Last time we examined the times Founder’s artefacts changed hands, and whether the new owners displayed appropriate house traits (it’s probably worth reading that first, if you haven’t already). This time, let’s have a little more fun with it, and look at these events through some different lenses, starting with the seven bottles from Snape’s potions riddle in Philosopher’s Stone.
This post is dedicated to hpboy13 (to whom it was promised longer ago than I care to admit). In their essay (linked above), they present a mapping between the Locket’s movements and elements of the potions riddle. I would like to put forward a slightly different arrangement, from the perspective of each of the new owners’ attitudes towards the Locket1.
As a reminder, the potions riddle was in a room that had magical barriers in the doorways preventing movement either forwards or backwards, and a puzzle with seven bottles: three contained poison, two contained nettle wine, one was a potion that allowed the drinker to pass forward through one of the barriers (the nominal goal), and the last another potion that allowed the drinker to pass backwards through the other barrier.
So how do these seven bottles relate to the Locket’s changes in owners? We do see three owners for whom the Locket represents poison: the trio have their emotions twisted and warped whenever wearing it, ultimately leading to their fight and Ron’s desertion; the Locket galls Kreacher, who is unable to complete his master’s final wishes; and Hepzibah is literally poisoned for the Locket.
The two nettle wines are place-fillers; necessary to complete the set, but not interesting in their own right. So it is with Burke and Mundungus, who have no interest in the Locket except as something they can sell to make a profit.
Umbridge sees the Locket as her ticket “backward to safety”. She uses it to support her claims of significant lineage (ironically a lesser one than the Locket actually represents), and solidify her position in the new puppet ministry.
Riddle views the Locket as moving “forwards to danger”. It is one of two founders’ artefacts that he takes the risk of stealing, and from that point onward, there is no Tom Riddle, only Lord Voldemort, and the whole wizarding world is a much more dangerous place.
The Sword of Sevens
The tarot card “Seven of Swords” is associated with brains over brawn, cunning, and secret plans, and there are certainly lots of all of those involved in the seven times people take ownership of the Sword of Gryffindor. They can also be tied to the potions riddle (this time viewing from Voldemort’s perspective).
Harry (in the Chamber of Secrets), Ron (the pond in the Forest of Dean), and Neville (at the doors of Hogwarts) represent the three poisons, as each of them destroys a horcrux (the Diary, the Locket, and Nagini respectively) immediately after claiming the sword3.
The incident at Malfoy Manor, and Griphook’s treachery during the Gringotts heist, represent the two nettle wines. The events are certainly tumultuous, consequential, and harrowing for those involved, but from Voldemort’s perspective? Fairly unimportant. The trio had the sword before they were captured, and they still had it afterwards. Then Griphook takes it, and it gets secreted away at Gringotts, which is where Voldemort thought it was the whole time, anyway.
The Sword being handed to Dumbledore4 represents the “backward to safety” potion; Dumbledore having the sword seems to be a backward step for Voldemort, but it presents less of a risk when it spends the next ~3 years in a display case. Imagine instead if Harry had leant into his image and taken to wearing the Sword whenever going into “battle”. The graveyard, for example, might have gone very differently.
Finally, the convoluted bureaucracy leading to Snape having the sword represents the “forward to danger” potion. Similar to the above, one of Voldemort’s followers having the Sword, rather than it being in the hands of Dumbledore, the ministry, or Harry, seems like progress, but ultimately it is progress towards the destruction of the horcruxes.
The Obstacles
In considering the potions riddle mapping, I also realised that the Sword claiming events can be mapped to the seven obstacles protecting the Philosopher’s Stone5. As a reminder, they are:
- Fluffy, the giant, three-headed dog
- A thicket of Devil’s Snare
- A room full of flying keys
- A giant game of wizard’s chess
- A troll
- The potions riddle
- The Mirror of Erised
Bookending our list of Sword-claiming events are two with a lot in common (put a pin in that): Harry and Neville drawing the Sword from the Sorting Hat and slaying a large snake. Harry’s maps to the troll; both involve defeating a monster, somewhere under the school, with significant aid (by Fawkes/Quirrell), and sneaking in the hope that it doesn’t see you. Neville’s maps to Fluffy (again, a large monster); both are outside an entrance (the doors of Hogwarts/the trapdoor to the gauntlet of obstacles), and in both cases a distraction (Neville’s heroics/the harp) allows Harry to escape.
Dumbledore’s claiming of the Sword4 maps to the Devil’s Snare. It seems innocent at first, but danger creeps ever closer. Left unchecked, it will kill you. Though it can help to be relaxed about it.
Snape’s claiming of the Sword maps to the Mirror of Erised, because Snape never intended to use the Sword himself, just keep it out of the wrong hands.
