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Horcrux #1 - Marvolo Gaunt's Ring Traditional Geocache

Hidden : 7/12/2011
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

I am a very big Harry Potter fan and have been inspired to create a series of caches dedicated to the great series of books by J.K Rowling and the Warner Brother’s films. In preparation for the last movie to be released, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: part 2, I have hidden 7 caches, dedicating them as horcruxes.

A horcrux is a very powerful object (from the books) in which a dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. Creating a single horcrux allows one to gain the ability to resurrect themselves if their body is destroyed, however creating multiple horcruxes allows them to gain near immortality. When a wizard/witch makes a Horcrux, the mutilation of his soul causes him to become less human. The more Horcruxes he or she creates, the less human he or she becomes. Now I am no evil witch, but I did hide 7 geocaches in several areas that mean something personal to me.

You are looking for a small rubbermaid container located in a small wooded area behind a Mental Health facility. This cache is THE definition of a park and grab. The difficulty comes within the stealth aspect. This cache is best to do after the hours of 5pm or on the weekends. It is operational during the day (8am-5pm) with various staff members and consumers possibly roaming the parking lots aka a high probability you will be muggled. I suggest parking, making sure the coast is clear, make a dash to the cache, log, and head back to your vehicle.

History of Marvolo Gaunt's Ring:

Tom Riddle created his first Horcrux using a ring owned by his maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, during the summer before his sixth year as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when he was sixteen years old. He casts the spell after murdering his father. The ring is introduced during the fourth chapter of Half-Blood Prince, having already been destroyed by Albus Dumbledore, but its significance not yet revealed.

In a Pensieve memory, it is revealed that Riddle had taken the gold ring, which has a black stone inscribed with a magical symbol, from his uncle Morfin Gaunt, whom he had framed for the murder of his father and grandparents by altering his uncle's memories. Riddle wears the ring while still a student at Hogwarts, but eventually hides it in the house where the Gaunt family had lived. It remains hidden under the floorboards, placed in a golden box, and protected by several enchantments, until Dumbledore finds it during the summer break between the events of Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince. Dumbledore destroys the Horcrux with Godric Gryffindor's sword, though he is mortally injured by the ring's curses after putting the ring on his finger. The injury leaves his right hand permanently disfigured and would have killed him quickly if not for the intervention of Severus Snape, who slowed the curse to Dumbledore's right hand and arm, making them look withered, but the curse still progressed up Dumbledore's right arm and would eventually kill him if it had run its course. The damaged ring is kept for a time on a table in the Headmaster's office.

Before his death, Dumbledore hides the ring's black stone inside a Golden Snitch and he bequeaths the Snitch to Harry in his will. Dumbledore had learned that the stone is, in fact, the Resurrection Stone, one of the three Deathly Hallows. This was why he had put it on his finger: he had hoped to activate it and apologize to his long-dead family, quite forgetting it was also a Horcrux now, and thus likely to be protected by destructive enchantments. Voldemort remained unaware of the stone's additional magical properties throughout his lifetime.

PLEASE replace as found, thanks.

CONGRATS TO djknouse on being the FTF! :)

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

ybbx sbe n gerr jvgu erq ivarf, naq qba'g jbeel nobhg cenpgvpvat lbhe Cnefrygbathr.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)