Horcruxes
'Sir, I wondered what you know about ... about Horcruxes?'
"That's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed,'
'A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul.'
'Well, you split you soul, you see, and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for a part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But, of course, existence in such a form ...'
'I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost ... but still, I was alive.'
'How do you split your soul?'
'Well, you must understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is act of violation, it is against nature.'
'But how do you do it?'
'By an act of evil - the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: he would encase the torn portion -'
'What i don't understand, though - just out of curiosity - I mean, would one Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul once? Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces? I mean, for instance, isn't seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn't seven -?'
'Seven! Isn't it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case ... bad enough to divide the soul ... but to rip it into seven pieces ...'
-
'But I haven't got uncommon skill and power,'
'Yes, you have, You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can -'
'I know! I can love!'
'Yes, Harry, you can love, Which, given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to understand how unusual you are, Harry.'
'So, when the prophecy says that I'll have "power the Dark Lord knows not", it just means - love?'
'Yes - just love, But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the end of last year. Voldemort singled you out as the person who would be most dangerous to him - and in doing so, he made you the person who would be the most dangerous to him!'
'If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of course not! If he had not forced your mother to die for you, would he have given you a magical protection he could not penetrate? Of course not, Harry! Don't you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realise that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them & strikes back! Voldemort is no different! Always he was on the lookout for the one who would challenge him. He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons!'
'It is essential that you understand this! By attempting to kill you, Voldemort himself singled out the remarkable person who sits here in front of me, and gave him the tools for the job! It is Voldemort's fault that you were able to see into his thoughts, his ambitions, that you even understand the snakelike language in which he gives orders, and yet, Harry, despite your privileged insight into Voldemort's world, you have never been seduced by the Dark Arts, never, even for a second, shown the slightest desire to become one of Voldemort's followers!'
"Of course I haven't! He killed my mum and dad!'
'You are protected, in short, by you ability to love! The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power like Voldemort's! In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure at heart, just as pure as you were at the age of eleven, when you stared into the mirror that reflected your heart's desire, and it showed you only the way to thwart Lord Voldemort, and not immortality or riches. Harry, have you any idea how few wizards could have seen what you saw in that mirror? Voldemort should have known then what he was dealing with, but he did not!
But he knows it now. You have flitted into Lord Voldemort's mind without damage to yourself, but he cannot possess you without enduring mortal agony, as he discovered in the Ministry. I do not think he understands why, Harry, but he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole.'
- Adpated from the Half-Blood Prince
J.K.Rowling certainly has her way with words & ideas. I was immensely touched by this particular piece. Indeed, behind all sufferings & fightings, nothing could surpass love. It has been so from ancient till present & I hope it'll do in the future. Toasts to Love'
'Sir, I wondered what you know about ... about Horcruxes?'
"That's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed,'
'A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul.'
'Well, you split you soul, you see, and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for a part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But, of course, existence in such a form ...'
'I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost ... but still, I was alive.'
'How do you split your soul?'
'Well, you must understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is act of violation, it is against nature.'
'But how do you do it?'
'By an act of evil - the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: he would encase the torn portion -'
'What i don't understand, though - just out of curiosity - I mean, would one Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul once? Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces? I mean, for instance, isn't seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn't seven -?'
'Seven! Isn't it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case ... bad enough to divide the soul ... but to rip it into seven pieces ...'
-
'But I haven't got uncommon skill and power,'
'Yes, you have, You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can -'
'I know! I can love!'
'Yes, Harry, you can love, Which, given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to understand how unusual you are, Harry.'
'So, when the prophecy says that I'll have "power the Dark Lord knows not", it just means - love?'
'Yes - just love, But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the end of last year. Voldemort singled you out as the person who would be most dangerous to him - and in doing so, he made you the person who would be the most dangerous to him!'
'If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of course not! If he had not forced your mother to die for you, would he have given you a magical protection he could not penetrate? Of course not, Harry! Don't you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realise that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them & strikes back! Voldemort is no different! Always he was on the lookout for the one who would challenge him. He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons!'
'It is essential that you understand this! By attempting to kill you, Voldemort himself singled out the remarkable person who sits here in front of me, and gave him the tools for the job! It is Voldemort's fault that you were able to see into his thoughts, his ambitions, that you even understand the snakelike language in which he gives orders, and yet, Harry, despite your privileged insight into Voldemort's world, you have never been seduced by the Dark Arts, never, even for a second, shown the slightest desire to become one of Voldemort's followers!'
"Of course I haven't! He killed my mum and dad!'
'You are protected, in short, by you ability to love! The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power like Voldemort's! In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure at heart, just as pure as you were at the age of eleven, when you stared into the mirror that reflected your heart's desire, and it showed you only the way to thwart Lord Voldemort, and not immortality or riches. Harry, have you any idea how few wizards could have seen what you saw in that mirror? Voldemort should have known then what he was dealing with, but he did not!
But he knows it now. You have flitted into Lord Voldemort's mind without damage to yourself, but he cannot possess you without enduring mortal agony, as he discovered in the Ministry. I do not think he understands why, Harry, but he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole.'
- Adpated from the Half-Blood Prince
J.K.Rowling certainly has her way with words & ideas. I was immensely touched by this particular piece. Indeed, behind all sufferings & fightings, nothing could surpass love. It has been so from ancient till present & I hope it'll do in the future. Toasts to Love'
