Slytherin's Locket

"To the Dark Lord I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more. R.A.B."

- Regulus Black's note left in the locket for Voldemort.

Salazar Slytherin's Locket was a piece of jewellery originally owned by Salazar Slytherin that became an heirloom of his family. It was a locket of heavy gold with a serpentine S in glittery green stone inlay on the front. In the early Twentieth century, the locket came into the possession of Tom Riddle who turned it into a Horcrux. It survived as a Horcrux until the winter of 1997 when it was destroyed by Ronald Weasley.

Creation
The locket was a creation of Salazar Slytherin, the celebrated Founder of Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When Slytherin created the locket, he enchanted it so that only a Parselmouth, like himself, could open it. When Slytherin left Hogwarts, he took the locket with him.

Family Inheritances
"Marvolo, his son, Morfin, and his daughter, Merope, were the last of the Gaunts, a very ancient Wizarding family noted for a vein of instability and violence that flourished through the generations... He, as you saw, was left in squalor and poverty, with a very nasty temper, a fantastic amount of arrogance and pride, and a couple of family heirlooms that he treasured just as much as his, and rather more than his daughter."

- Albus Dumbledore's portrait of the Gaunt family and their heirlooms

After Slytherin's death, the locket was passed down his family line, and eventually came to Marvolo Gaunt in the village of Little Hangleton. The locket was one of two remaining Gaunt family heirlooms, the other being Marvolo Gaunt's Ring. Contradictory to his obsession with the two heirlooms, Marvolo permitted his daughter, Merope, whom he horribly mistreated, to wear the locket around her neck. After Marvolo and Morfin were imprisoned in Azkaban for assaulting both Muggles and Ministry of Magic officials, Merope escaped the horrors of her childhood home and fled to London with Tom Riddle Sr. Albus Dumbledore theorised that she had used a Love Potion to capture his affections.

After they had eloped, Merope became pregnant with Riddle's child. During her pregnancy, Merope apparently stopped giving Riddle love potion out of the hope that he would freely choose to stay with her or that he would at least stay for his child. However, he did neither, abandoning Merope and returning to Little Hangleton. Desperate for money, Merope sold her only valuable possession, the locket, to Caractacus Burke for only ten galleons, either not realising that the locket was a priceless artifact or not caring. Not long afterward, on New Year's Eve 1926, she came to a Muggle orphanage and gave birth to her son, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Merope Gaunt died shortly thereafter, after making sure the boy was named after her father and the boy's father.

Creation as a Horcrux
Many years later, Tom Riddle graduated from Hogwarts and, spurning a wide variety of prestigious offers, took a job at Borgin and Burkes. In the course of his work, Riddle visited the elderly witch Hepzibah Smith on many occasions and charmed her with flowers and compliments. After many visits, Smith showed Riddle her most prized possessions: Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, an artifact that had been created by her own ancestor, and the locket, telling the young man that she hoped be would appreciate the unique objects' history. She stated that both objects had considerable powers which she had not fully tested, and detailed the locket's historical value. Smith admitted she had paid a heavy price to Caractacus Burke to obtain the locket and that Burke had previously bought it from "a ragged-looking woman," and had paid her a mere pittance for it. By this time, Riddle knew of his family lineage and knew the "ragged-looking woman" Smith referred to was his own mother. Riddle returned the cup without incident, but when the time came to replace the locket, Riddle briefly hesitated and a look of intense want washed across his face, before he let the locket slip through his fingers.

Two days later, Smith was found dead and her elderly house-elf, Hokey, admitted to accidentally poisoning her mistress' cocoa, mistaking a little known, highly lethal poison for sugar. It was believed, however, that Riddle had killed Smith himself and embedded a false memory in the house-elf to escape detection, not unlike his murder of the Riddles in Little Hangleton a few years earlier.

