Horcruxes: The Ultimate Evil

Horcruxes: The Ultimate Evil

“Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give directions.”

The Horcrux: one of the most pivotal developments in Harry’s quest to destroy Voldemort, the Horcrux is also one of the most mysterious, and evil, of all concepts presented in the Harry Potter novels. In this essay, we will analyze the origin, development, and involvement of Horcruxes in the wizarding world, starting from its creation and ending with its involvement in the Second Wizarding War following Tom Riddle’s, better known as Lord Voldemort’s, use of the evil objects.

Before we may begin, it is essential that we grasp the concept of the Horcrux, which J.K. Rowling herself defines as 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”. By doing this, the wizard with a Horcrux gains a measure of immortality, as their spirit will live on after death with the ability to be resurrected again. The more Horcruxes that are the created, the closer one comes to immortality, as the creator cannot die without the complete destruction of all the Horcruxes along with the “Master Soul” which resides in their current body. However, the closer one comes to immortality, the further they are from humanity, both physically and mentally.

The first Horcrux was invented by the Ancient Greek Wizard by the name of Herpo the Foul, who was known, among other things, to be responsible for the hatching of the first Basilisk, the creation of many deadly and foul curses, hence his name, as well as one of the earliest Dark Wizards and Parseltongues, perhaps where those who speak the language of snakes got such a bad reputation. Some even believe Herpo the Foul to still be alive, at least in spirit, as it is unknown whether anyone was aware of his creation of a Horcrux and destroyed it prior to his “death”. J.K. Rowling said the creation of the Horcrux was the Wizarding World’s version of the splitting of the atom: “Something that people imagined might be able to be done, but couldn't quite bring it off, and then people started doing it with sometimes catastrophic effects”.

The naming of the Horcrux has a basis in several languages: in French, dehors means “outside” and crux means “soul”, therefore Horcrux literally means “Outside Soul”. However, the Old English hor meaning “dirt, evil, impurity” and crux meaning “container” or “jar” could also be the basis of its meaning. Why is this device so evil one may ask? The reason for this comes in two forms: the first of which is the damage it does to one’s body and soul, but more shocking is the way in which it is formed, in which it is necessary for the ultimate evil—murder—to be committed. While the exact method for creating a Horcrux is not known to the public, J.K. Rowling has revealed that it will be in the upcoming Harry Potter Encyclopedia, and her editor felt sick after hearing the process, so we can be sure it is a most horrific process indeed, especially considering that a book such as Magick Moste Evile, a book on some of the most disturbing uses of the Dark Arts, refused to go into any detail, simply mentioning them as the worst piece of magic ever created. The only known book with information on the creation is Secrets of the Darkest Arts, which may be the location in which Riddle himself came upon the knowledge, as it was not removed from the Hogwarts Library until Albus Dumbledore came into office as Headmaster. Regardless, it can be inferred that following the act of murder, one must perform an enchantment which then encases a piece of one’s soul in the object, of which can be anything, including an animal or human, as exemplified by Harry Potter and Professor Quirrel, which we will be discussing later.

However, as Hermione Granger points out, “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”: this instability includes side effects such as dehumanization, changes in appearance, instability of the Master Soul, and finally, a limbo state after final death. Why do these changes come about? The reason for this goes back to Adalbert Waffling’s first Fundamental Law of Magic: “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 consequence, dehumanization, can easily be seen in the contrast between the Tom Riddle in memories prior to the creation of the Horcrux, then in the house elf Hokey’s memory, where he’s “hollow cheeked”, but otherwise normal, and finally, ten years later, when his features are blurred and burned in appearance, and his skin is extremely pale. While some say it is unclear whether or not his snake-like eyes and slit for a nose was due to his resurrection, or his own personal preference at this point, it only furthered his appearance of a snake over a human, and his moral ethics were increasingly less human as well. The instability of the Master Soul that comes about as a side effect is what would eventually lead to Riddle’s unintended creation of Harry Potter as an eighth “Horcrux”, though not a true one, as it was not intentional, in which the Killing Curse rebounding on Voldemort, mixed with the two deaths (James and Lily Potter) which filled the murder requirement, his soul split without his awareness and latched on to the only living thing in the room: Harry.

