Horcrux

"Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction —"

- Magick Moste Evile

A Horcrux is an object in which a Dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. Horcruxes can only be created after committing murder, the supreme act of evil.

Origins
The first Horcrux was created by Herpo the Foul long before the modern era. The only other known creator of a Horcrux was Lord Voldemort, who was possibly the only person to have successfully created more than one Horcrux.

The nature and concepts of Horcruxes were so terrible, they were kept secret from most of the wizarding world, and very few people were ever made aware of their nature. Hogwarts banned any study of the subject of Horcruxes.

Nature and creation
"A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul... Well, you split your soul, you see, and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged."

- The nature of Horcruxes



The only known book that provided specific instruction on the creation and nature of a Horcrux was Secrets of the Darkest Art, which was once held in Hogwarts' library. Due to the book's extremely dark and dangerous nature, Albus Dumbledore hid it away in his office when he became the Headmaster of Hogwarts. It was believed that Tom Riddle had found the information necessary to make a Horcrux in this book before Dumbledore managed to get ahold of it. While a Horcrux could be anything at all, including a living being, it was most advisable to create a Horcrux out of an inanimate object to decrease the chances of it being destroyed.

Horcruxes by their nature appeared to be extraordinarily durable, as only very destructive magics and processes could truly destroy them.

To create a Horcrux, a wizard first had to deliberately commit murder. This act, said to be one of supreme evil, would result in the murderer metaphysically damaging their own soul. A wizard who wished to create a Horcrux would then use that damage to their advantage by casting a spell which would rip the damaged portion of the soul and encase it in an object. If the maker was later killed, he or she would continue to exist in a non-corporeal form, although there were methods of regaining a physical body. However, according to Horace Slughorn, few would want to live in such a form and death would be preferable to most.



As a fragment of soul, a Horcrux seemed to retain the identity of its creator at the time of its creation. Voldemort, for instance, created a Horcrux during what was presumably his fifth year at Hogwarts. As such, the fragment of soul contained within the Horcrux took on the appearance and mannerisms of Voldemort as he had been when he was 16 years old.

Horcruxes were said to be essentially the opposite of a person. Where a person's container, their body, could be destroyed without any damage to their soul, the fragment of soul contained inside a Horcrux was dependent on the container for its existence. If the container was destroyed, so to would be the fragment of soul within it.

Horcruxes were originally conceived of as being a singular act. As such, it was unknown for many centuries what the attempted creation of multiple Horcruxes would result in, as nobody thought it possible to accomplish such an act. However, the wizard Voldemort planned to create six Horcruxes in the hope that it would make him stronger than just creating one.

It was stated at one point that Voldemort had already "pushed his soul to the limit" in creating his Horcruxes. This implied a finite number of Horcruxes any one person may create before the process became too dangerous to attempt again. It also implied that the creation of a Horcrux used a set amount of soul, and that this amount was the same every time the process was undertaken. Creating multiple Horcruxes rendered the soul unstable and liable to break apart if the creator of the Horcruxes was killed. For instance, Dumbledore explicitly stated that Voldemort's soul had become so unstable that it simply "broke apart" when Voldemort tried to murder Harry Potter for the first time on 31 October, 1981 in Godric's Hollow.

Destruction


Destroying a Horcrux required that the object containing the soul fragment be damaged to a point beyond any and all physical or magical repair. When a Horcrux was damaged to that point, it may appear to "bleed" (ink in the case of Tom Riddle's diary and a "dark blood-like substance" in the case of Ravenclaw's Diadem ) and a scream may be heard as the soul fragment perished. However, as a safety measure to protect one's immortality and precious soul fragment, the creator would usually place powerful enchantments onto the artefact to prevent damage.

It was unknown if the creator of the Horcrux would be able to sense that their soul fragment was destroyed, although Dumbledore stated that in the particular case of Voldemort, he would not feel their loss because his soul had been split too many times and had been in that state for too long.



