It's been a while. I should have done this sooner, but I just didn't get to it.

For those of you who care, I am fully recovered from the ruptured appendix and a few complications that led to my long stay in the hospital. I came away 35 pounds lighter (not that I'm complaining, I needed to lose the weight anyway), which means I have to wear suspenders to hold my pants up. Tomorrow, I resume my part-time job at Blockbuster, which means I can start earning money and renting movies again.

But that's enough about my personal life. One good thing about my recovery time is that I got to read the latest Harry Potter book, twice. Naturally, I have story ideas as a result. One is a story I'd actually come up with before, and I'm modifying it to fit with the plot of Half-Blood Prince. The story is a crossover of sorts with one of my favorite anime/mangas: Inuyasha. In HBP, Harry discovers that Voldemort has created six Horcruxes, items which contain parts of his soul. As long as the Horcruxes exist, Voldemort cannot die (explaining how he survived a reflected killing curse way back when). The seventh piece of his soul resides within Voldemort's regenerated body. Five Horcruxes have been revealed:

1. Tom Riddle's diary, which Harry destroyed in his second year.
2. A gold ring with the Peverell coat of arms carved into a black stone that had belonged to Voldemort's grandfather Marvolo Gaunt, and was passed to Marvolo's son Morfin after Marvolo's death. Voldemort later stole the ring and framed Morfin for the murder of Tom Riddle Sr. and his parents. It was destroyed by Dumbledore in the two weeks between the end of Order of the Phoenix and the start of HBP.
3. A heavy golden locket that had belonged to Salazaar Slytherin, and later to the Gaunt family. It was sold by Merope Gaunt (Voldemort's mother) to the store Borgin & Burkes, and later purchased by Hepzibah Smith. Tom Riddle killed the old woman and stole the locket, along with...
4. A small golden cup with two finely wrought handles that had belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. Its current location is unknown. The locket was hidden away, only to be stolen by someone with the initials R.A.B. - possibly Regulus Black, leaving a fake in its place with a note inside. It is believed that the locket was at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and has since been stolen by Mundungus Fletcher, or hidden away by the house-elf Kreacher.
5. Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake. Dumbledore theorized that Voldemort had turned his pet into a Horcrux in the summer of 1994, shortly before the Quidditch World Cup.

The sixth Horcrux in canon is possibly an unknown artifact that once belonged to Godric Gryffindor (unlikely) or Rowena Ravenclaw. But in my story, which is an alternate version of Harry's sixth year, Voldemort found the two pieces of the sword Toukijin, which had broken in chapter 407 of the Inuyasha manga during a battle against the evil Mouryoumaru. The sword's master Sesshomaru abandoned the broken weapon, leaving it at the site of the battle. Since the sword was forged from the fangs of Goshinki, an evil youkai (a youkai is a supernatural entity, something like a demon), it called out to Voldemort. He had Toukijin reforged, and turned it into his fifth Horcrux.

The sword and the locket were both stolen by Regulus Black after he learned of Voldemort's plans. The sword, which proved far more dangerous, was hidden in a cave with help from the goblins. The locket was stashed in a cabinet at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place until a more suitable hiding place could be found. But time ran out, and Regulus was killed by loyal Death Eaters.

Years later, Harry had inherited everything from the House of Black, including Regulus Black's vault. The vault held a letter for Sirius Black, Regulus's older brother, telling him about the Horcruxes. Having inherited the house-elf Kreacher, Harry ordered him to retrieve the locket (which Kreacher had stolen before it could be thrown out), and then sent him to work at Hogwarts (I admit it, I borrowed this idea directly from the book). With help from Bill Weasley and the goblins, Harry was able to unmake the Horcrux, extracting and destroying the piece of Voldemort's soul that lay within.

The rest of the story is still in the planning stages. Harry and Dumbledore are working together to find and unmake the last two Horcruxes (Hufflepuff's cup and the snake Nagini). But Toukijin will be the most difficult, as Goshinki's anger and hatred remain in the sword, and make it impossible for most to even handle it. Harry, on the other hand, is pure of heart and soul. He has never desired power for the sake of power, and is protected by his ability to love. Love and hatred are opposites, and so when Harry grasps Toukijin for the first time, it will result in a mental clash the likes of which has never been seen. I'm not going to say any more... until my next post, that is. See you then!