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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 23)

Joe from England--
I think Harry is going to , but assuming he lives, yes I do think he return as Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Have any of you noticed that the people who teach or apply to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts usually SUPPORT the Dark Arts?
Voldemort, Quirrel, Barty Crouch Jr., Snape...
Why would they want to teach a class that goes against all of their morales and ideas?

Posted by Ashley from Missouri on April 16, 2007 1:50 PM

David Coleman from New York,

Sorry to put a hole in your theory, but in an interview JKR said that Fawks' ownly owner had been Dumbledore, so it comes to break your theory of the Phoenix being a "Relic".

Florean Fortescue must have been taken by force (as there was sign of struggle) but Ollivander must have gone into hiding (as the shop didn't show signs of struggle, thus Voldemort won't be able to find out why the Priori Incantatum effect between his and Harry's wands, and even if he can find out, there is no one that can make wands that can compare to Ollivander, so if Voldemort can acquire another wand, it won't be of the same quality and he won't have much time to get used to it, so he would be in a disadvantage.

Joe from England,

I think that you are correct in assuming that there is a Horcrux in Hogwarts, if I am correct, it is Ravenclaw�s Tiara in the room of requirement.

I don't think that Dumbledore would make a Horcrux because he is not looking for immortality. Dumbledore is truly , but still assist Harry either through the portrait in the Hedmaster's office, through the pensive or through recollections of other witches or wizards, including his brother Abeforth.

Posted by Emilio from Mexico City, Mexico on April 17, 2007 11:23 AM

Ashley, that's a good observation about the DADA teachers. Lockhart may not have been evil, but he justified taking credit for heroic deeds done by others and changing their memories. Umbridge is definitely an unpleasant lady.

In another topic, someone has a theory that Lupin is a Voldemort's spy/mole in the Order of the Phoenix. Maybe this is a Rowling's clue that Lupin show his true colors in book seven...

Posted by Linda from Fort Wayne on April 22, 2007 09:41 AM

Ashley from Missouri, What about Lupin? He was the best defence againsst the dark arts teacher and he doesn't support the dark arts.

Also, Snape seems inordinately good at healing people from the effects of the dark arts...we see lots of examples of this in HBP and Dumbledore seems to rely on him for this. We never see Snape do really bad magic...except when he uses avada kedavra on Dumbledore....

Posted by Joe from England on April 27, 2007 11:55 AM

Although you make very good points throughout your article, and I agree that *if* Dumbledore DID make a horcrux it would be the phoenix.
However, I do not think Dumbledore would make a horcrux. I think it would be against what he believes since a Horcrux is, in fact, a, "crime against nature". I know that Nicholas Fl. is a 'good guy' and still used the stone to keep him alive, Dumbledore would be that is being wrong in some way.
I think that Dumbledore come to play and be able to give Harry advice through the portriat that was mensioned in the end of HBP. Since we know that the paintings can talk, why shouldn't Dumbledore be able to give his adice to Harry that way?

Posted by Suzie Lewis from Radford, Virginia on April 27, 2007 2:57 PM

What about when Voldemort was in power and Dumbledore was in the OOTP, he would have probably ed one or two people, so it's possible he created horcruxes after the battle.

Posted by Taylor Turner from Hamilton, Ontairo on April 29, 2007 12:39 PM

I believe the fact that Dumbeldore knows the dark arts is important but not for him to come back. Malfoy tells us that at durmstrang they teach the dark arts as well as all the subjects at hogwarts. So Dumbledore could have learned the dark arts in order to use them for good. Because he uses dark magic it doesn't necessarily mean he is evil, fighting fire with fire would probably be completely legitimate as long as dumbledore was not corrupted by what he learned.

Dumbeldore IS . No doubt about it. He did not make a horcrux, he not come back to life, he knows the dark arts but puts them to better use then certain others *cough*Voldy*cough*. As much as I wish Dumbledore was alive, He is not, He is !

Posted by E from Portland, ME on April 29, 2007 3:24 PM

If you fight fire with fire your gonna get burnt. Has Dumbledore actually given his views on Horcruxes? If he wasn't negative about it then that could be a clue.

