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Dumbledore got a curse upon him when he wore the cursed Horcruxed ring. He was eventually going to die because of the curse.

“If you had only summoned me a little earlier, I might have been able to do more, buy you more time!” said Snape furiously.

But at the same time, Arthur Weasley was successfully cured from the bite of Nagini. Why should this happen? The ring as well as Nagini was a Horcrux, a thing that carries a curse of extraordinary power. Then why should one die when attacked by a Horcrux and the other should live?

Rand al'Thor
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Prakhar Londhe
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1 Answers1

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Dumbledore wasn't killed by the ring being a Horcrux; he was killed by the curse on it.

The curse was in addition to, and separate from, the Horcrux nature of the ring. It was placed upon the ring by Voldemort as one of his precautions to protect his Horcruxes.

"The ring, Harry. Marvolo's ring. And a terrible curse there was upon it too."

-- Dumbledore, HP and the Half-Blood Prince

and

"Why," said Snape, without preamble, "why did you put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you realised that. Why even touch it? [...] That ring carried a curse of extraordinary power, to contain it is all we can hope for; I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time being —"

-- Snape, HP and the Deathly Hallows

Whereas Arthur Weasley was bitten by a dirty great snake. His injuries were nasty and probably life-threatening, but they were purely physical: there was no magical curse acting on him. Just being a Horcrux doesn't make an object more or less lethal (just perhaps more evil).

Clearly Voldemort didn't put a similar curse on all his Horcruxes, since Harry, Ron, and Hermione carried the locket around for weeks without suffering any lasting ill-effects. (It did have a psychological effect on them due to the evil magic surrounding it, but that's a lot less serious than the curse that killed one of the greatest wizards of the age.) Presumably he thought they were already sufficiently protected: the diadem in the room he thought nobody else knew about, the locket hidden in the cave with multiple protections, etc.

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Rand al'Thor
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  • The curse was the Horcrux one... Nagini had the same curse.. shan't it be same.. will you please elaborate a bit.. I am not able to frame the statements in defense :) – Prakhar Londhe Dec 13 '15 at 03:12
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    @prakharlondhe I just edited with some more quotes. The curse was placed by Voldemort, and in addition to the ring's Horcrux nature. Note that the locket had no such curse, as Harry and co. were carrying it around with them for months. – Rand al'Thor Dec 13 '15 at 03:14
  • you kinda have a point .... but then why didn't Voldy put such curses on every horcrux.. why on only this one? – Prakhar Londhe Dec 13 '15 at 03:14
  • @prakharlondhe Maybe he didn't think it was necessary? We know the locket and diadem Horcruxes were protected by their locations; Nagini was alive, and deadly in her own right. He probably assumed they were already protected enough without the need for such a curse. I assume it's quite costly in some way to cast such a powerful curse. – Rand al'Thor Dec 13 '15 at 03:16
  • That was severe mistake... how can he be so sure... There comes Dumbledore's part "Voldemort always underestimates others"....and most importantly he underestimated DUMBLEDORE!... I am sure Harry couldn't have founded the locket horcrux.. others were (beside the book and ring) were little simple locations.. – Prakhar Londhe Dec 13 '15 at 03:21
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    @prakharlondhe Voldemort makes mistakes. That's why he lost :-) – Rand al'Thor Dec 13 '15 at 03:24
  • I always have a nightmare of what would have happened if Dumbledore became a Dark Wizard..!.!... :O – Prakhar Londhe Dec 13 '15 at 03:28
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    ... Because Nagini already has extremely powerful venom. He can hardly put a curse on her. Leaving aside whether it's possible to put a curse on a living thing, how is he supposed to touch her? How is he supposed to keep her with him? That's regarding Nagini specifically, of course. With the others: He buried the ring and hit it away. That was a defence. The Cup, for example, he put in someone else's vault, where it might be handled by his second lieutenant. The locket could have been cursed, but it had the potion. And he believed he was the only one to know about the room of requirement – Au101 Dec 13 '15 at 03:45
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    And remember: nobody was injured by handling Tom's diary, and the 7th Horcrux wasn't harmful either. – Peregrine Rook Dec 13 '15 at 08:40
  • @PeregrineRook Harry is not a Horcrux! – Rand al'Thor Dec 13 '15 at 15:49
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    Well, yeah; not any more. – Peregrine Rook Dec 13 '15 at 16:39
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    @PeregrineRook Harry was never a Horcrux! – Rand al'Thor Dec 13 '15 at 16:54
  • Wasn't harry the horcrux voldy never intended to make? – Prakhar Londhe Feb 01 '19 at 15:43
  • @prakharlondhe https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/11546/31394 – Rand al'Thor Feb 01 '19 at 15:44