LEADERSHIP, COMMITMENT & COOPERATIVE WORKING

Today, The Fosters & The Grandma have been reading about leadership, commitment and cooperative working.

Leadership encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to lead, influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word leadership often gets viewed as a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the concept, sometimes contrasting Eastern and Western approaches to leadership, and also (within the West) North American versus European approaches.

U.S. academic environments define leadership as a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common and ethical task.

Basically, leadership can be defined as an influential power-relationship in which the power of one party (the leader) promotes movement/change in others (the followers).

Some have challenged the more traditional managerial views of leadership, which portray leadership as something possessed or owned by one individual due to their role or authority, and instead advocate the complex nature of leadership which is found at all levels of institutions, both within formal and informal roles.

Studies of leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence, among others.

 More information: Mind Tools

The search for the characteristics or traits of leaders has continued for centuries. 

Philosophical writings from Plato's Republic[ to Plutarch's Lives have explored the question What qualities distinguish an individual as a leader? Underlying this search was the early recognition of the importance of leadership and the assumption that leadership is rooted in the characteristics that certain individuals possess. This idea that leadership is based on individual attributes is known as the trait theory of leadership.

Many personality characteristics were found to be reliably associated with leadership emergence. The list includes assertiveness, authenticity, Big Five personality factors, birth order, character strengths, dominance, emotional intelligence, gender identity, intelligence, narcissism, self-efficacy for leadership, self-monitoring and social motivation.

Other areas of study in relation to how and why leaders emerge include narcissistic traits, absentee leaders, and participation. While there are many personality traits that be considered in determining why a leader emerges it is important to not look at these in isolation. Today's sophisticated research methods look at personality characteristics in combination to determine patterns of leadership emergence.

More information: The Balance Money

These Group Leaderships or Leadership Teams have specific characteristics:

-There must be an awareness of unity on the part of all its members.

-There must be interpersonal relationship. Members must have a chance to contribute, and learn from and work with others.

-The members must have the ability to act together toward a common goal.

Ten characteristics of well-functioning teams:

-Purpose. Members proudly share a sense of why the team exists and are invested in accomplishing its mission and goals.

-Priorities. Members know what needs to be done next, by whom, and by when to achieve team goals.

-Roles. Members know their roles in getting tasks done and when to allow a more skillful member to do a certain task.

-Decisions. Authority and decision-making lines are clearly understood.

-Conflict. Conflict is dealt with openly and is considered important to decision-making and personal growth.

-Personal traits. Members feel their unique personalities are appreciated and well utilized.

-Norms. Group norms for working together are set and seen as standards for every one in the groups.

-Effectiveness. Members find team meetings efficient and productive and look forward to this time together.

-Success. Members know clearly when the team has met with success and share in this equally and proudly.

-Training. Opportunities for feedback and updating skills are provided and taken advantage of by team members.

More information: Emeritus

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep;
I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.

Alexander the Great

THE FOSTERS, TALKING ABOUT LABOUR INSERTION (I)

Today, The Fosters and The Grandma have talked about labour insertion. They have said goodbye to Hogwarts to return to London, and study during some days some important things about labour insertion.

Unemployment is one of the worst aspects of a community.

Unemployment, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is persons above a specified age not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the reference period.

Unemployment can have many sources, such as the following:

-New technologies and inventions

-The status of the economy, which can be influenced by a recession

-Competition caused by globalization and international trade

-Policies of the government

-Regulation and market

The family has been creating personal SWOTs to try to understand themselves better.

More information: Grandma's Reading, Japanese Work Environment

SWOT analysis or SWOT matrix is a strategic planning technique used to help a person or organization identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business competition or project planning.

This technique, which operates by peeling back layers of the company is designed for use in the preliminary stages of decision-making processes and can be used as a tool for evaluation of the strategic position of a city or organization. It is intended to specify the objectives of the business venture or project and identify the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving those objectives.

Users of a SWOT analysis often ask and answer questions to generate meaningful information for each category to make the tool useful and identify their competitive advantage.

SWOT has been described as the tried-and-true tool of strategic analysis, but has also been criticized for its limitations.

SWOT assumes that strengths and weaknesses are frequently internally-related, while opportunities and threats commonly focus are due to the external environment.

The name is an acronym for the four parameters the technique examines:

-Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others.

-Weaknesses: characteristics of the business that place the business or project at a disadvantage relative to others.

-Opportunities: elements in the environment that the business or project could exploit to its advantage.

-Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project.

More information: Improving to Find New Chances

The degree to which the internal environment of the firm matches with the external environment is expressed by the concept of strategic fit. Identification of SWOTs is important because they can inform later steps in planning to achieve the objective.

