What did Voldemort intend to use as the horcrux he planned to make by killing Harry Potter?

Question

As confirmed in this question, Voldemort most likely intended to not just kill Harry Potter, but use his death in the creation of his final horcrux. He did so inadvertently, making Harry a pseudo-horcrux, containing his sixth soul fragment.

Quoting Dumbledore from Half-Blood Prince chapter 23:

"[...] Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short of his goal of six when he entered your parents' house with the intention of killing you.

"He seems to have reserved the process of making Horcruxes for particularly significant deaths. You would certainly have been that. He believed that in killing you, he was destroying the danger the prophecy had outlined. He believed he was making himself invincible. I am sure that he was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death.

"As we know, he failed."

Voldemort later used Nagini as his final horcrux, for what he thought was his sixth soul fragment but actually was his seventh.

Is there any clue as to what object he intended to use originally?

Answer 1

We may never know the answer, though I haven't read any recent Pottermore articles so some of "us" may already know. However, I would like to make some intelligent guesses:

1. Gryffindor's Sword: Voldemort seems to like objects related to the Hogwarts founders. At the time he killed Harry, he had already created a Horcrux from Slytherin's locket, Ravenclaw's diadem, and Hufflepuff's cup, so if he created one from Gryffindor's sword, he would have the full set. The sword shows up whenever a true Gryffindor needs it, but he may have tried to remove this effect.

2. Nagini: Perhaps Voldemort had always intended to create a Horcrux from Nagini, and his "death" just delayed it.

3. Something with Sentimental Value: He had already made a Horcrux from his diary. This may have been for lack of other important objects at the time (he was 15 or 16), but having done it once, he may have tried to do it again.

4. One of His Followers: This one is unlikely, but he may have held a contest for who was his "truest follower", and the winner may have been crafted into a Horcrux. Considering Horcruxes need to be kept safe, he may have actually chosen the strongest one, the one who was hardest to kill, and he may have made more followers into Horcruxes when the "winner" died.

If I think of any more, I will post them here.

Answer 2

You have used a brilliant quote for the question, we know that Harry is, in terms of survival, Voldemorts most significant kill.

Up until he is cast from his body he has used objects with significant historical value, either to himself or to everyone.

1. His own diary
2. Slytherin's/Gaunt family ring (resurrection stone)
3. Slytherin's Locket
4. Hufflepuff's Cup
5. Ravenclaw's Diadem

The pattern would Strongly suggest that the next Horcrux was likely to be owned by Gryffindor, however the only known surviving artifact or Gryffindor's is the Sword (which was presumably in Dumbledore's office)

I would like to state that we do not know what the Horcrux process requires we know that you need to kill in order to split your soul (it is also possible you need an additional process to split your soul), I've always been under the impression that the killing can be done in advance which will leave your soul in an unstable / split way then late you can begin the Horcrux process. I believe this because it is unlikely that he would take his significant items with him when he murdered and then perform the entire Horcrux spell at the scene. However, this could help to explain why upon revival he chose to use Nagini as his final Horcrux. If he lost his significant item at the Potter house the night he died he would need to find a new item for his Horcrux creation. I'm fairly certain that Dumbledore would have scoured the Potter house and found anything of any significance.

As a side Harry may only have been the precursor to his most significant kill of all, Dumbledore. With Harry gone it is likely that Voldemort would have no fears, he has squashed the prophecy that was to be his undoing and now he will take on the only other threat he has. Killing Dumbledore and then using the Sword of Gryffindor as a Horcrux. I feel this can be related to my earlier point,

As talked about here Voldemort did not have Nagini until after he died, so she is ruled out.

Like previously mentioned an object of significant sentimental value, something from his childhood or time at school is most likely. This could even be something belonging to his favourite teacher Horace Slughorn.

Something else he found of great historical value when he was working at Borgin and Burkes. Borgin and Burke were in the business of acquiring great dark artifacts, it is possible that Voldemort had one that had some significant value to him.

To Conclude

Personally the most likely Horcrux of choice was the Sword of Gryffindor I think after ending the prophecy it is likely that he would have gone onto try to kill Dumbledore (he would after all believe himself unbeatable), or by the very least steal the sword for his final Horcrux. Upon returning to a more normal life and after being "killed" his fear of death would have grown, forcing him to create his final Horcrux and as he would have believe the seventh fragment of his soul (Seven being the most magical of all numbers) he would have believed this to make him more powerful as well.

We may never know the precise answer, until JKR really goes into depth with the Horcrux stuff.

Answer 3

I think it might have been something else: the Cloak of Invisibility.

First of all, it is true that Voldemort tried to collect objects from the four Hogwarts' founders in order to transform them into Horcruxes. However, he did not limit himself to objects related to Hogwarts. Moreover, in HBP, Dumbledore says to Harry:

would Lord Voldemort use tin cans or old potion bottles to guard his own precious soul? You are forgetting what I have showed you. 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 to me that Voldemort would have chosen his Horcruxes with some care, favoring objects worthy of the honor.

The cloak of invisibility has definitely a powerful magic history.

Now I know that other people believe that Voldemort didn't know anything about the invisibility cloak (Does Voldemort know about the Invisibility Cloak?), but I don't think so. He, after all, believed in the existence of the Elder Wand, so he may have thought that,had the legend been true,the other two Hallows would have been hidden somewhere. He also valued stealth, so a perfect cloak of invisibility could have been very useful.

What's more important, James Potter (as a legitimate descendant of Ignotus Peverell), possessed the Cloak, and used it at Hogwarts. Maybe Voldemort somehow knew about it (Peter Pettigrew?), perhaps he even knew that it was a Hallow.

Therefore, I think that the night Voldemort killed Harry's parents, he was planning to find the Cloak and make it a Horcrux. After all, Horcruxes

could be anywhere in the world — hidden — buried or invisible... (Half-Blood Prince)

TL;DR. Voldemort knew about the Cloak of Invisibility, an object "with a powerful magical history", and was planning to find it in James Potter's house and make it a horcrux. Wasn't it for Dumbledore and for his old curiosity towards the Deathly Hallows, Voldemort would have found it.

Answer 4

It's never explicitly stated that Voldemort intended to make a Horcrux. Such an idea was merely an idea of Dumbledore's, but in his own words, he tended to make fairly good guesses.

Answer 5

Following his trend to use items by major house founders, the only thing he hadn't used was something by Godric Gryffindor. The only major surviving item at the time of Voldemorts attack was the Sorting Hat.

"Legend has it that the hat once belonged to one of the four founders, Godric Gryffindor" -JKR

The Sword of Gryffindor was very likely inside the hat at the time of Voldemort's attack on the Potters, as we know the sword is not seen on display in Dumbledore's office until after Harry retrieves the sword in book 2. So unless otherwise stated by JKR herself, the sword was in the Hat at this time.

Answer 6

His wand maybe as it was the only object he had and was incredibly important to him (see orphanage memory and explanation in HBP.

Godric's Hollow itself (can a town be a Horcrux?) Gryffindor's tombstone? It would be a founder's item. But Godric's Hollow is mentioned as Gryffindor's birthplace not necessarily where he died or was buried.