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Harry Potter and the Skittering Spouse

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From Taylor's viewpoint, it should be unrealistic to expect to find all of the soul-jars.
1. With access to teleportation and earth-works magic, you can by yourself go to middle of taiga or desert, or some rock in the ocean, build a cave and cover it. And no one will know about it, or able to find it.
2. Or, secondly, for which they have concrete evidence - give an item to your close supporters*, without informing them about their real purpose. So you need to loot all of high-ranking Death Eaters to bedrock to be sure that there nothing.

Not to say they should give up, but not to expect for this to be ultimate method.
___
*this line of thinking may lead to finding Black's artefact.
 
Taylor: Okay this means a major Fiendfyre campaign on all known Death Eater property."

Dumbledoor: "You mean properties?"

Taylor: "I didn't misspeak. I meant property. Anything they are carrying or stored elsewhere. If it still looks pristine, it might be one of the Lich's soul jars."
 
VirtualFox said:
Taylor: Okay this means a major Fiendfyre campaign on all known Death Eater property."

Dumbledoor: "You mean properties?"

Taylor: "I didn't misspeak. I meant property. Anything they are carrying or stored elsewhere. If it still looks pristine, it might be one of the Lich's soul jars."
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Fiendfyre is one of the few known ways to destroy a horcrux, so I doubt it won't slag the things.
 
Stahor said:
1. With access to teleportation and earth-works magic, you can by yourself go to middle of taiga or desert, or some rock in the ocean, build a cave and cover it. And no one will know about it, or able to find it.
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Since Voldie's reputation hasn't be ruined yet (
View: https://youtu.be/cUBFN8KUrOc?si=NV3mXUcIe9jnWHaG&t=34), She would suspect the first option quite possible, while pointing out places in the world that may likely contain them (The Eye of Africa, The Pyramids of Giza, Ruins of the Library of Alexandria, The place where the original Colossus stood on, etc.) While, she and Harry would look at the second option themselves.

The only thing I'd be worried about, would be rather how convenient the Bill Nye the Weasley Guy Question can be handled. While logically he would've known about it, the narrative may become a bit weaker without more focus on the bond between Taylor and Harry that would not be based on just fluff or flowery speeches alone (Think of the Daphne Greengrass x Harry stories that have Bill knowing about Horcruxes). The relationship should not be based on fluff or flowers of speaking - but also their own on-screen exploration of their relationship that makes it solid rather than cardboard cut-outs.

Otherwise, I'd be happy for Bill to know and Taylor finally having the time to innovate different technologies using her and Harry's experiences, bouncing off ideas over it, and create something new.
 
Fencer said:
Or should I stay my original course and let Taylor get creative in her application of information the room of requirement can plausibly supply her. Honestly asking because for all Taylor's battlefield innovations and ability with people I don't think we ever see her jump into any kind of tech. Which doesn't necessarily mean she's incapable of such because she basically hit the ground running and never stopped.
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I'm of the opinion that exploiting the Room of Requirement errs too closely to the 'Mary Sue SI' playbook for comfort. Bill logically knowing about soul jar like things when directly consulted about them sounds much more plausible.
 
After rereading the relevant bit I don't think Bill would offer. Dumbledore clearly knows and Bill 'knows' Dumbledore would ask if needed. I do support the Potters asking for his help for/after talking to Dumbledore. Bypassing the Full Horcrux Hunt and/or Dumbledore's info on Voldemort saves wordcount for more interesting things @Fencer has proven capable of making.
 
Bringing Bill is as our friendly exposition fairy for Horcruxes would be great, as would Dumbledore's reaction of this "knowledge" going public would cause him to fret and worry. Dumbledore's need for Secrecy could be a fun plot point for our newly weds to combat especially if they can bring Room and Hermione in on their side.
 
The whole Room of Requirement letting the protagonist master an obscure field of magic hits very close to the many, many, awful fanfics where that is a thing. Anything that is easy enough for the protagonist to figure out in too short a time but somehow effective enough to just flip the table... you will always be fighting the feeling of that magic field existing just to make Taylor special.

