Dear Friends, How Exactly Does One Utilize a Horcrux?

[jakuako]

Ok, maybe I've missed the essay on this -- it seems like a fairly obvious problem -- and if so, maybe one of you can link me to the discussion. My questions concern the nature of Voldemort's first death slash second coming. Let's recap

Comments

[witchyemerald]

Really, I am not to sure about Nagini in the Horcruxes time line. I always thought she was before Harry, and thats why she was able to help find the "main soul" part.

I thought that the Horcruxes were parts of the soul that anchored the “main soul” to this plan. It was like their first job so to speak.

What I thought was odd was, other then the dairy soul, none of the others attached to living things, tried to take over. It might be because the dairy souls was the largest because it was the first. However you would think the Harry Soul would try to take over.

[witchyemerald]

With that saying if the pie chart is right, then how the hell could Voldemort even do magic. Unless the distoryed souls go back to the main soul, but then he would know about Harry and Co offing the Horcruxes you would think.

[nerak_rose]

i always thought the entire point of horcruxes was that it was impossible to die because you need to kill the entire soul to die. and so when the killing course rebounded and hit voldy, his body died but (what remained of) his soul didn't, because the curse didn't hit the other parts of his soul as well... idk man.

[sesheta_66]

This is how I've always understood it.

The one part of the soul that had remained with his original body when the Horcruxes were made would float around until the other parts are destroyed, because they're linked and it remains the "main" part. It could move from vessel to vessel (either taking over entirely or living alongside another, as in the case of Quirrell), or remain vessel-less and weakened. If in a vessel, it could live even if the other parts were destroyed - its new vessel would also have to be destroyed.

[jakuako]

This makes a lot of sense. I hadn't thought of it that way. Killing the body can't kill the bit of soul in it, because it's anchored here by the other bits of soul. However, it's interesting to think it works in reverse. You *can* kill one piece of the soul as long as it's a Horcrux and not the "active" soul. But you can't kill the "active" soul while Horcruxes stil remain.

What then would be the point of having more than one Horcrux? I suppose just extra insurance. But if it's true that killing the body doesn't kill the active soul, then it's theoretically possible to die, allow your active soul to float around for a bit while someone brews you up a body and complete the circle over and over indefinitely, since you don't have to utilize a Horcrux each time you come back to life. Fun!

[nerak_rose]

yeah, pretty much this. which i think also explains (in part) why dumbledore didn't do anything about the horcruxes before. i think he knew of them long before HBP, but voldy was bodyless for a long time...

[jakuako]

Celestlyn had some interesting things to say on the topic of Harry's being an accidental Horcrux even without intention a few comments below. I'm with you in that there are quite a few things that remain unexplained, but I'm willing to buy into the idea that Voldemort's soul was simply so damaged already that losing a piece of his soul to Harry could have happened. If that's the case, however, think how easy it must've been to make Nagini into a Horcrux. She's got an even smaller and more unstable bit than Harry has!

[celestlyn]

Dumbledore said to Harry, when explaining Horcruxes and souls, that killing split a soul in half. I took that to mean that there would be a half a soul floating around with no vessel. A true Horcrux is different in that one kills intentionally with a plan to create a Horcrux and carefully chooses the vessel it resides in,like the ring or diadem. A soul fragment from a random killing would probably just remain a useless fragment floating around, as there was no intent to kill to create a Horcrux and preserve it in a vessel, an act of unspeakable evil

[ashindk]

Interesting question! http://hd-writers.livejournal.com/187545.html#comments Maybe Harry wasn't a Horcrux at all...

[celestlyn]

JKR has said that Harry was an unintended Horcrux. There wasn't much of a soul left by that time, anyway. Voldemorts soul was so damaged by then that Harry didn't receive a very large chunk. She has said that because of the state of the soul and how it happened (by accident, not by design) it was really an incomplete Horcrux that was left residing in Harry. Just enough to create a bit of havoc and gift Harry with a few unusual skills. And wasn't Harry seeing through Nagini's eyes when he attacked Arthur Weasley? I always wondered how that happened. I just got the impression that a wee bit of a fragmented soul flew into Harry's scar and he retained a few things from Voldemort, but none of it was intended and Voldemort didn't even know about it for a long time.

[jakuako]

So if Harry is an "incomplete" Horcrux, I wonder what sort of limitations that would have on Voldemort. Say all the rest of the fragments of his soul are destroyed but the one in Harry. Likely he wouldn't be able to regenerate since the Horcrux magic isn't there, but could he still be considered alive? Not fully dead, at least?

[celestlyn]

I would suppose the only immortality he would achieve from that would be the fragment in Harry and that might only live as long as Harry. Remember Harry had to 'die' for that soul fragment in Harry to be destroyed. With Harry alive, I doubt if there would be enough soul to be truly alive in a conscious way, but certainly not dead, either. (That almost reminds me of the explanation of the 'half-life' of anyone daring to try to keep themselves alive by drinking unicorn blood.)

I honestly don't really understand how those things worked. Voldemort tried time and time again to come back. I don't think he was utilizing any of the Horcruxes in SS/PS when he was lurking about in the Forbidden Forest drinking unicorn blood or camping-out on the back of Quirrell's head. He apparently was in book two with the diary Horcrux. And I don't think he used any Horcruxes when Peter resurrected him at the end of book four. So it seems a bit random as far as how the things were to be used.

[khalulu]

I don;t know the answer - but the idea that you can stay alive by leaving your soul elsewhere in safe-keeping is also found in Slavic folk-lore in tales of Koshchei the Deathless. In fact the Wikipedia aritcle on him said he was the inspiration for Voldemort, but they had no citation for that. He was described as an ugly old man who goes in for kidnapping the hero's love interest, and here's what he did with his soul - HOW he did it I don't know

[celestlyn]

Wow! Thaat is really interesting. I wonder if he truly was the inspiration for Voldemort. Sure sounds like it.

[jakuako]

That is very cool. I love the idea that he who possesses the soul controls the body... That could make for some very interesting fan fiction. Hmm...

It also brings to mind Davy Jones, who kept his heart, rather than his soul, in a chest.