Description
A Horcrux is an object in which a dark wizard has concealed a fragment of their soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. So long as even one Horcrux remains intact, the creator cannot truly die — their soul is anchored to the mortal world even if their body is destroyed. It is widely regarded as the most terrible and abhorrent form of dark magic ever devised.
History
The creation of Horcruxes was first achieved by Herpo the Foul in Ancient Greece, making it one of the earliest and darkest milestones in wizarding history. Herpo created only a single Horcrux, but in doing so he proved that the soul could be deliberately torn and bound to an object through an act of supreme evil — the murder of another human being.
Over the centuries that followed, others attempted to replicate Herpo’s work. Nearly all failed catastrophically. The process of splitting the soul is extraordinarily dangerous, akin to splitting the atom — the forces involved are so volatile that most who attempted it were maimed or killed outright. The knowledge required was so forbidden that even Magick Moste Evile, a comprehensive text on advanced dark arts, refused to provide details, stating only: “Of the Horcrux, Wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction.”
Only one known text, Secrets of the Darkest Art, gives explicit instructions for the creation of a Horcrux. The book was once held in the Hogwarts library’s Restricted Section before being removed and hidden by Albus Dumbledore.
No dark wizard succeeded in creating a Horcrux after Herpo until Tom Riddle, who went further than any before him. Where Herpo created one, Riddle created seven — an act of soul-splitting so extreme that it rendered him barely human. His Horcruxes were:
- Riddle’s Diary — created June 1942, using the murder of Myrtle Warren
- Gaunt’s Ring — created August 1943, using the murder of Tom Riddle Sr.
- Ravenclaw’s Diadem — created 1945, using the murder of an Albanian peasant
- Hufflepuff’s Cup — created using the murder of Hepzibah Smith
- Slytherin’s Locket — created using the murder of a Muggle tramp
- Nagini — the serpent companion of Voldemort, made into a Horcrux
- Harry Potter — created unintentionally on the night Voldemort’s curse rebounded
Properties
- Soul anchor: A Horcrux binds a fragment of the creator’s soul to the physical world, preventing true death even if the body is destroyed.
- Created through murder: The act of killing another human being damages the soul, and through dark ritual the torn fragment can be sealed into an object.
- Extremely difficult to destroy: Horcruxes can only be destroyed by forces so powerful and destructive that the object cannot magically repair itself — basilisk venom, Fiendfyre, and the Killing Curse (under specific circumstances) are among the few known methods.
- Corrupting influence: Horcruxes exert a malevolent influence on those who come into close contact with them, amplifying negative emotions and slowly eroding the will.