R.A.B. (potential Spoilers)

[Boing]

The first time I saw the initials R.A.B. I immediately thought of Regulus Black. We know that he was in Voldemort's circle, but died when he tried to leave (well, was murdered when he tried to leave).

I think it highly possible, and even likely, that the R.A.B. who took the horcrux is Regulus . . . and that perhaps it can be found at number 12 Grimmauld Place . . .

Any other thoughts on this?

[Lilith]

Boingy, I thought of good old Regulus right away also. And it makes perfect sense, with the initials and Regulus being dead and all...but what would motivate him to do such a thing as take the real Horcrux and replace it with a fake? What could possibly change his mind? The Death Eaters seem to be a group very convinced of their superiority as pure-bloods. Given Regulus' mother and his upbringing...maybe he came to the same conclusion that cousin Andromeda did, that none of that pure-blood stuff mattered really. But that's a big decision to make, and one that he knew he could be killed for, so why the sudden strong conviction?

But what I'd really like to know is, if Regulus really did take the Horcrux from the cave, who helped him? Dumbledore said "one alone could not have done it", so that intrigues me, even if it wasn't Regulus, which I really, really, really think it was.

[Nagini]

Yeah I too thought about Sirius' younger brother, but then anyone who has talked about Regulus Black hasn't had a high enough opinion of him. He hasn't ever been described as having anything like Sirius' magical talent. I think even Sirius would struggle to have gotten to the horcruxe.

I would like to think it would be him and of course if it was hidden at Grimmauld Place, then even better.

Then I thought perhaps the initials stood for three different people, that R.A.B were three people and not one. Dumbledore would not have managed it alone and he was the most powerful wizard of all time. But I can't think who they would be - any ideas?

[Boing]

Interesting thought. The note did say, "I will be dead, etc." It specifically used a singular pronoun, so I am thinking it will just be one person.

What I thought was that perhaps Regulus changed something about the potion in the basin or something to that effect. The way Dumbledore was reacting and saying things like "I was wrong" and that he wouldn't ever do it again, it made me think that he was reliving memories. But I don't think they were his . . .what if the person who took the horcrux put some of Voldemort's memories in there and Dumbledore was forced to relive them as though they were his own?

Regulus might have tried to poison Voldemort so that he would again be reduced to near nothingness . . . just to give someone else time to find the other horcruxes . . .so when Dumbledore was saying that it couldn't have been done by one person alone, I thought he meant that he needed Harry to get the water for him after he drank everything. And that if one person was there alone, they might have just rotted away on the floor or the inferi would have overcome them. But I can see the point that he probably meant that one person also couldn't have forced themselves to continue drinking . . .

So, perhaps Regulus (or whomever . . .) did have an accomplice, but took all the blame . . .

[Nimue]

In the words of Ron--THAT"S BLOODY BRILLIANT!

Okay, I'm not real good with the subtle and my mind works slowly. But this is a brilliant idea and I totally agree about it being Regulus.

I do think it was only one person--but I htink that Voldy's defences were alterred from their original booby-trapped state to something different, perhaps worse.

Maybe the liquid makes you relive your worst failure? Or loss?

[kashlie]

Regulus was also the first person that came to my mind. Although I was calling him Reggie.

I have just now thought of Amelia Bones...and perhaps that she had another first name...

But Black, yeah...and changing the traps, that is good...

[Alz]

See for me - this is what I thought when I read it ...

Rabastan and Bellatrix
or
Rodolphus and Bellatrix

It would have taken 2 people to do it - and I just wonder - given how much Voldemort seemed to be private and give the air that he didnt trust his DE's - I just wonder if a couple of them decided to take some insurance out?

[Boing]

But again, everything was written in the first person. I don't think it was two people - or, if it was, then they wouldn't have signed it with both of their names, but would rather have simply sacrificed one of them so the other could continue to fight . . .

[AccioChocolate]

Regalus dawned on me today, and after checking several websites, it was the only name that stuck. Like Hermione said, there weren't alot of RAB's, but would he have had the power to do it? And how would Black have found out about that particular horcrux anyway? Dumbledore had to search for a long time, and he is the only one voldemort ever feared. Do you honestly think a wizard who wasn't even 25, and wasn't really convinced that he wanted to be a DE would have been able to do what Dumbledore and Harry did?

[Fortescue]

In my mind the possibility exists that Regulus wasn't alone! Dumbledore said that one person couldn't get across the lake and drink all that potion on their own. It took two people to do the task - one to drink the potion, and the other to make sure it was all gone.

My mind wanders back to Snape. According to the timeline, Regulus died about the same time Harry was born, just after the prophecy was told to Dumbledore - Snape went back to Dumbledore's service after he told Voldemort the bit of the prophecy he heard - I'm thinking it was Snape who went to the cave with Regulus while they were both still Death Eaters, and Snape is the one who dumped the potion down Regulus's throat in order to get the locket. Maybe Snape knew where the cave was and told Dumbledore how to get there. How else would Dumbledore have known of such an obscure location?