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Reader Comments: (Page 28)

I agree with the posts in regards to this new information that the title points towards the horcruxes:
- The 7th book is centered on finding and eliminating the horcruxes
- They are “hallowed” to Voldemort because they preserve his life
- Horcruxes are ly by nature in that their creation is through the of others and they stave off of creator.

I’m not sure about them being “ly” in of themselves because we saw Harry destroy one with no effect back to him and we were never told if Dumbledore’s injury came from destroying the ring Horcrux or a trap laid to protect its hiding place.

I also agree w/Monkeeshrines that Nagini is probably not the Boa released by Harry in Book 1 for the same reasons. We know that Nagini has fangs as stated by Arthur Weasley when describing the difficulty they were having finding an antidote for the unusual venom in the snake’s fangs. Besides, a large boa escaping from a zoo would probably be caught again relatively soon and this happened long before Voldemort would have been in position to capitalize on it.

But combined with the above post about Nagini not being what she seems, it got me thinking. Nagini would have to be a truly unusual snake for the Healers not to be able to know or concoct the antidote fairly quickly. And (someone please correct me if I’m wrong here) I believe we have seen inanimate objects Transfigured into animate ones. Could Nagini be a horcrux (i.e. a wand) that was transfigured into snake thereby “hiding” it behind one more layer of protection?

Posted by Seyah from SLC on May 29, 2007 12:35 PM

I love the transfigured snake idea! Nice going!

Posted by ashley from California on May 29, 2007 5:49 PM

Seyah: I came to the same conclusion (how better hide a Horcrux than make him look different) and I suggested that Nagini could be Godric's authentic sword, in fact the historical Sword of Nuada, given to Godric, transformed into a Horcrux by Voldemort and transfigured lately into a snake. Here is why.

Among the four Irish Hallows, the Sword of Nuada is the most likely to be used in HP saga. There are at least three strong clues for that:

(1) Nuada was a celtic king. He lost his hand in fighting(and his powers by the same way) and was ultimately given a silver hand to recover his powers. Pettigrew's story has clearly something to do with Nuada's story. Pettigrew is also the person who takes care of Nagini along GoF. Pettigrew could in fact be, in Voldemort's mind, the new Nuada.

(2) When you look for a description of the Sword of Nuada, you can find it in a list of artefacts used for a role game called "Shadowrun" (it appears in a site that was released prior to HP's first book). It's described as follows: "Encased in a glass box was a long silver sword whose hasp was plated in gold and set with cabochon emeralds and rubies. So this was where the sword of Nuadha had finally come to rest". But for the emeralds, the same wording is used in HBP, "Horcruxes" chapter: "Dumbledore pointed his blackened fingers to the wall behind him, where a ruby-encrusted sword reposed within a glass case."

(3) The Sword of Nuada was supposed to make wounds that nobody could heal. Jo insists pretty much on the fact that Nagini makes wounds that nobody can heal using Muggle surgery.

Of course, there is a huge weakness in this theory: Dumbledore is sure that Godric's authentic sword is the one in his office.

From there on, we get into unexplored fields and there is no real clue to guide us. But I can see two reasons for which the sword inside Dumbledore's office would be a copy:
(1) In the myth, the Sword of Nuada, once taken off, was irresistible. Nobody could prevent it from striking. Such an agressive behaviour wouldn't be accurate for a sword exposed inside a school. That could explain why the sword was replaced by a copy.
(2) Godric might have been buried with his sword, which was of no use in a pacific school. Maybe, Godric didn't have any son to whom he could give the sword.

All this could be written down in some Hogwart's old history book, exactly the kind of readings Hermione would enjoy, and that would bore anyone else, including Dumbledore. Dumbledore himself admitted that he made big mistakes and adviced Harry to get help from Ron and Hermione.

Posted by herve from strasbourg on May 30, 2007 02:46 AM

Hi, I am not too sure about Nagini being a transfigured object. As suggested by someone it was milked to revive Voldemort. I am not too sure whether a transfigured object can function as authentically as the real creature. So, basically it produce real venom if it's not a real snake? Even if it can produce venom, the magic that was required to bring back Voldemort register it as real venom? Just a few thoughts.
Apart from this, I thought of a very strange idea. While I was watching a documentary on NGC about snakes, there was a place shown called 'Narcisse' where a certain breed of snake summon to mate in hundreds of number. Now we know about Narcissa. So, can we pressume that Narcissa can summon snakes and if Nagini turns out to be a horcrux then Narcissa might help Harry to summon it or probably destroy it. Afterall we can't expect Narcissa to remain loyal to the Dark Side anymore. This way then she can redeem herself.

