Horcrux

Before Hermione could ask another question, Evvie had popped back into the room, this time with two older women alongside her. "Thank you Evvie, that will be all," Lady Helena said.

"What is it?" the shorter, plumper, woman asked. "I've got dinner to oversee."

"I need you to Look at something," Lady Helena said, squaring her shoulders. Apparently that meant something to the women, as they quickly moved to either side of her and each placed a hand on one of her shoulders.

Lady Helena then stared intently at Harry again. A second later the other two focused on him as well. He saw a range of emotions flicker across their faces before they finished their inspection. Once they were done, the shorter woman harrumphed and disappeared with a pop. The other one took an empty seat.

"I am Countess Rowena Ravenclaw," she began, "but you may call me Ravenclaw. I have a talent for mind magics, and a passion for esoteric magical studies. My daughter called myself and Helga because of what she saw with her magical sight. Channeling her sight, I confirmed her fears."

Ravenclaw stared piercingly at Harry. "How did you gain the scar on your forehead, young man?"

"Er... my relatives told me it was from a car crash," he began, "but Hagrid told me that I got it the night that Voldemort killed my parents and then died."

His jumbled explanation did not seem to impress Ravenclaw, and she glanced at her daughter. Lady Helena slipped into what Harry thought of as her 'looking forward' trance and soon emerged. "Tom Riddle, who went by the name Voldemort, last blood heir of Slytherin, attempted to create a horcrux with the death of young Harry here," she said. "Harry's mother Lily evoked the ancient rites of parensacrum, and the spell rebounded on Voldemort. His corporeal body was destroyed, while the soul fragment he had prepared latched onto the only living being in the house - Harry."

Harry thought he was going to be sick. He had never heard this version of his parents' death, and Lady Helena spoke of it in such clinical terms. He also didn't know what a horcrux was, but it if relied on his death, and had anything to do with soul fragments, he was sure it wasn't good. And finally, the idea that- "I have part of Voldemort's soul in me?"

"In your scar, yes," Lady Helena confirmed. "The soul fragments are intended to be stored in a prepared item, but in the absence of such an item, will latch onto a living being. It is a less secure means of storage for the soul fragment, but I suppose it is preferable to the alternative."

"What-" Hermione couldn't finish the question, but Lady Helena seemed to know what she was asking.

"If the soul fragment is not placed into the proper receptacle, or does not find an acceptable living host, it will dissipate. Essentially, that piece of soul will die."

Harry finally found his voice again. "So what am I supposed to do about this piece of Voldemort soul inside of me?" he yelled.

"That's my job," Hufflepuff replied, popping back into the room. She had an Elf beside her, it's arms filled with jars and bottles.

"All active magic -- magic that is cast or created -- can be countered or reversed," Ravenclaw explained. "This is one of the traits that forms the distinction between active and passive magic. For example, if one has the ability to heal themselves, you cannot reverse their healing. You can break the bone again, but you cannot undo the actual act of healing that they committed. Do you understand?"

The three students nodded. "Active magic, however, has counters. I can create a shield with a spell, but it can also be broken apart with a different spell. Creating a horcrux is an active spell, thus there is a counter. If the spell is performed properly, and the fragment of soul is transported into a prepared object, it is highly complicated to reverse. Most prefer to just destroy the object. However," she quickly continued, "this spell was not performed properly. The soul fragment is inside an unprepared living being, meaning that we have two different paths to counter it through."

"And that is where I come in," Hufflepuff said. She plucked the first bottle from her Elven assistant's arms and handed it to Harry. It held a dark, runny liquid in it. "Drink up!" she commanded.

Warily, Harry did as instructed. To his surprise, the liquid didn't taste as bad as he expected, more like how the forest smelled; loamy and damp. He quickly downed the entire bottle.

"Good!" Hufflepuff had opened another jar; this one full of a light green paste that smelled like the mint plant in Aunt Petunia's garden. She smeared it all over Harry's forehead, which immediately began to tingle. The Elf unobtrusively placed the rest of the bottles and jars on a side table and then popped away. "Now you just keep that on until it hardens," Hufflepuff instructed.

Harry nodded meekly.

"Why would V- V- He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named be making a horcrux?" Neville asked.

"And what was the other name you called him?" Hermione asked.

"I assume you mean Voldemort?" Lady Helena replied. Both students nodded. "The one your time knows as Voldemort was born Tom Marvolo Riddle. Upon the death of his mother's family, he becomes the last blood descendent of Slytherin's line. However, he found his birth name was not suitably intimidating and created the moniker Lord Voldemort. The term "Lord" was purely stylistic, as he had not accepted his inheritance as Earl Slytherin."

"But we found out as soon as we were sorted!" Hermione exclaimed. "How could he not know?"

"For several reasons," Helena explained. "Young Harry here is the only living Potter in his time. As such, he was able to claim his Gryffindor inheritance. Similarly, with his mother and Tom Riddle dead, he was the only one of Slytherin's line. As your parents are non-magicals, while able to inherit the non-magical title of Ravenclaw, they are unable to inherit the magical title. Again, you are seen as the last, or more accurately, the first of your line. Most heirs, including Tom Riddle, are not in a position to claim Lordship while still at Hogwarts, as they have living relatives with higher claim. The last of his mother's family died after Riddle graduated, and he never returned to Hogwarts nor did he approach the goblins for an inheritance test, so he was unable to claim his Slytherin inheritance."

"There is also the matter of Hogwarts needing your help, and choosing to name you as soon as you arrived. Had she not needed you so desperately, Neville, with a still living parent, would have been unlikely to have his status revealed until he took up the Lordship of House Longbottom, therefor also making him the head of his branch of Gryffindor. Do you understand?"

All three nodded.

"As for why he was creating a horcrux, there are two common reasons, but only one likely one. The less likely reason is to study the effect of creating one. It is not recommended, and few scholars pursue it. I doubt that was his intention. The other reason is out of a belief that doing so would make him immortal."

"He's immortal?" Neville squeaked.

"No, he simply believed that making a horcrux would make him so," Ravenclaw corrected him. "When you split your soul, the part that is split becomes frozen in time. It does not age, does not think, does not witness the world pass. If one of you were to create a horcrux right now, that piece of your soul would, when released from its object, believe that it is still on this very day, in this very place."

"In many recorded instances, the piece of soul that was awakened, could not fully comprehend the changes that had happened since its creation, and the being often went mad or committed suicide. Additionally, as only a part of a soul, the horcrux being is at a disadvantage when it comes to all things, from reasoning to spell casting."

"Of course, that is to say nothing of the effect on the caster. If you create a horcrux, a part of your soul is taken away. Not only does this make you weaker, magically and physically, but it also shortens your lifespan. And when you die, the part of your soul you still retain will pass on. If the soul fragment in your horcrux is revived, it will live it's own life, starting from the place it diverged from the whole. It is not a path to immortality, as so many think."

"Think of it like photocopies," Helena said, emerging from another 'looking forward' trance. "The soul fragment is one page copied from a book; stuck on that section even though the book continues beyond it. Meanwhile, the copy is less clear and precise than the original. If someone were to take that copy, and attempt to write the rest of the book that follows, based only on that page, it would look nothing like the original book. And if the book is destroyed, it cannot be resurrected from the single copied page. Nor does the destruction of the page affect the original book."

Harry and Hermione nodded, understanding what she meant perfectly, while Neville simply looked confused. Helena considered him for a moment. "Imagine that a copying charm creates an imperfect copy instead of a perfect one," she told him. A moment later, he nodded hesitantly.