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?

 

[Tonks]

Well, I originally thought of Regulus at first as well, but as mentioned, he really doesn't seem to be any exceptional wizard. When Sirius described him in OotP, he came across as really weak and easily manipulated, and I can't see the same wizard that Sirius mentioned as such being able to get through all that stuff that Harry and Dumbledore did.. Still, I suppose that Sirius could have been giving Harry a sort of different image of his brother because he was ashamed that he was a Death Eater and all that..

Um, as far as Bellatrix is concerned, I really see her as way too outwardly dedicated to Voldemort to ever try to pull that. Sure, she could be trying to pull a Snape, but I really don't think she is that good of an actress.. she just seems way too loyal to Voldemort to me..

I do have to wonder about the two people thing, because yes I agree it would have taken two people unless these people (or person) did change the defenses afterwards, but again the note was in the first person singular tense .. perhaps (if the defenses remained the same) the other person died from drinking the potion..

Also, if it was Regulus, wouldn't Grimmauld Place be a bit of an obvious place to keep the Horcrux? Maybe something in Grimmauld Place would lead to its hiding spot, but then again, the Order did basically turn the house upside down during the time they were cleaning it..

 

[kashlie]

Good point, Fort! How WOULD Dumbledore have known? How did he put it together that the cave where Riddle tormented those two kids would be the cave he used to hide the Horcrux?
Dumbledore had to have been told, if anything, that it was hidden in a cave. BUT why would Snape tell Dumbledore the location, knowing the Horcrux wasn't there? Would Snape have been trusted with the knowledge of the location?

Another thought... are there any Wizards with initials B.A.R? Just in case they had survived, they could have swapped them around to throw Voldemort off a bit?

 

[Boing]

I think Dumbledore had been searching for these items for a long time. He needed the memory from Slughorn to confirm that there were several of them around and just how many there might be, but I think he was already on the lookout for awhile.

As for how he found it, it could have been from someone tipping him off, but as he took such a long time to find it, I think that he probably thought of places Voldemort might have known about that would have some particular meaning to him. As he said, the horcruxes tended to be a bit "glamorous." So, the places they were hidden would probably have some sort of special meaning as well.

The cave is where he terrorized the kids and did something to them that changed them forever. So, perhaps this was the first time he made up his own spell or did a particularly nasty thing to someone and he wanted to commemorate it there. Dumbledore could have figured this one out, I think . . .

 

[mimbulus mimbletonia]

Originally Posted by JKR
"I think I give very clear pointers as to what Harry will do next," she said. "There is plenty to guess at... at least one thing I think people will probably deduce, there is a mystery left at the end, but I think they might already know the answer if they think about it."

OK, if the above quote is referring to R.A.B. then I think it proves the person is someone we already know about. Unless there are any other characters with the same initials, it kinda confirms it is Regulus.

Which makes it all the more interesting that Harry has inherited Kreacher, doesn't it?

 

[psychgirl83]

I was looking around a bit online yesterday, trying to figure out who R.A.B. might be. I'm wondering if it could possibly be someone in the Bones family. The entire family has been minorly important throughout the series, so maybe there is a reason they all keep popping up. Most of the people we have heard about have died trying to fight Voldemort, but what if there was one family member who worked on Voldy's side for awhile, then came to their senses? There must be a bigger role for this family to play....

 

[Tonks]

I actually thought of the Bones family at first too, but couldn't remember anyone with the first name starting with "R", so quickly trashed that idea. You may have a point though, as they all seem to be pretty good with magic and we know a Bones has been killed by the Death Eaters before so they aren't on his side..

I really do agree with Boing as to how Dumbledore would have found the cave. I don't think Snape would have known of it's existence, or even it's whereabouts - sure, supposedly Voldemort really does trust him, but to that extent? I'm just not 100% sure about that..

Dumbledore had known about the cave as the lady at the orphanage had mentioned it to him when he was there to tell Tom about Hogwarts. Now all he needed to do was track down where it actually was.. he probably could have done so with the help of this lady, or even either of the two kids that Tom took there.. I wonder if you can get memories from Muggles..

 

[Sirius Potter Fan]

**SPOILER** Who is R A B?

Ok, my first thought was that it might be Amelia Bones, that perhaps she just goes by her middle name as many do, but then it just didn't seem to fit. My guess now is Regulus (sp?) Black, Sirius' brother. I don't think we know his middle name though, but it just might work. He had become a DE and tried to leave. Could be that while he was one, he followed Voldemort, or somehow learned what Voldemort had done and where it was hidden? OK. . . if this is right, so far, then could he have hidden it at Grimwaud place? Could they have thrown it out when cleaning in OotP? Could Harry ask Kreature?

 

[Nimue]

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?

Oh god! and now Harry has to get help from the man he thinks has murdered Dumbledore (if this was in fact a planned sacrifice. If not...hmmm)

I've also been wondering if RAB was perhaps Andromeda. I mean if Regulus can have an A. middle name surely she can have a R. nickname or title or something. Just cause I don't think there a enough actiony girls.

 

[Finnegan]

I think that, if we already know the character, it's Regulus Black. I could be forgetting someone, but that's the only character that I can think of who has the initials R. (A.) B. - and I suppose that, wanting to leave the Death Eaters, he would a) have a reason for wanting to do it (but didn't everyone?) and b) have a way of finding out that the Horcruxes even existed and how to do it.

I'm not sure that it sounds like the sort of thing that Regulus would be clever enough to do - but after all, most of the information that we have of him is from Sirius, who (as his older brother) is probably somewhat biased, in both good ways and bad. There might be a lot about Regulus that we don't yet know.

But I think that the really important question is whether or not whoever removed the Horcrux had time to destroy it - because if it was Regulus, he was definitely killed, as everyone else who defied Voldemort was (so it seems reasonable that if it was someone, that other person might also have been killed) - or if it remains hidden in some place that no one knows of. I thought that HBP did sort of imply that it was a given that the Horcrux had been destroyed - but who knows? It might turn out to be a last big problem for Harry - finding a Horcrux that absolutely no one knows where is.

 

[Snuffles]

Regulus Black it is.
I thought of him the moment I read it.
The "I" and the "i will be dead" part.

It took two people to do the task - one eto drink the potion, and the other to make sure it was all gone

But was the potion there when Voldemort initially put the Horcrux in th ebasin? Somebody could have FILLEd it up with potion after he took the horcrux. And if Regulus had to drink it, then somebody would have had to well, re-fill it.