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Who is R.A.B. and where is Slytherin's Locket?

by David Haber

In the dramatic climax of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore and Harry recover a locket from Voldemort's secret cave. Only after Dumbledore "dies" does Harry open the locket and find the note from R.A.B. But who is R.A.B., and where is the locket now?

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Reader Comments: (Page 49)

Actually I was kinda stupid when i read "R.A.B". The first thing that came into my mind was Amelia Bones. And then I forgot that her first name was Susan and her initial would be S.A.B. So it just clearly showed that it wasn't her or was she? It was really obvious that readers would point that it is clearly Regulus Black. But I still have doubts. J.K. Rowling is really not that generous when it comes to giving away her plots. So Regulus might be just her way of distracting us. We absolutely know that Ms. Rowling has ways of making us believe that it is really the RIGHT one but we are often shocked to find out that we are WRONG with our suspicions. On the first book, we thought that Prof. Snape was the bad guy but it was really Quirrel. On the 2nd book, we thought Harry was the heir of Slytherin and we thought that he was the one who let loose the basilisk but it was really Ginny under the control of the diary. On Azkaban, we thought Sirius was the betrayer but it was really Wormtail.
In GoF, we found out that the Moody they believed was the real Moody wasn't really the real Moody after all but it was Crouch and we also witnessed the very same plots up to Half Blood Prince. So I really had these feeling that the of Amelia Bones has something to do with the locket. We know that she is always stated as a fairly POWERFUL witch and working on her own. But I may still be wrong and that R.A.B is really Regulus Black and Ms. Rowling is just messing with our brains.

Posted by NicoRobin from Manila on June 2, 2007 11:09 AM

Thinking more about Regulus if he is RAB. He would have had to have known that the horcrux in the cave was a locket before he went after it...i.e. that it was a horcrux and also that it was slytherin's locket and not one of the others. He would also probably have written the note before he got into the cave as well. I can't see him writing coolly while surrounded by inferi. It suggests that he really knew what he was doing.

I've been thinking about motive as well. When Harry tells Bellatrix that Voldemort is a half-blood (at the end of OoTP) she shouts abuse at him as though she can't believe he mightn't be pure blood. Regulus's family was obsessed with purity of blood. There was a book about wizarding geneology in the same cabinet as the locket. Was the secret Regulus discovered that Voldemort wasn't pure blood rather than that he had made horcruxes? (or as well as that he had made horcruxes) Did this motivate him to go against Voldemort rather than some more noble reason? The more I read the chapters set in 12 Grimmauld place the more the obsession with blood in the Black family comes to the fore...and it would mean Regulus stayed true to the ideals of his family...perhaps more plausible than him coming over to the good side as I've speculated before...

The other thing I've been wondering about is switching spells. They are mentioned a number of times...could the locket have been switched magically without Regulus ever having actually been in the cave at all?

Posted by Joe from England on June 3, 2007 3:38 PM

Joe,
I don't think that Regulus took the locket because he found out that Vol was half-blood (if it was Regulus at all). My idea of Regulus is of a coward who would not defy Voldemort even if he was a squib.

Posted by Prongs from Athens,Greece on June 4, 2007 02:12 AM

First of all i want to say that i believe Regulus is still alive. Dumbledore (who knows everything about everyone) says in P.S. that he would trust Hagrid with his life, so we suppose that he has entrusted Hagtid with his secrets amd maybe somebody's life. Moreover, he tells Draco that there are ways to play , so Regulus might have joined the Order and so Dumbledore tried to cover him by teaching him to be an animagus (after all he was a transfiguration teacher) so Dumbledore entrusted Regulus' life.

I think there is one character completely devoted to Hagrid and he's also depending on Hagrid. Furthermore, there are traits of his character that reminds me of Regulus, for example that he's coward, we also know that Sirius animal form is a dog (i think there is a reason for every animagus transforming into a specific animal) so as some of you might have already understand I'm talking about Hagrid's loyal dog, Fang. J.K has also said that there is a member of the Order that we have not yet met properly and I think that this member is Regulus. Dumbledore knew or imagined that Regulus would of help to Harry because he propably knew a lot about Voldemort's horcruxes and how to destroy them without any "side effects" like Dumbledore's "" hand after he destroyed the Gaunt Ring.

Posted by Prongs from Athens,Greece on June 4, 2007 12:17 PM

To attempt to leave the eaters is a not a cowardly thing to do. We only have Sirius's version of what happened and he doesn't really seem to know a lot about it...But if Regulus did find out that Voldemort was a half-blood it would go completely against his family's beliefs and he might have found it untenable that Voldemort should have the power he did, preaching purity of blood, the heir of Slytherin etc if he wasn't pure blood. Enough perhaps to persuade Regulus to try to leave the eaters? Maybe...of course there could have been other factors at work.

