Horcrux

Horcrux
Object information
Usage	To contain fragments of a soul and prevent death
Owners	Herpo the Foul Lord Voldemort

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

— the introduction of 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. Constructing a Horcrux is considered Dark magic of the foulest, most evil kind, as it violates laws of nature and morality, and requires a horrific act as well as murder to accomplish. The first Horcrux was created by Herpo the Foul. Lord Voldemort is the only known wizard to have created more than one.

Nature of a Horcrux

Creation

"This is the one that gives explicit instructions on how to make a Horcrux. Secrets of the Darkest Art – it’s a horrible book, really awful, full of evil magic… And the more I’ve read about them, the more horrible they seem, and the less I can believe that he actually made six. It warns in this book how unstable you make the rest of your soul by ripping it, and that’s just by making one Horcrux!"

— Hermione Granger on researching how Voldemort made Horcruxes

Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, Voldemort's second Horcrux.

Although books such as Magick Moste Evile did not have any information on Horcruxes aside from describing it being evil, the book Secrets of the Darkest Art, once held in the Hogwarts Library, gives explicit instructions on creating Horcruxes. Due to the book's horrible nature, Albus Dumbledore hid it away in his office; he did not destroy it. The process is known to involve a spell and a horrible act. To split one's soul, one must also commit the most supreme act of evil — murder — and then encase a portion of their fractured soul into a chosen object with an as-of-yet unrevealed spell. Although, in theory, a Horcrux can be anything, Lord Voldemort chose to use objects of great significance or importance. The process makes the part of the soul remaining in the witch or wizard unstable. If the maker's physical body is later destroyed, he or she will live on in non-corporeal form, although there are methods of regaining physical form. However, according to Horace Slughorn, few would want to live in such a form and that death would be preferable.

The process stands in violation both of profound natural laws and common human decency: that mankind must not practise such acts upon one another, and that one's soul must remain whole and intact. For these reasons, the Horcrux is the most unnatural and darkest of magical objects. The subject of Horcruxes is banned at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Destruction

Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, Voldemort's fifth Horcrux.

Ron: "Isn’t there any way of putting yourself back together?"

Hermione: "Yes, but it would be excruciatingly painful… Remorse. You’ve got to really feel what you’ve done. There’s a footnote. Apparently the pain of it can destroy you. I can’t see Voldemort attempting it somehow, can you?"

— Ron Weasley and Hermione on rejoining a broken soul

Harry Potter, Voldemort's sixth, unintended Horcrux.

The creation of a Horcrux can be reversed by its creator through truly feeling real remorse for murdering, apparently to the point of being fatal, and it is unlikely that such remorse be obtained simply for the purpose of repairing one's soul.

Horcruxes can also be destroyed by others, seeing as the piece of the soul depends upon its container to survive; the opposite of a human being. Destruction of a Horcrux is difficult, but not impossible, and requires that the object be damaged beyond most magical repair. When a horcrux is damaged to this point, it may appear to "bleed" (ink in the case of Tom Riddle's Diary and a "dark bloodlike substance" in the case of Ravenclaw's Diadem) and a scream may be heard as the soul fragment perishes. Why one or both of these behaviors happens to some horcruxes and not others is never explained.

One of the most foolproof methods of destruction is Basilisk venom (only one known cure for basilisk venom exists: Phoenix tears). Very few other methods work, such as through a magical smelting procedure (e.g. Fiendfyre). The Killing Curse seems to be capable of destroying a Horcrux if it is animate — as the part of Voldemort's soul contained in Harry Potter was destroyed when he was struck with the Killing Curse in 1998.

Albus Dumbledore, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom 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 is a Goblin-made artifact, which can imbibe qualities that strengthen 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.

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

Powers

Slytherin's Locket, the third Horcrux of Riddle.

Ron: "The bit of soul in that diary was possessing Ginny, wasn’t it? How does that work, then?"

Hermione: "While the magical container is still intact, the bit of soul inside it can flit in and out of someone if they get too close to the object. I don’t mean holding it for too long…I mean close emotionally. Ginny poured her heart out into that diary, she made herself incredibly vulnerable. You’re in trouble if you get too fond of or dependent on the Horcrux."