I prefer the Bill route. Like maybe Bill doesn't know of it off the top of his head, but the guy works at Gringotts. He's gonna have avenues of information that Taylor and Harry doesn't, and it shouldn't take away from their dynamic if you keep most of the stuff he is doing on his own offscreen. You could have him talk with H and T, go off to visit some of his colleagues and/or Gringotts and come back two weeks later with enough info for them to come up with a plan.

Also prefer it because one thing I am hoping from this fic is that it breaks Harry Potter's convention that Harry and Taylor must do everything. You delivered with Dumbledore getting the Dementors off the board without our protagonist's help. I'm would love more of that.
 
This is so satisfying, not in the normal fanfic wish-fulfillment way, but it feels more earned.

And the Order aren't caricatures, either. Which is surprisingly easy to do (I get mad at them often).
 
I'm of the opinion that Bill would know about Horcrux-like objects, but would never have actually heard the word 'horcrux' before. He'd have heard the goblin word for horcrux(it's hard to translate, but it's basically a swear word), he'd know about a the original methods that the horcrux was developed from, and he'd know about a really creepy was of doing something similar that originated from the Mayans, but he wouldn't instantly recognize the word 'horcrux.'

I'm also of the opinion that he would have a leg up on dealing with them, but wouldn't be able to pull an anti-Soul Jar spell out of his pocket, mostly because Soul jars don't really work long-term. If they did, the world would be up to their eyeballs in ancient pharaohs, immortal dark wizards, and so on. It just makes sense that horcruxes have a shelf life, though it wouldn't help everyone that Voldie is killing and torturing right now.
 
Fencer said:
"Albus pulled off a bloody miracle." Remus answered with a grin. "It must have taken every favor he was owed by anyone outside the country and then some begging on top, but he managed to convince the ICW that a breeding population of dementor's feeding as they please constituted a serious threat to the statute of secrecy, and to the world in general."
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Take out the apostrophe. It's plural, not possessive.
 
Fencer said:
Audience input time folks. Should Bill, as a curse breaker, know what Harry and Taylor are suggesting. If any profession was going to come with a warning about soul jars it's curse breaking. But he never seemed to suspect in canon. He could theoretically be useful in a few ways. Plausible reason to get the damn thing out of the vaults, hand wavy solution to tracking down all those yet to be found ala soul compass.

Or should I stay my original course and let Taylor get creative in her application of information the room of requirement can plausibly supply her. Honestly asking because for all Taylor's battlefield innovations and ability with people I don't think we ever see her jump into any kind of tech. Which doesn't necessarily mean she's incapable of such because she basically hit the ground running and never stopped.

I'm on the fence so feed me your thoughts that I might pick this apart from more angles please.
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If he was in earshot for the entire conversation about Voldemort "hiding his death in a ___", he'd likely clue in on it enough to at least know where to look to eventually figure it out. Tracking them down with something like a compass would probably only work with a viable reference point though. Ideally that would mean having another Horcrux on hand. Which Bill has no reason to suspect there'd be one within arm's reach, or even that Voldemort might have made more than one unless Dumbledore starts talking.

If Bill is a character you want to use though, it's a good way to bring him in. It is within his chosen field, even if it's a niche specialty of it that he may not have experience with yet.
 
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Fencer said:
Audience input time folks. Should Bill, as a curse breaker, know what Harry and Taylor are suggesting. If any profession was going to come with a warning about soul jars it's curse breaking. But he never seemed to suspect in canon. He could theoretically be useful in a few ways. Plausible reason to get the damn thing out of the vaults, hand wavy solution to tracking down all those yet to be found ala soul compass.

Or should I stay my original course and let Taylor get creative in her application of information the room of requirement can plausibly supply her. Honestly asking because for all Taylor's battlefield innovations and ability with people I don't think we ever see her jump into any kind of tech. Which doesn't necessarily mean she's incapable of such because she basically hit the ground running and never stopped.

