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I was wondering what would happen if a Muggle was made into a Horcrux. In the first place, would he/she be able to survive the transformation?

Even if he/she is able to survive the process, would it incorporate magical abilities in the Muggle? For example, Harry famously became a Parselmouth when a piece of Voldemort's soul latched onto him. We cannot know if he gained magical abilities by these means, as he was already a wizard.

But would a Muggle gain magical powers if a wizard made him/her into a Horcrux? I am sure no references about a living Horcrux are in the books, except for Harry and Nagini. But are there any references elsewhere?

raisinghellyer
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Prakhar Mishra
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1 Answers1

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The short answer is, YES!.

There hasn't been any such thing seen (in books, movies or canon even). But there is a possibility. Here's the long answer.

Like you mentioned, using a living life-form as horcruxes has been seen in the books & movies (Harry and Nagini). In the Half-blood Prince,

“I don’t think so,” said Dumbledore. “I think I know what the sixth Horcrux is. I wonder what you will say when I confess that I have been curious for a while about the behavior of the snake, Nagini?”

“The snake?” said Harry, startled. “You can use animals as Horcruxes?”

“Well, it is inadvisable to do so,” said Dumbledore, “because to confide a part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is obviously a very risky business. However, if my calculations are correct, Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short of his goal of six when he entered your parents’ house with the intention of killing you.

Answering the second part: yes. The muggles will definitely survive the process. The best example is once again NAGINI. The snake was, in a way, is a muggle with no "magical blood" in it. It did survive. So it is possible for muggles too provided the horcrux-ing process is done properly.

And finally about inheriting "magic" via horcruxes. I think it depends on the horcrux vessel. Harry, being a wizard already, was able to inherit magical characteristics such as parseltongue, seeing into Voldemort's memories (with some sort of Legilimens etc.). But the snake didn't show any signs of magical incense in it. So non-magical horcrux vessels may not inherit magic.

PS: Just a remark though. If I am a Dark wizard, I would kill the muggle rather than using him/her as a horcrux (That's what they are famous for; hating muggles and muggle-borns).

Shreedhar
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    magical creature != muggle on at least two fronts. Not a human. Magical. This answer is a stretch. – NKCampbell Jan 09 '18 at 14:54
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    @NKCampbell but Nagini is just a normal snake right? (not considering the theory which says Nagini is a maledictus wizard who eventually turned to a snake) – Shreedhar Jan 09 '18 at 15:10
  • not likely for a few reasons: 1) would Voldemort make just any normal "muggle" creature his familiar? 2) Nagini is described as massive, like beyond Amazonian huge. Not really a normal snake. 3) Nagini is highly intelligent. Might this be attributed to Vold's soul chunk? Maybe, however, it seems she was already privy to plans and schemes prior to her being made a Horcrux. Later, she was capable of executing a complicated trap that required her to pose as a human. 4) Her venom is not normal. It practically killed Arthur because his wounds wouldn't heal as expected – NKCampbell Jan 09 '18 at 15:22
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    Nagini is at least as intelligent as Crookshanks, who was half Kneazle. – NKCampbell Jan 09 '18 at 15:24
  • How do you know nagini is the common garden variety muggle snake? – user13267 Jan 09 '18 at 19:06
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    https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/14541/what-kind-of-snake-is-nagini there doesn't seem to be any clear consensus ¯\(ツ)/¯ – user13267 Jan 09 '18 at 19:09
  • The fact that all snakes in the Harry Potter universe can speak a language implies they're not really "muggle" snakes, at least not as we understand them in real life. Also, the fact that Parseltongue is a rare, inherited magic power that only Wizards are born with supports the idea that snakes have more magical blood than human muggles. But that's worth a separate Q&A... – Dacio Jan 09 '18 at 22:48
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    Asked: Are snakes magical creatures? – Dacio Jan 09 '18 at 23:05
  • @Dacio Well, who can argue with the Dark Lord. When he says they are not, they aren't! :P – Shreedhar Jan 10 '18 at 08:17