A bit of explanation before I throw this out to you as I need you to see my thinking and how I got here:

I was sitting watching my trainee the other day, pondering the feasibility of going to the vending machine and purchasing one of the oatmeal cookies (which are marvellous but so high in fat) when a sudden, apparently random thought occured to me

Why bother putting a replacement locket in the basin at all?

Yes - why bother? Voldemort would know just by looking at the locket that it was not the one he left there years before, so why bother putting in a replacement? Let's go back to RAB's note.

To the Dark Lord: I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more. R.A.B.

You'll notice that the horcux is referred to, but not which one - isn't it possible that the horcrux RAB actually stole was the cup, or something else? I propose that this leads us to two obvious, yet mutually exlcusive conclusions:

1. Voldemort did not place the locket there himself, and entrusted the task to one of his follows - possibly RAB.
2. It was necessary for RAB to leave some sort of substitute item in order to refill the basin and it just happened to be that they had a locket on them.

Given Voldemort's general mistrust of people, I think that number one is unlikely.
Number two is much more feasible, but then I can think of arguments against it too.

Do you think JKR will give some explanation in book Seven of why RAB went to so much trouble to do this?

PS. I went for the cookie in the end and it was great.
[Mod Edit] Hi, edited the title so the search filter could catch it.

hmmm well, that's interesting...
i have to thik about that again...it's a bit confusing...
RAB just got there and took the horcrux, intending to destroy it as soon as possible and he wanted the dark lord to know that it was him who took the horcrux... then he'd just leave a note, right?... well, but why a fake locket?

he woudn't want to deceive anyone else than the dark lord and LV would certainly notice at once that there was something wrong... maybe RAB just wanted to give the note somewhere so that LV can find it, therefore he put it into a locket. -where should he have put it else? should he have pinned the note to the rock or something...?

ah, i'm a bit confuled right now, to be honest. it's an interesting thought, but it could be just simple and RAB wanted to leave LV a note, so he put it there... ahrgh! but he would trick 'the dark lord's match' then, wouldn't he? because anyone else, who found the horcrux would think it was the real one...
this will bother me the whole night now *sighs*
you definitely have got a point there, Darth_Oz

you know i think its quite possible something that always struck me though is why would the locket be hidden in somthing you have to drink to get? it kinda makes more sense to hid the horcruxs in a way that symbolises their actual form so hence a cup would be a better object in the cave then a locket. MY thought is that possibly RAB stole the cup from there and had the locket on him and the locket would protect the letter from the liquid.

that's good!
well, i thought too that he put there the note because he didn't know where to put it else, and the locket would be a good place...
as we don't know for sure which horcrux was hidden in the cave it could also be the cup, yeah... but does it matter...?
there's still the fact that everyone apart form LV and RAB would think the fake locket was the real horcrux and therefore RAB would hoodwink them, but he wanted to help LV's enemies, didn't he? and LV's enemies would drink the liquid, then and be weaker, that's not what RAB wanted...or did he just not care about 'LV's match'?

Ah, good theory RainyDay but not so - who, apart from Voldemort, Harry and Dumbledore, actually knew that he had intended to turn the locket into a horcrux? In fact, who even knew that he had made a horcrux?

All we know for sure is that RAB knew a horcrux was in the cave, and that s/he stole it and left a locket with the note in its place. Now I may well be wrong about this whole thing, but it's not outside the realms of possibility that, like Cesador proposes, the locket was simply a receptical to keep the note dry.

The heavy locket in Grimmauld Place, the "fake" locket left in the basin - it could all be a wild goose chase by JKR, who is laughing heartily at our expense!

anyone who gets into the cave knows that there is a horcrux, i assume. and if they get across the lake and drink this liquid there, and see the locket they most likely think it's the horcrux they're looking for, right?

but well, yes i think RAB could have placed the locket there to keep the note dry...

Ah yes, but my point is what is if RAB drank the liquid in the basin and found not a locket but the cup? Or the possession of Ravenclaw? Or something else?

The note never specifically mentions that s/he find a locket, only a horcrux. It's possible that RAB found (for example) the cup and thought "Okay, I'm going to refill the basin now but instead of the horcrux, I'm going to leave a note. Trouble is, it'll get wet - maybe I should put it in my locket?"

As I said in the first post, there was no reason to use anything other than an identical locket as Voldemort would know it was a fake immediately. It could be an amazing coincidence that RAB chose to hide the note in an object that just happened to resemble another one of the horcruxes.

