As one of the most powerful and dangerous dark wizards of all time, Lord Voldemort once could inspire fear by his mere name. Though he was well-known for his inhumane killings of muggles and wizards alike, his perhaps most famous and most sinister aim was to become immortal through the creation of horcruxes. As Horace Slughorn, Professor of Hogwarts, states, this splitting involves “the supreme act of evil”: murder. He also remarks that it is “an act of violation, it is against nature” (HBP).
Lord Voldemort was determined to split his soul into seven parts. In achieving this, he therefore had to create six Dark objects (horcruxes), and also to “thingify” himself. As Erica Maitland Lange states in her thesis, “Harry Potter and the Theory of Things”, to thingify is to create a “thing”, meaning a word for which other nouns fail–somewhere between a living being and an object (Lange 4). If “‘the process of thingification is tied to the process of degeneration’, ‘as Voldemort thingifies objects by transforming them into bodies, he thingifies himself, physically and spiritually deteriorating as a result of his crimes'” (Lange 2).
This thingification of his very being is what makes this deed so wicked. Slughorn remarks that “existence in such a form…few would want it… Death would be preferable” (HBP). In choosing this route, Voldemort’s chosen path is, to most, less desirable than death and therefore, “to live so falsely, so apprehensive of death as to counteract nature and rip one’s soul into pieces, is utterly inauthentic” (LeFebvre).
In addition to being means to ensure his immortality, these horcruxes also possess great value to Voldemort. His ownership of these objects is important to note in this case. As Walter Benjamin writes in his collection of essays, Illuminations, “ownership is the most intimate relationship that one can have with objects. Not that they come alive in him; it is he who lives in them” (Benjamin 67). “This claim is particularly pertinent to Voldemort’s relationship with his Horcruxes: he literally lives within these objects” (Lange 26).
According to Lange, there are three types of collectors. The first kind “‘are members of an older society in which culture still means something pleasurable, something to be enjoyed or possessed for itself…By contrast, the second kind of collector is merely opportunistic…they collect not for the sake of the pleasure given by the objects but rather in order to make money’… In Harry Potter, this first type of collector is most notably characterized in Hepzibah Smith, a wealthy older woman who loves to collect priceless antiquities, while the second type of collector is found in Mundungus Fletcher, a bumbling conman and peddler. Yet there is a third type of collector in Harry Potter that combines the attraction to historical value with the purposeful collecting of the mercenary—Voldemort” (Lange 24).
In short, Voldemort cares about both the sentimental value of items as well as its fiscal value. We can see his appreciation for both sentimental and fiscal value in the specific items that he chooses as horcruxes. Some items, such as the diary and his snake, are perhaps not as significant on a fiscal level; however, he has a deep emotional attachment to them. Others, like the relics of the founders of Hogwarts, hold large fiscal value because of their histories. However, in the case of the goblet and the diadem, Voldemort does not necessarily have a sentimental attachment to them, more so to what they represent: a vital part in Hogwarts’s history.
In J.K. Rowling’s novel, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Albus Dumbledore notes that “Lord Voldemort liked to collect trophies, and he preferred objects with a powerful magical history. His pride, his belief in his own superiority, his determination to carve for himself a startling place in magical history; these things, suggest… that Voldemort would have chosen his Horcruxes with some care, favoring objects worthy of the honor” (HBP). As observed, objects “worthy of the honor” vary greatly, but it is inarguable that they hold some value to Voldemort in some way, and are therefore bodies equal valuable as his own flesh.
When we examine each of his six desired horcruxes (we can put Harry Potter, as a horcrux, in a separate category, as he was not an intended horcrux), we can see that each item is indeed special to him. More importantly, in splitting his soul through monstrous acts and thus turning his living, corporeal being into a “thing”, Voldemort does the reverse to these objects, in that they are transformed from object to “thing”.
COLLECTION OF HORCRUXES
- His first horcrux, his diary, was important to him, because it was proof that he was the Heir of Slytherin. The diary documented his time at Hogwarts, and more importantly, the exploration of his heritage. He took pride in being the heir of Slytherin; as we can observe from his first interaction with Albus Dumbledore, he has always held pride in being “special” (HBP). Surely, to learn that he is a descendent of one of the four founders of Hogwarts would have been a momentous event for Lord Voldemort.
- The ring, along with Salazar Slytherin’s Locket, was one of the Gaunts’ prized heirlooms. One of the reasons this ring was so valuable was because it contained the Resurrection Stone. However, neither Voldemort nor his uncle and father knew of this fact; it is more probable that Voldemort prized this object because it represented his magical heritage through his mother’s bloodline.
- The locket, similarly to the ring, is a prized heirloom of the Gaunt family. It is said that the locket and ring are both possessions Marvolo Gaunt “treasured just as much as his son, and rather more than his daughter” (HBP). We see that in Marvolo’s actions towards his own daughter, as he nearly chokes her. “With a howl of rage, Gaunt ran towards his daughter. For a split second, Harry thought he was going to throttle her as his hand flew to her throat…‘See this?’ he bellowed at Ogden, shaking the heavy gold locket at him, while Merope spluttered and gasped for breath” (HBP). Additionally, it is, similarly to the diary, also another reminder of Voldemort being the heir of Slytherin.
- Hufflepuff’s Goblet and Ravenclaw’s Diadem: These are items with large historical and magical value. Though they are not personal items to Voldemort, meaning that they hold less sentimental value to him, they are nonetheless relics of the original founders of Hogwarts. Collecting them and “owning” them, Voldemort can therefore say that his soul is embedded in an important fiscal artifact, important to his school’s history.
- Nagini the Snake: As someone who is physically unable to love, Voldemort seldom had attachments to other living beings. However, according to Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort had strong feelings for Nagini that he had not for anyone else; she was the one living thing that he had ever cared about. It is easy to understand then why he chose her as one of his six horcruxes.
The British Museum of Magical Artefacts 