Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Chapter Notes

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 23: Horcruxes

• “‘Nonsense,’ said Slughorn briskly, ‘couldn’t be plainer you come from decent wizarding stock, abilities like yours. No, you’ll go far, Tom, I’ve never been wrong about a student yet.’” – When Slughorn had modified his memory there were two parts he had erased; the conversation about the Horcruxes obviously, but also this part. Slughorn telling the young Tom Riddle that he will become Minister of Magic and that he will achieve great things. Arguably Voldemort does become one of the greatest wizards, though in a way Slughorn could not have predicted. He also still believes that a talented wizard must come from a Wizard family; perhaps Lily was the first Muggleborn witch to prove him wrong and change his mind. Slughorn is not just ashamed for telling Riddle about the Horcruxes but also because he, as almost every other teacher at Hogwarts, was intrigued by the young man in front of him, too blind to see his real nature.

• “It was very well done, thought Harry, the hesitancy, the casual tone, the careful flattery, none of it overdone. He, Harry, had had too much experience of trying to wheedle information out of reluctant people not to recognise a master at work. He could tell that Riddle wanted the information very, very much; perhaps had been working towards this moment for weeks.” – No offence, but Harry is not very skilled at getting information out of people. I mean he knows how to get Hagrid to tell him what he wants, but Hagrid is kind of an easy target. And unlike Riddle Harry needed a potion to get information out of Slughorn.

• “‘Well, you split your soul, you see,’ said Slughorn, ‘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. But, of course, existence in such a form …’ Slughorn’s face crumpled and Harry found himself remembering words he had heard nearly two years before. ‘I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost … but still, I was alive.’”- I mean you are still alive but at what price? Obviously Riddle had no problem with murdering other people or to rip his soul apart, but after the Killing Curse backfired it left him in a state of merely existing, depending on others to give him back his body, and it took 13 years to do so. And if Voldemort hates anything than it is to depend on others.

• We learn that there is a spell to create a Horcrux, though Slughorn doesn’t know it (why would he?). Riddle obviously does find out about it at some point, but therefore the murder of his father and grandparents was not used to create a Horcrux, as he did not know how yet, and neither was the murder of Myrtle. Both the diary and Gaunt’s ring were souvenirs/reminders of the murders he had committed and became later Horcruxes, but not through the murders we associate them with. Therefore two additional murders had to happen to create those Horcruxes.

• “‘But all the same, Tom … keep it quiet, what I’ve told – that’s to say, what we’ve discussed. People wouldn’t like to think we’ve been chatting about Horcruxes. It’s a banned subject at Hogwarts, you know … Dumbledore’s particularly fierce about it …’” – I wonder how Slughorn came to know about Horcruxes, but perhaps it was simply academic curiosity, perhaps he is drawn to Dark magic as well, but from a complete theoretical point of view. He is aware however that knowing about such things and furthermore discussing them with a student would put him in a certain light. What is also interesting is that Dumbledore (who is not Headmaster yet) is very strict to keep the subject banned. Is this something he had discussed perhaps with Grindelwald? He seems to have a very personal interest in it.

• Also, however guilty Slughorn feels for giving Riddle information about the Horcruxes, he is not responsible for what became of Riddle and the crimes he committed. If it had not been for Slughorn Riddle would have got the information he needed somewhere else; clearly he had already heard about it somewhere else before. And it is not like Slughorn told him how to create a Horcrux, Riddle found out about it somewhere else as well.

• The other question is why Dumbledore needed that information. We know that he was already aware of the concept of Horcruxes and there aren’t many options to gain immortality in the Wizarding World, so the thought that Voldemort had created Horcruxes must have crossed his mind before. And even with the first modified memory it was confirmed that Riddle was curious about them. I think the only new information for Dumbledore is the number of Horcruxes Voldemort had created, crucial to know if one plans to kill Voldemort.

