What are Horcruxes?

A Horcrux is any object in which a witch or wizard has concealed part of his or her soul in. The point of doing this is to prevent the person who created the Horcrux/Horcruxes from dying. This isn't full proof but as long as the Horcrux/Horcruxes is/are safe and remain that way, the person who created them cannot die, because part or parts (if they created more than one) of their soul are still 'living' if you will.

How are they created?

When someone commits murder their soul rips apart. So, the spell-caster must commit a murder which splits the soul. Once the soul is split the spell-caster can then implant the torn fragment of soul into the object they chose to make into a Horcrux. The rest of the soul remains in the spell-caster's own body. There seems to be a spell that is used in the process of placing a part of the soul into an object but we do not know the name of that spell. Horcruxes involve very advanced and very Dark magic. Slughorn explained to Voldemort that few would want that kind of life, and that most would prefer death. The subject of Horcruxes is banned at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the term is only mentioned one time, in one book at the Hogwarts Library. It's a subject many are not comfortable talking about. The object used does not need to be inanimate. A living creature can be used. This, however, could be risky. A living thing has a mind of its own for one thing, and second, a living thing can die

Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes

Voldemort became obsessed with avoiding death at an extremely young age. Even with Horcruxes being banned at Hogwarts, Tom had still learned of their existence during his school years. He learned more about them from professor Slughorn, who told him quite a lot about them. What they are, what they do, and how they're created (except for the spell used to create them, which he said he didn't know). Tom had the idea of creating not just one Horcrux, but six of them, while the seventh part of his soul remained inside of him. He wanted this particular number since the number seven is said to be the most powerfully magical number, and because seven protected pieces of soul are a lot better off than one. Voldemort seems to choose objects of some significance to him, objects in which he sees as worthy of protecting bits of his soul. Artifacts from each of the four Founders of Hogwarts seem to appeal to him.

Voldemort's Known Horcruxes:



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