So far, the people whom Voldemort killed to make each of five valued artefacts into Horcruxes not only have a strong relationship with the artefact, but also represent one of the Seven Deadly Sins. But when Voldemort proudly visited Godric's Hollow to kill James Potter and his infant son, because of a half-heard and half-understood prophecy, was he aware that he was meeting the conditions to form a Horcrux of Pride, even though he did not have an object ready for insertion? Voldemort is not known for self-criticism, though he knows that "obedience is a virtue' 55 and tells Dumbledore that "Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite." 56 Believing himself great, Voldemort arrogantly considers he has a right to damn a Muggle tramp as envious, an Albanian peasant as lazy and Hepzibah as greedy, just as he feels he had a right to kill the Potter family. As he is often unaware of how other magic works, Voldemort never really notices that his success in making Horcruxes was not just because he could pass judgement on his victims' sins, but also because he outdoes those sins on each and every occasion.

Harry became an accidental Horcrux but due to whose death? Both Lily and James Potter died at Godric's Hollow along with Voldemort's body, destroyed by his own deflected killing spell. Recall that only one of three murdered Riddles ever became a suitable victim for a Horcrux, and that there has to be some significance in why James Potter is described as arrogant. Lily describes James Potter as "an arrogant, bullying toerag." 57 And Snape, who had been the butt of James' bullying, also reminded Harry often of James' arrogance. According to Voldemort, James Potter died "straight-backed and proud' 58 though at Godric's Hollow, Voldemort ridiculed James for trying to defend his wife and son even though he did not pick up his wand.59 And so, in killing James, a portion of Voldemort's soul is ripped away in preparation for the Horcrux of Pride.

Snape begged the Dark Lord to spare Lily's life, but she considered life without her husband and child to be unendurable. Thus Lily Evans' choice to die will shield her beloved baby son, Voldemort's main target, bestowing on him her protection. Voldemort, who despises crying babies,60 arrogantly proceeds to kill Harry anyway, he is hit by his own deflected killing curse, and his own soul is ripped from his body. But Voldemort's severed soul remnant, previously hanging by a thread, lodges in Harry, the only other occupant of the room, thus "mark[ing] him [Harry] as [Voldemort's] equal." 61 On this occasion, Voldemort, having no chance to cast the appropriate spell to direct and encase this remnant of his soul, remains ignorant about it. As the Horcrux spell remains unsaid, Harry's own soul survives uncorrupted by the Harrycrux despite its attempts to rejoin itself with Voldemort.

As Dumbledore remarked, "to confide a part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is [¦] a very risky business." 62 Because Voldemort repeatedly tries to murder him, Harry is obliged to oppose the Dark Lord, merely to live. Nonetheless, Harry survives, despite strange powers, crippling, Voldemort-inspired headaches, and Snape's humiliating comparisons of Harry with his father James. One phrase of the prophecy says: "Either must die at the hand of the other' 63 so to destroy the Harrycrux, Harry must face death at Voldemort's hands. Having asked Neville to destroy Nagini, by then the only remaining Horcrux, Harry goes into the forest during the Battle of Hogwarts, to face his fate.

Voldemort claims victory over Harry, whom he believes killed by a killing curse. But it is Harry's own self-criticism and his humble choice to face the fact of his death at Voldemort's hands, rather than permit more of the people he loves to die to protect him, which defeats the Harrycrux. Yet Harry's life is preserved, after all, to continue to the final showdown which will kill Voldemort.

Voldemort never notices when other Horcruxes are destroyed. But at his rebirthing, Voldemort takes some of Harry's blood to share in the protection Lily bestowed on Harry, so it is only the Harrycrux which will be destroyed when Voldemort tries to kill Harry, the Horcrux being separate from the "power the Dark Lord knows not." 64 Harry is knocked out, finding himself at a Kings Cross station, along with an agonised, whimpering, flayed-looking baby, an ironic representation of Voldemort's mutilated soul.65 And when Harry returns to consciousness in the forest, he finds that Voldemort has also collapsed because of the blood link and protection shared with Harry, not because of the Horcrux link.

However arrogant James might have been, he was willing to die to protect his family, so he could never be as arrogant as Voldemort, so ready to kill others, including those significant for making Horcruxes to preserve his own life. By insisting on using Harry's blood to rebirth himself, even though any other enemy wizard would have suited the purpose, and in stealing the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb to rule by force, Voldemort ensures that his pride would end in a fall. An arrogant, unrepentant bully can be humbled, and those who live by murder will destroy themselves. But Harry's own experiences, both in acquiring and in divesting himself of the Harrycrux, highlight the need for self-examination. We see that there really is a relationship between a deadly sin like pride, its opposite virtue, humility, and the heavenly virtue of love which protected Harry's innate being for so long.