First, decision-makers should consider whether the objective is attainable, given the SWOTs. If the objective is not attainable, they must select a different objective and repeat the process.

Some authors credit SWOT to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at the Stanford Research Institute, now SRI International, in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies. However, Humphrey himself did not claim the creation of SWOT, and the origins remain obscure.

Internal factors are viewed as strengths or weaknesses depending upon their effect on the organization's objectives.

SWOT

What may represent strengths with respect to one objective may be weaknesses (distractions, competition) for another objective. The factors may include personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and all of the marketing mix's 4Ps.

External factors include macroeconomics, technological change, legislation, and sociocultural changes, as well as changes in the marketplace. Results are often presented in the form of a matrix.

SWOT analysis is a method of categorization for which lists are compiled, uncritically and without prioritization, rather than seeking important factors to achieving objectives; weak opportunities may appear to balance strong threats.

The SWOT analysis has been used in community work as a tool to identify positive and negative factors within organizations, communities, and the broader society that promote or inhibit successful implementation of social services and social change efforts.

It is used as a preliminary resource, assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a community served by a nonprofit or community organization.

Although SWOT analysis is a part of the planning, it will not provide a strategic plan if used by itself, but a SWOT list can becomes a series of recommendations.

More information: Bigg Success (Part I)

Strengths and Weaknesses (internal factors within an organization):

-Human resources-staff, volunteers, board members, target population

-Physical resources-your location, building, equipment

-Financial-grants, funding agencies, other sources of income

-Activities and processes-programs you run, systems you employ

-Past experiences-building blocks for learning and success, your reputation in the community

More information: Bigg Success (Part II)

 

Opportunities and Threats, external factors stemming from community or societal forces:

-Future trends in your field or the culture

-The economy—local, national, or international

-Funding sources—foundations, donors, legislatures

-Demographics—changes in the age, race, gender, culture of those you serve or in your area

-The physical environment —is your building in a growing part of town? Is the bus company cutting routes?

-Legislation—do new federal requirements make your job harder...or easier?

-Local, national, or international events

Although the SWOT analysis was originally designed as an organizational method for business and industries, it has been replicated in various community work as a tool for identifying external and internal support to combat internal and external opposition.

The SWOT analysis is necessary to provide direction to the next stages of the change process. It has been used by community organizers and community members to further social justice in the context of Social Work practice.

 

Download SWOT I & II (Catalan Version)

 

 A SWOT analysis involves asking,

What are our strengths and weaknesses?

What are our opportunities? What are the threats?

Amanda Lang

POPPY POMPREY, THE MATRON IN THE HOSPITAL WING

Today, The Fosters have received the wonderful visit of F, their Occupational Hazards' teacher who has been talking about labour risks in medicine. They are in first line protecting us and exposing them to the most critical situations a human person can live.

It is always a good moment to recognize their incredible job and their tireleess work. We must always do it but, sadly, people in our society only reactionate when are in danger and appreciate the real important things when they realize they are going to lose them.

The Fosters and The Grandma want to homage the sanitarian workers talking with Madam Poppy Pomfrey, the matron and nurse in the Hospital Wing, a part of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Madam Poppy Pomfrey represents this sanitarian sector so important in our society but remember that there are a lot of people who are working day-by-day to protect us and take care of us: drivers, supermarket's workers, farmers, firemen, civil volunteers, cleaning operators, factory workers, postmen, messengers... lots of people who deserve a great recognition not only today and because of this crisis, but always.

Download Occupational Health & Safety Risks in the Healthcare Sector

Madam Poppy Pomfrey is a British witch and the matron at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was a very competent healer, having been in the position for, at least, the last quarter of the 20th century.

Madam Pomfrey is very possessive of the patients in her care while in the Hospital Wing, and their visitors upset her somewhat, as she frequently insisted they must rest and demanded the visitors leave. She was proficient in her area of expertise, healing magic,  and able to take care of some ailments in a heartbeat.

She fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, the final battle of the Second Wizarding War, during which she personally dispatched at least one Death Eater in a duel, and was seen after the battle treating the wounded and attending to the dead.

Not much is known about Madam Pomfrey's life after the final battle. She had retired or was thinking of retiring, since Hannah Abbott reportedly applied for the position of Matron at Hogwarts. Regardless, either because she did not retire or because she was pulled out of retirement, Madam Pomfrey was working at Hogwarts in 2020.

