Harry Potter: Harry, the Former Horcrux

Since the release of HBP, there have been many theories advanced regarding Voldemort and Horcruxes; how they work, what objects Voldemort could be using, and even more importantly, the question "is Harry a Horcrux?" While it would certainly seem obvious that he was intended to be a Horcrux, Harry could NOT be a Horcrux. Harry is, instead, a Horcrux that has been destroyed. There are many reasons for this.

Take a look at chapter 23, in which Harry and Dumbledore finally get a look-see into Slughorn's real memory. Dumbledore makes a couple of interesting statements: "He (Voldemort) seems to have reserved the process of making Horcruxes for particularly significant deaths." "I am sure that he was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death." (pg 506, American ed.).

So what do we know about Voldemort's Horcruxes? 1. He had to kill someone to make them. 2. He used objects of historical significance to himself or to the wizarding community as a whole. 3. Two of those Horcruxes was related to a specific event or death in his life- the ring with the killing of his muggle father, and the diary with his opening of the Chamber of Secrets and the murder of Moaning Myrtle. 4. He was one Horcrux short at the time of his encounter with Harry. This means he had made 6 Horcruxes, and the seventh he intended to create that evening.

Dumbledore also clearly states here that it is unwise to make a Horcrux out of a living thing, but that Voldemort had evidently ignored that sound piece of advice, as Dumbledore believed he made use of Nagini for a horcrux. If Voldemort would ignore the wisdom of using a living thing as a Horcrux, yes, Harry would be a logical choice as a horcrux, especially given his (Voldemort's) limited knowledge of the prophecy. Certainly, destroying the child whom prophecy foretold would be his killer would fall into the "Important Life Events" category. It is clear Voldemort tried to do this.

By now, we have all heard the theories of what took place the night Harry's parent's died: Peter Pettigrew told Voldemort of the Potter's whereabouts. Voldemort showed up on the scene and encountered James Potter first, who was trying to buy time for Lily and Harry to escape. After killing James, he found Lily, who begged him not to kill Harry. Voldemort would have let her go- a point which baffled me from the time I first read it during Harry's dementor attacks in PoA. But it makes sense now. It would be crueler to make Lily watch her son become a tool of the enemy than to kill her outright. Instead, he was forced to kill Lily, giving Harry the protection of which so much has been made.

It is assumed that he then tried to "avada kedavra" Harry, and the curse rebounded. But I have a different theory to propose. Voldemort tried to make Harry a living Horcrux. I am assuming here that Voldemort believed a spell that powerful would kill the child. Instead, after Voldemort had performed the spell, the protection Lily gave her son broke the spell, killing that part of Voldemort's soul which had been encased there, rebounding on Voldemort, and leaving a scar on Harry's forehead. What was said in the first book regarding Harry's scar? "That's no ordinary scar". It is the mark of a powerful curse. What could be more powerful than that of a Horcrux gone bad?

There are 2 things that I point to that suggest Harry is not a Horcrux now. First, with all the broken Horcruxes, they have some kind of "scar". The book, of course, was scarred by the basilisk fang Harry used to kill Riddle. The ring has a crack down the middle. It makes sense, then, that Harry, as a destroyed Horcrux, has the lightening-shaped scar.

Secondly, Harry was granted skills that Voldemort possesses, but is not controlled by Voldemort. Thus, Harry is a parseltongue. He can, on occasion, read Voldemort's moods and thoughts because of their connection. However, Voldemort cannot control him. This is a VERY important point in this argument, because were Voldemort's soul imbedded in Harry, he would have no control over himself. Ginny is a perfect example of this. In OotP one of the reasons Ginny gives Harry to reassure him that he was NOT possessed by Voldemort was that he did not have long periods of time when he could not remember where he was. If Voldemort's soul were still embedded in Harry this would be true. Another bit of evidence of this is given during the final fight between Voldemort and Dumbledore at the Ministry at the end of OotP. When Voldemort tries to possess Harry in the hopes that Dumbledore will kill him, he CANNOT possess him, because, as Dumbledore puts it, of Harry's heart. If Harry were a Horcrux, this would not be true.

One final question to ask: the prophecy states that the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he shall have powers the Dark Lord does not know about. Would the failed avada kedavra have been enough to impart those gifts that Harry possesses? Would it have "marked" him as the prophecy suggests, with powers the Dark Lord knows not of? My guess is it would not. Harry would merely have been a normal looking child with "spell-teflon" that caused the curse to backfire. But all the evidence points to a Horcrux having the ability to mark and change another object, making it a part of the person who embedded that piece of soul there. Thus, when Voldemort tried to make a Horcrux out of a living person, flouting the wisdom that suggested that would be a very bad thing, he did not consider this: in doing so, he created a person with the power to kill him, because of that intimacy of souls.

Harry the former Horcrux, was given the power to kill Voldemort by Voldemort's own hand.