Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1462: Immortality

Dumbledore could keenly sense the stability of a person’s soul without using magic detection. This had happened many times already . He could sense Voldemort’s unstable soul due to multiple splits, and could also sense the instability in Harry’s soul caused by that influence.

In other words, he already knew that there was a fragment of Voldemort’s soul inside Harry!

Truly, that was an impressive talent.

Evan had learned from Dumbledore how to sense magical power and observe traces of magic, but he couldn’t sense the state of a person’s soul. That was a more advanced level of perception than witnessing magic.

“That diary, Riddle’s diary, was undoubtedly a Horcrux, or at least it served the function of one. Before it was destroyed, the soul fragment Voldemort stored in it was safe,” said Dumbledore. “But this is not what shocked me. What really interested and surprised me was the phenomenon you described; something I have never witnessed. A soul fragment starting to act and think for itself? A soul fragment sapping the life out of Mr. Weasley into whose hands it had fallen?”

“Other Horcruxes can’t do that?”

“No, it’s not the first time I’ve seen a Horcrux, but Voldemort’s Horcrux was obviously different,” said Dumbledore. “While confirming that the diary had been a Horcrux, it raised as many questions as it answered. For example, it had been intended as a weapon as much as a safeguard.”

“What?”

“It worked as a Horcrux is supposed to work — in other words, the fragment of soul concealed inside it was kept safe and had undoubtedly played its part in preventing the death of its owner. But there could be no doubt that Riddle really wanted that diary read, wanted the piece of his soul to inhabit or possess somebody else, so that Slytherin’s monster would be unleashed again.”

“I understand what that was about, sir!” Harry expressed his opinion. “He wanted people to know he was Slytherin’s heir, because he couldn’t take credit at the time.”

Evan didn’t rush to express himself. He was thinking about what Dumbledore said. Voldemort’s Horcrux was different from other people’s Horcruxes. It was used as both a safeguard and a weapon.

It was very active.

“Active” might not be the most accurate or professional term to describe a Horcrux, but it was undoubtedly Evan’s first thought.

A highly active Horcrux not only passively served its function, but would also selectively and proactively attack or lure in those who came near it.

Thanks to Dumbledore’s insight, Evan finally realized that Voldemort’s Horcruxes were indeed different. They possessed powerful offensive capabilities.

But something about them felt strange…  

With that thought, Evan asked, “Sir, do Horcruxes need to be this aggressive?”

“Normally, no — it’s not necessary. And that is precisely the second major point we should focus on, apart from the sheer number of Horcruxes Voldemort created,” said Dumbledore. “Don’t you see that if Voldemort intended the diary to be passed to, or planted on, some future Hogwarts student, he was being remarkably blasé about that precious fragment of his soul concealed within it. The point of a Horcrux is, as Professor Slughorn explained, to keep part of the self hidden and safe, not to fling it into somebody else’s path and run the risk that they might destroy it — as indeed happened: That particular fragment of soul is no more; you saw to that. Compared with other destroyed Horcruxes, that diary was far more active — it played a major role in its own destruction.”

That wasn’t entirely true. If Evan hadn’t had so many concerns at the time, and if he’d had the means to destroy a Horcrux, he would’ve destroyed the diary much earlier!

But if Evan had known nothing and been overtaken by the Riddle inside the diary, that Horcrux still would have ended up destroyed.

That whole outcome wasn’t driven by him — it was the Riddle inside the diary who brought about his own downfall. Pulling off such a dramatic event right under Dumbledore’s nose — it would’ve been a miracle if he hadn’t been eliminated.

“In fact, the careless way in which Voldemort regarded this Horcrux seemed most ominous to me. It suggested that he must have made — or been planning to make — more Horcruxes, so that the loss of his first would not be so detrimental. Or perhaps there are other, even more terrifying reasons we don’t yet know… reasons I do not wish to believe.

“Later, more and more facts proved that he did make multiple Horcruxes, just as you told me two years later that 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 has seemed to grow less human with the passing years, and the transformation he has undergone seemed to me to be only explicable if his soul was mutilated beyond the realms of what we might call ‘usual evil’…”

“Wait, Sir, I still don’t quite understand,” said Harry. “So he’s made himself impossible to kill by murdering other people? Why couldn’t he make a Sorcerer’s Stone, or steal one, if he was so interested in immortality? That seems simpler.”

“The number of Sorcerer’s Stones is extremely limited. In a sense, using one is much more difficult than creating a Horcrux, since the latter requires only murder, which is nothing to Voldemort,” said Dumbledore. “The most important point is this: While the Elixir of Life does indeed extend life, it must be drunk regularly, for all eternity, if the drinker is to maintain their immortality. Therefore, Voldemort would be entirely dependent on the Elixir, and if it ran out, or was contaminated, or if the Stone was stolen, he would die just like any other man. Voldemort likes to operate alone, remember. I believe that he would have found the thought of being dependent, even on the Elixir, intolerable. Of course he was prepared to drink it if it would take him out of the horrible part-life to which he was condemned after attacking you, but only to regain a body. Thereafter, I am convinced, he intended to continue to rely on his Horcruxes: He would need nothing more, if only he could regain a human form. He was already immortal, you see … or as close to immortal as any man can be.

“To defeat Voldemort, we must destroy all of his Horcruxes. Fortunately, we have destroyed three so far and found the most special one. The remaining two are Hufflepuff’s Golden Cup and the statue of the evil god…”

“Sir, the Golden Cup was a Horcrux made by Voldemort before his first defeat and escape. He definitely hid it somewhere,” Evan reminded him, gazing into Dumbledore’s eyes, “in a place of personal significance like the diadem or the ring, or gave it to a servant like the diary, entrusting it to one of the Death Eaters he valued most. …”

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