“A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul”
“Well, you split your 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 part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged.”
Before, the start of his second year, Harry Potter mistakenly ended up travelling to Knockturn Alley instead of Diagon Alley. He ended up in one of the most sinister shops in Knockturn alley called Borgin and Burke’s. This shop was known for selling the objects with unusual and powerful properties, often associated with dark magic.
While there, Harry saw some of those objects. One of those artefacts was the Opal Necklace with a sign that read “Do not touch! Cursed. Has claimed the lives of nineteen Muggle owners to date.”
Four years later, that necklace is seen again when it cursed Katie Bell, one of the 6th year Gryffindors. After his father’s imprisonment, Draco Malfoy joined Voldemort’s army a.k.a. the Death Eaters. He was then tasked to kill Albus Dumbledore, for which he drafted many plans most of which failed.
One of those plans included giving Dumbledore the Opal Necklace. For this, he casted the imperious curse on Madam Rosmerta, the owner of Three Broomsticks, who then cast the same curse on Katie and ordered her to deliver a package to Dumbledore.
Harry, Ron and Hermione witnessed Katie Bell and her friend Leanne arguing about a package that Katie was trying to bring to Hogwarts to give to someone, while Leanne thought that it was unsafe. When Leanne tried to grab the package, Katie grabbed it back and then,
“At once, Katie rose into the air, suspended comically by the angle, but gracefully, her arms outstretched, as though she were about to fly. Yet there was something wrong, something eerie…her hair was whipped around her by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and her face was quite empty of expression.”
“Then, six feet above the ground, Katie let out a terrible scream. Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was clearly causing her a terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed. Leanne started to scream too, and seized Katie’s ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground. Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed forwards to help, but even as they grabbed Katie’s legs, she fell on top of them; Harry and Ron managed to catch her but she was writhing so much they could hardly hold her. Instead, they lowered her to the ground where she thrashed and screamed, apparently unable to recognize any of them.”
This proved that the opal necklace is indeed cursed and was capable for causing some serious damage. Katie was “lucky to be alive” after the incident. It was some dark and very powerful magic. A person just needs to touch it in order to be subjected to such a great damage.
But the necklace appears to be only an inanimate object. All the properties that the necklace possesses are of a horcrux: an inanimate object subjected to darkest of magic, which then becomes cursed and carries a powerful defense mechanism. They are very difficult to approach, and even more difficult to destroy.
There is only one known way to destroy a Horcrux and that is Basilisk’s venom and anything that is imbued with it. If the Horcrux is a living creature, the killing curse will destroy the Horcrux inside it. The opal necklace is clearly an ancient and dark magical artifact with an unknown history. All these facts point to the necklace being a Horcrux.
If the Opal Necklace was a Horcrux, whose was it?
When we think of horcruxes, we naturally associate it with Lord Voldemort because of the fact that he deliberately did create six horcruxes (and one unintentionally). But this time, he is not the wizard behind this evil magic and has nothing to do with it. According to the wizarding history books, there are only two known wizards who have created horcruxes successfully, Voldemort and Herpo the Foul.
Herpo the Foul is one of the earliest known dark wizards who hailed from Greece. He is known as the creator of Basilisk, a gigantic serpent who can kill a person by just looking at their eyes. He is also known to be the first wizard to have created a Horcrux. It is said that he created exactly one Horcrux which is believed to have not been destroyed.
This makes Herpo the Foul immortal as a part of his soul is still earthbound. Could the Opal Necklace be the object which carries a part of his soul?
Herpo, however, was only the first known wizard to have successfully completed the process of Horcrux creation. Over the course of history, there have been many witches and wizards who have tried to create a Horcrux, despite the lack of instructions from evil textbooks.
This suggests that there may be someone who succeeded in creating a Horcrux but never took credit for it. There is one other wizard who MIGHT’VE created a Horcrux, Ekrizdis.
We have talked about Ekrizdis in length in one of our previous articles. He is referred to as the creator of something more sinister, the Dementors. He is known to have practiced the darkest and foulest of magic for years and years in isolation. He could have created a Horcrux of his own that no one knows about.
If that is the case, then it would mean that Ekrizdis didn’t actually die and is still alive. This would give creeps to any witch or wizard. IF Ekrizdis dis creates a Horcrux of his own, could it be the Opal Necklace?
It could have been Herpo or Ekrizdis or it could be some other wizard or witch out there who wanted to attain immortality by practicing dark magic.