1

Voldemort originally made six Horcruxes because he thought that seven was the most powerfully magical number, meaning that it was best to have his soul in seven pieces. However, during Half-Blood Prince we find out that Voldemort knows that the diary Horcrux has been destroyed, meaning that only at most six pieces of his soul remain.

With this in mind, why didn't he make another Horcrux? If doing so would restore his number of soul fragments to numbering seven, then he would surely find that beneficial for the same reason that he had originally decided to have seven fragments. And if this is not possible, then as he cannot have seven fragments, why wouldn't he make more Horcruxes anyway? As far as he seems to know, if you cannot have a seven piece soul, then there's no disadvantage to splitting your soul even further.

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    Once his soul was split into seven parts, it’s still seven parts even if one is destroyed. Making another Horcrux would mean that his soul would be in eight parts.
    – Alex
    Nov 19, 2020 at 23:17
  • Can you add a source for Voldemort knowing that the diary was destroyed?
    – MBEllis
    Nov 20, 2020 at 10:40
  • @MBEllis Chapter 23 of Half-Blood Prince. Do you want the quote?
    – J. Mini
    Nov 20, 2020 at 12:24
  • Correct me if I'm wrong, but let's say you have a whole soul. Then you make six Horcruxes. That means you split your soul seven times. So Harry destroyed one of the Horcruxes and that part of the soul probably went somewhere(into Heaven, or wherever people's souls go). So then Voldemort will technically have 6/7 of his original soul left, making him, well, less mortal. That's the way I really put it.
    – Alexandrang
    Dec 1, 2020 at 2:11

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

He wasn't sure that he was capable of making more Horcruxes.

The full quote from Half Blood Prince:

"Does Voldemort know when a Horcrux is destroyed, sir? Can he feel it?" Harry asked, ignoring the portraits. "A very interesting question, Harry. I believe not. I believe that Voldemort is now so immersed in evil, and these crucial parts of himself have been detached for so long, he does not feel as we do. Perhaps, at the point of death, he might be aware of his loss... but he was not aware, for instance, that the diary had been destroyed until he forced the truth out of Lucius Malfoy. When Voldemort discovered that the diary had been mutilated and robbed of all its powers, I am told that his anger was terrible to behold." "But I thought he meant Lucius Malfoy to smuggle it into Hogwarts?" "Yes, he did, years ago, when he was sure he would be able to create more Horcruxes, but still Lucius was supposed to wait for Voldemort's say-so, and he never received it, for Voldemort vanished shortly after giving him the diary.

The quote states that Voldemort didn't think he was able to make more Horcruxes. Voldemort found out about the diary only after he came back to life and met Malfoy. In that time he already split his soul into 7 pieces. Perhaps he thought that splitting his soul again would be unsafe, or that it would destroy the power of 7 fragments of soul, even if one of them is destroyed.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    I'm skeptical. We know that Voldemort passed on the diary Horcrux before he made Nagini in to one.
    – J. Mini
    Nov 21, 2020 at 16:09
  • I interpret "when he was sure..." as referring to Voldemort still possessing a body. At the time Lucius stuck the diary in Ginny's cauldron, Voldemort did not have a body and would be unable to create any more Horcruxes, should anything bad happen to that one.
    – Kevin
    Nov 25, 2020 at 23:44

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

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