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Reader Comments: (Page 3)

In support of the argument that horcruxes are not "used up", there is a passage in the book HBP where Dumbledore says that the diary as a Horcrux "played its part" in preventing Voldemort from . One thing troubles me though. If when the body s the soul is released rather than ed then what evidence is there to suggest that once a Horcrux is destroyed the piece of soul within it is also destroyed and not floating about the place looking for a body? This would then suggest that all 7 pieces of LV's soul need to be free (i.e. the 6 Horcruxes and Voldemort's body must be destroyed) before they can "pass over". In which case there must be some kind of connection between the pieces of soul to let them know that they can now "pass over" since non are earthbound. Any thoughts on this?

Posted by Aroosha from Edinburgh on January 19, 2007 09:31 AM

I don't believe the piece of soul inside the Horcrux would be destroyed, just released. but as it is no longer contained inside the Horcrux, it no long holds the rest of the soul earth bound and would depart this earth with the soul when the body d. I do not know if a spell exists for "capturing" and reabsorbing a fragment of soul into the body, but it may.

Perhaps "on the other side of the veil" the soul is, for lack of a better word, reassembled.
That might explain why having just a small piece of ones soul held earthbound, the whole soul is kept from "passing over".
ALL or NOTHING.

Posted by Kevin from Wisconsin on January 19, 2007 09:51 AM

Thanks Dave and Kevin, you really cleared that up for me. It does make sense now.

Posted by Heather from NJ on January 19, 2007 10:08 AM

This clears up my meaning of what horcruxes are. I first didnt understand wat they were clealy, but know i understand more. By the way is it really Hermione from Hogwarts?

Posted by Nasrin from England on January 19, 2007 11:58 AM

Magnificent! I loved every mintute of that article; thank-you for amalgamating all the facts we have so far on horcruxes. You eluded to the fact that the diary was created with the intention of reaking havoc at Hogwarts (of course siteen-year old Tom would would love to get back at Dumbledore and the mudbloods all in one step). Since the Chamber of Secrets was built by Salazar Slytherin to harm mudbloods it makes sense that Voldmort would trust the diary to Lucius since he was "head of muggle-torture". Seems right up Lucius Malfoy's alley!

Posted by Christina from Canada on January 19, 2007 4:36 PM

have to disagree Kevin. The piece left in Voldemort when he tried to Harry is gone, only six left if there, indeed, were 7 to start with. Either way, that piece is gone. It wasnt a horcrux and it was destroyed by a backfiring AK curse. Just like if you had one whole soul, destroyed by an AK curse. No difference, it's gone.

Posted by Mike McGrath from Columbus GA on January 19, 2007 6:14 PM

As with everything else we discuss here, the best case you can make is not simply opinion, but ideas based on facts or clues in the books. And the book holds the answer to your question, Mike.

On page 503 of HBP (page 470 in the UK version), when Harry remarks on the impossibilty of having to destroy seven horcruxes, Dumbledore says:

"I am glad to see you appreciate the magnitude of the problem. But firstly, no, Harry, not seven horcruxes: six. The seventh part of the soul, however maimed, resides inside his regenerated body. That was the part of him that lived a spectral existance for so many years during his exile; without that he has no self at all. That seventh piece of soul be the last that anybody wishing to Voldemort must attack -- the piece that lives in his body."

There you go. Dumbledore couldn't have stated it plainer.

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on January 19, 2007 8:34 PM

Thanks Kevin, I enjoyed reading your thoughts on horcruxes. Here's something to ponder... Could Voldemort, after creating multiple horcruxes, creat multiple "clones" of himself using these soul fragments? I don't mean multiple clones one-at-a-time after he has been "ed" but duplicates of himself that exist at the same time allowing him to be multiple places at the same time.

Posted by Eric from Denver, Co. on January 21, 2007 02:13 AM

I can see where you are backing up this arguement, Dave, but I still have to disagree. Granted it is my opinion, but there still would have had to be part of his soul inside him to survive at the time he tried to Harry. It is logical to assume that if you are hit with an AK spell with one whole soul, that soul s when the body does. Since Voldemort was hit by an AK spell that backfired, whatever part of his soul that was within him, d as well. Compare it to what happenned to Cedric Diggory, and only one logical conclusion can be made. That part of the soul is gone.

Posted by Mike McGrath from Columbus GA on January 21, 2007 03:48 AM

After thinking about your comment Dave, I am puzzled by an alternate theory. The horcruxes were created simply to keep the soul earthbound? So then, all of the horcruxes would have to be destroyed to return one whole soul to Voldemort, like the peices would re-generate inside him as they were destroyed, until not one seventh of his soul would be left, but one whole and complete soul that would no longer be earthbound if destroyed. So from this point of view, I can see how the soul would not be destroyed, but the objects holding it earthbound.

Posted by MIke McGrath from Columbus GA on January 21, 2007 04:25 AM

Kevin, this is a beautiful article. It clears the things quite well and is inspiring. I agree with your last comment - that was the idea that popped in my mind, too. While Voldy hates to let go so much that he is ready to split up his soul, then once on the other side, he's still reassembled. Or is he?
Does a horcrux rip the soul further apart so that it can't be healed even by ? Now that's ironic. When you are afraid of , you can't have peace beyond the veil. Fair punishment? You decide.
The soul parts within a horcrux perhaps could be destroyed with it, or just released and flapping around. But the one in Voldy's body wasn't, it knew or remembered something. Maybe because he was a living creature? Then that would do for Nagini, too. Or because he had a mind complicated enough to know what to do, to stay alive, to hide, to *wait*? Does the nature of the horcrux affect the fate of the soul part? What do you think?

Posted by Enelas from Saku, Estonia on January 21, 2007 06:11 AM

Mike: I don't see how you can argue in the face of what Dumbledore says. However, I have a question for you:

If your soul is destroyed when you , what passes over to the next life? What part of you "goes to heaven" (or wherever your respepective religion believes you go)?

If you don't believe in an afterlife, only then could you think the soul is destoyed when you . (It's OK if you believe this, by the way, many people on earth share this belief.)

BUT! The characters in J.K. Rowling's books definitely DO believe in an afterlife. She's had Nearly Headless Nick very clearly describe the afterlife and how he was afraid to face it, and that's why he's a ghost. And she's shown us the "veil" in the dept. of mysteries, which holds a place on the other side of which where everyone has gone who is . You can even hear their voices.

As to your second question, it's unlikely. Once your soul is ripped apart, I don't believe there is any hope for healing it. If that is required for Voldemort's ultimate immortality, then he's already doomed because because both the diary and the ring have been destroyed.

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on January 21, 2007 08:00 AM

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