All known methods of Horcrux destruction required the "receptacle" to be damaged beyond repair (which, in the case of living receptacles, meant that they must be killed ).

For example, basilisk venom would irreparably damage a Horcrux (except in living Horcruxes, that could potentially still be saved through the speedy administration of phoenix tears, an extremely rare substance). Other known methods were Fiendfyre (as evidenced by the destruction of Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem), which required extreme skill to control, and the Killing Curse (on living Horcruxes). However, Harry Potter was never an intentional Horcrux and so it may not work on a proper, animate Horcrux (like Nagini), and probably had unforeseen side effects.

Harry Potter was not destroyed as a Horcrux in the Chamber of Secrets because Fawkes' tears had saved him and hence the "receptacle" (Harry) was not then destroyed beyond repair.

Albus Dumbledore, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom all used Godric Gryffindor's Sword to destroy Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, Salazar Slytherin's Locket, and Nagini respectively. This was only achievable as the sword was a goblin-made artefact, which could absorb qualities that strengthened it. When Harry Potter slew the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, the sword was imbued with basilisk venom and became capable of destroying Horcruxes, as basilisk venom by itself was a destructive enough substance to destroy a Horcrux.

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger both used basilisk fangs from the Chamber of Secrets to destroy Tom Riddle's Diary and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, respectively.

Powers


The fragment of a person's soul within a Horcrux was capable of thinking for itself and had certain magical abilities, including the ability to influence those in their vicinity. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione were carrying Salazar Slytherin's locket around their necks in 1997, they each became moodier and more prone to fighting, especially Ron. They were also unable to summon their Patronuses while wearing the locket since the soul fragment inside was darkening their thoughts. A person with an affinity for the Dark Arts, on the other hand, would be strengthened by the influence of a Horcrux, as Dolores Umbridge was when wearing Salazar Slytherin's locket. If a person is more emotionally vulnerable, it is possible for the soul inside the Horcrux to take control of him or her, as Tom Riddle's diary did to Ginny Weasley. and how Voldemort himself was able to possess Harry Potter and take control of his mind when Harry was heartbroken over Sirius Black's death and angry enough to perform the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix Lestrange and almost perform the killing curse on her. In fact, Voldemort took advantage of this possessive power to reopen the Chamber of Secrets, using the diary as a weapon rather than a safeguard.

In this way, a Horcrux can gradually feed on another person's life or negative emotions to strengthen itself and increase the ability of the soul fragment within to act independently in the physical world. The best example of this is in the case of Tom Riddle's diary. For decades, the diary lay dormant in Lucius Malfoy's possession, doing nothing other than safeguarding the soul fragment of Tom Riddle. When Ginny Weasley began to transcribe her fears and insecurities into the pages of the diary, the fragment of Tom Riddle's soul contained within was not only able to write back to Ginny but eventually drained enough life out of her to actually manifest itself in a semi-corporeal form and work magic with Harry Potter's wand.



Likewise, Salazar Slytherin's locket slowly gained power when it was in the possession of Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the months prior to its destruction. It can be theorised that the locket gained somewhat less power from them (not enough for Riddle to fully manifest but still enough to speak and create illusions) because Harry, Ron, and Hermione were actively resisting the locket's influence instead of embracing it as Ginny had done with the diary. On the other hand, Horcruxes which have been isolated for long periods of time (such as Hufflepuff's Cup and Ravenclaw's Diadem) were very passive by comparison and took no real measures to protect themselves. Even Slytherin's locket was fairly inert when it was initially discovered in a cabinet in the drawing room at 12 Grimmauld Place. It displayed no powers and gave no indication that it possessed superior magical properties.



Horcruxes also possessed some last line of defence against destruction. The fragment of soul within the Horcrux seems to be able to sense impending threats and can act to defend itself. For instance, Slytherin's locket viciously taunted Ron Weasley with visions of his deepest fears in the hopes of preventing him from stabbing it with the Godric Gryffindor's Sword, and even attempted to strangle Harry Potter when he was close to obtaining the Sword with the intent of piercing the locket. However, this form of defence may not be viable if the soul fragment in question is not given enough strength or chance to retaliate, as while Harry opened the locket with Parseltongue before allowing Ron to attack it, both Hufflepuff's Cup and Ravenclaw's Diadem were swiftly destroyed the moment the trio were given an opportunity.