As Smith had quite a collection and many hiding places, it was assumed that the priceless artifacts were simply hidden in her house. Later, Smith's family discovered the cup and the locket were both missing, but Riddle had already quit his job and disappeared, not to be seen or heard from again for a decade. Riddle murdered a Muggle tramp and used that murder to make the locket into a Horcrux. This was a marked departure from his other Horcrux murders, as he tended to choose deaths significant to him in the creation of Horcruxes.

Many years later, the locket was hidden by Riddle, now styling himself Lord Voldemort, in a seaside cave he had visited as a child. It was in this cave that he "committed an act so horrifying" that he shocked fellow orphans Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson into muteness. In addition to the natural barriers, Voldemort hid the locket in this cave with several magical enchantments to guard it. First, the cave could not be Apparated into or Disapparated out from; second, an unmarked door that could only be opened with the payment of blood wiped upon the cave walls; third, an Inferi-infested lake; fourth, an invisible rowboat that would transport only one wizard safely across the lake; fifth, a stone basin filled with a green potion that could not be parted, vanished, transfigured, or otherwise made to change its properties. The only way to remove the potion from the basin, thereby exposing the locket at the bottom, was to drink it. The potion caused unbearable pain to the drinker and to relive their worst memories and face their worst fears, as though in a nightmare. If the drinker had any strength left, they would be forced to drink water from the lake, as the any water magicked on the island would disappear, leaving the drinker unable to imbibe anything but the lake's water, which would awaken the army of Inferi.

Switching and Hiding the Horcrux


Late in the 1970s, Lord Voldemort requested a House-elf from his Death Eaters. A young Death Eater, Regulus Black volunteered the Black family house-elf Kreacher, whom the Dark Lord used to test the locket's defences. When he had seen the cave's effectiveness in action, he left Kreacher to die on the island in the middle of the dark lake. However, he overlooked the house-elves' special magic binding them to their masters, considering it beneath him and not of importance, and Kreacher was able to apparate back to his master Regulus. The younger Black was infuriated at the mistreatment of Kreacher and having seen the lengths to which the Dark Lord would go, turned against Voldemort.

During Regulus's time as a Death Eater, Lord Voldemort had made veiled references to his Horcruxes, believing that no one would deduce exactly how he had come to be immortal. Regulus had, by the time of his defection, concluded that Voldemort had made a horcrux and that it was the object that Voldemort had forced Kreacher to help him protect. Having reached these conclusions, he forced Kreacher to take him back to the cave where he crossed the lake with the house-elf and drank the potion himself. He instructed Kreacher to switch the true locket with a fake one and to take it home and destroy it. He ordered Kreacher to sail across the lake without him, and Kreacher, with the Horcrux in hand, watched in horror as Black was dragged beneath the lake by the Inferi. Kreacher was able to escape to the Black family home, 12 Grimmauld Place.



Over the ensuing years, Kreacher was unable to destroy the locket, no matter what means magic or muggle he tried, although he did come to the conclusion that the locket needed to be opened to be destroyed. For failing to obey his master's orders, Kreacher brutally punished himself. Thus he placed the locket in a glass case in the drawing room and left it undisturbed for many years until the Order of the Phoenix began to use the house as headquarters in the summer of 1995. The Order undertook a massive, overdue cleaning of the house, and the locket was placed into a rubbish pile to be thrown away. Kreacher secured the locket and hid it in the cupboard where he slept, along with some other Black family heirlooms that were headed for the trash.

After the death of Sirius Black less than a year later, Order member and career criminal, Mundungus Fletcher, combed the house and stripped it of its remaining valuables. These included the locket from Kreacher's cupboard. He fenced his wares to whoever would buy including to Aberforth Dumbledore and in Diagon Alley where he was caught by Dolores Umbridge. Umbridge eyed the locket and agreed to let Fletcher off for the obvious thievery in exchange for the locket which she used to enhance her pure-blood credentials, claiming the locket to be a Selwyn family heirloom.