Unless, of course, RAB suspected that someone else might want to get at it - not Voldemort.

What if a third party is involved here? Someone who wouldn't recognise the fake locket at first glance. Even Harry had seen the locket in the memory and he didn't realise, and Dumbledore was too weak to notice. Using a locket would make sense then...

Or, if Voldemort sent a DE or a servant of some sort (if RAB knew he would do that), they could be fooled for at least a little while longer. At least the time it took this person to give it to Voldemort. RAB obviously knew that he was in danger. Maybe he wanted this decoy to buy him enough time to deal with the real horcrux?

But something went wrong, I guess, since the real locket is still unscathed. This third party person didn't go to the cave, found the fake and then decided to go after RAB, but went straight to finishing him off. This person might be dead too, or not in a position to do anything about their knowledge of the horcrux now. Or that could be how Dumbledore knew about the cave!!! Why does Aberforth keep intruding on my thoughts?

Did that make any sense?

I agree with cesador. I think that there might have been something that wasn't a locket in the basin, and he put the note in the locket to keep it safe.

Ok, here's an interesting thought - what if the cup that they had to drink the liquid out of was actually the horcrux in this instance? Maybe the locket was an afterthought?

I agree - hadn't ever thought as much about it, but I wondered when I read the book, why there would have been a replacement locket?

That leads to the liquid in the basin... Is it the same stuff that LV (or his proxy) put there? Was it recycled? A new potion? A replacement potion?

If it was replacement potion, someone would have to have known what was in it in the first place... If it was recycled potion, where did RAB put it when (s)he removed the first locket?

The other interesting thing here is, did RAB have someone with him / her, aka an underage or non-wizard person to ensure that (s)he drank the potion to retrieve the first locket? If so, who is that other person? Are they still around? Does that person figure into the story here? What is THAT person's allegiance?

Or, as someone originally said, was RAB the one entrusted with the task of hiding the horcrux and did (s)he simply put in a decoy, keeping the real one for him/herself?

Hmmmm...

Jeannine

So that means Voldemort wasn’t present when the fake was placed.


I think it is. He wouldn’t want to leave his own ‘trace magic’ at every site and item. I think for some pieces it was a group directed and planned event. RAB had the time to not only have a substitute locket but also write a note.

I know I will be dead long before you read this.
LV would kill everyone involved to keep this secret silent.

I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.
I don’t think any of his followers involved realized that Horcruxes were being hidden except RAB.

I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I’m troubled by the ‘intend to’ line. I think RAB thought the Family might be able to negotiate with Voldemort with that item. I wouldn’t assume the locket was ever destroyed.


I would do the same. It’s a power trip to have something over the Dark Lord.

RAB and the left locket, hmmm. May you all ponder the following infomation:
Please re-read the chapter in The Cave and focus all your energy on the wordsnthat Dumbledore speaks whilst drinking. Pretend, if you will, that Harry is not responding to him or directing his answers rather, Dumbledore is reliving an experience. or is it Dumbledore???

It does seem that Dumbledore is reliving someone else's expirience. Harry seems too scared to notice that Dumbledore's words dont really apply to the potion. It makes me think of someone who got into something without realising the actions involved. I am reminded of the part of OoTP when Sirius says that his brother got in too deep with Voldy.

To me he had it put there so the note could be put there. I mean it was most probably the locket because RAB had no reason to put anything else in there, second in the note he says he took the real Horcrux so when he met his match he would be mortal, meaning he took a locket and replaced it with a fake locket. and so the note could be put there, as we know Harry found the note inside the locket

It is also possible that RAB took whichever horcrux was there (maybe it was the cup or something of Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's) and put the fake locket with the note back in the potion.

Assuming RAB is Regulus and the horcrux in the cave was not the locket, it is possible that RAB found 2 horcruxes. In OotP there is a mysterious locket at Grimmauld Place. That could have been Slytherin's locket (as a horcrux) that RAB found (at a different location than the Cave) and was intending to destroy, or to just hide somewhere maybe saving it for negotiation.

So this means that RAB could have found a different horcrux at the cave and also the locket which leaves only 2 unidentified horcruxes. DD found Marvolo's Ring, Harry destroyed the diary, RAB possibly found the locket, and RAB possibly found one other horcrux (at the cave), leaving 2 remaining horcruxes.