Madam Pomfrey began her career at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry being trusted in that year by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore to escort new Gryffindor student Remus Lupin, who was infected with lycanthropy due to a bite from Fenrir Greyback, to the Whomping Willow every full moon.

At some point before 1 November, 1981, Madam Pomfrey complimented Dumbledore on a set of earmuffs he had recently acquired. The compliment made him blush in such a manner that would only be rivalled when Professor Minerva McGonagall compared his magical prowess favourably against those of Voldemort.

Madam Pomfrey administered Skele-Gro on Harry to regrow the bones in his arm after Gilderoy Lockhart's attempt to fix a Quidditch-caused broken bone failed disastrously. Pomfrey was annoyed that Harry had not been brought straight to her in the first place, as re-growing bones is a much more difficult task than mending bones, which she claims she can do in a heartbeat.

More information: Wizarding World

In the same year, Hermione Granger ended up in the hospital wing for a month after an accident in an unauthorised high-level Potion-making, Polyjuice Potion, left her half-feline; apparently the group felt comfortable letting Madam Pomfrey to treat her since she would not ask too many questions and just get on with the job in hand. Hermione was allowed visitors, but it bothered Madam Pomfrey somewhat.

Madam Pomfrey had retired or was thinking of retiring, since Hannah Abbott reportedly applied for the position of Matron at Hogwarts. She assisted prospective members of the then recently established Statute of Secrecy Task Force seeking a career as Magizoologists, whom she taught a rudimentary variation of the Mending Charm, hoping it would help them in the field.

Eventually, she would later teach the same members some advanced concepts relating to this spell, allowing them to improve its effectiveness. She also instructed them how to refine the Reviving Charm they learned from Rosmerta and upon being helped in tending to a student with a painful Quidditch injury, gave them practical advice over pain management to be applied to increase resilience. Regardless, either because she decided not to leave, or because she ended her retirement, she was working at Hogwarts in 2020.

Madam Pomfrey was described by her students as being exceptionally kind, but even more so strict. She was very obsessive, lining up her patients' sweet boxes in neat rows, and was intensely worried about all of the students under her care, believing even feasts to be risky.

Working in a school where magical accidents were almost an undeniable certainty, she appeared to have resigned herself to treating whoever came her way. Indeed, she never asked questions about how her patients received their ailments or questioning the sometimes ludicrous stories they told her, but instead immediately set to fixing them up.

She had a tendency to burst into tears at moments where great sorrow was appropriate, but she was capable of controlling herself if need be. She also has her standards and loyalty, as she would have resigned in protest when Minerva McGonagall was shot down by four Stunning Spells from a cowardly Ministry attack, were she not worried for the students.

Poppy juice, better known as opium, is one of the oldest known medicines; it has been used as a painkiller and soporific for, at the very least, thousands of years. King Tutankhamun's tomb contained jars of poppy juice, presumably to relieve the pain he suffered from a head injury. Although it is mostly known today as an addictive drug, opium's derivatives, such as morphine and codeine, are vital to modern medicine for their anaesthetic properties.

Pomfrey sounds like comfrey, a plant in the borage family which can be made into a soothing salve. Meanings of her names are, therefore, both in some way medically related. Pomfrey or Pomfret cakes, named after mediaeval names for the Yorkshire town of Pontefract, once a centre of liquorice cultivation, are small, sweet lozenges made from the roots of the licorice plant. Liquorice also has been a medicinal ingredient for hundreds of years.

More information: Pinterest

The Hospital Wing is a part of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is run by Madam Poppy Pomfrey, the school's matron.

The students and staff who suffer mishaps and injuries during the school year, are sent or brought to the hospital wing for treatment. Poppy would prefer there be six visitors at one time for one person. There is a room adjacent belonging to the matron.

The hospital wing is well equipped to deal with all kinds of magical and mundane injuries, from broken limbs to regrowing lost bones. Only in the most severe cases are the patients sent to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for further treatment, such as when Katie Bell touched a cursed Opal Necklace.

Located on the first floor, and later one or two floors up, the hospital wing is where Hogwarts residents go to have their medical needs met. Within the hospital wing are lots and lots of beds with white sheets, privacy screens, and bedpans. The entrance has double doors. Madam Pomfrey’s office is part of the hospital wing complex.

More information: Wizarding World

You should have come straight to me!...

I can mend bones in a second but growing them back.

Madam Poppy Pomprey

QUIDDITCH, FLYING BETWEEN BROOMSTICKS AND BALLS

Today The Fosters & The Grandma have been invited to watch a quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. They have enjoyed a lot discovering this interesting game and learning its rules. Harry Potter (Gryffindor) is one of the best seekers and Draco Malfoy is his great rival (Slytherin).