I'm on the fence so feed me your thoughts that I might pick this apart from more angles please.
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Axel Fones said:
If anyone should know about soul jars, it should be the curse breaker that worked in Egypt, the place that had a lot of beliefs about the soul and how it worked. I refuse to believe only European dark wizards in history actively used the concept.
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Horcruxes were invented by Herpo the Foul in Ancient Greece, putting their creation some time between 9th century BC and 7th century AD. This is over a thousand years after the pyramids were built, and over five hundred years after the Valley of the Kings was in use.

So we can be fairly certain that whatever ancient horrors lie within the Egyptian pyramids, Horcruxes are not one of them.


I am, however, sure that the Egyptians had their own horrible methods to achieve immortality. But whatever those methods were, they weren't Horcruxes.



e: As for the Room of Requirement, we know it stores lost things and we know that Hogwarts used to have at least one book (Secrets of the Darkest Art) that described Horcruxes in the past because that's how Tom found out about them.

It is not at all unreasonable to suggest that while Dumbledore removed all copies of Secrets of the Darkest Art, one or two copies of it may have been lost over the years and ended up in the Room of Requirement, where they can be provided to someone who finds themselves needing something to help them understand what Voldemort has done to himself.

And if such books did find their way into the Room of Requirement, Dumbledore would have missed them, as we know from his comments later in the story that he did not actually know about the Room of Requirement.


e2: Also a reminder that Hermione summoned Secrets of the Darkest Art out of Dumbledore's office by just going "Accio Horcrux books"

Yes. It really is that simple. (Though presumably attempting that while Dumbles is alive would result in a very angry Headmaster chasing after the book.)
 
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I like the idea of Bill knowing of them, but under a different name. Maybe he thinks of the concept as a Canopic Jar.

As for him somehow never coming across it as a curse breaker in Egypt? He working with goblins there, and they are doing something dangerous. Any INTELLIGENT group will ensure that the people they work with are aware of the various dangers. Maybe even have a mock soul jar/canopic jar/horcrux (something that gives off a distinctive aura/signature) so that they can say "If you detect this in a tomb, DO NOT PICK IT UP. Call the rest of the team! If you do not follow this rule, we will be force to kill you for our own safety." THAT sort of warning usually gets someone's attention, and they will listen MUCH closer to the following info.
 
Neruz said:
Horcruxes were invented by Herpo the Foul in Ancient Greece, putting their creation some time between 9th century BC and 7th century AD. This is over a thousand years after the pyramids were built, and over five hundred years after the Valley of the Kings was was in use.

So we can be fairly certain that whatever ancient horrors lie within the Egyptian pyramids, Horcruxes are not one of them.


I am, however, sure that the Egyptians had their own horrible methods to achieve immortality. But whatever those methods were, they weren't Horcruxes.



e: As for the Room of Requirement, we know it stores lost things and we know that Hogwarts used to have at least one book (Secrets of the Darkest Art) that described Horcruxes in the past because that's how Tom found out about them.

It is not at all unreasonable to suggest that while Dumbledore removed all copies of Secrets of the Darkest Art, one or two copies of it may have been lost over the years and ended up in the Room of Requirement, where they can be provided to someone who finds themselves needing something to help them understand what Voldemort has done to himself.

And if such books did find their way into the Room of Requirement, Dumbledore would have missed them, as we know from his comments later in the story that he did not actually know about the Room of Requirement.


e2: Also a reminder that Hermione summoned Secrets of the Darkest Art out of Dumbledore's office by just going "Accio Horcrux books"

Yes. It really is that simple. (Though presumably attempting that while Dumbles is alive would result in a very angry Headmaster chasing after the book.)
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My assumption has always been that the problem with horcruxs is that they are actually a stupidly simple and easy to learn ritual. So pretty much the good guys have to go heavily out of their way to keep every random wizard with a willingness to murder someone from becoming immortal
 
zadcap said:
Leading question, is there any reason not to go with both options? Clue Bill in, but only let him chase the ones that Taylor couldn't reasonably manage in the style you already have planned? I like the idea of bringing in Bill because it gets one of the Weasleys and another of the adults on Taylor and Harry's side, but never at the cost of taking Fun away from the actual lead characters.
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This, but maybe have Bill come and ask Taylor which of the seven or eight different soul jar rituals it is. You know, phylacteries, animus homunculi, horcrux, rings of power, black cauldrons, etc. Depends if you need to slow them down with checking, or possibly use the knowledge to force a confrontation with Dumbledore. I'm kind of surprised it hasn't occurred to Dumbles yet that Taylor might be the "power he knows not".
 