Reclaiming the Locket


For many years, Albus Dumbledore had been suspicious of Lord Voldemort's experiments with the Dark Arts, and after careful consideration came to the same conclusion that young Regulus Black had come to, namely, that Voldemort had created Horcruxes to ensure his immortality. However, he had no proof until May 1993. When Harry Potter destroyed Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk and returned with Tom Riddle's Diary. After hearing the peculiar way in which the diary acted, Dumbledore believed he had finally received proof for his theory. He shared his theory about horcruxes with Harry during his sixth year at Hogwarts in an informal series of lessons. During these lessons, the pair observed memories of Lord Voldemort at various junctures in his life, and Dumbledore bounced more theories about Voldemort off Harry. Together they came to the conclusion that several famous artifacts that had disappeared around Voldemort had been made into horcruxes included Salazar Slytherin's Locket.

Finding the false locket and Dumbledore's death
In June 1997, Dumbledore and Harry left the school one evening in the hopes of obtaining one of the horcruxes. Apparating to the cave by the sea, they made their way among the waves and spray. Upon reaching the inside of the cave, Dumbledore surmised the location of the door and made the payment himself over Harry's objections. The pair ventured into the depths of the cave, walking along the shores of the vast lake. Suddenly, Dumbledore stopped, startling Harry, and raised a small boat out of the depths on which they sailed to the island in the middle of the lake. Once there, Dumbledore attempted to obtain the locket, but could not penetrate the green potion. Extracting a promise from Harry, he began to drink the potion, and when it became too much to bear, Harry forced it down his throat. When the potion was finished, Harry attempted to use lake water to revive Dumbledore, provoking the inferi. When Harry was on the brink of drowning, he was rescued by an incredibly weak Dumbledore, and after claiming the horcrux, the pair set off for Hogwarts.



When they reached Hogsmeade village, Dumbledore was on the brink of collapse, but became fortified when he saw the Dark Mark above the school. Borrowing broomsticks, Harry and Dumbledore flew to the Astronomy Tower, unaware that a full blown battle was taking place in the schools corridors. Atop the tower, they were ambushed by Draco Malfoy who disarmed Dumbledore, but not before he could bind Harry. Soon, more Death Eaters arrived, and Severus Snape cast the Avada Kedavra sending Dumbledore to his death. The battle raged on for a little while longer, and in the aftermath, Harry recovered the locket from Dumbledore's broken body. Examining it, Harry realised that it was fake, and believed that Dumbledore had died in vain.

R.A.B. and the Ministry


Harry found a note in the fake locket. Signed by a mysterious "R.A.B." the note cryptically addressed to Lord Voldemort said that R.A.B. had stolen the real locket and that he planned to destroy it. When Harry and his friends Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley set off to locate all the Hocruxes, they decided the first order of business was tracking down R.A.B. The trio had no luck throughout the next two months, but after they were forced to flee from the Wedding of William Weasley and Fleur Delacour, they caught a break. That night they went into hiding at 12 Grimmauld Place, which Harry had inherited from the late Sirius Black, and in the morning while searching the house, Harry noticed a little placard above a doorway bearing the name Regulus Arcturus Black. Having discovered R.A.B. the trio tore through the house, finding no sign of the locket. In a last ditch effort, Harry summoned Kreaher, who told them the whole story about the locket, including how it was stolen by Mundungus Fletcher. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally got a hold of Fletcher, he told them that Dolores Umbridge had taken the locket from him.

Over the following month, Harry, Hermione, and Ron scouted the Ministry and developed an elaborate to get into the building. Setting out on September 2, the trio infiltrated the premises without difficulty. Once inside, they were forced to separate with Ron going to work on maintenance and Hermione leaving to take stenography in court proceeding, leaving Harry alone to search the building. Donning the Cloak of Invisibility, Harry searched Umbridge's office to no avail. Soon after, he joined Hermione in the courtroom, where the two spotted Umbridge sporting the locket. From under the cloak, Harry attacked Umbridge, and Hermione took the locket conjuring a replacement. The trio managed to escpae, but they had to give up the comforts of 12 Grimmauld Place, as their hideout had been compromised.

