With dread, Rowan flipped through the next pages before finally finding what she sought. The process in which to create a Horcrux. With some reluctance, she lowered her eyes and began to read the dreadful process.
"The concept of immortality has always fascinated wizards and even mankind since the beginning of time. And only more so upon Herpo, The Foul, a brilliant wizard and parselmouth discovered the secret to preserving a portion of the soul. Unlike the soul residing within a living body, the portion of the soul that is placed in a living container will live forever provided that the soul container is never damaged nor destroyed. It is widely believed that Herpo, the Foul had two apprentices and that one of them betrayed him so utterly horrified at his actions. Herpo, the Foul was not only killed but his Horcrux destroyed as well. As for the other apprentice, little is known about him except that he fled with as much of his master's work as he could.
Now the process to create a Horcrux in itself is rather simple for a wizard must deliberately commit murder. Murder is considered the most supreme act of evil not by wizards and muggles alike, but by magic itself. Each deliberate act metaphysically damages the wizard's soul. At such a time is when the moment of opportunity is at hand and it is time to act. But I must warn the caster, for it is essential to have a proper vessel prepared beforehand. Not just any ordinary vessel, but one that withstands the passage of time and is not so easily destroyed.
Returning to our previous spot the wizard having just killed the victim must quickly cast, "Perdis Animan." The spell will rip the damaged portion of the soul and encase it into the prepared object or nearest object if there is not one prepared in advance. Naturally, the entire purpose is in case if the first physical body dies the body can be regained via a ritual of death using the blood of their sworn enemy and the bone of the wizard's parents. However, as the soul cannot do these things for itself, the caster must be prepared to entrust their Horcrux to someone they can trust in order to revive them. This does not come without its risk be forewarned should the caster fail, the caster will remain trapped in the container for time and all eternity as long as the container exists.
But be forewarned, many have tried only to fail. The entire process is excruciatingly painful and most perilous. Many wizards have gone mad on their conquest to immortality, while others die at their own hands, and the rest perish most miserably during the ritual as their souls are torn into smithereens. The art of creating a Horcrux is not to be attempted unless the caster is willing to bet their very life and sanity. For without great sacrifice, there is no equivalent recompense."
Rowan's hand trembles at the nonchalance of the writer and idly wonders if Owle Bullock created a Horcrux himself. He was strangely specific about the entire process, which was not a relief in any form or manner. Then again the Horcruxes that Riddle created were all relevant to himself in some manner.
The first creation was the Diary of Riddle on June 13, 1942, with the death of Myrtle Warren. The first murder of Riddle was forever immortalized. Not only that but the Basilisk which was used to kill Myrtle fulfilled its purpose of leashing death upon the unsuspecting mudbloods in the school. For Myrtle Warren indeed was a muggleborn witch.
Riddle's second creation was the Gaunt Family Ring, August 1943 using the murder of his muggle family and importantly that of his muggle father, who abandoned Riddle before he was even born. Thus, effectively cutting off all and any lingering blood ties to the muggle world.
At some point in 1946, Riddle kills Hepzibah Smith, the last living descendant of Helga Hufflepuff using her death to create his next Horcrux, Helga Hufflepuff's cup. He successfully steals Helga Hufflepuff's cup and Salazar Slytherin's locket. The death of Hepzibah Smith is cunningly blamed on her old house elf, Hokey. The house elf, Hokey believed she had accidentally put poison into her mistress' evening cocoa when in reality it was a false memory implanted by Riddle into the house elf's mind. (This is later revealed by Dumbledore, who tracked down Hokey years later.)
Riddle's actions proved his obsession with obtaining the founder's relics. Yet if each Horcrux was of great personal significance to him then why did years later Riddle kill a tramp, an unknown muggle woman? It did not match the obsessive nature of Riddle.
No, the more pertinent question is rather how was female tramp relevant to Salazar Slytherin's locket? The only logical answer is that the female tramp was a squib descended from Salazar Slytherin. And if so, she must belong to one of the previous generations of the Gaunt family. Either Marvolo Gaunt's aunt, sister, or his wife, and frankly, since the Gaunts intermarried, in all honesty, the female tramp could have been any combination of them.
The creation of the fifth Horcrux is just as mysterious as the fourth Horcrux. To create the fifth Horcrux using Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, Riddle killed an Albanian peasant. Riddle being the obsessive wizard that he is would not have willy-nillypicked just anyone as each death creating a Horcrux came with some sort of significance. The only logical conclusion is that the Albanian peasant was in fact the last living descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw, a squib.
Not much is known if Rowena had any other children other than her daughter. And if she did it was more than likely that the child was a squib and hence was never mentioned nor recorded in history. This is indicated by the fact that there is no mention of Rowena Ravenclaw having a husband or the name of the sire of her daughter.
It is possible that like the Amazons (the ancient Greek female warriors) of ancient myths, Rowena kept the daughter that she birthed and the son that she bore was given to the father to be raised. Furthermore, Rowena is originally from Albania even if the father did not want the squib child, she would have surely sent the child away to be raised by relatives remaining in Albania. Either way, there is much more to the Albanian peasant than first previously meets the eye.
Feeling her head beginning to hurt, Rowan closes the book shut with a snap and feels rather sick at this juncture. She rises and puts the black leather-bound book on the bookshelf. Before turning off the flashlights and apparating away.
Making her way back to her bedroom, Rowan quickly slips into her warm bed and transfigures her pillow back to itself. Shivering, she closes her eyes and clears her mindscape storing all of tonight's memories deep within Prince Manor. Not daring to leave a single crumb of tonight's events out in the construct of Hogwarts within her mind. Finished clearing her mind, Rowan curls up and tries to sleep. But sleep had a long time coming as terrible words and visions of the past and future flashed through her mind.