Aside from its self-defence mechanism from the soul fragment, a Horcrux is usually enchanted by the creator to have other forms of defences to prevent destruction. Marvolo Gaunt's ring contained a deadly curse that would kill anyone who touched it. At least Salazar Slytherin's Locket was unbreakable by even house-elf magic. Tom Riddle's diary was completely waterproof and impervious to spilled ink.

Side effects
"Tamper with the deepest mysteries — the source of life, the essence of self — only if prepared for consequences of the most extreme and dangerous kind."

- The first of the Fundamental Laws of Magic To create a Horcrux is to divide one's soul — the "essence of self" — and it is therefore in the creation of a Horcrux that one falls prey to Adalbert Waffling's first Fundamental Laws of Magic, which essentially states that tampering with one's soul inevitably results in grave side effects. Creating Horcruxes is considered one of the most dreadful acts possible.

Dehumanisation
One of these such side-effects is the "dehumanising" effect the mutilation of one's soul is said to have. The more Horcruxes one creates, the less human they become, both emotionally and physically; for example, in the house-elf Hokey's memory Tom Riddle is initially shown to be hollow-cheeked but otherwise normal, though ten years later his features look as if they have been burned and blurred, and his skin is extremely white. (It should be noted that the full nature and cause of his physical degradation is not entirely known, as Albus Dumbledore once stated that he had undergone magical transformations separate to the creation of his Horcruxes.)

Of course, this initial consequence of dehumanisation has its own side effect; it logically follows that if one becomes dehumanised by Horcrux creation, then they will take less stock of morality in general, increasing the likelihood that they will create another Horcrux, which would in turn make them less human and hence less moral, which further increases their likelihood of making more Horcruxes and so on. In other words, Horcrux creation may be thought of as a "slippery slope" or "downward spiral" until one reaches the limit, at which point no more Horcruxes may be made.



There is a possible physical change. It is in part due to the dehumanisation of oneself. One should note that it is unclear whether the red eyes and slit-like nostrils that Voldemort has after he is reborn are caused by having more Horcruxes than he did than when he applied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post a second time, whether they are characteristics of a person who has been resurrected with the help of serpents (who have continued to play key roles in his revival), or whether due to any other alterations he had made to himself.

Instability
A third side effect of Horcrux creation is that the master soul itself becomes unstable (even with creating just one Horcrux). The precise dangers of this spiritual destabilisation are not currently detailed explicitly throughout the franchise, however, some can be gleaned from the events in the books.

For example, the creation of Voldemort's sixth "Horcrux" — Harry Potter — is known to be the direct result of this. When Voldemort was hit by the back-fired Killing Curse at Potters' home in Godric's Hollow, it caused Voldemort's soul to split, with one fragment remaining in him and the other displaced part immediately seeking out the only other living thing in the room and latching onto it — Harry Potter. However, this parasitic fragment of Voldemort's soul that attached to Harry was not actually a Horcrux, since it was not created intentionally and the necessary parts of the Horcrux creation process were not carried out.

Limbo
"Something that is beyond either of our help..."

- The fate of those who create a Horcrux



The final known side-effect of Horcrux creation is a possible inability to move on from limbo after death. This was seen when Voldemort's Killing Curse destroyed the part of his soul that resided in Harry Potter. This broken and mangled piece of soul was forced to exist in the stunted form of a flayed and mutilated baby that Harry saw in King's Cross during his visit to limbo, unable to return to the land of the living, unable to become a ghost, and unable to go to the land of the dead because his soul was maimed and unwhole. The same fate was implied to have been suffered by Voldemort's "main" soul piece, the one that inhabited his body; it is unknown if this was a standard fate meted out for all Horcrux creators, or if it was unique to Voldemort due to the number of his Horcruxes. Regardless, reconciliation apparently cannot occur after death, as the soul's state at death remains forever, so the greatest of all consequences incurred by Horcrux creation may be the possibility of eternal limbo of the soul. Voldemort's soul fragments also appeared to possess only the awareness and intelligence of the infant they appeared to be.

Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes
"I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality...."

- Lord Voldemort to his gathered Death Eaters after his rebirth

Lord Voldemort, obsessed with immortality and inability to understand the importance of the soul's well-being, went further than any wizard known to history to create seven — although he wanted six Horcruxes to have a seven part soul. He accidentally created his a pseudo-Horcrux when he failed to murder Harry Potter in 1981, and later made his pet snake Nagini into a sixth horcrux, but in fact a seventh container for a fragment of his soul. As a student named Tom Riddle at Hogwarts in the 1940s, he learned of Horcruxes through books in the Restricted Section, including Secrets of the Darkest Art, and sought out Potions Master Horace Slughorn for further information about creating more than one, of which no book would have any record. Albus Dumbledore removed those books from the Hogwarts Library soon afterwards. Although later he suspected that Slughorn had given information to Riddle about Horcruxes, Slughorn refused to reveal the true account of what really happened.

Dumbledore later assigned Harry to retrieve the stored memory of it during the 1996-1997 school year. Harry was able to get it through the use of Felix Felicis. Although Voldemort has been warned that the usage of Horcruxes would render one's soul to live a miserable existence should their living flesh be destroyed, and Voldemort even experiencing this first hand for fourteen years, he would regardless prefer to live in such a state when the alternative was death, which he feared the most, since he was willing to continue his creation of his sixth Horcrux even in his crippled form. Voldemort's streak of independence made it intolerable for him to utilise any other methods to obtain his immortality (such as the Elixir of Life); he chose to rely on Horcruxes because they are magical extensions of himself.

This was part of Dumbledore and Harry's quest to determine, locate, and destroy, in secret, what they believed to be as many as six of Voldemort's Horcruxes. After Dumbledore's death, Harry took up the quest with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Hermione was able to Summon the books on the subject to her from the Headmaster's office at the end of the 1996-1997 school year to aid them in their research on Horcruxes.

Although Voldemort had six Horcruxes in total, no more than five existed at one time because Tom Riddle's diary was destroyed before Nagini was turned into a Horcrux. Concerning Nagini, it is not known if she had to have been killed by Godric Gryffindor's Sword or if any other means, such as a regular sword killing her, would have destroyed the Horcrux. However, as Albus Dumbledore stated, using a living being as a Horcrux was a risky business, due to it being able to move around and think for itself. It is unknown if any method that would normally kill Nagini would also destroy the Horcrux.

All of Voldemort's Horcruxes were made from objects that had extreme value, in his desire to secure his position as the greatest in history, and that only noteworthy items could live up to his standards and having the honour of housing a fragment of his precious soul. As such, he had originally made it his desire to collect four items of the four founders of Hogwarts; he found only three, and gave up after failing to find another, but made Horcruxes out of other items that had sentimental value to himself, if not as a priceless artefact of the Wizarding world. Believing the number seven is the most powerful, Voldemort intended to split his soul into seven pieces, with six Horcruxes housing one fragment each and his main body the seventh. He hid these Horcruxes in special locations and kept their existence and purposes from absolutely everyone. However, his arrogance has also inadvertently let him leave behind subtle hints of their whereabouts, leading to their demises.

Pseudo-Horcruxes
While they do not fit the definition of a Horcrux, as they were not created intentionally using the Horcrux-making spell for the purpose of obtaining immortality, Voldemort has used two other soul receptacles that had similar properties to Horcruxes. In fact, they were so similar that for simplicity Dumbledore told Harry that the fragment of Voldemort's soul inside him made him a Horcrux, despite this not being the case. Other than the process of creation, the most notable difference is that these soul receptacles do not become dark objects, unlike Horcruxes.