Ron taking up the Sword maps to the potions riddle, because the whole scenario is engineered by Snape. It’s in a forest, so there are bound to be nettles (albeit hibernating ones). Ron has come back, and having the Sword allows the trio to make forward progress (in destroying a horcrux). Said horcrux uses three approaches to poison Ron’s mind: that he’s the least-favourite Weasley child; that Hermione loves Harry more than him; that he’s always in someone else’s shadow.
The Malfoy Manor debacle maps to the room of keys. There’s a lot of moving parts involved, a particular target is being searched for (Harry/the “large silver key”)6, and someone with a damaged limb is needed to open a door (Wormtail and his silver hand/the silver key has a bent wing from being caught).
Finally Griphook’s claim maps to the giant chess match. It’s all about opponents trying to out-think each other (the trio don’t trust Griphook, and vice versa), and the trio have to make a sacrifice (the Sword/Ron) in order to succeed.
Circling Back
Earlier we noted the commonalities between Harry and Neville’s claiming of the Sword. Maybe there are more. Maybe all the Sword claiming events form a mini-ring (see this earlier post for more about Ring Theory).
The first (Harry), fourth/middle (Ron), and seventh/last (Neville) events all involve a Gryffindor student valiantly taking up the Sword, and then destroying a horcrux.
The second (Dumbledore) and sixth (Griphook) are an example of contrasts. Both get handed the Sword by Harry; in one case willingly, in the other reluctantly. Dumbledore keeps possession of the Sword for a long time (roughly four years), whereas Griphook has it for less than a day.
The third (inheritance) and fifth (Malfoy Manor) events both involve a lot of arguments over ownership of the Sword. Some try to steal it (Neville, Ginny, and Luna/the Snatchers). Others try to confiscate it (the ministry/Bellatrix). And in the midst of both arguments, Griphook lies to Death Eaters about whether the Sword is real or fake.
The middle event (the fourth – Ron in the Forest of Dean) neatly summarises the series: heroic Gryffindor teens fight against the Heir of Slytherin. They struggle with their own flaws, and dive stupidly into dangers, but ultimately succeed by working together (with some behind-the-scenes help from Snape).
But What Does It Mean7
As stated earlier, mostly this is just for the fun of it. These parallels and rings may have been planned from the start, but just as likely they’re happy little accidents. Either way, it’s fair to argue that the Founders’ Artefacts, and their movements, are significant in the Harry Potter series. And that anything can be a pattern if you squint.
1 While mappings like this are mostly just a fun exercise in apophenia2, the pedant in me wants to feel that it’s not completely arbitrary.
2 Seeing patterns as meaningful when they are accidental, or even purely imaginary.
3 Harry’s case is somewhat unique in that he doesn’t use the Sword to destroy the horcrux, but instead a basilisk fang pulled from his own arm (lest it be said someone was more badass than the designated hero).
4 It could be argued that – as with wands – “the manner of taking matters”, and that Dumbledore only truly “claims” the Sword when he uses it to destroy the Ring horcrux. It still fits as a backwards step (the Sword in Dumbledore’s hands) but an increase in safety (Dumbledore is dying from the curse), and strengthens the association with the Devil’s Snare.
5 As well as a lot of other things that there are seven of, but I realised the links were getting more and more tenuous, and I was using it as an excuse to not actually write this.
6 If you accept movie-isms, there’s also the parallel that Harry gets attacked as soon as he takes action and reveals himself.
7 Heck if I know, dude. I just come up with these wild theories sometimes.
Thought Attempts 
Thank you for the dedication! And for actually writing the essay! Much appreciated on both accounts!
Re: locket – I think you missed an owner, Merope Gaunt. That’s why I focused on the “changes in ownership” rather than “owners” – there are eight owners whom we know of.
My congrats on mapping out the seven changes of Gryffindor’s sword to the potions riddle, that was well done! And the ring you presented makes it very elegant indeed. I’m convinced! And, tbh, only like 80% certain that this was unintentional on Jo’s part… it seems like she would be this detail-oriented when it comes to literal symbols in the books!
I’m more skeptical of the seven obstacles mapping onto this. In general, from my experience of hunting patterns and reading others’ attempts, the seven obstacles map almost perfectly onto the books in question… but that’s about it. They’re too specific to be a natural match for other stuff (as opposed to the potions riddle of three deadly/two harmless/etc). Daniela Teo, back in MuggleNet’s days of old, worked very hard to map the obstacles onto each book in a seven-by-seven matrix… and she never quite nailed it down, so I don’t know that anyone could. But doesn’t mean it can’t be fun to try!
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Fair enough. I had a couple of (what I felt were) good parallels, and blithely thought “sure, I can make this work!”
(Maybe that’s why the essay took me so long…)
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Ah, that’s a case of poor wording on my part. I was thinking about essentially “new” owners. Apologies for the confusion.
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