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Rated: E · Essay · Fantasy · #2312701
Basic Info about Horcruxes. I'm thinking about expanding on it.

Horcruxes:

An Introduction

By B.N. Skinner



Horcruxes first appeared in J.K. Rowling's novel Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.1

A. What is a horcrux?

At its core, "[a] horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul."2 "[Y]ou split your soul . . . and hide part of it in an object outside the body."3

According to Professors Slughorn and Dumbledore, this creates an illusion of immortality--because part of one's soul remains unharmed, outside of your body.4

The object a person puts a piece of their soul into could be anything.5 Tom Riddle chose objects associated with the four Hogwarts' founders.6 Dumbledore suggested this is due in part to Riddle's obsession with collecting trophies.7

B. How does one make a horcrux?

The process to make a horcrux is two-fold, but the intent to make a horcrux must be there from the beginning.8 First, a person must split their soul into two pieces--the pieces are not necessarily equal in size.9 Because splitting the soul goes against human nature--the soul is meant to remain whole and pure--the person who is splitting the soul must commit an act that goes against human nature: murder.10

Second, a person must cast an unknown spell to take the part of their soul that has broken off and put it into the object.11 One Harry Potter fan speculates this step also involves the person making the horcrux to eat part of the body of the person they murdered.12

C. Etymology.

From an etymological perspective, Rowling has provided little.13 In fact, "[s]he seemed to come up with it through a process of trial and error, rather than purposefully creating a word from specific linguistic roots."14

Some Harry Potter fans have claimed the term is a "hodgepodge" of French and Latin--meaning "the outside essence."15 Others have claimed it is derived from "Horkos," the Greek deity that personifies a curse inflicted on people who swear "false oaths."16



1 See J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005).

2 Rowling, supra note 1, at 497.

3 Id. at 497, 502.

4 Id. at 497-98.

5 Id. at 504.

6 Id. at 504-06.

7 Id. at 505-06.

8 Id. at 497-98.

9 See id. at 498.

10 Id. at 498.

11 Id.

12 George Simpson, Harry Potter theory: Voldemort's Horcruxes were made through CANNIBALISM, Express, https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1200870/Harry-Potter-theory-Horcru... (last updated Nov. 6, 2019).

13 What does the word 'Horcrux' mean?, Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange, https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/176812/what-does-the-word-horcrux-mean (last modified in 2022) [hereinafter Stack Exchange]; see generally (Horcrux - Meaning, Origin and Usage, English-Grammar-Lessons (June 24, 2022), https://english-grammar-lessons.com/horcrux-meaning/.

14 Id.; see Hilary K. Justice, Of Horcruxes, Arithmancy, Etymology and Egyptology: A Literary

Detective's Guide to Patterns and Paradigms in Harry Potter, in Phoenix Rising: Collected Papers on Harry Potter 1-21 (Sharon K. Goetz ed., 2008) (providing a thorough analysis of the possible origins of the word "horcrux").

15 Id.

16 Id.

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