 

Before this, they have been reading a new chapter of Oscar Wilde's The Ghost of Canterville.

Quidditch is a fictional sport invented by author J. K. Rowling for her fantasy book series Harry Potter. It is a dangerous but popular sport played by witches and wizards riding flying broomsticks. Matches are played on a large oval pitch with three ring-shaped goals of different heights on each side, between two opposing teams of seven players each: three Chasers, two Beaters, the Keeper, and the Seeker. There are three different balls: the Quaffle, the two Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch.

The Chasers and the Keeper respectively score with and defend the goals against the Quaffle; the two Beaters bat the Bludgers away from their teammates and towards their opponents; and the Seeker locates and catches the Golden Snitch, whose capture simultaneously wins the Seeker's team 150 points and ends the game. The team with the most points at the end wins.

Harry Potter plays as Seeker for his house team at Hogwarts. Regional and international Quidditch competitions are mentioned throughout the series. Aspects of the sport's history are revealed in Quidditch Through the Ages, published by J. K. Rowling in 2001 to benefit Comic Relief.

A real-life version of the game has been created, in which the players use brooms, but run instead of flying.

Rowling came up with the sport in a Manchester hotel room after a row with her then-boyfriend. She explained: I had been pondering the things that hold a society together, cause it to congregate and signify its particular character and knew I needed a sport.

Rowling claims that the word Quidditch is not derived from any particular etymological root, but was the result of filling five pages of a notebook with different words beginning with Q.

The final Quidditch scene in the books appears in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Rowling experienced fiendish glee writing this scene, which features memorable commentary by Luna Lovegood.

 

More information: Wizarding World

 
In 2014 Rowling started publishing a series of match reports from the Quidditch World Cup on Pottermore, culminating in a short story about the final featuring the return of Harry, Ron, Hermione and their friends as adults. This generated interest from several media outlets, as it was the first new writing about the Harry Potter characters since the end of the series in 2007.

Quidditch is introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and is a regularly recurring feature throughout the first six books. It is depicted as being played by both professionals as in tournaments like the Quidditch World Cup and amateurs.

A major motif of five of the Harry Potter books is the competition among the four Hogwarts houses for the Quidditch Cup each school year; in particular, the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Quidditch matches are played over an oval-shaped pitch, with a scoring area at each end consisting of three hooped goal posts, each at a different height. Each team is made up of seven players, consisting of three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and one Seeker. The job of the Chasers is to keep possession of the scarlet Quaffle, a leather ball passed between players.

They must attempt to score goals worth 10 points by throwing it through one of the opponents' three hoops. These hoops are defended by the opposing team's Keeper, who ideally tries to block their goals. Meanwhile, players of both teams are attacked indiscriminately by the two Bludgers. These are round, jet-black balls made of iron that fly around violently trying to knock players off their brooms. It is the Beaters' job to defend their teammates from the Bludgers; they carry short wooden clubs, which they use to knock the Bludgers away from their teammates and/or toward the opposing team.

Finally, the role of the Seeker is to catch the Golden Snitch. This is a small golden ball the approximate size of a walnut. The winged Snitch is enchanted to hover, dart, and fly around the pitch, avoiding capture while remaining within the boundaries of the playing area.

Catching the Snitch ends the game and scores the successful Seeker's team 150 points. As the team with the most points wins, this often guarantees victory for the successful Seeker's team. A notable exception is when Bulgaria Seeker Viktor Krum catches the Snitch for Bulgaria during the World Cup Final in Goblet of Fire, while his team are still 160 points behind Ireland their opponents, thus making his own team lose by only 10 points.

Magical flying broomsticks are one of the forms of transportation for wizards and witches, as well as being used for playing Quidditch.

The three most prominent broomsticks in the books are the Nimbus 2000, Nimbus 2001, and the Firebolt, both of which have been produced as merchandise by Warner Bros.
 

The Nimbus is introduced as one of the best broomsticks in the wizarding world. Harry receives a Nimbus 2000 in Philosopher's Stone so that he can play for Gryffindor house.

Lucius Malfoy buys a full set of the more advanced Nimbus 2001s for the Slytherin team as a bribe, so they would choose his son Draco as Seeker the following year.

The Firebolt later supersedes the Nimbus as the fastest and one of the most expensive racing brooms in existence. Harry receives a Firebolt model from his godfather, Sirius Black, after his Nimbus 2000 is destroyed during a Quidditch match in Prisoner of Azkaban.

 

More information: Harry Potter Fandom

In Goblet of Fire, Harry uses his Firebolt to escape the Hungarian Horntail, a dragon, during the Triwizard Tournament.

