Friday, November 12, 2010

Horcruxes the secret in Lord Voldemort Immortality

If you are aware of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows it is the last film of the legendary film series Harry Potter. The end is near as it comes into the end as the three friends Harry, Ron and Hermione are leave to find and destroy Horcruxes. The exposition, retrieval, and destruction of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes form the main focus of the final two books in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

A Horcrux is a dark magical object in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling used to attain immortality. Destroying a Horcrux will destroy the fragment of soul contained within it, ending its protection and returning the creator to a state of mortality. If a wizard has created more than one Horcrux, he will remain immortal until they are all destroyed. Once they are destroyed, the wizard will die a normal death if mortally wounded.

Lord Voldemort is the only wizard explicitly mentioned in the books as having created a Horcrux (though others are known to have done so), and is the only wizard known to have created more than one.

Horcruxes of Lord Voldemort

Marvolo Gaunt's Ring


Tom Riddle creates his first Horcrux using a ring owned by his maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, during the summer before his sixth year as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when he was sixteen years old. He casts the spell after murdering his father. The ring is introduced during the fourth chapter of the Half-Blood Prince, having already been destroyed by Albus Dumbledore, but its significance not yet revealed.

Tom Riddle's Diary

Tom Riddle used his diary to create his second Horcrux during his sixth year at Hogwarts. He cast the spell after murdering his fellow classmate moaning Myrtle using the Basilisk. The diary is introduced in the second chapter of the Chamber of Secrets and is destroyed by Harry Potter during the climax of the same book.

Helga Hufflepuff's Cup

Tom Riddle used a cup owned by Hogwarts founder Helga Hufflepuff to create his third Horcrux. The spell was cast after he murdered Hepzibah Smith by poisoning her. The cup is introduced during the twentieth chapter of Half-Blood Prince and is destroyed by Hermione Granger in the thirty-first chapter of Deathly Hallows.

Salazar Slytherin's Locket

Tom Riddle created his fourth Horcrux using a locket once owned by Salazar Slytherin, which had once belonged to Riddle's mother, Merope Gaunt. The spell was cast after Riddle murdered a Muggle tramp. The locket is introduced briefly in Order of the Phoenix (described only as "a heavy locket that none of them could open") and is destroyed by Ron Weasley in the 19th chapter of Deathly Hallows.

Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem

Lord Voldemort created his fifth Horcrux using Hogwarts co-founder Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem. The spell needed to create the Horcrux was cast after Voldemort murdered an Albanian peasant. The diadem is introduced by name in Deathly Hallows. The diadem was unintentionally destroyed by a Fiendfyre spell cast by Vincent Crabbe.

Harry Potter

Voldemort inadvertently sealed a fragment of his soul within Harry Potter while attempting to murder the boy. The event took place just before the opening chapter of the Philosopher's Stone. Rowling has explicitly stated that Harry never became a proper "Dark object" since the Horcrux spell was not cast. Regardless, as with all Horcruxes, Voldemort would remain immortal so long as his soul fragment remained within Harry. That portion of Voldemort's soul is unintentionally destroyed by Voldemort himself at the close of the thirty-fourth chapter of the Deathly Hallows with the help of the Elder Wand.

Nagini

Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake, is introduced in the first chapter of The Goblet of Fire and described as a long green serpent. As with his diary, Voldemort intended Nagini to be a tool as well as a safeguard to his immortality. Nagini is killed by Neville Longbottom in the final chapter of The Deathly Hallows.


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