‘Harry Potter’: The Impressive Amount of Time It Took to Find and Destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes
Horcruxes are a dark type of magic that allowed Lord Voldemort to become as powerful as he did in the Harry Potter universe. To stop the Dark Lord once and for all, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger had to first find and destroy the seven Horcruxes Voldemort made. The task doesn’t sound simple, but the amount of time it took the magical trio to destroy the Horcruxes is actually quite impressive.
What are the 7 Horcruxes in ‘Harry Potter’?
In the Harry Potter books and movies, Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces. He then stored each piece of his soul in a valuable object known as a Horcrux.
By dividing his soul, Voldemort had the power of immortality. For Voldemort to die, someone would need to destroy each Horcrux first. The seven Horcruxes Voldemort created were:
- Nagini, the snake
- Tom Riddle’s diary
- Marvolo Gaunt’s ring
- Salazar Slytherin’s locket
- Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem
- Helga Hufflepuff’s cup
- Harry Potter himself
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ron, Harry, and Hermione seek to find and destroy each Horcrux. Ultimately, they succeed in doing so, taking Voldemort down once and for all.
How does Harry Potter destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes?
A Horcrux can be destroyed with Basilisk Venom, Fiendfyre, or the Killing Curse. The Sword of Gryffindor was useful in destroying Horcruxes because it was imbued with Basilisk Venom when Harry stabbed the monstrous snake in the Chamber of Secrets.
Basilisk Venom destroyed the ring, locket, and Nagini. Fiendfyre destroyed the piece of Voldemort’s soul hidden within Ravenclaw’s diadem. Voldemort himself used the Killing Curse to kill the piece of his soul in Harry.
It took Harry, Ron, and Hermione 9 months to track down and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes
Based on J.K. Rowling’s fiction, the magical trio’s hunt for Horcruxes began on the night of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour’s wedding — Aug. 1, 1997. After Death Eaters crashed the party, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sought refuge at 12 Grimmauld Place, the former home of Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black. There, they pieced together the location of Slytherin’s locket.
When the locket’s negative energy impacted Ron, he left Harry and Hermione behind. The two traveled to Godric’s Hollow in search of the Sword of Gryffindor. Later, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were taken to Malfoy Manor, where they learned Bellatrix Lestrange was hiding another Horcrux in her Gringotts vault.
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione continued to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes, the Battle of Hogwarts began. During the fight, the diadem, cup, and Nagini were destroyed. Once Harry figured out he is also a Horcrux, he sacrificed himself so the part of him housing Voldemort could “die.”
The Battle of Hogwarts concluded on May 2, 1998. This means Harry, Ron, and Hermione were traveling for nine months (274 days to be exact), hunting for Horcruxes.
Overall, it took 2 years to find and destroy all of Voldemort’s Horcruxes
Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent nine months looking for Horcruxes. But many Harry Potter fans forget that Albus Dumbledore started the search. When you take Dumbledore’s journey into account, which began in July 1996, the overall mission to destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes took a total of 22 months.
