Was Voldemort planning to make a new Horcrux?
No one had considered that possibility before, because Harry had already learned from Grindelwald and Sirius just how shitty Horcruxes were. Their effects were certainly miraculous, but their side effects were just as terrible.
Voldemort had already made six Horcruxes, or even seven if Harry was counted.
The fact that he had not become an idiot already demonstrated the strength of his soul. But even though he had not become an idiot, Voldemort had shown clear signs of mental instability during the previous dark days.
That seemed to have improved somewhat after his resurrection. There seemed to be something to that resurrection ritual magic.
But if he made another Horcrux, Harry and the others all felt that something was bound to go seriously wrong with him.
"Does Voldemort still not know there's something wrong with Horcruxes?" Hermione asked dubiously.
"Maybe he thinks he can handle it?" Ron sounded doubtful too. "After all, nothing's happened to him, has it?"
"It's hard to say." Harry pursed his lips. "Voldemort seems to have learned about Horcruxes from Professor Slughorn. But Professor Slughorn himself doesn't actually know much about them.
"Voldemort couldn't tell him too much either. He was still a student back then, after all, and couldn't really let on that he wanted to make a Horcrux, so naturally Professor Slughorn wouldn't have told him very much.
"And there aren't any writings on the subject elsewhere, so Voldemort really might not know about the side effects of Horcruxes. As for the Death Eaters..."
Harry gave a contemptuous laugh. "They're just a bunch of yes-men around Voldemort. Their obedience to him is blind. Whatever Voldemort says goes, and it never even occurs to them to point out his shortcomings. Or perhaps they simply don't dare."
When