Destruction
"I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible... Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter... Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend... Second best, always, eternally overshadowed..."

- The locket preys on Ron's fears.



Out in the wilderness for months, the trio were forced to merely keep the locket in safekeeping until a way could be found to destroy it. As they wandered listlessly up and down the country, they took turns wearing the locket, which began to wear heavily at their physical and emotional health. While Harry and Hermione held up well against the negative forces of the locket, Ron was particularly susceptible to the locket's powers, causing him much discomfort and unexplained anger. One evening weeks into their journey, the trio overheard another band of fugitives discussing current events. In the course of the conversation, they learned that Ron's sister, Ginny was among a band of students punished for attempting to steal Godric Gryffindor's Sword from the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. This upset Ron, who was wearing the locket, but Harry and Hermione were reveling in the realisation the the sword could destroy horcruxes. This pushed Ron over the top, and after a sting row with Harry, he stormed off into the night.



Weeks and a highly dangerous visit to Godric's Hollow later, Harry and Hermione were encamped in the Forest of Dean. While on guard duty, Harry followed a bright white light into the forest, and with this guidance from Severus Snape's Patronus, Harry was able to find Godric Gryffindor's Sword at the bottom of a frozen pond. Stripping down, Harry wades into the freezing pool to retrieve the sword. Rather than allow him to acquire the sword, the locket around his neck tried to strangle him. At that time, Ron returned, and rescued Harry from drowning. After a brief reconciliation, Harry decided the Ron must be the one to destroy the locket, since he recovered the sword. Harry spoke the word "open" in Parseltongue, causing the locket to spring open. Inside the locket's picture windows were two eyes that resembled Tom Riddle's eyes, before his soul-severing caused his eyes to turn red. The locket then began to mentally torture Ron mocking his greatest fears. Apparitions then came out of the locket, and Ron was transfixed by visions of Hermione and Harry cruelly mocking him and "snogging." With the real Harry yelling at him, Ron was able to break through the cruel images and smashed the locket with Gryffindor's sword, shattering both glass windows inside the locket and destroying the Horcrux. Afterward, Harry admitted that he only loved Hermione Granger as a sister and believed that she felt the same way. Harry then picked up the locket (still largely intact save for its shattered windows and broken chain) and stored it away.

Powers


Before becoming a Horcrux, the locket was described by Hepzibah Smith as having "all kinds of powers," though she failed to elaborate, and the only way to open the locket was to speak to it in Parseltongue.

After it was turned into a Horcrux, the locket had a negative influence on those in its proximity. When worn by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley in late 1997, it made them all irritable, suspicious, and unable to summon enough happiness to use a Patronus. However, someone as malicious as Dolores Umbridge would have an affinity rather than aversion to it, and not be hindered by it. The locket also had magic in place to protect itself; when Ron attempted to destroy it, it created a vision to show him his worst fears and deepest insecurities. At times, it also burned very hot, such as when Harry wore it in proximity to Nagini, another Horcrux, and when he tried to pick it up while its continued existence was being threatened. It even attempted to strangle Harry to prevent him from retrieving Gryffindor's sword, knowing that he would use it to destroy the locket.

The locket may also have had the potential to possess individuals, in a manner similar to another Horcrux in Tom Riddle's Diary, as Harry saw "a trace of scarlet" in Ron's eyes at one point during the locket's attempt to prevent him from destroying it.

Behind the scenes

 * According to Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort saved the creation of his horcruxes for significant death. However, the locket's conversion into a horcrux was through an unimportant Muggle tramp.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)

Notes and references
Médaillon de Salazar Serpentard Médaillon (Horcruxe) Salazar Luihuisen medaljonki