This is the first draft of the preamble and table of contents from the book "Treatise on Horcruxes" by Lord Marvolo Slytherin.

The book is first mentioned in Chapter 40

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Preamble

The quest for immortality is as old as civilisation, maybe even older. Magical and Non-Magical people have dreamed of this state and searched for ways to obtain it.

Legends of fountains of youth, places of wonder, and quests to fulfil to get a boon from some mythical being are plenty all around the world.

We know of only one wizard – Nicolas Flamel – who managed to create the Philosopher's Stone. An object needed in the creation of the Elixir of Life, which will prolong the life of its drinker as long as it is consumed regularly. He and his wife led extraordinarily long lives until they chose to stop taking the Elixir.

Some of those striving for immunity to Death will go to great lengths and sacrifice much to achieve their goal. One of those people uncovered one magical way to bind himself to the mortal plane. It is one that has earned its place among those spells and rituals called the Dark Arts.

I'm speaking about Horcruxes.

I first encountered the concept of Horcruxes when I was a teenager. Forced to live in a war-riddled city, I was constantly in fear for my life, unable to use magic because of my placement with the non-magical inhabitants of Britain.

All the information I could get about them was spotty at best, contradictory at its worst. Had I known then what I know now, I never would have created a Horcrux.

Some advocate that information on this dangerous magic should be destroyed to prevent others from using it. I do not believe that this is at all possible.

Some information will always remain. Previous attempts to eradicate such knowledge and their results have shown us as much. A private library consisting of mostly illegal books, some scholar aiming to preserve all knowledge… the possibilities are endless. Even if it were possible to remove all information on Horcruxes from our world at this time, this measure is no safeguard against the re-invention, or re-discovery, of their creation. And while attempting to remove the information on what they are and how to create them, we would also be removing all information on why it is not a good idea to create one or even more Horcruxes.

Many of the errors I made happened because I knew too little. This book is my attempt to provide everyone contemplating the use of this most foul of magics with knowledge from my own experience to base their decision on.

Learn from my errors, because to achieve immortality by this method demands a price too high for the benefits to be gained. With loss of magical strength and decline in mental capability, eternity is not a prospect many would enjoy.

Table of Contents

Theoretic Principles

Creation of Horcruxes

Side effects of Horcrux creation

Ways to destroy Horcruxes

Side effects of destroyed Soul containers

Ritual to re-integrate soul-shards into the main soul

Report on an Existence as a bodiless wraith

Ritual to identify a Horcrux placed in beings and objects

Ritual to move soul-shards between objects (wip)

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Thanks to Jordre and Jake for helping to improve my spelling!

First published on the 9th of February 2017

AN:

For all that do not know: wip stands for work in progress

Jordre expressed some interest in reading more of this book. I'm not sure if I will find the time, but I think it is possible that some of the chapters will pop up in my mind demanding to be written.

Is there any interest in reading what is essentially a scientific paper?