In the real world, the word Quidditch, long predating Harry Potter, occurs in some English placenames, and seems to come from Anglo-Saxon cwǣð-dīc = mud-ditch.

A street in Lower Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, England is named Quidditch Lane, supposedly after a type of nearby dry ditch called a Quidditch. Fans have been known to visit the area.

In November 2014, a plaque appeared outside the entrance of Bristol Children's Hospital attesting that the famous hooped sculptures which stand in front of the paediatric institution are, in fact, not a 15 m interactive installation inaugurated in 2001, but instead the goalposts used in the 1998 Quidditch World Cup.

In 2017, Quidditch was defined by Oxford Dictionaries, following the inclusion of Muggle in the Third (2003) Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford Dictionaries associate editor Charlotte Buxton explained that Quidditch had gained recognition beyond the books, pointing to its existence as a real-life sport.

In 2007 the United States Quidditch Association, back then named the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association or (I.Q.A), was founded to regulate quidditch in the United States and abroad, a very popular sport amongst college students.

Since 2005, many American schools, such as UC Berkeley, have added Quidditch to their list of team sports. The sport has since then spread across more than 25 countries and includes multiple international tournaments, including a World Cup.

In 2012, the International Quidditch Association held the IQA World Cup, then named the IQA Summer Games, as the torch was passing through Oxford, UK for the Summer Olympics.

Gameplay is based on the description in the books, films, and game adaptations, though the sport has been adapted to suit real-world constraints. Quidditch is still evolving to suit safe play for the members of the teams, male and female. Apart from joining teams registered with their national governing body, individuals are also able to become an official certified referee to officiate tournaments and games throughout the year as teams compete to take part in various national and international tournaments. As the oldest national governing body, USQ has hosted a grand total of ten US Quidditch Cups as of 2017.

In the United Kingdom, the Quidditch Premier League is played between 10 teams, split between the North and South divisions. In 2017, West Midlands Revolution won the QPL.

 

More information: Sportsmatik

 He missed Hogwarts so much

it was like having a constant stomachache.

He missed the castle, with its secret passageways

and ghosts, his classes… 

 

 

 ...the mail arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall,

sleeping in his four-poster bed in the tower dormitory, visiting the gamekeeper, Hagrid, in his cabin next to the Forbidden Forest in the grounds, and especially, Quidditch,

the most popular sport in the wizarding world.
 

J. K. Rowling

HORCRUX, THE FOSTERS & NAGINI 'THE MALEDICTUS'

Today, The Fosters and The Grandma have seen how Neville Longbottom killed Nagini, the last of the Horcruxes. With this, they have already destroyed all the Horcruxes.

 

The Fosters have finished helping Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in their search. It is time to enjoy these last days in Hogwarts without dangers and enemies.

A Maledictus is a female individual who carries a blood curse that eventually turns her into a beast permanently. The curse is carried from birth and passed down from mother to daughter. The beast ultimately transformed into can vary based on the curse. Before their permanent transformation, they have the ability to change shape at will, which becomes gradually uncontrollable.

Nagini was a female Maledictus cursed to transform into a snake. Originating possibly in Indonesia, by 1927 she was a performer at the Circus Arcanus where she met Credence Barebone and had the ability then to transform at will.

Nagini was seemingly trapped in snake form and belonged to Lord Voldemort, with whom she had a special bond largely due to becoming a Horcrux, after her master had killed Bertha Jorkins.

After Lord Voldemort's initial downfall, he used Nagini's venom as one of the ingredients for a Potion to regain strength, which eventually led to his rebirth. Later in the same year, she attacked Arthur Weasley but he managed to survive. During the Second Wizarding War, she had to be destroyed for Lord Voldemort to finally be defeated.

More information: Wizarding World

Nagini was killed by Neville Longbottom with Godric Gryffindor's Sword and was the last Horcrux to be destroyed after Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem.

After he discovered that Harry was searching for his Horcruxes, Lord Voldemort placed Nagini into a Protective Magical Cage to prevent her from being killed.

Lord Voldemort told her that it was for her good, though since he was trying to ensure his immortality, it was primarily for his. Lord Voldemort then decided that it was no longer safe to send Nagini on any more missions for him.

Shortly before the one-hour armistice during the Battle of Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort used Nagini to murder Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack by expanding the cage over and on top of him.

Nagini proceeded to sink her fangs into Severus Snape's neck, and when Lord Voldemort pulled the protective cage off of Severus Snape, he fell to the ground with blood gushing from the wound in his neck.