Etymology
The word Horcrux may be also composed by "hor" or "hore" (old English/middle-English) meaning "dirt, evil, impurity" and "crux" or "crúce" (old English) meaning "container, pitcher(ful), jar" which would therefore mean "container of evil".

Alternatively, Horcrux can be seen as a combination of a contraction of "horrible" and "crux" (meaning "the Cross"'' in Latin). In this sense, a Horcrux would be something that a follower of the Cross would regard as horrible.''

On the other hand, 'hor' could be derived from the French 'hors', which means 'outside'. Thus, 'Horcrux' would mean something that is 'outside' of what is permitted under the 'Cross'.

Behind the scenes

 * J. K. Rowling revealed in that Prof. Quirinus Quirrell served as a temporary Horcrux when Voldemort's soul possessed his body during Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts. A notable difference, however, is that the piece of soul within Quirrell was able to exist without its container, as it abandoned Quirrell and left him to die in the Underground Chambers. This is due to it being the "main" soul that serves as the awareness and consciousness of Voldemort's psyche.
 * Based on this, the animals that Voldemort inhabited during his years of exile, such as rats and snakes, can also be considered as temporary Horcruxes.
 * J. K. Rowling knows exactly what the process for the creation of a Horcrux is, but is not telling — yet. All she will say is that a spell is involved, and a horrific act is performed. The information was initially planned to be revealed in the Harry Potter Encyclopedia. However, since the encyclopaedia may have been cancelled, the information may eventually be revealed on.
 * J. K. Rowling described the invention of the Horcrux as comparable to the splitting of the atom: "Something that people imagined might be able to be done, but couldn't quite bring it off, and then... and then people started doing it with sometimes catastrophic effects."
 * In an interview, J. K. Rowling was asked why the Horcrux within Harry wasn't destroyed after he was poisoned by the basilisk in . She replied that Fawkes's tears "mended" him before he could be destroyed beyond repair.
 * The only Horcrux that Harry personally destroyed was Tom Riddle's Diary, even though he was the only one clearly stated to be sent for the mission. Also, he did not even know that it was a Horcrux at the time. The Ring was destroyed by Albus Dumbledore, the Locket by Ron Weasley, the Cup by Hermione Granger, the Diadem with Fiendfyre that was conjured by Vincent Crabbe, Nagini was killed by Neville Longbottom, and the fragment within Harry was inadvertently destroyed by Voldemort himself. In the film adaptation, however, the Diadem is stabbed with a basilisk's fang by Harry and then kicked by Ron into the oncoming Fiendfyre.
 * Of the seven Horcruxes Voldemort created (intentionally and unintentionally), four of them were destroyed during the Battle of Hogwarts, along with Voldemort himself. In fact, aside from Salazar Slytherin's Locket, all Horcruxes were destroyed within Hogwarts grounds, either during or before the aforementioned battle.
 * In, the only Horcruxes mentioned are the diary, the ring, and the locket, leaving Harry with no direction in the film adaptations of . In addition, Ginny hides Harry's potion book while Harry closes his eyes (as well as kissing him for the very first time), and there is no indication that Harry sees the diadem.
 * There has been controversy of the fact that, in the films, Harry, Ron and Hermione do not have any leads to find the remaining Horcruxes, apart from the locket. However, in, it is shown that a Horcrux will leave a trace of Dark magic - this gives the person who touches the Horcrux visions of associated events and other related Horcruxes. A scene in the sixth film shows Harry touching Marvolo Gaunt's Ring and experiencing a flow of high speed visions including Tom Riddle screaming in agony (possibly due to the method of ripping his soul) and Nagini, one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. This is also stated in Steve Klove's script for the film. This would ultimately lead Harry, Ron, and Hermione to know most (if not all) of the Horcruxes in the film versions of.
