The first and last Horcrux of Harry Potter

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Heroes of the series of novels "Harry Potter" for a long time tried to find the secret of the immortality of the main antagonist of the epic - Voldemort. Once they succeeded and they learned that the Dark Magician survives thanks to Horcruxes. What kind of magic is this, how to fight it and how many Horcruxes are in Harry Potter?

What does the word "horcrux" mean

In the original language, this term is called horcrux. This name was created by crossing the words horrendus (hellish) and crux (cross) - "hellish cross".

There is a version that the hor part actually comes from the noun horror (horror), which means that the word is translated as "horror cross".

Some associate the noun Horcrux with the name of the Egyptian deity Horus (Horus), who later was able to resurrect.

Regardless of which of the above versions is correct, the purpose of the item called the Horcrux is the same: it is designed to grant immortality to its creator.

How to make a horcrux

Despite the fact that Harry and hisA lot of space is given to comrades for these items in the books, in the novels the method of how to create a Horcrux is not specified in detail. Harry Potter only found out that this is a very ancient witchcraft, which all sorcerers treat with contempt.

It was mentioned that there are 2 conditions for creating these magic items.

1. You need to intentionally kill a person or a wizard, having previously performed some kind of witchcraft rite. How many people are killed - into so many parts-horcruxes it will be possible to split one's own soul.
2. The broken part must be hidden in a certain item. As long as it is stored in it, its owner will be able to survive even after a mortal wound: he will turn into a spirit that can, under certain conditions (unicorn blood, philosopher's stone, dark ritual, etc.), acquire flesh.

Destroying the horcrux is almost impossible: it is protected by ancient black magic. In addition, each such artifact has its own will: in order to protect itself, it is able to subdue people who are close to it.

Premeditated murder, which is one of the conditions for creating a Horcrux, is considered the most heinous sin in the wizarding world. Therefore, the creation of a horcrux is the worst sorcery, so vile that it was only done once before Voldemort, Herpo the Abominable. Moreover, this wizard created only one horcrux, while the Dark Lord divided his soul not into 2, but into 7 fragments, in other words, he killed six people (one part always remains in the person himself).

Mention of Horcruxes andthe method of their creation were deleted from all books of the magical world, except for the publication of "Secrets of the darkest art" (in another translation "The conjuring of all the most despicable").

How can I destroy the artifact of immortality

Only substances that are not subject to ordinary magic can overcome the horcrux's magical protection. So far, only two have been found: basilisk blood and hellfire.

Also, Secrets of the Darkest Art describes how the creator of an artifact can destroy his creation. To do this, he must repent from the bottom of his heart, but such a magician will suffer such physical and moral torment that he will not live a day.

In what book did Harry first encounter Voldemort's Horcrux

The first appearance of the artifact that saves the life of the Dark Lord occurred in the second novel of the cycle - "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". It was the school diary of Tom Riddle (the name the Evil Wizard wore in his youth).

Having learned about a way to gain immortality, sixteen-year-old Tom decided to try it by setting a basilisk that lived in a secret room on a schoolgirl (Crybaby Myrtle).

Being the first horcrux created, the diary was more powerful than the others. Thanks to him, the spirit of Voldemort commanded Ginny Weasley and almost found flesh in the second book of the cycle.

Riddle's Diary is also the first Horcrux destroyed by Harry Potter. Having done this, the young wizard did not yet realize what he was facing, but his mentor, Dumbledore, began to guess about the natureImmortality of the Evil Sorcerer.

After the second novel, as many as 3 books, Harry Potter did not encounter Horcruxes and did not even know what it was. However, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore tells his student about the secret of the immortality of a common enemy, and since then the boy has been looking for a way to destroy all of Riddle's relics.

How many artifacts of immortality were created and where they were hidden

In total, 7 Horcruxes are mentioned in Harry Potter. However, some fans of the cycle claim that formally there were 8 of them, because one part of the soul has always lived in the body of its creator and can be qualified as a horcrux.

Respecting the number "seven" magical, the Dark Lord split the soul into 7 parts, hiding 6 of them in various objects.

1. The first artifact was the aforementioned diary, which its creator gave to Lucius Malfoy for safekeeping. He probably did not suspect the true nature of the item, but he guessed that the diary had some kind of special power, so he carried it to Hogwarts with the help of Ginny Weasley.
2. Despite the fact that the Dark Wizard is a half-breed, on his mother's side he was a descendant of the great sorcerer Salazar Slytherin, in memory of him, Tom Riddle's grandfather kept two gizmos that belonged to his great ancestor: a locket and a ring. The Slytherin ring became the second horcrux. To create it, the sorcerer killed his father and his parents. For some unknown reason, the Evil Wizard left this artifact in his grandfather's abandoned house.
3. The villain hid the third part of the soul in the Slytherin locket.



To do this, he needed to kill a tramp wandering the streets. To hide this item in an enchanted cave, the Dark wizard instructed Regulus Black (brother of Sirius Black), not knowing that he wants to destroy it. Therefore, Regulus replaced the horcrux in the cave, and gave the real one to the house elf Kreacher.