When Harry Potter was apparently killed by Lord Voldemort, Nagini was released from the protective enchantment as he believed there to be no more threats to her life, and she was draped around Lord Voldemort's shoulders during the Death Eaters' victory march back to Hogwarts.

After Neville Longbottom had openly defied him, Lord Voldemort punished him by forcing the Sorting Hat onto his head and setting it on fire. The Death Eaters were then attacked, and during the ensuing battle, Neville Longbottom pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor from the Hat, and, after he swung the blade in one upward stroke, beheaded Nagini, whose head spun high into the air as her body slumped onto the ground, while Lord Voldemort screamed in rage.

With Nagini's death, Lord Voldemort's final Horcrux was destroyed, and thus stripping him of his immortality. He furiously tried to kill Neville Longbottom for it, but was stopped by Harry Potter. Lord Voldemort himself finally died when his Killing Curse rebounded onto himself once again.

More information: Screen Rant

 

 

 The slash of the silver blade could not be heard over 

the roar of the oncoming crowd or the sounds

of the clashing giants or the stampeding centaurs,

and yet it seemed to draw every eye.

With a single stroke Neville sliced off the great snake's head,

which spun high into the air,

gleaming in the light flooding from the entrance hall,

and Voldemort's mouth as open in a scream

of fury that nobody could hear,

and the snake's body thudded to the ground at his feet.

J.K. Rowling

HORCRUX, THE WEASLEYS & VOLDEMORT'S DARK SOUL

Today, The Weasleys and The Grandma have seen how Lord Voldemort's soul was destroyed by himself. With this, there are six of a total of seven horcruxes destroyed. 

 

They have continued helping Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in their search. There is only one more horcrux to find and destroy. 

A Horcrux is a powerful object in which a Dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality.

Creating one Horcrux gives one the ability to anchor one's own soul to earth if the body is destroyed; the more horcruxes one creates, the closer one is to true immortality. Creating multiple Horcruxes is suggested to be costly to the creator, by both diminishing their humanity and even physically disfiguring them.

The first Horcrux was created by Herpo the Foul. The only other known creator of them was Lord Voldemort, who is possibly the only one to have successfully created more than one Horcrux.

In fact, Lord Voldemort created seven horcruxes. Slughorn mentioned that the fate of those who use Horcruxes to survive is what only few would prefer, suggesting that few others have created their own Horcrux.

The nature and concepts of Horcruxes are so terrifying, they were kept secret from most of the wizarding world, and only few ever knew what they were.

Hogwarts banned the subject of Horcruxes, and even books such as Magick Moste Evile would skim the subject at best. The only known book that explains Horcruxes in detail is Secrets of the Darkest Art. The subject being vague, nobody knew what the effects of creating more than one Horcrux would be like, as none of them, aside from Lord Voldemort, have done so.

Creation of a Horcrux is considered the foulest act of Dark magic, as it attempts to violate and tamper with the multiple laws of nature and morality in its creation.

Horcruxes are objects considered to be so evil that even the texts published explicitly to cater to the practise of the most terrible kinds of magic will not speak of them. Even Magick Moste Evile skirts the topic.

It is a banned subject in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Slughorn feared that by discussing it with Tom Riddle, he would receive negative highlights from Albus Dumbledore.

The only known book that provides specific instruction on the creation of a Horcrux is Secrets of the Darkest Art, once held in the Hogwarts Library. Due to the book's extremely dark and dangerous nature, Albus Dumbledore hid it away in his office; he did not destroy it, however.

The specific processes involved are known to involve a spell and a very horrible act. To split one's soul, one must also commit the most supreme act of evil -murder- and then encase a portion of their fractured soul into a chosen object with an as-of-yet unrevealed spell.

The detached soul fragment will always remain as it was when it was divided; for instance, Tom Riddle's diary portrayed Tom Marvolo Riddle as a teenager while the eyes inside Salazar Slytherin's locket resembled Lord Voldemort's eyes as they were back when he still had a relatively normal appearance.

Though a Horcrux can be made from anything, Lord Voldemort chose to use objects of great significance or importance. The process makes the part of the soul remaining in the witch or wizard unstable.

More information: Wizarding World

If the maker's physical body is later destroyed, he or she will live on in non-corporeal form, although there are methods of regaining physical form. However, according to Horace Slughorn, few would want to live in such a form and death would be preferable.

It is stated at one point that Lord Voldemort had already pushed his soul to the limit in creating his seven Horcruxes. This implies a finite number of Horcruxes any one person may create before the process becomes too dangerous to attempt again.