We do not know if RAB destroyed the Horcrux/horcruxes he found or just hid them (possibly at Grimmauld Place)

And for the other horcrux that RAB found (if indeed he found 2) i think it might be something of or something to do with the 2 children that young Tom Riddle took into the cave before he went to Hogwarts.

Well do you think he would of said he destroyed the Horcrux, was RAB trying to shove it in LV's face that he found the Horcrux and he was going to be brought down?

Its a definite and most likely possibility that RAB is Regulus. Which it probably is.

Unless of course - oh this is too brilliant - the locket isn't a horcrux at all, but merely a decoy.

What if the horcrux was the green potion?!

Maybe after time the potion would take over the drinker and absorb his body, in the way that the diary did - except that Snape blew Dumbledore away before it had a chance to take hold?

RAB snatched what he thought was the horcrux and ran away with it, but in fact it was sitting in the basin all along. Remember, the inferi did not go for Dumbledore - they went for Harry.

The Inferi went for Harry because he touched it first. They went for Harry as an instict. Like if I were to see You punch someone in the face Id suspect Id give you a detention but I might not know the whole story. Haha, I dont know. Good point though.

I think that the wording in the note is very. . .wordy.

To the Dark Lord: I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more. R.A.B.


In his first sentence, he says "I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret." He makes it seem like Voldemort knew that someone had found out about the horcruxes and was trying to destory them. Er, at least that someone had found out about them.

It also seems as though this R.A.B. only knew of one horcrux. . ."I have taken the real horcrux.". . .even though Voldemort had many.

It also makes sense that R.A.B. knew that it wasn't just a horcrux hiding here, that it was the locket. He brought the extra locket along to place in its place. This shows that maybe he knew a lot about Voldemort's past. Perhaps this man was close to Voldemort (obviously) or knew people from his past that could shed light on what the horcruxes were. All in all, this R.A.B. probably had to be about as smart as Dumbledore at reason solving and whatnot.

But i also agree with Jeannine about the information and thoughts that she posted that maybe it wasn't the locket that was the horcrux, that it was the cup that Dumbledore was drinking out of. I guess we won't really find out until the 7th book is out. . .

Maybe, just a thought: What is in the basin has nothing to do with it at all - the horcrux is the cup that is used to drink the potion. DD assumed that he had to drink the potion to get to the horcrux, but as he has said before, when he makes a mistake it is a huge one. The potion is there because it is necessary to the process of using the horcrux.

RAB knew this somehow, and put the note inside the locket so that Voldemort would drink all the potion before he knew the cup was a fake, meaning that he had done it for nothing (This assumes that RAB used an identical cup, and that Voldemort could not tell the difference) - which would be pretty annoying for Voldy, huh?

May be a long shot, and not sure if I expressed it very well

yea. i have been thinking for awhile. *why bother putting in a fake locket, why not leave it empty* it would be to much effort unless that note in there was meant for someone else rather than LV himself. If you understand? So he was saying it as a distraction but it means something to somebody?

DD didn't know what the horacrux was before they went for it and the note doesn't say. It could be anything. I think DDs reasoning about what objects have been used for horacrux was accurate and the potion was not one. It seems logical that RAB knew Slytherin's locket was there and brought a replacement. If LV ever checked on it, his first surprise would be a different locket and the second would be the note. A one, two punch.

All of this means that RAB knew a lot about LV, what a horacrux was, that LV had Slytherin's locket, that he was going to use it for a horacrux, that it would be in the cave, how to get by the protections and was well enough known to LV to be recognized by their initials. I can't think of anyone who could have known all this. In my opinion, just knowing what the horacrux was and where would get you killed.

LV has always done things alone, like going to Diagon Ally for the first time. It's not likely he needed or wanted help making and hiding the horacrux. RAB was very clever and probably destroyed the horacrux but how will Harry ever sort it all out.

Harry has seen the locket at #12 and Slytherin's in the memory. He and DD have seen Hufflepuff's cup in a memory. Besides, DD conjured up the cup, it had nothing to do with the cave.

I believe the reason for the locket was so that if anyone besides the Dark Lord himself came to check on this Horcrux, they would not know upon first glance that is was gone, insuring that only someone important would find the locket. Either that, or the person knew Dumbledore and Harry were also looking for it, and figured they would find the note and know that they had an ally!

There is one other possibility that I have yet to see anyone think of.

The note could have been a diversionary tactic by Voldemort himself to throw off Harry and Dumbledore. That would support my whole Voldemort found out through Harry's dreams theory.