— Hermione on a Horcrux’s ability to possess and eventually control a person

The fragments of a person's soul within a Horcrux can think for themselves and have 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. In fact, Voldemort made advantage of this possessive power to reopen the Chamber of Secrets, using the diary as a weapon rather than a safeguard.

Horcruxes can also provide some line of defence against destruction. The fragment of soul within the Horcrux seems to be able to sense threats and can act to defend itself. For instance, Slytherin's locket viciously taunted Ron Weasley with visions of his deepest fears and even attempted to strangle Harry Potter.

Side effects

Lord Voldemort's mutilated form, due to creating so many Horcruxes.

When a wizard makes a Horcrux, the mutilation of his soul causes him to become less human. The more Horcruxes he or she creates, the less human he or she becomes. In the house-elf Hokey's memory Tom Riddle is shown to be hollow-cheeked but otherwise normal, ten years later his features look as if they have been burned and blurred, and his skin is extremely white. During those ten years, we can assume that he had created more than one Horcrux. Albus Dumbledore believes that, except Lord Voldemort, no one has ever created more than one Horcrux.

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, or whether they are characteristics of a person who has been resurrected with the help of serpents. It is more probable that he performed the transformations prior to his resurrection as all of his Death Eaters seem to recognise him without question.

The soul itself becomes unstable even with creating just one Horcrux, although the precise dangers of this are not revealed. Voldemort entered uncharted waters in his quest to create more than one Horcrux. The consequences for his soul would have been far more dangerous and even more uncertain. It is stated at one point that Voldemort had already "pushed his soul to the limit", which implies that there is a finite number of horcruxes that any one person may create before the process becomes too dangerous to attempt any further. However, it is never explicitly stated what the actual limit is. One known consequence of excessive horcrux creation occurred when the Killing Curse backfired on Voldemort; his soul had become so unstable that a fragment broke off and attached itself to Harry's soul, turning Harry into an accidental Horcrux. This suggests that as one's soul becomes more unstable, significant trauma (such as a rebounded Killing Curse) may cause part of the soul to break off without having the need to cast the spell for Horcrux creation. During the Battle of Hogwarts, when Harry and Voldemort were knocked unconscious in the Dark Forest Harry experienced a vision that suggests the implications of mutilating one's soul in such a manner. He saw a horribly flayed, mutilated baby crying in agony under the seats at King's Cross Station. Dumbledore's spirit told Harry that it was beyond all aid. Harry later warned Voldemort that he had seen what the dark wizard would become if he did not feel remorse and repair his own mutilated soul, but Voldemort was incapable of this. What Voldemort experienced when he was likewise unconscious is unknown. However, it is possible that Voldemort's unconscious mind was present in the mutilated baby in Harry's vision.

Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes

Harry Potter: "Does that mean, with the stone gone that is, that Voldemort can never come back?"

Dumbledore: "Ah, I'm afraid...there are ways in which he can return."

— Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore after the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone

Nagini, Voldemort's seventh and final Horcrux.

Lord Voldemort, obsessed with immortality, went further than any wizard known to history to create seven — although he had a seven-part soul, because he accidentally created his sixth Horcrux when he failed to kill Harry Potter in 1981, and later made his familiar Nagini into what he thought was the sixth, but was in fact the seventh, Horcrux. As a student named Tom Marvolo 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 afterward. 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.

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 Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. 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 seven Horcruxes, no more than six existed at one time because Tom Riddle's Diary was destroyed before Nagini was turned into a Horcrux. Hence he did have his soul split in seven pieces as he intended; however, it conferred no special added protection as he seemed to feel it might. 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 is a risky business, as the creature could die or be killed and the Horcrux lose its integrity. Thus it is likely that any method that would kill Nagini would destroy the Horcrux, as death cannot be undone by magic. Also, it is unknown what would happen if Nagini died of old age.