Though this limit is never explicitly stated, the number seems to set solidly at seven intentional Horcruxes, and creating seven Horcruxes in addition to the person's own body renders the soul unstable and liable to break off when the person whose soul it is commits murder. Dumbledore explicitly stated that Lord Voldemort's soul had become so unstable that it finally broke apart when Lord Voldemort tried to murder Harry for the first time.

The creation of a Horcrux can be reversed by its creator by truly feeling remorse, though the effects of this can apparently be painful to the point of being fatal. However, as described below, this may be a far preferable outcome than the alternative.

Interestingly, since Dumbledore said that there is no help possible for Lord Voldemort's soul, it may be that any soul as badly damaged as Lord Voldemort's could no longer be repaired through remorse as described in Secrets of the Darkest Art. Alternately, and more likely, the soul can still be repaired through the redemptive power of repentance.

Harry told Lord Voldemort to try... be a man... try for some remorse. It's your one chance. It's all you've got left. This seems to indicate that though Tom Riddle's soul is maimed and seriously injured, he can still repair it by regretting all the horrible things he did; Dumbledore may simply mean that Lord Voldemort is incapable of remorse to save his own soul.

Horcruxes can also be destroyed. If a person's body was destroyed, his or her soul would remain intact, whereas with a Horcrux it is the opposite, as the piece of soul depends upon its container to survive. Destruction of a Horcrux is difficult, but not impossible, and requires that the receptacle to be damaged completely beyond physical or magical repair.

When a Horcrux is damaged to this point, it may appear to bleed, ink in the case of Tom Riddle's Diary and a dark blood-like substance in the case of Ravenclaw's Diadem, and a scream may be heard as the soul fragment perishes. However, as a safety measure to protect one's immortality and precious soul fragment, the creator would usually place powerful enchantments onto the artefact to prevent damage, to the point where the powerful house-elf magic could not succeed the feat.

It is unknown if the creator of the Horcrux will be able to sense that his soul fragment was destroyed, although Dumbledore stated that in the particular case of Lord Voldemort, he wouldn't feel their loss because his soul was sliced too many times and stayed that way for too long.

More information: Tom Marvolo Riddle. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

All known methods of Horcrux destruction are as deadly as the murder needed for its creation. For example, the earliest known method is administering basilisk venom to the Horcrux, the only cure for which is phoenix tears, an extremely rare substance.

Other known methods are Fiendfyre as evidenced by its destruction of Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, which requires extreme skill to control and the Killing Curse which seems to be capable of destroying a Horcrux if it is animate, given that part of Lord Voldemort's soul contained in Harry Potter was destroyed when he was struck with the Killing Curse. However, Harry Potter was never a intentional Horcrux and so it may not work on a proper, animate Horcrux like Nagini, probably having unforeseen side effects.

Harry Potter was not destroyed as a Horcrux in the Chamber of Secrets because Fawkes' tears saved him and hence the receptacle (Harry) was not then destroyed beyond repair.

Albus Dumbledore, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom used Godric Gryffindor's Sword to destroy Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, Salazar Slytherin's Locket, and Nagini respectively. This was only achievable as the sword is a Goblin-made artefact, which can absorb qualities that strengthen it.
 

When Harry Potter slew the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, the sword was imbued with Basilisk venom and became capable of destroying Horcruxes, as Basilisk venom by itself is destructive enough a substance to destroy a Horcrux.

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger used Basilisk fangs from the Chamber of Secrets to destroy Tom Riddle's Diary and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, respectively.

The fragments of a person's soul within a Horcrux can think for themselves and have certain magical abilities, including the ability to influence those in their vicinity. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione were carrying Salazar Slytherin's Locket around their necks, they each became moodier and more prone to fighting, especially Ron. They were also unable to summon their Patronuses while wearing the locket since the soul fragment inside was darkening their thoughts.

A person with an affinity for the Dark Arts, on the other hand, would be strengthened by the influence of a Horcrux, as Dolores Umbridge was when wearing Salazar Slytherin's Locket.

More information: Lord Voldemort. Prince of Darkness

If a person is more emotionally vulnerable, it is possible for the soul inside the Horcrux to take control of him or her, as Tom Riddle's Diary did to Ginny Weasley. In fact, Lord Voldemort took advantage of this possessive power to reopen the Chamber of Secrets, using the diary as a weapon rather than a safeguard.

The final known side-effect of Horcrux creation is the inability to move on from Limbo after death. This is seen when Lord Voldemort's Killing Curse, after the destruction of all the other Horcruxes, rebounded and finally ended his life once and for all, his broken and mangled soul was forced to exist in the stunted form of a flayed and mutilated baby that Harry saw in King's Cross during his visit to Limbo, unable to return to the land of the living, unable to become a ghost, and unable to go to the land of the dead because his soul was maimed and unwhole. 

