death to capslock

Might as well continue this sequence.

( Read Chapter 35 )

[Everyone meets up for a briefing in the Great Hall]

McGonagall: So, anyway, we’re going to help you evacuate this castle so you’re not harmed in the upcoming battle for the fate of the Wizarding World.

( Read Chapter 31 )

Harry: Navel! It’s you! It’s really you!

Neville: FOR THE LAST TIME MY NAME IS NOT NAVEL! Seriously! Everyone at Hogwarts calls me by my proper name now!

( Read Chapter 29 )

Hermione: Alright, we’ll be fine, just do exactly as I say.

( Read Chapter 23 )

[The next morning, Harry wakes up from a strange dream]

( Read Chapter 7 )

...about the Birdbath of Doom?

I remember a little while ago, Terri_Testing wrote an article about the true nature of the Birdbath, building on another article written by Swythyv, where they theorized that it was initially put there as a test by Merlin, in the hopes of weeding out those unworthy of attaining his level of wisdom and skill. Having just finished the Abridged version of the chapter in which it appears, I have to wonder just how much Voldemort changed when he commandeered the setup to hide his Horcrux.

Think about it: if the ritual Merlin created involved an initiate sailing to the island on a magical boat (often accompanied by a squire or servant to administer the potion) and drinking the potion in the Birdbath, that's pretty much what Harry and Dumbledore do anyway. The only components Voldemort seems to have added are the Horcrux and, possibly, the Inferi. However, we don't actually know Voldemort put the Inferi there. It's entirely possible that they've always been there, and are the bodies of those who failed the test set for them in the Birdbath. Terri_Testing, and maybe also Swythyv, seem to be under the impression that failing the test results in death--but, per Terri_Testing, both Dumbledore and Kreacher failed the test, and they didn't die automatically (Kreacher doesn't even die by the end of the series). What they did do, was attempt to get a drink of water and disturb the surface, causing the Inferi to emerge and try to grab them. Maybe everyone who attempts the ritual must drink from the water, and those who have failed arouse the Inferi, which drag them under water to their deaths.

So really, the Horcrux is the only thing we KNOW Voldemort added. The big question is, is this an act of sacrilege, and does it merit punishment? On the one hand, tampering with ancient magic, especially by incorporating an evil object, seems like the sort of thing that would be taboo--but on the other, Merlin was a Slytherin, and so he might have been perfectly okay with the locket being returned to his personal Birdbath. There is the fact that the locket was a Horcrux, of course--but here's the thing: most of the characters we meet in the series think Horcruxes are ultimate evil, but there's no reason to think the same thing would have been true in Merlin's time. It's hard to say how a Horcrux could ever be "good" per se, but in the past it might have simply been another bad thing people did, rather than the most awful thing in the history of ever. The days of King Arthur would have most likely been a lot more violent than modern times, after all, and so killing someone without remorse to save yourself, the essential component of a Horcrux, might not have looked quite as bad back then as it does today.

If, on the other hand, it is sarcilegious to tamper with the Birdbath in this way, what might a suitable punishment be? Do we ever see Voldemort suffer any such punishment?