 * A person who is a Horcrux also seems to possess some of the creator's abilities such as Harry Potter being able to use Parseltongue which is one of Voldemort's inherited abilities. It also creates a mental link between the two the strength of which seems to depend upon the strength of the creator. For example, when Voldemort was weak and only in a spiritual form, Harry could only sense his presence when he was close by and feel his anger, but after he returned to somewhat of a body, this expanded a bit into the occasional dream vision of things happening with Voldemort. After Voldemort returned to full power, this link expanded so that Harry got full visions in his dreams of what Voldemort was dwelling upon, but the link can also be two-way and Voldemort was able to use it and Legilimency to implant a false vision in Harry's mind. The link can be shut off with Occlumency on the part of one of the two with the link, but if the Occlumency slips, the link can reopen. The only way to sever the link completely and remove the abilities the Horcrux gives is to destroy the Horcrux itself.
 * It is debatable if the Killing Curse can destroy inanimate Horcruxes, although given the extreme measures Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to go through to obtain Basilisk venom to destroy the Horcruxes they found during their search, it seems unlikely. It is also possible that none of them were capable of performing the curse, as successfully executing an unforgivable curse requires dark intentions, making it nearly impossible for a non-dark wizard to do.
 * According to Dumbledore, Voldemort was preserving the creation of his Horcruxes for significant deaths. However, this stands to be another one of Dumbledore's deductions being wrong, as Voldemort has used a Muggle tramp and Albanian peasant to create two of his Horcruxes, with no known significance for the two. However, Dumbledore only knew for certain of two of the murders committed to create Voldemort's Horcruxes: the murder of Moaning Myrtle (his very first killing) to create the diary, and murder of Tom Riddle Snr, his father, for the Gaunt Ring Horcrux. Both of these murders were very significant, but it turns out later that Dumbledore was incorrect that all Horcrux-related deaths were important ones.
 * J.K. Rowling's exact definition of a Horcrux is "a receptacle prepared by dark magic in which a Dark wizard has intentionally hidden a fragment of his soul for the purpose of attaining immortality."
 * The concept of a "soul container" is not original to the world of Harry Potter. See this page for more information.
 * It is unknown whether a Dark Wizard protected by a Horcrux could still be killed by being thrown through the Veil.
 * Interestingly, no one destroyed more than two Horcruxes (counting Quirrell) and half of them were destroyed by someone other than Harry, Ron, and Hermione. (This does not apply to the films, however, as Harry (and Ron, to an extent) destroy the diadem, which is destroyed by Crabbe in the book.)
 * Interestingly, the majority of the people who destroyed Voldemort's Horcruxes didn't know what they were destroying at the time. Neville didn't know what Horcruxes were when he killed Nagini, Harry didn't know about Horcruxes when he destroyed the diary, Voldemort didn't know he was destroying a Horcrux when he attempted to kill Harry Potter, and Vincent Crabbe didn't know what he was destroying when he destroyed the diadem. Hermione, Ron, and Dumbledore all knew that they were destroying Horcruxes, which was exactly what they were trying to do.
 * The books previously established that Voldemort can't feel when a Horcrux is destroyed. However, this was completely reversed in the movies. That is the reason he starts on the journey of seeing if all the Horcruxes are safe in the books, but in the movies it is unclear if he even checks his hiding spots. When Hermione destroys the Hufflepuff Cup, Voldemort, Harry and Nagini all seem to be momentarily incapacitated by pain. This also happens when the Ravenclaw Diadem and Nagini are destroyed, clearly showing that all Horcruxes and the Master Soul feel the destruction of the others.
 * In the fairy tale The Warlock's Hairy Heart, the main character of the story stores his own heart outside of his body via dark magic, similar to Horcruxes in both function and consequences. It was a feat considered impossible outside of the storybook, and was probably a metaphor for horcrux-making, altered so that misguided readers may not try to imitate the exact process, but still similar enough for virtuous reader to understand the story's Æsop.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * PS F
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Notes and references
Horkrux Horrocrux Horcruxe Gruzielement Horkruks Крестраж Hirnyrkki ホークラックス Горокракс