• “‘Then you told me, two years later, that on the night that Voldemort returned to his body, he made a most illuminating and alarming statement to his Death Eaters. “I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality.” That was what you told me he said. “Further than anybody.” And I thought I knew what that meant, though the Death Eaters did not. He was referring to his Horcruxes, Horcruxes in the plural, Harry, which I do not believe any other wizard has ever had. Yet it fitted: Lord Voldemort had seemed to grow less human with the passing years, and the transformation he had undergone seemed to me to be only explicable if his soul was mutilated beyond the realms of what we might call usual evil …’” – It would make sense that the Death Eaters do not know about the Horcruxes, because Voldemort does not trust anybody, not even his followers, afraid they could turn against him. We do know that Regulus Black however found out about them and tried to destroy one Horcrux. Both Wormtail and Barty Crouch Jun. helped Voldemort to get back his body, so at the very least they had to wonder how he did not die. Other Death Eaters might have asked the same question after their master came back. But even if some of them suspected the same thing as Dumbledore, they do not know how many Horcruxes Voldemort created or which objects he had used, and none of them would dare to turn against Voldemort.

• “‘But firstly, no, Harry, not seven Horcruxes: six. The seventh part of his soul, however maimed, resides inside his regenerated body. That was the part of him that lived a spectral existence for so many years during his exile; without that, he has no self at all. That seventh piece of soul will be the last that anybody wishing to kill Voldemort must attack – the piece that lives in his body.’” – First of all, from a metaphysical point of view, it is interesting that something like a soul exists, that it is not just an abstract concept, but something every human owns, and furthermore something that can be corrupted and torn apart. Additionally there seems to be a connection between the body and the soul. Voldemort’s body changes the more Horcruxes he creates, he looks less and less human. But also his ‘original’ soul remains in his body, and Dumbledore describes it as Voldemort’s ‘self’. Interesting enough the diary-Horcrux had a personality of its own, it acted on its own, and shared knowledge with the other parts of Voldemort’s soul, because the 16-year-old Riddle did know what would happen to him in the future and knew who Harry was. Yet, the piece of soul in Voldemort’s body is his ‘self’, and the last part of him that needs to be destroyed. Otherwise the same thing would happen as the last time somebody attacked Voldemort’s body (the night the Killing Curse fired back) – the body would be destroyed but not the remaining soul.

• “I stumbled across the ring hidden in the ruin of the Gaunts’ house. It seems that once Voldemort had succeeded in sealing a piece of his soul inside it, he did not want to wear it any more.” – I wonder why though. Wouldn’t it be safer to keep his Horcruxes nearby? Perhaps he thought it would be more difficult to trace back all the places where he had hidden one of them, perhaps he had assumed in his arrogance that nobody would figure out all the places and objects he had chosen, maybe he had even thought he would feel it if one of them gets destroyed, though we know he does not. And he knows that by now as well, because the diary was destroyed and he did not feel it and only found out about it later.

• “Lord Voldemort liked to collect trophies, and he preferred objects with a powerful magical history. His pride, his belief in his own superiority, his determination to carve for himself a startling place in magical history; these things suggest to me that Voldemort would have chosen his Horcruxes with some care, favouring objects worthy of the honour.” – Imagine though he would have chosen the most trivial objects, hiding them in the most random places. But his own arrogance was his downfall in the end.

