Horcrux

Horcrux is a magical object in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. It is a Dark Magic device created to attain immortality. The concept is first introduced in the sixth novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, though Horcruxes are present in earlier novels without being identified as such. Rowling uses the character Horace Slughorn to introduce their properties. The retrieval and destruction of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes forms the main focus of the final two books in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

A Horcrux can be made from any normal object, including living organisms. Destroying a Horcrux will destroy the fragment of soul contained within it, ending its protection and returning the creator to a state of mortality. If a wizard has created more than one Horcrux, he will remain immortal until they are all destroyed. Once they are destroyed, the wizard will die a normal death if mortally wounded.[5]

The portion of soul within a Horcrux also has the ability to take spiritual possession of other people. This possession is limited to those who become emotionally attached to the Horcrux. Once possessed, the soul within the Horcrux can take total control of the person's actions while the person remains completely unaware of the connection. Once a Horcrux has possessed a person, the Dark Wizard has the ability to take corporeal form by draining the life force of the possessed person. None of these spiritual connections extends to a wizard's other Horcruxes. The portions of soul also possess some level of sensory awareness, being able to sense when in danger and defend themselves.

Lord Voldemort is the only wizard explicitly mentioned as having created a Horcrux (though others are known to have done so), and is the only wizard known to have created more than one. In a podcast interview, Rowling mentioned that Herpo the Foul, a Parselmouth and the first breeder of a basilisk, created the first Horcrux

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