Well, regarding the horcrux, I'm sure that that's the fake one, since when Harry gets it when he stands next to DD's body (*sob*) it says that it didn't has the "S" inscription (there migth be some wrong details, but that is the fact in general) so the one they got from the cave was a fake one, and I see no reason why R.A.B would have taken ANOTHER horcrux, like the cup for instance, but I belive it's an unsolved problem.

Moreover, I don't think that he will trust the hiding of his lockets to anybody else than himself, since we see that the only person he cares about is himself, and I don't think he wants to depend on anybody to do this task (we've already seen by DD's words that Voldemort doesn't feel love for anyone and that he doesn't like to depend on anything or anyone i.e.: the philosopher's stone. For more reference go to the HBP book xD). However, now it comes to my mind that he entrusted his diary to Lucius Malfoy, or did he? Now I don't remember if Lucius got it from Voldemort himself or by other means. I'm going to check that xD

I'm sure that we will hear from R.A.B in book 7, I mean, we HAVE to!!!

xD

I think that R.a.b had to be a very smart and powerful wizard like DD just to find the cup which means DD isn't the only one that was looking for memories about LV.

I also think that R.a.b didn't have to bother with the fake locket ( apart from keeping the note dry ) because you couldn't see it through the green water anyway.

I also agree with Sectum_Sempra maybe RAB was regulas and the locket at Grimmauld place was the horcrux, well, thats what i thought when I read the 5th book again. But then again it is strange that he was a DE killed by the other DE's because he wasn't important enough to be killed by LV. so why would he know about the horcruxes if LV may not have even told his most trusted DE's?

Is it a bit too obvious Regulus being RAB I like the theory that it's hufflepuff's Amelia Bones [killed between ootp & hbp]
or maybe it was one of either Borgin or Burkes.
They worked with Tom Riddle just before he murdered Hepzibah and nicked her two treasures. Maybe one of them worked out what he was up to, and having dealt and handled some pretty nasty stuff in their line of business, could handle the horcruxes correctly. Just a thought...

I think its a great theory! However, I believe that he placed the locket there himself but was replaced by RAB (or something happened which led to the locket being placed back...or a number of other things...really, a lot things could have happened in the end I suppose).

One theory I had was that the note to Voldemort was actually intended for Dumbledore to pick up and read. RAB had no intention of Voldemort finding the fake locket. I'm not saying RAB thought Dumbledore was the Dark Lord, in fact, none of the letter has anything to do with Dumbledore except for the fact that it was meant for him to pick up. RAB writes the letter with Dumbledore in mind to tell him almost subliminally that he had already found the locket and maybe RAB felt a sense of superiority for finding it before Dumbledore. Its kind of a raw theory, though.

Clever theories about Borgin or Burkes being RAB. I always figured it must be Regalus. On that note, I believe that in OotP says (without having the book here) that Regalus was murdered by Voldemort OR on his orders - it was Sirius who speculates that he probably wasn't important enough to be killed by Voldemort himself. If RAB is Regalus, then he certainly would have been important enough and Sirius could just be totally wrong.

Also, Regalus could have brought Kreacher along on the journey to drink the potion for him and I don't think the cave would have registered him as hes not a wizard. That would also explain if the locket at #12 is Slytherin's, why Kreacher makes sure to keep it out of the trash.

I disagree Voldemort never actually checked on his horcruxes because he thought no one knew about them and never would. And the horcrux was definitely a locket because if Voldemort ever did check on it R.A.B. woulD'nt want Voldemort to find out because Voldemort would kil him (which he did).

Upon a carefully reading of Book 6, I have some speculation on Book 7:

Who is RAB, the mysterious person who stole Voldemorts Horcrux?

I believe it is Siriuss dead brother Regulus Black. He is mention very briefly in Books 5 & 6. There would be no point, unless he had a role to play.

Snapes Treachery

I dont believe Snape is the traitor he obviously seems to be. If you recall, Dumbledore was aware of Dracos orders to kill him. He would probably have been aware of Snapes vow, and that if Snape failed, he would die.

If you recall, Hagrid overheard an argument between Dumbledore and Snape. Dumbledore demanded Snape do something that he didnt want to do. I think Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him, so Draco wouldnt have to, saving both of them. It would seem in Dumbledores noble nature to sacrifice himself for one of his students Draco.

If you recall, Dumbledore last word was a pleading "Severus". He doesnt say please dont. He trusts Snape. Snape has been the false villian before. I think it will make for startling revelation in Book 7; unless, of course, youre reading this.