Before we discuss the last, and perhaps most frightening, side effect of Horcruxes, we must be aware of the only way in which one’s soul may be reassembled following the creation of one or more Horcruxes: reconciliation. In order for the soul to come together, the creator must truly feel regret for what he’s done and repent completely; though Hermione Granger points out that a footnote in Secrets of the Darkest Arts reveals that the process of reconciliation can be so painful that the body will be killed in its attempt to repair itself. Since reconciliation can not occur after death, as the soul remains in the form of which it died, the most frightening side effect of Horcruxes is the possibility of eternal limbo of the soul. Unable to return to the land of the living, even as a ghost, and yet unable to pass on to the land of the dead due to the maimed and unwholesome state of the soul, it is instead stuck in a limbo state between both worlds. This is exactly what happened to Voldemort, as witnessed by Harry when he himself was in limbo, where he had the choice to move on to the land of the dead or return to defeat the Dark Lord.

Now, keeping in mind that all these side effects are possible with the creation of only one Horcrux, we must explore Tom Riddle’s quest for immortality, in which he created seven Horcruxes (not counting the Master Soul that resided in his body). These Horcruxes not only allowed him this “immortality”, but also made him extremely confident due to their powers and the difficulty it takes in order to destroy one. As Hermione Granger explains, “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.” This allows the Horcrux to have powers, such as possession, witnessed by Ginny Weasley being influenced by the Horcrux to open the Chamber of Secrets simply by becoming emotionally attached to the Horcrux, which was in the form of a diary. Likewise, Slytherin’s locket slowly grew more powerful as it was constantly carried by the Trio, and was able to make a generally depressed mood of the person who was wearing it, making charms, such as the Patronus Charm, one was normally good at impossible to perform. The Horcruxes also have an innate ability to tell when they are in danger, and can use this as a way to protect themselves, which brings us to the destruction of Horcruxes. While Horcruxes depend on the container in which the piece of the soul is stored, which, it should be noticed, is the opposite of a human body, in which the soul survives when the body is destroyed, they are still extremely difficult to destroy, and need to be broken beyond repair for the Horcrux to be killed. Methods to do so include basilisk venom, Fiendfyre and possibly the Killing Curse (which is up for debate due to the fact that Harry was not a “proper” Horcrux, and therefore the same rules might not apply to him as that of one, like Nagini, who was intentionally created as one). When a Horcrux is destroyed, it may bleed (like in the case of Riddle’s diary), or even a scream can be heard. It is unclear if one feels the destruction of their soul, as Herpo the Foul’s death has no information, and Dumbledore stated that Voldemort had destroyed his soul too many times to feel anything anymore. Even with these devices to kill a Horcrux however, the process is made more difficult by that ability to defend itself. For example, when Ron Weasley attempted to destroy the locket, it showed him his darkest fears in an attempt to distract and kill him, and earlier attempted to strangle Harry Potter when he dived into the lake to get the sword of Gryffindor (which, infused with basilisk venom, allows it to destroy Horcruxes).

Lord Voldemort, who boasted, “I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality”, created Horcruxes both intentionally and unintentionally, as stated before. These include (in order of creation) his diary (destroyed later by Potter with the use of a basilisk fang), his Uncle Marvolo’s Ring (destroyed by Dumbledore with the use of Gryffindor’s sword), Slytherin’s locket (destroyed by Ron Weasley with the use of Gryffindor’s sword), Helga Hufflepuff’s cup (destroyed by Hermione Granger with a basilisk fang), Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem (destroyed unintentionally by Vincent Crabbe and the use of Fiendfyre), Harry Potter (unintentionally by the instability of the Master Soul), Professor Quirrel (where Voldemort was able to control a Horcrux like manner, with the Master Soul inhabiting a different body, though the Horcrux was very unstable due to the lack of a murder), and finally, Nagini, upon his return to power (destroyed by Neville Longbotton with the use of Gryffindor’s sword).

While Herpo the Foul and Tom Riddle are the only known makers of Horcuxes, it cannot be denied that both cases resulted in catastrophes for the Wizarding World and that both their creation and use are an abomination to the most basic concepts of humanity, and the secrets to making these horrid creations are better off forever hidden; the consequences of creations such as these far outnumber any potential “good” even for the most selfish of users, desiring immortality due to a fear of death to the point where they set up an eternal fate for themselves worse than death.

WC: 1,872
Class: Your Own Horcruxes
Sources: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Horcrux
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Herpo_the_Foul

Well done, and very informative!

600 points for Hufflepuff!