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I'm aware what the horcruxes are in Harry Potter and am aware of the lore with part of Voldemort's soul being in Harry.

What I was wondering was that in Hogsmeade, talking to Aberforth in Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Harry states that...

We've been hunting Horcruxes. We think the last one's inside the castle.

At this point he knows of having destroyed 4 and is not aware that he is one. This still leaves 2 horcruxes to destroy that Harry knows of (he finds out that these are the diadem and the snake later). Why does he state that "the last ONE" is in the castle when there should be TWO more left?

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    @JAD I don't think that's what the question is asking. The question doesn't ask why he thinks it's at Hogwarts but why he says there only one left when there should actually be two left.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Feb 18, 2018 at 20:58
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    If they didn't know Harry was one, wouldn't there be three horcruxes left, instead of two?
    – JAD
    Commented Feb 18, 2018 at 21:07
  • @JAD It seems without Harry, it's indeed just 6 horcurxes, the 7th is supposed to be Voldemort's very own soul.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Feb 18, 2018 at 22:51
  • @NapoleonWilson Voldemort isn't a horcrux by the definition given in the books. The 7th is Harry - an accidental creation.
    – Tim
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 1:04
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    I've commented below on @Tim's answer. I understand the Harry bit. What I don't understand is that Harry knew the potential for 7 (including the bit left in Tom Riddle) based on Slughorn's memory. Surely he should either think there are two remaining or he should be entirely unsure how many are left.
    – AJ.
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 10:17

1 Answer 1

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Because they didn't know the other Horcruxes existed.

Only Dumbledore knew how many Voldemort had created.

The seven Horcruxes are:

  • Tom Riddles diary
  • Marvolo Gaunt's ring
  • Salazar Slytherin's Locket
  • Helga Hufflepuff's Cup
  • Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem
  • Nagini the Snake
  • Harry Potter

By the time Harry & co are talking to Alberforth, only the first 4 had been destroyed.

Harry did not know that he was one, and no one knew that Nagini was one.

Dumbledore only revealed the truth about Harry and Nagini after Harry's "death", when they talked in the spirit realm.

So at the time of the conversation, they only knew of one more Horcrux, the fifth one, the diadem.

That's why Harry said there's only one left. He didn't know there were more. Even Voldemort didn't know Harry was a Horcrux.

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    @ibrahimmahrir When Voldemort attempted to murder Harry as a child, the spell rebounded and destroyed Volemort's physical form. The same action accidentally put a piece of Voldemort's soul into Harry, making Harry a Horcrux. It was pure accident, not intentional. Dumbledore was the only one who figured it out.
    – Tim
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 1:02
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    The memory from Slughorn that Harry and Dumbledore watch in Half Blood Prince explicitly speaks about 7, though.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 1:53
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    @NapoleonWilson In Slughorn's memory, Tom says the number seven, meaning to split his soul into seven parts. Those seven are the first six horcruxes, plus Tom himself. But Harry becoming one of them is pure accident. In reality Voldemort ended up splitting his soul into eight pieces.
    – Tim
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 2:26
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    @NapoleonWilson Voldemort is not a horcrux. He only has 1/8th of a soul, but he's not a horcrux. The horcrux is the object that's hiding a soul, not the person who made it.
    – Tim
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 2:37
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    I understand the Harry's soul bit. The source my confusion was the same as @NapoleonWilson's - from Slughorn's memory, Tom Riddle had specifically asked about creating 7 (including the bit that was left in himself). Why should Harry know there was 1 more (the diadem) but not know that there were 2 (the diadem and the snake)?
    – AJ.
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 10:15

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