Posted by Joe from England on June 5, 2007 2:01 PM

But what makes all of us think that R.A.B. is actually a single person? Sure, the parchment shows that is was written by a single person, since it says "I". But is it really? It's clear that the horcrux was stolen and replaced by the false locket, AFTER it was hidden by the Dark Lord... he wouldn't just go and hide a locket that was clearly not his.

But Dumbledore says, as soon as they are out of the boat with Harry "The protection was... after all... well designed. ONE alone could not have done it." And thats obvious... How could a single person drink that potion, take the locket and then fight himself through the Inferi, all the way outside the cave? So, this may point that at least two people had to be involved in getting the Horcrux out.

I know that the boat was actually measuring the magical power of the persons in it, and that two fully grown wizards may not have been able to get past it, but what if they weren't two fully grown wizards, but instead a pair just like Dumbledore and Harry?

Posted by LiTeRaL from Nicosia, Cyprus on June 5, 2007 3:16 PM

First of all, why was the fake locket still there? Voldemort obviously knows the real one is gone (the reason he ed Regulus), so what is the point of keeping the fake there? The only logical explanation is that he is keeping it for someone to find. But wouldn't it be more cryptic to take it away all together, or at least remove the note? So, basically, why did Voldemort let the note remain in the locket, and the locket in the cauldron?
Also, does Voldemort know of Dumbledore's quest to remove the Horcruxes? Does he know Dumbledore knows about them? If not, it makes the left-behind locket even more intriguing.

Posted by Neelie from USA on June 6, 2007 10:50 AM

Neelie from USA,

You asume that the reason that The Dark Lord ed R.A.B. is because he knows that he has taken and maybe destroyed his horcrux, thus Voldemort must know about the Horcrux being taken.

Let�s view it under another perspective.

Most of us are convinced that R.A.B. is Regulus Black.

Sirius says that his brother was about to leave the Eaters, we know that the only way that you can leave the Eaters is if you are , we found this out also with Igor Karkaroff, who is said to have been ed after GoF.

What if Regulus found out about THIS Horcrux, and because of it and other circumstances he had a change of heart about being a Eater and gathered the courage to leave them.

Just before leaving the Eaters, Regulus goes to retrieve the Locket Horcrux from it's hiding place and takes Kreacher (a magical creature not considered relevant by most Dark Wizards), who either helps his master to drink the potion, or more likely is forced to drink it himself, thus allowing RAB to battle the inferi and get away.

Regulus might still consider that he alone obtained the Horcrux, as there was no other wizard or witch with him, and Kreacher was only an instrument, not a being to be taken into consideration.

Regulus might have been ed because he left the Eaters and Lord Voldemort still is unawares about having lost yet another horcrux (he already knows about the Diary).

At the end, one of Harry�s advantages be the absence of Voldemort�s horcruxes, which he can use in two different ways:

1) Not saying a thing and have Voldemort confident that no matter what happens he, the most powerful Dark Wizard that ever was, not , just to be defeated by his own arrogance, or

2) When Harry is ready to face Voldemort, to bring the Destroyed Horcruxes to the battle ground and have The Dark Lord terrified about having lost his precious immortality, thus installing fear in him and causing him to make mistakes that eventually defeat him.

Posted by Emilio from Mexico City, Mexico on June 7, 2007 11:06 AM

I would like to point out that William Burke the 'er and grave robber' or however it was worded, specifically stated that he never robbed the graves. In fact, to my knowledge, he and William Hare only ever stole one body, which they had also ed. Therefore, it seems a stretch to me that Burke of Borgin & Burkes would be created in memory of a er.

Posted by Jenn from Oshawa, Ontario on June 7, 2007 2:07 PM

Emilio;
Great summary of the taking of the locket. I'm 100% with you on that one!

Posted by Dave Porter from New Mexico on June 7, 2007 8:20 PM

I was devastated when I got to the end of HBP and Dumbledore "d" apparently at the hands of Snape. This site has helped me to get over it somewhat and to look at many other possibilities--thanks very much. After re-reading HBP, I have a question:

When Dumbledore and Harry go into the cave to destroy the Horcrux, it is very clear that it take a highly sed wizard to find and destroy the remaining horcruxes--if Harry had been alone, he wouldn't even have made it into the cave. Harry is very brave and somewhat sed, but I don't think he is nearly good enough to pull this off without a lot of help (even Dumbledore lost the use of one hand). Assuming Dumbledore is really (which I don't really want to assume), is it possible that RAB (perhaps Regulus) is actually still alive and lend his horcrux finding/destroying ss to Harry in the last book?

Posted by Place from Tokyo on June 7, 2007 9:10 PM

Place from Tokyo,
As I've stated before I believe that Regulus is still alive and under the protection of Albus Dumbledore. Albus being a transfiguration teacher (and I assume being an animagus himself) he taught Regulus how to become an animagus and hide himself. The only thing I can't explain is why did Dumbledore took Harry to the cave in search of the locket since he knew about Regulus!

Posted by Prongs from Athens,Greece on June 8, 2007 12:29 AM

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