Horcrux

A horcrux is a magical object in the Harry Potter series of fiction books, first introduced in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The nature of horcruxes is central to important events in the novel, and in the series as a whole.

The origin of the name "horcrux" was traced by Deco Ribeiro, who carefuly read the very word: horcrux = hor crux = Hor Cross, Horus Cross, The Cross of Horus.

Hor (or Horus, in latin) was the Egyptian Sky God, one of the majors gods in Egypt. His story is told in the “Book of Vivifying the Soul Forever” (sounds like a book Lord Voldemort would love to read) over 3,000 years before the birth of Christ. One of Horus' representations is Harmachis (Heru-Em-Akhet, Harmakis): "Horus in the horizon". It's Horus as a symbol of resurrection, linked with the setting sun. When his father, the god Osiris, was killed and had his soul torn in several pieces, it was Horus and his mother, Isis, who put the parts together so Osiris could ressurect.

The ankh, another major egyptian symbol, was also called the Cross of Horus and Key of Life. It represents eternal life, rebirth, and the life-giving power of the sun. The (now) infamous swastika, used by the Nazis in their flags, is also called Horus Cross. JKR herself compared the Death Eaters to the Nazis in an interview. The swastika, though, was an ancient representation of the sun as well, used in many cultures (from India to Native Americans) as a symbol of good luck. Hitler just stole it - and corrupted its meaning. Swastika is sanscrit for "little thing associated with well-being", corresponding roughly to "lucky charm", and it's believed to have been used originaly as an amulet.

An amulet of eternal life, rebirth, torn souls, ressurection. Maybe an amulet to store part of your soul so you can live forever. Here's JKR's horcrux.

A horcrux (similar to a phylactery in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons) is a device created and used by the darkest of Dark witches and wizards, those seeking immortality. In a horcrux, one conceals part of the soul to prevent death. In order to do so, the soul must be torn into two pieces: one for the horcrux and one that remains in the physical body. To create a horcrux, one must commit "the supreme act of evil" &mdash;murder, which "rips the soul apart." They must then perform a special spell (the incantation has not been revealed) which will harness their soul, allowing them to place it into an object at will.

The concept of a horcrux may be an allusion to Koschei the Deathless from Russian mythology, who hid his soul inside a needle, which is in an egg, which is in a duck, which is in a hare, which is in an iron chest, which is buried under a green oak tree, which is on the island of Bujan, in the ocean.

The act of creating a horcrux is considered to be dangerously unnatural&mdash;In one of Professor Horace Slughorn's memories (captured in Albus Dumbledore's Pensieve), Tom Marvolo Riddle (the future Lord Voldemort) asks Slughorn what a horcrux is and how it is created. Slughorn tells him that "the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole...splitting it is an act against nature."

While there do not appear to be any specific stipulations about the nature of the items that become horcruxes, wizards commonly choose items of either sentimental or monetary value (or both) to serve the purpose, in order to prevent accidental destruction.

The importance of using a horcrux is that while a piece of the wizard's soul exists elsewhere, he or she cannot be killed. This is exactly how Lord Voldemort escaped death when his killing curse rebounded upon him in his fateful attack on Harry Potter–he had created a horcrux (several, as would be revealed) so that his soul was not entirely destroyed.

Voldemort is believed to have created six horcruxes, thus rending his soul into seven pieces (the last piece stayed with his body). Albus Dumbledore suspected that the items that were Voldemort's Horcruxes were:
 * Marvolo Gaunt's ring, hidden in Gaunt's shack (destroyed by Dumbledore before the start of the school year in HBP)
 * Tom Riddle's diary (destroyed by Harry in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
 * A locket once belonging to Salazar Slytherin, hidden in an underwater cave, destroyed or hidden by one who leaves a note in a fake locket and whose initials are R.A.B.&mdash;this identity will doubtlessly be revealed in the final book. A possibility is Regulus A. Black, the Death Eater brother of Sirius. The note is addressed "to the Dark Lord," a title usually only used by Voldemort's followers. Furthermore, R.A.B. expects to be dead by the time the note is read. Regulus was indeed killed by the Death Eaters (or perhaps Voldemort) for trying to extricate himself from the organization. It is also noted that Regulus died some fifteen years previously to the early months of The Order of the Phoenix, which is around the time Lord Voldemort made his attempt to kill Harry. His motives for doing so may have been nobler than Sirius gave him credit for. There was a heavy locket that no one could open in one of the cabinets when Harry, Sirius, Ron, Ginny and Hermione cleaned out stuff from 12 Grimmauld Place. Since Harry is Sirius's heir, it now belongs to him. Its location is currently unclear, but given Kreacher's habit of securing keepsakes, it is probably in his sleeping nest in the house. It may also have been stolen by Mundungus Fletcher.
 * A cup once belonging to Helga Hufflepuff
 * Either
 * An unknown item belonging to Godric Gryffindor (Dumbledore indicates that Gryffindor's last surviving possession, his sword, is accounted for (it resides in a glass case in his office), though he overlooks the Sorting Hat in this enumeration
 * An unknown item belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw
 * The great snake Nagini (once Voldemort was unable to procure an item belonging to Gryffindor)

It is possible that the final Horcrux was to be made from Harry Potter's murder, considering his importance as the "Chosen One" fortold by Sibyll Trelawney's prophecy. Because Voldemort did not succeed in killing Harry, he was unable to create the last horcrux. In this case, the list would be revised to remove one of the possible horcrux.

Dumbledore believes that there are seven pieces to Voldemort's soul because the number seven is the most powerful magical number. Voldemort also hinted at the concept of seven pieces in an old memory belonging to Horace Slughorn that Dumbledore showed Harry.

One issue with the horcruxes accounted for is that at the age of one, Harry Potter destroyed Voldemort's physical form. As Voldemort himself describes being "ripped from [his] body"&mdash;it would seem that this seventh body-resident soul fragment has special status. Whereas the fragments residing in inanimate objects may be destroyed (as with the diary), the body fragment survives, "pegged" (as it were) to the mortal world while the remaining horcruxes are intact.

Yet another possibility is that on the night that Voldemort killed Harry's parents, he turned Harry himself into a horcrux (and in so doing, created a horcrux which "belongs" to Gryffindor). This is supported by Dumbledore saying that Voldemort left a bit of himself in Harry. This horcrux creation seems to have been accidental, however, since Voldemort appears to be ignorant of it. He would hardly attempt to kill Harry if he knew the latter contained part of his essence. As such, Harry would probably have to die to make Voldemort mortal. This would be why the prophecy states that only Harry has a chance of defeating Voldemort. Yet the symbolism of Voldemort's seventh (and final) horcrux could be to prevent the 'Chosen One' from the prophecy from killing Voldemort. Having chosen Harry as the one most likely to fulfill the prophecy, Voldemort might have made Harry into the horcrux. If Voldemort was successful in killing Harry, there would be no need for Harry as the horcrux; however, if Harry survived, Voldemort would still have a way to bring him down with himself.

One problem with the the speculation that the 7th Horcrux resides inside Harry is that Dumbledore mentions that there is no precedent for placing Horcrux in living organisms, and that doing so may be unreliable. (At this particular moment, he is questioning his own theory that a Horcrux might reside in Nagini, Voldemort's snake) and these notions could easily apply to Harry Potter as well.

There has been no confirmation that Harry is one of Voldemort's horcruxes. However, that theory is possible because Ravenclaw was wise and shrewd, and she wouldn't make objects like that available. As for Gryffindor, the sword and the hat are in the Headmasters' office. Also one possible piece of evidence is Harry's magical abilities, like Dark Magic (sectumsempra), parseltongue, and basic magical giftedness. Moreover, we have witness a sort of intrinsic connection between Harry and Voldemort throughout the book: in the beginning, Harry can sense Voldemort when his scar hurts, and as Voldemort becomes increasingly powerful, Harry's scar hurts more and more. Also, In Order of the Phoenix, Harry is privy to Voldemort's emotions and (even has an accurate vision of Mr. Weasly being attacked by Nagini). He has never recieved any instruction in Legilimency, and proves inept at its counterpart, Occlumency.