In my previous article, I discussed in length about Herpo: who he was, what kind of magic he practiced, the possibility of him being related to Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort. We also discussed two of his inventions which are two of the darkest outcomes of magic the wizardkind has ever known: Basilisk and Horcruxes.
Herpo was the one who discovered that if a chicken’s egg is hatched beneath a toad, one of the most fearsome and dangerous creatures would be born. Because of this discovery and his ability to communicate with snakes, the first-ever basilisk became his pet. Only a wizard as dark as Herpo the Foul could have a creature, who could kill anyone with simple eye contact, as a pet.
Herpo also discovered that in order to gain immortality one has to severe a part of your soul from the rest and store it in another object. In order to do this, one must commit cold-blooded murder, and this murder must not be done with the purpose of self-defense or saving someone else. He discovered that only this type of killing can damage a part of the killer’s soul. Herpo invented a spell that would serve that damaged part of the soul from the body and store it in an inanimate object. This would mean that even if the body of the wizard is destroyed, his soul would still be wandering around as the Horcrux would still be earthbound.
In order for the creator to be completely killed, the Horcrux needs to be completely destroyed. There have only been two known successful creators of Horcruxes: Herpo the Foul and Lord Voldemort. We know what objects Voldemort used to store his Horcruxes and that all those have been destroyed. But very little is known about Herpo’s Horcrux.
We know that Herpo created exactly one Horcrux. But it is not known what object he used or if that object was destroyed or not. There is a very good chance that Herpo’s Horcrux was never destroyed. This would mean that Herpo the foul is not yet dead.
The process of creating a Horcrux was mentioned in detail in a book called “Secrets of the darkest art”. This book is full of the darkest and most evil forms of magic. This book gives explicit instructions on how to create a Horcrux. However, if Herpo was the first creator of a Horcrux, then it is likely that he was the only wizard with proper information regarding it. In order to properly understand any sort of magic, one needs to practice it in addition to have theoretical knowledge about it.
So, in order to write something about a type of magic with such a level of complexity, the writer would have to have practical knowledge about it. But, if only Herpo the Foul was successful in creating a Horcrux by the time that book was written, it is safe to assume that he has involved with writing that book, or at least with the section on Horcruxes in that book.
The current credited writer of the book is Owle Bullock and no one really knows anything about him except that he was a dark wizard. It may be possible that Herpo the Foul has written the whole book and used Owle Bullock as an alias. If this is the case then it is also possible that Herpo is still alive and is living by the name Owle Bullock. Herpo was well infamous for his practice of the darkest of art. Fearing that he might lose his immortality, he may have decided to change his identity, even alter his appearance, and keep a low profile, giving him a better environment to practice his dark magic in isolation.
If Herpo is indeed still alive, this means that his Horcrux is still intact. The details of the object that he used to hide a fragment of his soul are still unknown. It could be a common, everyday object into a Horcrux, like a rock, or a kitchen knife, an object that no one would suspect. It is also highly likely that while experimenting for creating a Horcrux, he used some random object, not giving much thought about it, and succeeded.
However, there is another object that could have been Herpo’s Horcrux: The Opal Necklace. In another one of our previous articles, we have discussed the Opal necklace and how it possessed the properties of a Horcrux. And if it was indeed a Horcrux then it most likely belonged to Herpo the Foul. The necklace certainly did not maintain a low profile.
It could have been the necklace or it could be any other object. Or on a highly unlikely chance, Herpo’s Horcrux might have been destroyed, after all, making Herpo dead. No one can know what the truth is, it can only be theorized.