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harry potter - What Happens to Someone Whose Horcrux Was Destroyed When they Die?


When someone makes a Horcrux, part of their soul is stored in it, and when the Horcrux is destroyed, so is part of their soul.


In the case of Voldemort, he had split his soul into so many parts that he had irreparably damaged it, so when the 2nd to last part of his soul was released, it appeared in limbo, where Harry saw it. J. K. Rowling has said that after Voldemort was killed, that was all that remained of him.


But what about a person that isn't as twisted as Voldemort. If someone creates a single Horcrux, so they have split their soul, but not to the point that Voldemort has, and then the Horcrux is destroyed, what happens when that person dies? Will their incomplete soul be as damaged as Voldemort's, or will they be able to cross over to the afterlife? Or is there a chance they'll be either trapped in limbo or be trapped on this side, as a ghost?



Answer




The way a Horcrux works is that it keeps a piece of soul in an object, and the soul can’t move on while that piece remains earthbound and undamaged. This may imply that a whole soul is needed to be able to fully move on and not remain stuck in limbo.




“Well, you split your soul, you see,’ said Slughorn, ‘and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one’s body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But, of course, existence in such a form …”
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 23 (Horcruxes)



The Dark Lord’s soul was sufficiently damaged that he was forced to remain in limbo in the stunted form Harry sees him in when in King’s Cross, so he for sure couldn’t move on.



Jon: Since Voldemort was afraid of death, did he choose to be a ghost if so where does he haunt or is this not possible due to his Horcruxes?


J.K. Rowling: No, he is not a ghost. He is forced to exist in the stunted form we witnessed in King's Cross.
- J.K. Rowling and the Live Chat, Bloomsbury.com (July 30, 2007)



It’s not clear if this is specific to the Dark Lord as his soul is damaged so severely, or if someone who made one Horcrux would have a similar fate except perhaps they’d exist in limbo in a less stunted form as their soul isn’t as badly damaged as his was.



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