It is unknown if this was a standard fate meted out for all Horcrux creators, or if it was unique to Lord Voldemort due to the number of his Horcruxes. Regardless, reconciliation cannot occur after death, as the soul's state at death remains forever, so the greatest of all consequences incurred by Horcrux creation may be the possibility of eternal limbo of the soul.

More information: Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One

I, who have gone further than anybody
along the path that leads to immortality...

Lord Voldemort

HORCRUX, THE FOSTERS & R. RAVENCLAW'S DIADEM

Today, The Fosters and TheGrandma have found and destroyed Ravenclaw's Diadem, another Horcrux.

With this, they have already destroyed five of a total of seven. They continued helping Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in their search.

Ravenclaw's Diadem is the only known relic once belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of Ravenclaw House and her most treasured attribute.

Ravenclaw's Diadem, also known as the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, was the only known relic once belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Etched upon its surface was Ravenclaw's famous quote: Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.

It was said to enhance the wisdom of its wearer, which is Ravenclaw House's most treasured attribute. It had a blue sapphire shaped like an oval. The diadem was later stolen by her daughter, Helena, a fact Rowena kept a secret from the other founders 'till her death bed.

Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, Helga Hufflepuff's Cup and Salazar Slytherin's Locket, made up three of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes.

As Rowena Ravenclaw was a very intelligent and powerful witch, it is most likely she enchanted the diadem herself, charming the object to increase the wearer's intelligence. Rowena died shortly after her daughter, Helena, stole the diadem.

Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena's daughter, greatly envied the attention her mother received. She stole her mother's diadem, in hope of using its power to make herself wiser, and fled Hogwarts. Her mother fell fatally ill and in spite of Helena's betrayal, wanted to see her daughter one last time.

Rowena sent the Bloody Baron, a man who once loved Helena, to find her. When he caught up with her in a forest in Albania, the same forest Lord Voldemort would use as a hiding place during his exile, she hid the diadem in a hollow tree. Upon her refusal to return with him, the Baron stabbed her; horrified by what he had just done, the Baron then stabbed himself as well.

The diadem was later found to be lost, hence the name the lost diadem, and was sought after by students for hundreds of years.

Centuries later, Tom Marvolo Riddle managed to charm the story out of Helena's spirit, then known as the Grey Lady, ghost of the Ravenclaw house. Upon learning of the diadem's location, Riddle travelled to the Albanian forest shortly after he left school and acquired the diadem. He transformed it into his fifth Horcrux by killing an Albanian peasant, and later chose to return it to the very place it had originated from: Hogwarts.

Riddle was arrogant enough to believe that he alone had penetrated Hogwarts' most mysterious secrets, and thus he believed that only he had discovered the Room of Requirement, where he intended to hide the diadem. The Room's manifestation was none other than the Room of Hidden Things inside which Harry Potter would hide the Half-Blood Prince's copy of Advanced Potion-Making many decades later.

More information: Wizarding World

Riddle chose to hide the diadem in this room the night he returned to the castle to request a position to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Unlike the other Horcruxes, Riddle did not put up heavy magical protections for the diadem, due to his lack of time to do so, along with his arrogance.

The diadem remained undisturbed in the Room of Hidden things for many decades, until it was sighted by Harry Potter during his sixth year as a discoloured old tiara, though he did not realise what it was, grabbing it and placing on top of a chipped bust of an ugly old warlock as a means of landmarking where he had placed his Potions book.

Accompanied by Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry returned to Hogwarts in search of an object belonging to Ravenclaw, having learned that through the mental connection he held with Lord Voldemort that it was hidden at the school.

He was told of her lost diadem by several Ravenclaw members of Dumbledore's Army, and visited Ravenclaw Tower with Luna Lovegood to see the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw wearing her diadem. Later, Harry managed to coax the story of the diadem's theft out of the Grey Lady before figuring out exactly where it was hidden.

Crabbe before he could reach the diadem, and a battle ensued within the Room of Requirement in its form as the Room of Hidden Things, resulting in Crabbe's creation of Fiendfyre that then went out of his control and resulted in his death. Harry was able to acquire the diadem, but was saved the trouble of having to destroy it, since the Fiendfyre had accidentally incinerated it. The diadem crumbled to pieces in his hands upon their escape from the Room of Requirement.

More information: Wizarding World

It's a kind of crown.

Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties,

enhance the wisdom of the wearer.

Terry Boot