CS17: The Strange Diary Horcrux

We finally get to really meet the entity responsible for all of the mayhem this year at Hogwarts in chapter 17 of Chamber of Secrets, entitled The Heir of Slytherin.

We find out later in the series that the Diary Riddle that possessed Ginny was a Horcrux. I have so many questions about what would have happened if this piece of Voldemort’s soul had successfully drained Ginny of her life force to become a fully formed being and why that process even existed.

First of all, was this Horcrux able to have the chance to become a being with a body and will of its own because of the fact it was a diary? It being a diary enabled it to interact with the current owner in a way that no other Horcrux was shown to do. Or did it have to do with the extra element of this Horcrux containing memories of how to open the open the Chamber? This gave it another purpose other than to just keep original Voldee alive. Perhaps this allowed for this particular piece of soul to become stronger than any of the others; it probably also helped that this was one of the first Horcruxes made while Riddle was still in his prime.

Next, I was really curious about what would have happened had Diary Riddle solidified. Would he have been a clone of Voldemort, with the same intentions and goals? Or, would Diary Riddle have become his own personality? I think it would be the latter, because Diary Riddle himself told Harry that he changed his mind. He was created to reopen the Chamber, but ever since Ginny told Diary Riddle about Harry he changed his goal to meeting and killing Harry. I think it’s very plausible that Diary Riddle would develop his own agenda and possibly even view Original Voldee as an enemy and vice versa. I do not think Original Voldee would have been very happy with another version of himself. He views himself as one of kind, and special. If there was another person out there just like him it would drive him nuts.

Lastly, would Diary Riddle, fully formed, still be a Horcrux? I’m not too sure about this, he would still contain a part of Original Voldee’s soul, so that could get complicated. Along with this question, would Original Voldee’s other Horcruxes keep solidified Diary Riddle immortal? I guess that would depend on if Diary Riddle remained a Horcrux after he gained a corporeal body. Original Voldee’s other Horcruxes didn’t stop any of them from being destroyed.

I’m wondering if Original Voldee didn’t think of all of these questions himself. I’m not sure he did, or he didn’t imagine that the piece of soul he placed in his diary would ever become strong enough to solidify into a person. How terrifying would it have been to have two evil wizards to deal with, both of whom may be nearly impossible to kill?

I don’t really have any specific answers to these questions. I’d love to hear what you think about Horcruxes and any of your theories, though. You can leave a comment on the bottom of the podcast page found on the Lexicon.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:24 — 4.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS