4

Dumbledore had guessed the reason of the Harry's connection with Voldemort lies in one piece of his soul accidentally detaching when he tried to kill the former and latching onto Harry. This makes it mandatory first to get rid of this piece as it functions as a pseudo Horcrux. However, how could he be sure that no other pieces of Voldemort's soul to destroy were created in similar circumstances?

Voldemort kept killing, didn't feel remorse and thus was still susceptible to splitting his soul on each murder unintentionally or not. Even one more instance of this occurring would invalidate all the work Dumbledore has done so far, and thus it was imperative he didn't miscalculate the number of Horcruxes Voldemort has. I don't understand why he didn't take this possibility into account?

Improve this question
  • 1
    ‘Merlin’s beard, Tom!’ yelped Slughorn. ‘Seven! Isn’t it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case … bad enough to divide the soul … but to rip it into seven pieces …’ – Valorum Aug 15 '20 at 10:32
  • My understanding has been that, while murder does damage the soul, actually separating pieces requires extra effort. I've seen debate about whether V intended the Potter murders to create another horxrux or not, but either way, the curse rebounded back to him and seems to have done the job of severing his weakened soul. IIRC this was Dumbledore's opinion... (anyone want to dig sources? ) – Dúthomhas Aug 15 '20 at 14:05
8

He couldn't be sure.

Pretty much everything Dumbledore does, even his grand plan to best Voldemort, was based on guesses, conjectures and predictions. It all turned to be right, but it could've failed.

His body keeps her sacrifice alive, and while that enchantment survives, so do you and so does Voldemort’s one last hope for himself.’ Dumbledore smiled at Harry, and Harry stared at him. ‘And you knew this? You knew – all along?’ ‘I guessed. But my guesses have, usually, been good,’

Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (p. 580). Pottermore Publishing. Edición de Kindle.

About the accidental creation of Horcruxes... Creating a Horcrux requires performing a spell, not only killing. You can't create a Horcrux accidentally. Killing rips the soul, but you still have to perform the spell in order to break apart your soul apart and safeguard that piece in another place.

‘Well,’ said Slughorn uncomfortably, ‘you must understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, it is against nature.’ ‘But how do you do it?’ ‘By an act of evil – the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: he would encase the torn portion –’ ‘Encase? But how –?’ ‘There is a spell, do not ask me, I don’t know!’

Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince . Pottermore Publishing. Edición de Kindle.

Besides, as per Dumbledore knowledge or conjectures, the soul part that was in Harry was produced only by the rebounded Killing Curse, which teared said part from Voldemort's damaged soul. Since the rebounding of a Killing Curse is unprecedented, and never happened again, it is safe to assume that no other untintentional pieces of soul were created by Voldemort.

‘Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort’s soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself on to the only living soul left in that collapsing building.

Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (p. 560). Pottermore Publishing. Edición de Kindle.

And even more importantly, Dumbledore couldn't have known if Voldemort changed his mind and decided to make more than seven Horcruxes. Voldemort could've created ten, twelve or even more. All he had was a conjecture based on a memory.

Wouldn’t it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces? I mean, for instance, isn’t seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn’t seven –?’

Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince . Pottermore Publishing. Edición de Kindle.

Improve this answer
-2

In the Harry Potter series 7 is a very powerful magic number. Something that tom riddle (Voldemort) is obsessed with. Dumbledore made the inference based on riddle’s question to professor slughorn about dividing the soul 7 times.

Improve this answer
  • 1
    This doesn't answer my question. – ZzZombo Aug 17 '20 at 5:20
  • He can’t unintentionally make a horcrux. The making of a horcrux is a piece of magic. A spell. It requires you to do something to damage the soul in order to break off a piece and imbed it in an inanimate object. The reason Harry became a horcrux was because using the killing curse damaged Voldemort’s soul. But the spell rebounded and killed him and lily due to lily potters sacrifice. At the time of his death that fragment of broken soul latched onto the only living thing available. – Joe Aug 17 '20 at 5:32
  • That was already covered in the prior answer that I have accepted. – ZzZombo Aug 17 '20 at 6:23

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.