• “‘The snake?’ said Harry, startled. ‘You can use animals as Horcruxes?’ ‘Well, it is inadvisable to do so,’ said Dumbledore, ‘because to confide a part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is obviously a very risky business. However, if my calculations are correct, Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short of his goal of six when he entered your parents’ house with the intention of killing you. ‘He seems to have reserved the process of making Horcruxes for particularly significant deaths. You would certainly have been that. He believed that in killing you, he was destroying the danger the prophecy had outlined. He believed he was making himself invincible. I am sure that he was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death. ‘As we know, he failed. After an interval of some years, however, he used Nagini to kill an old Muggle man, and it might then have occurred to him to turn her into his last Horcrux. She underlines the Slytherin connection, which enhances Lord Voldemort’s mystique. I think he is perhaps as fond of her as he can be of anything; he certainly likes to keep her close and he seems to have an unusual amount of control over her, even for a Parselmouth.’” – We do know a living thing that has been transformed into a Horcrux: Harry. Harry, who is very much his own person, and can’t be controlled by Voldemort, because it causes Voldemort pain. Of course the situation with Nagini might be different, because animals are easier to control. The other thing is that Dumbledore suspects that Voldemort had planned to use Harry’s death to create a final Horcrux. Therefore he must have used the spell before he had entered the Potter’s house, because after he was no longer able to do so. And it would explain why Harry became a Horcrux; Voldemort had used the spell, a murder had happened (his own murder) and Harry was the only living thing present. However the murder of Frank Bryce does not seem like something Voldemort had planned, so the only way to use it was to say the spell after the murder. Why would Voldemort have created a new Horcrux back then though, when he was already so weak? We know that Nagini is in fact a Horcrux but Dumbledore might be wrong when it happened; it makes more sense Voldemort did it after he had his body back.

• “Harry felt his heart lift. It was very good not to hear words of caution and protection for once. The headmasters and headmistresses around the walls seemed less impressed by Dumbledore’s decision; Harry saw a few of them shaking their heads and Phineas Nigellus actually snorted.” – I think Dumbledore’s decision to take Harry with him to destroy another Horcrux is based on the knowledge that Harry needs to know how, knowing that he himself has not much time to live left, given the curse of the ring. Dumbledore knows he can’t finish the job, so he gives Harry all the tools to do it instead.

• “‘Yes, I think so,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, his brain and his magical power remain intact. It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort, even without his Horcruxes.’” – Or simply use “Expelliarmus”, that will do the trick.

• “‘If Voldemort had never heard of the prophecy, would it have been fulfilled? Would it have meant anything? Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?’” – Considering this, can we still apply the concept of destiny to the Wizarding World? The prophecy about Voldemort and Harry was a self-fulfilling prophecy – it became true because Voldemort tried to prevent it. Many however are not even aware of a prophecy made about them, perhaps also because they are so vague nobody knows who they refer to. Even in the Wizarding World things are not set in stone; free will and choice still exist.

• “Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realise that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!” – Voldemort fears the people he oppresses as much as the people who follow him. All of his actions are based on fear, he creates fear in others, but he knows that one day this fear will turn to anger, that one day somebody will fight back, someone who is not afraid, not even of death, unlike him. The most dangerous people are those with nothing left to lose.

• “‘You are protected, in short, by your ability to love!’ said Dumbledore loudly. ‘The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power like Voldemort’s! In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure of heart, just as pure as you were at the age of eleven, when you stared into a mirror that reflected your heart’s desire, and it showed you only the way to thwart Lord Voldemort, and not immortality or riches. Harry, have you any idea how few wizards could have seen what you saw in that mirror? Voldemort should have known then what he was dealing with, but he did not!” – Harry’s weapon is his ability to love, his innocence, his purity. Despite the loss of his parents, the damage the Dursleys caused, despite losing Sirius, his heart, his soul remain pure. He is not broken, he did not become cruel, life has not hardened him. After Sirius’s death Harry had wished he could not feel a thing, but it is his ability to feel so intense, to care that much, that makes him unique. We saw the bitter man Snape turned into after his abusive childhood, after being bullied in school. The Dark Arts, the Death Eaters, seduced him; he had lost that innocence Harry still carries within himself. It is the hardest thing in the world to remain soft, loving and caring, despite our sufferings, and Harry is too young yet to understand how remarkable he is because of it.

• “But he understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell him. It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew – and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents – that there was all the difference in the world.” – It is important that Harry does not act against Voldemort because he has to, because a prophecy told him he would, or because he knows Voldemort will never stop hunting him. He acts because it is the right thing to do, because he could not live with himself if he does not. And in the end it is very important that Harry’s choice to sacrifice himself is his own, that nobody forces him to do so. He dies the same way his mother did, to protect the people he loves, a love so deep Voldemort was never able to understand, becoming his downfall in the end.