back to life.

Posted by D.L. from Knoxville, TN on March 2, 2007 07:37 AM

D.L.
Who is the other wizard who made a horcrux?

Posted by Patty from Quincy MA on March 3, 2007 07:01 AM

Patty
That would be Grindelwald.

Posted by Diana from Knoxville, TN on March 3, 2007 11:51 AM

Grindelwald made a Horcrux? maybe thats why Dumbledore had to go and fight him: he seems to have an extremely outspoken argument/war fight type thing against Horcruxes.

Posted by Ashley from Missouri on March 3, 2007 2:11 PM

I'm only saying it's possible that Grindelwald had a Horcrux and this is how Dumbledore knew about them. Or maybe he just learned about them in his many stus.

Posted by D. L. from Knoxville, TN on March 3, 2007 6:04 PM

On the chocolate frog card when Harry first reads about Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, Grindelwald and the 12 uses of dragon's blood are mentioned. Slughorn used dragon's blood (and collected every last drop of it again) in book 6. Could dragon's blood have been an ingrent in the Philosopher's stone? I don't recall another mention of it in any other context, but I think it play a big role in book 7. I wonder if it is needed to make a horcrux. It would fit that Riddle asked Slughorn about horcruxes, and Slughorn just happens to have one of the ingrents in his collection when he comes back to teach.
Was Riddle in contact with Grindelwald, was he aware of the uses of dragon's blood? The timeline allows this. Riddle had left Hogwarts before Grindelwald was defeated I believe.

Posted by Patty from Quincy,Massachusetts on March 5, 2007 05:59 AM

If the books do mirror each other as suggested here somewhere, than its more than likely that we be introduced to dragon blood in Book 7. Book one mentioned it first, and then it has only been mentioned twice to my knowledge: leaking out of the dragon steak that Hagrid had on his eye, and at Slughorn's house on the wall. So dragon blood may come into great effect in DH. We'll have to wait and see.

But Patty- dragon blood is very rare and expensive. Dragon liver was 17 Sickles an ounce, so id think that dragon blood which is "amazingly magical" would be way more expensive than that. And anyway, Slughorn said himself that dragon blood is expensive, which is why he was so keen to scrape it off the wall: it was very hard to come by. I highly doubt that Slughorn, even 50 years ago, would be stocked up on dragon blood. And besides, when Sluggy is describing the Horcrux he says, "There is a SPELL, do not ask me, I don't know!" A SPELL, he says. what was the last spell that required ingrents?

Posted by Ashley from Missouri on March 6, 2007 3:46 PM

I don't think that Slughorn was stockpiling 50 years ago, but then again it might not have been as expensive then (inflation, you know). When dragon breeding was outlawed the price would have skyrocketed. Once Riddle posed the question, Slughorn may have investigated horcruxes, and if dragon's blood was involved, then he would be looking out for it. But he might have got a good deal on it somewhere, or a freebie like Aragog's venom, and knowing the monetary value of it snatched it up, regardless of horcrux making. If Hagrid used a steak on his eye instead of eating it, dragon meat or blood must have healing powers. In ancient lore, dragons are long lived, so maybe their blood would be an antidote or restorative in the way phoenix tears can heal.
Seeing dragon's blood mentioned in the same passage as Flamel, and then later with Slughorn, makes me connect the blood with immortality and horcruxes somehow. Since Dumbledore discovered the uses of the blood, his and possible future relationship with Harry has something to do with it all. I don't think Dumbledore made a horcrux but I wonder what he did do in his long and adventurous career.

As to using a spell to make a horcrux, what about Voldemort's penchant for blood sacrifice, and blood in his spells. Quirrel drinks unicorn blood for his master, the cave hiding the locket required a blood sacrifice, the incantation to rebirth him in the graveyard used blood of the enemy. Maybe dragon's blood is not necessary but icing on the cake. Voldemort technically only needed 1 horcrux but desired 7, just because of the magical power of 7. Dragon's blood might be considered extra insurance when making a horcrux.

Posted by Patty from Quincy,Massachusetts on March 7, 2007 05:43 AM

Sheetal - I've had the same thoughts about how Harry might be able to activate Dumbledore's horcrux.

I don't think we have been told yet how this happen, but Dumbledore did tell Harry, at the end of Book 1 when Harry asked if Voldemort could still come back, that there were ways in which Voldemort could return (because, we find out later in Book 6, he has one or more horcruxes).

One way to return was to possess the body of another; a second way was to get the Sorcerer's Stone and drink the Elixir of Life instead of unicorm blood; a third was to come back via the horcrux in the diary, the fourth -- and finally effective one -- was to produce the potion in the graveyard that allowed him to regenerate own his body.

How many other ways might there be? A wild guess might be that there are as many as seven (Jo's favourite magical number) ways to come back via a horcrux. Could there be as many as three more that we might learn about in ly Hallows? Or are there only the four we have seen so far? Does Dumbledore have in mind another way to activate a horcrux that involves love rather than cruelty and anger?

And if there are more ways to return via a horcrux, who might be knowledgeable enough in the dark arts to know one or more of them? Perhaps the guy who can "put a stopper in ?"...

Posted by Jan-Marie from New York on March 8, 2007 04:59 AM

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