Posted by Rebekah from Birmingham on April 30, 2007 09:10 AM

I don't think it's possible that Dumbledore created a Horcrux, because he always said that Voldemort was afraid of , and that isn't something you should be afraid of. I don't think the only evil of the Horcrux is the fact that you have to to make it. I think the other evil is avoiding , and I don't think that Dumbledore would do that. He always points out that Voldemort is afraid of , and we can assume that this is the reason why Voldemort created the Horcruxes- he was afraid of . But Dumbledore doesn't seem, at least to me, to be the type of person who's afraid of . I don't remember when, but he said once that to be afraid of is just to be afraid of the unknown.
I don't think that Dumbledore created a Horcrux because it's not only the ing that's evil, it's the creation of a Horcrux itself that is evil.
I had this belief for a long time after I read HBP, but then I realized that Dumbledore had worked on a Sorcerer's Stone with Flamel, and the Stone delays . So then I thought that Dumbledore didn't actually us the stone, he simply worked on it with Nicholas. But if he thought that delaying was evil, he wouldn't work on something that was evil, and neither would Flamel, because he didn't seem to be a bad wizard. So then I realized that it is possible that Dumbledore created a Horcrux, because it is only the act of ing that is evil.
I don't know if this makes any sense to anyone else, but when you read the books, and you learn new spells that Rowling puts in the story, isn't there always a certain connotation to the spells? Like Felix Felicis sounds nice- you get a good vibe from it. When you think "Sectumsempra"- even before you knew what the spell did- you knew it was a bad spell- it sounded like it. When you think Horcrux, you don't think "GOOD." It doesn't sound good- it sounds evil, and not just because Voldemort made Horcruxes. It just sounds bad, and it is bad- the whole thing, not just the part where you someone, whether it's accidentally, on purpose, or in self-defense. The whole thing is bad, and I don't think Dumbledore would use something evil to keep himself alive.
The first time I read the HBP, I didn't think of this, but the second time, I did. What if it wasn't Dumbledore? What if it was someone who was transfigured to look like him? I didn't know who, but this website gave me a few ideas. The point is, if Dumbledore really d, and Snape didn't do a nonverbal counter-spell to Avada Kedavra, then I think he really d. I don't think he used Horcruxes. But I still think it's possible that someone was transfigured to look like Dumbledore.

Posted by Emily from New York City, NY on April 30, 2007 10:57 AM

I'm going to blend two worlds here for a moment. Dumbledore knows the dark arts. He's not nuts about them, but he knows them. Remember in Episode II when Yoda was fighting Dooku? Dooku used Force lightning against Yoda. Yoda somehow absorbed it and pushed it back to Dooku. Yoda, arguably one of the greates Jedi, used a dark side power, not in anger, but in defense. He obviously knew of the powers and how to use them

Now, back to Dumbldore. To me, it's close to the same thing. Dumbledore knew of horcruxs and how to make them. I think that Dumbledore made a horcrux after he "defeated the dark wizard Grindlewald". It doesn't say he ed him, but seeing as how there is no mention of him being in Azkaban (at anytime), it is logical to assume Dumbledore ed him. Since the damage to his soul was done, he might have decided to make a horcrux for whatever reason. I tend to think the horcrux is fawkes.

Basically the point is that both Dumbledore and Yoda are/were great and "good" characters who both knew of very dark powers/magic. Yoda, we know both knew of and used dark powers. We know that Dumbledore knew of horcruxs and how to make them. It isn't that hard to take that knowledge one step further to say that he made one.

Posted by Robbie from New Mexico on April 30, 2007 12:43 PM

When you look at the man, I say it WOULD be hard to take that one step further. Good people do not do bad things. Making a horcrux is not evil only because it requires a to accomplish, it is also evil because it splits your soul, the ultimate crime against God and nature. A good person just wouldn't do this, for any reason, whatever the circumstances. To believe Dumbledore could make a horcrux means you also believe that Dumbledore is an evil person.

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on April 30, 2007 12:57 PM

Albus has the ability to love. This really goes without saying. Now imagine you are "immortal". You do not from natural causes and cannot be ed. You live for even only 200 years. In that time, everyone you know and love have passed on. That is a cursed life if I ever heard one, continuing to live while you watch everyone around you wither away. Albus would never want such a life. It is possible he faked his in this instance, but he would not have made a horcrux, for this if not for the other reasons already examined and yet to be examined.

Posted by Monkeeshrines from orlando fl on April 30, 2007 2:30 PM

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