Posted by no0r from india on May 30, 2007 08:55 AM

The new update makes total sense. It just HAS to be horcruxes.

Posted by spoorthi from india on May 30, 2007 09:16 AM

Hervé, I still don't like the idea, but it is plausible, and possible. We shall see if you where right in less than two months.

Posted by Emilio from Mexico City, Mexico on May 30, 2007 09:27 AM

Nauda, according to Celtic Mythology, was the ruler of the Tuathan (mythological inhabitants of Ireland prior to the Celts) for seven years prior to their arrival in Ireland, and lost an arm in the battle to conquer it. Because he did not have both arms, he could not hold the kingship (for some reason). He was crafted a silver arm by a physician by the name of Dian Cecht, later was made an arm of flesh and blood by Dian Cecht's son Miach, and retook the throne after removing Bres, a ruler oppressive to the Tuathan. Nauda ruled for another twenty years before (depending on the source) either loosing his courage or his life in subsequent attempts of Bres to take back the throne.

I've been a Harry Potter fan longer than a mythologist, and when I read about Nauda's silver hand and loosing courage in battle, I was immediately reminded of Peter, but also realized that that was pretty much where the similarities end. While I really doubt that Jo has taken any part of her story from a role playing game, herve does bring up interesting parallels to Gryffindor's sword and Nauda's. We know that Jo likes to use lore and mythological references. Perhaps the sword is modeled after Nauda's for appearance, rather than literally supposed to be it. I do also agree that a sword that was irresistible and could never be escaped until a fatal wound inflicted would not be wise to keep around students. (Maybe, though, this was the weapon Sirius alluded to in Order of the Phoenix...)

Posted by Monkeeshrines from orlando fl on May 30, 2007 09:33 AM

One of the Japanese translations of the title reads. Harry Potter and the Secret Treasure of . I think this would show that Horcurxes cannot possibly be the ly Hallows. The Horcruxes are not treasure after all. Nor are they consecrated. Infact they are pieces of evil.

Posted by Abhay Doshi from India Mumbai on May 30, 2007 10:33 PM

Abhay: From our point of view, yes, the horcruxes don't seem like "treasure". But how do you think Voldemort thinks of them?

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on May 31, 2007 07:24 AM

Dave and Abhay:

To me, treasures are related to the relics. What the title says is that the relics of the founders have a central place in the book 7. That's what Dumbledore already told Harry. And those relics, unfortunately, could be Voldemort's Horcruxes. Dumbledore is sure of that, regarding Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup, and thinks a third one, coming from Ravenclaw, could as well have fallen into Voldemort's hand. It's even possible that all four Horcruxes are relics from the founders, as I assumed yesterday.

Those relics would remain treasures from the past. Of course, when Harry gets rid of Voldemort's torn part of soul that is encaged in them, the word "treasures" be more appropriate.

Posted by herve from strasbourg on May 31, 2007 08:11 AM

Abhay Doshi from India,

I concur with Dave, and would like to add that in a way they really are treasures, if you think of them as Relics from the founders.

For Hepsibah Smith both the cup and goblin made armour where part of her treasures, the most valuable in fact, for their historic value, as well as for their real monetary value, and probably also for their magical powers.

This said, I do think that some of the Horcruxes can be considered treasures.

Posted by Emilio from Mexico City, Mexico on May 31, 2007 09:24 AM

In support of Dave, Voldemort definitely "treasures" these Horcrux's and to be "hallowed" does not necessarily mean sacred in the sense of good/evil. It just has to hold special meaning or significance to the perception of the one who holds it as hallowed.

Kudos to the inputs on the Nauda theory. Excellent research and arguments. Not sure I buy into it completely (it seems a bit stretched) but some definite possibilities to explore. It seems to me that what we know of Godrid’s sword could fit the mythology quite well. The only time we saw it put into action was when Harry pulled it out of the sorting hat and immediately delivered a mortal blow to the Basilisk. And there is no guarantee that the sword was not tampered with or even ultimately removed/swapped at some point. Thanks for all the food for thought!

Posted by Seyah from SLC on May 31, 2007 11:25 AM

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