Neruz said:
Horcruxes were invented by Herpo the Foul in Ancient Greece, putting their creation some time between 9th century BC and 7th century AD. This is over a thousand years after the pyramids were built, and over five hundred years after the Valley of the Kings was was in use.
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Or you could do the fun explanation where the ritual has been invented, purged and then rediscovered multiple times throughout history and across nations, also added fun if it is one of a few different but similar methods.
 
Lycanthromancer said:
So, horcruxes are basically like the internal combustion engine but for the soul?
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No, it's more like the stew of the soul. Every culture has its own variety, every culture claims that its own version is completely unique and has nothing to do with any other culture's, and oftentimes the only way you can tell which is which is by what spices are available in that region.
 
IMO Bill knowing about hocruxes would be fine. That said I think anything like a 'soul-compass' sounds a lot less likely. If nothing else creating multiples is probably rare given how it is presented in the book (and probably has side effects) so there would be little point to it. Also if something like that was possible Voldemort would presumably have been very interested in it since it would represent a major vulnerability. He would have either tried figuring out a counter or not gone with a multipart setup since in the case of something like that being possible having more than one hocrux is more of a risk than a safeguard.

verycoolname said:
I'm also of the opinion that he would have a leg up on dealing with them, but wouldn't be able to pull an anti-Soul Jar spell out of his pocket, mostly because Soul jars don't really work long-term. If they did, the world would be up to their eyeballs in ancient pharaohs, immortal dark wizards, and so on. It just makes sense that horcruxes have a shelf life, though it wouldn't help everyone that Voldie is killing and torturing right now.
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Maybe the world does have a fair number of old monsters still around? Because one of the main disadvantages of hocruxes is that resurrection is not automatic. If no one shows up to help you you may end up continuing to exist in spirit form without a realistic chance to regain a body. Especially if the disembodied spirit is vulnerable to being bound or damaged to keep it from being able to take action itself. They'd be around until someone found and destroyed their hocrux even if they'd by that point probably rather wouldn't be.
 
Fencer said:
Audience input time folks. Should Bill, as a curse breaker, know what Harry and Taylor are suggesting. If any profession was going to come with a warning about soul jars it's curse breaking.
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Might be worth considering the Ancient Egyptian conception of the soul. What I thought interesting was there's more than one soul, and, a number of Voldemort's manifestations match pretty well to these different types. And, the physical body is (sorta) part of the soul.

Article:
The ancient Egyptians believed that a soul (kꜣ and bꜣ; Egypt. pron. ka/ba) was made up of many parts. In addition to these components of the soul, there was the human body (called the ḥꜥ, occasionally a plural ḥꜥw, meaning approximately "sum of bodily parts").


Possibly interesting, Old Kingdom only the Pharaohs got to be properly preserved so they got the best afterlife, later anyone wealthy enough could have the rites. But, do you think Mr. Riddle actually worships the Egyptian gods? I doubt it. Could that have consequences?

Why am I mentioning this? Because, research in the (mundane, national) British Library may be relevant. And, if Bill has the various sightings of Tommy-boy described to him by Harry, odds are it'll click, and he'll go talk to older co-workers, and try and get permission to read (otherwise secured) Gringotts records.

So, yes, get Bill involved, but odds are getting other people to do research would also be a good approach. Taylor, Harry, maybe even Hermione, may be relevant.

Fencer said:
Or you could do the fun explanation where the ritual has been invented, purged and then rediscovered multiple times throughout history and across nations, also added fun if it is one of a few different but similar methods.
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Yeah, I do like that approach. There may have even been the odd nationwide ritual to 'stamp out soul magic', done a few times, in a few different places, to do the purging...
 
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