What does Horcrux mean?

AHorcrux is an object formed by dark magic that is used by a wizard or witch in the Harry Potter series.Horcruxes are created to achieve immortality by splitting a dark wizard’s soul into separate pieces.

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According to series author J.K. Rowling, the invented termHorcrux has no specific etymology, although fans have created their own largely based on the word’s resemblance to the Latincrux, or “cross.” Rowling writes that it was devised by the random “transposition of syllables” during a brainstorming session.

The term was first introduced with the publication ofHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 2005, when Harry learns aboutHorcruxes from Professor Horace Slughorn, who previously taught the evil Lord Voldemort. In the book, it’s revealed that Voldemort committed a series of murders in order to create sevenHorcruxes. The act of murder allowed him to fragment his soul and transfer its essence into objects of significance, like Salazar Slytherin’s Locket or Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup.

This dark magic gave Voldemort immortality as long as hisHorcruxes remained safe.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2 (2010–11) follow Harry and his friends as they seek out to destroy Voldemort’sHorcruxes.

While briefly referenced inHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, they become a major plot device inHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, frequently used by the series’ protagonists and antagonists. Due to the massive success of all things Harry Potter,Horcrux has entered popular culture as slang for an evil or possessed object. In 2017, former White House aide Steve Bannon, for instance, was roundly mocked as aHorcrux after his oust from President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

Within Harry Potter fandom, new theories concerning the mysteriousHorcruxes continue to be proposed and debated. They are featured in fanfiction, and Harry Potter fans sometimes like to imagine what forms real people’sHorcruxes would take.

Horcrux is formally stylized with a capital letter in Harry Potter fiction, though popularly rendered lowercase elsewhere.