List of Voldemort's Horcruxes

Horcrux	Hiding place	Murder	Destroyed by	Destruction method	Destruction site	Date
Tom Riddle's Diary	In the possession of Lucius Malfoy, later given to Ginny Weasley (without her knowledge), and eventually found by Harry Potter	Moaning Myrtle	Harry Potter	Stabbed with a Basilisk's fang	Chamber of Secrets	29 May, 1993
Marvolo Gaunt's Ring	In the Gaunt Shack	Tom Riddle Sr.	Albus Dumbledore	Cut with Godric Gryffindor's Sword	Headmaster's office	July 1996
Salazar Slytherin's Locket	Horcrux cave, later moved to 12 Grimmauld Place, then stolen by Mundungus Fletcher who gave it to Dolores Umbridge as a bribe	A Muggle tramp	Ron Weasley	Stabbed with Godric Gryffindor's Sword	Forest of Dean	28 December, 1997
Helga Hufflepuff's Cup	The Lestrange family vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank	Hepzibah Smith	Hermione Granger	Stabbed with a Basilisk's fang	Chamber of Secrets	Battle of Hogwarts, 2 May, 1998
Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem	In the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts Castle	An Albanian peasant	Vincent Crabbe	Unintentionally incinerated with Fiendfyre. Destroyed the diadem, yet killing Crabbe in the process.	Room of Requirement	Battle of Hogwarts, 2 May, 1998
Harry Potter	Inadvertently part of Harry's soul	"He had rendered his soul so unstable that it broke apart when he committed those acts of unspeakable evil, the murder of [Harry's] parents, the attempted killing of a child [Harry]."	Lord Voldemort (without knowledge)	Killing Curse, without harm to Harry, except for a large bruise on his chest.	Forbidden Forest	Battle of Hogwarts, 2 May, 1998
Nagini	Always by Lord Voldemort's side after the cup was stolen.	Bertha Jorkins	Neville Longbottom	Beheaded with Godric Gryffindor's Sword	Entrance Hall of Hogwarts	Battle of Hogwarts, 2 May, 1998

Etymology

The word Horcrux may be derived from the French dehors, meaning "outside," and crux, meaning "essence."

Behind the scenes

• J. K. Rowling knows exactly what the process for the creation of a Horcrux is, but is not telling — yet. The information will be included in the Harry Potter Encyclopedia. She has told her editor what the process is and revealed that the editor felt like vomiting afterwards. All she will say is that a spell is involved, and a horrific act is performed.
• 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."
• 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. 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.
• Voldemort planned on making six Horcruxes, thereby splitting his soul into seven pieces (the seventh being contained in his body). Through his attempt to murder Harry Potter, and Harry's subsequent accidental creation as a horcrux, he actually had seven horcruxes. His eighth, much mangled, piece of soul was the one that spent over a decade bodyless and eventually returned to his reconstituted body. However, inadvertently and by chance, his soul had always only been split into the magically significant seven, because the Diary was destroyed before Nagini was made a Horcrux.
• Of the seven Horcruxes Voldemort created (intentionally and unintentionally), four of them were destroyed during the Battle of Hogwarts, along with Voldemort himself.
• The creation of a Horcrux does not always require a spell (for example, Harry Potter). However, it does require a murder.
• In the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the only Horcruxes mentioned are the diary, the ring, and the locket, leaving Harry with no direction in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 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 the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 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 movie 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 movie. This would ultimately lead Harry, Ron, and Hermione to know most (if not all) of the Horcruxes in the film version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
• 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 (though it stands to reason that the trio would refuse to use the Killing Curse).
• It is possible Lord Voldemort placed spells preventing his Horcruxes from being summoned with the summoning charm, as they have never been summoned when attempted.
• 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.
• The concept of a "soul container" is not original to the world of Harry Potter.