4. The legendary cup of Penelope Hufflepuff was chosen for the role of the next artifact. To create a Horcrux, the owner of the bowl, Hepzibah Smith, was killed. The Dark Lord gave this item for safekeeping to the faithful Bellatrix Lestrange, who hid it in a bank vault.
5. Candida Ravenclaw Diadem is another historical relic used by Voldemort to gain immortality. Presumably, while creating this horcrux, the magician killed an unknown villager. The hidden diadem was in the Help Room.
6. The last Horcrux, the Evil wizard created shortly before his return. By that time, Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Jr. had joined him. Together, they helped the owner partially restore his strength, and he, just in case, created a spare artifact. They became the snake Nagini, accompanying him everywhere. Bertha Jonkins was killed to complete the ritual.

What Horcruxes were in Harry Potter

However, there was another horcrux that the Dark Wizard had absolutely no intention of creating. Moreover, he never knew of its existence. This Horcrux is Harry Potter.

The fact is that the magic, with the help of which immortality was achieved, was forbidden, and therefore little studied. Temmoreover, before Voldemort, no one tried to split the soul into more than 2 fragments. Therefore, in the process of creating artifacts, the Evil Wizard faced a lot of unexpected consequences.

• First of all, his appearance suffered: chopping from the heart bit by bit, the appearance of the sorcerer changed more and more, losing human features.



• The same thing happened with the personality of Tom Riddle: due to the magic of Horcruxes, he gradually lost his humanity, turning into a soulless, ruthless monster, experiencing only a lust for power and fear of death.
• Another extremely important consequence of the use of forbidden magic was the instability of the Dark Mage's soul. So, trying to kill young Harry, Voldemort faced the power of maternal sacrificial love, which repelled his curse and directed him against his creator. At that moment, the soul of the villain, protecting itself, spontaneously split, and a new fragment penetrated the baby Potters. Thus turned into the seventh Horcrux Harry Potter.

Who and how destroyed each of the Horcruxes

Although the scarred young wizard is considered to be the destroyer of the Dark Lord, in fact, he neutralized only one horcrux - the diary, and killed Voldemort, who remained defenseless. So if we consider the magician himself also a Horcrux, then Harry himself destroyed the first and last part of the soul of his main enemy.

The rest of Riddle's relics were defused by different people.

• The ring was defusedDumbledore using the sword of Godric Gryffindor, hardened in the blood of a basilisk, which means it adopted its properties.



• Salazar Slytherin's locket was destroyed by Harry's best friend Ron Weasley with the sword of Godric Gryffindor.
• According to the irony of JK Rowling, a woman (Hermione with a basilisk fang) neutralized Penelope Hufflepuff's cup, and a representative of the fair sex was also killed to create this artifact.
• The fourth relic of the sorcerer (the diadem of Candida Ravenclaw) was destroyed due to the stupidity of one of his supporters - Krebb. Wanting to destroy Harry, Hermione and Ron, he set fire to the entire Help-room with hellish fire and died himself along with the diadem.
• The faithful companion of the villain - the snake Nagini, was the last artifact destroyed (except for the Dark Lord himself). Killed her with the sword of Godric Gryffindor Neville Longbottom.
• An unscheduled Horcrux (Harry Potter) was destroyed by the Evil Wizard himself, who always dreamed of taking revenge on the boy, not knowing that he was destroying himself with his own hands. The deadly spell used on Harry killed part of Riddle's soul in him, and the hero himself survived with the help of a resurrection stone.

Known analogues of Horcruxes in world literature

Although the term horcrux was coined by J. K. Rowlin specifically for her novels, the very concept of a magical item that contains the secret of the immortality of a particular character appeared in literature long before it.

For example, in many Slavic tales, Koschei the Deathless hides the secret of hiseternal life in the needle that is in the egg. Until the needle is broken, no matter how early, the villain will remain unharmed. Judging by the magical properties, the magic needle from folk tales is the most Horcrux.

Another analogue of this artifact can be considered the Ring of Omnipotence from Tolkien's novels, which J. K. Rowling was once fond of. Probably the idea of an object with its own will, capable of making its owner immortal, was inspired by this particular work.

Quest "Harry Potter: The Last Horcrux"

In recent years, a new entertainment has become more and more popular: quest rooms. For a moderate fee, visitors are allowed into a specialized gaming complex, where in 1 hour you need to solve riddles and puzzles to get out of there.

In most cases, plots for quests are taken from famous books or horror movies. Among them was the "Harry Potter" cycle, according to the plot of which the Ilocked company organized a quest room "Harry Potter and the Last Horcrux" in St. Petersburg.

Not only residents of the Northern capital, but also residents of other cities can treat themselves to such entertainment, because Ilocked organizes its quests in many large cities of the Russian Federation and four more countries.

After the adaptation of the "Harry Potter" cycle, many enterprising shop owners began to offer their customers to become owners of souvenirs recycled under horcrux. And today, despite the fact that 5 years have already passed since the last movie came outthere are always epics who want to take possession of Voldemort's Horcrux.