• In Dungeons & Dragons lore, a legendary undead Lich (A powerful user of magic that seeks immortality through means of undeath) could only achieve his dream of immortality by containing their soul in a phylactery, which is almost exactly like a Horcrux - documented examples of lich phylacteries include swords, staves, and crystals, althought it is generally a metal box filled with rune-covered papers that appears as a valuable amulet or gemstone. If a lich's body is destroyed, it can simply regenerate or find a new body, but if the phylactery is destroyed first, the lich can then be killed. For this reason, liches defend these phylacteries as much as they can in a manner very similar to Lord Voldemort and his seven Horcruxes. Unlike Horcruxes, however, phylacteries contain an entire soul rather than just a portion of it, although Mellifleur, the god of lichdom, (later called Mellif) has created multiple phylacteries for himself. However, with the Hide Life spell, powerful spellcasters can cut off part of their body (usually a toe or the pinky finger on the left hand) and store part of their soul into it so they can't be killed. There is no limit to how many times this spell can be used.
• The Russian myth of Koschei the Deathless is another example of containing souls. The Palladium Books RPG, Rifts: Mystic Russia, adopts this myth and describes how it is within an egg.
• In Chinese mythology there are Heartless Immortals who transform their organs and chi spirit into gems held in a secret container to prevent their death, adapted in the Palladium Books sourcebook to the Ninjas & Superspies RPG, Mystic China
• In Inuyasha, a Japanese Manga, Yura of the Hair, an ogre, sealed her soul into a comb and hid it away within one of many skulls in her nest. And no matter how badly her body was destroyed, she would not die until the comb itself was destroyed.
• In Native American folk tales, sorcerers could evade death by sealing their spirit inside parrots, becoming invulnerable until the parrot was destroyed.
• In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the Dark Lord Sauron stored all of his power in the One Ring, but unlike the Horcruxes, the destruction of the Ring would lead to Sauron's fall. With the destruction of the Ring, he fell into the Void to join Morgoth, his former master. His fall was so low, that he would never be able to rise again until Dagor Dagorath. Sauron made the Ring to corrupt the world and control the other Rings of Power, not to become immortal, for he was already some what immortal, as a Maiar. It is interesting to note that both Voldemort and Sauron used a ring as a container of power, and that at least two Horcruxes (the diary and the locket), like the One Ring, could have a corrupting influence on the wearer. However, the One Ring would give the bearer more power, such as invisibility (only while being worn. As a consequence, Sauron had the ability to find where the One Ring currently was, and telepathically communicate with the person wearing the Ring.), and above all, the ability to never die (but the bearer wouldn't gain more vitality).
• In the movie Anastasia, Rasputin concealed his soul inside a relic, when it was destroyed, Rasputin died with it.
• In Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Karness Muur created a device called the Muur Talisman that gave him spiritual immortality. Upon Karness' death it was to seek out a new owner to currupt with the essence of its creator.
• In the "Chronicles of Prydain" the hero encounters a wizard named Morda in the fourth book, "Taran Wanderer" who encased his life force in a severed finger, granting him effective immortality as long as the finger remained whole. With the finger in the hero's possession, the wizard's spells had no effect on him, and unlike a horcrux, breaking the finger, which contained the whole of Morda's life force, killed him.
• In the movie 9, the Scientist splits his soul into nine pieces and sealed them within small homunculi, ensuring that some form of life went on after a cybernetic revolt lead to the extermination of mankind. Though not exactly like a horcrux, it is interesting to note that like a horcrux, the nine "Stitchpunks" were created to lengthen life; though the Stitchpunks had their own personalities and minds rather than extending the life of the original creator of the horcrux.\
• In The Elder Scrolls series, while not directly similar, it is possible to capture souls in Soul Gems. They range from Petty, Lesser, Common, Greater and Grand, corresponding with the type of soul it can hold. The level of each soul gem is the best type of soul it can hold: for example, a Petty Soul Gem can hold only Petty souls, while a Lesser Soul Gem can hold both Petty and Lesser souls, however a soul gem can only hold one soul at a time, and after the soul is used the gem is no longer useful. While Soul Gems don't render anyone immortal, the souls can be used to power up and create magical items. There is also another type of Soul Gem: a Black Soul Gems, which is a Grand Soul Gem altered with Necromancy rituals. Only Black Soul Gems can hold the souls of people. A person's soul is equivalent to a Grand soul.

• J.K. Rowling's exact definition of a Horcrux is "a receptacle in which a dark wizard has hidden a fragment of his soul for the purpose of attaining immortality."

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (First identified as Horcrux)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)