13 Harry Potter Plot-Holes (That Were Totally Solved)

2. How Did Regulus Black Discover Voldemort's Secrets?

The "Plot-Hole"

If Voldemort protected the knowledge of his Horcruxes so well, how exactly did Regulus Black manage to discover the secret and follow the trail of clues to the cave and the locket?

Surely we should have found this key information out?

The Solution

it would have been nice to see this in the books and films, but Rowling did subsequently answer it:

"Horcrux magic was not Voldemort's own invention; as is established in the story, other wizards had done it, though never gone as far as to make six. Voldemort dropped oblique hints; in his arrogance, he did not believe anybody would be clever enough to understand them (he does so in the graveyard of Little Hangleton, in front of Harry). He did this before Regulus and Regulus guessed, correctly, what it was that made Voldemort so convinced he could not die."

So, it was Voldemort's arrogance - and Regulus' intellect - that undid him. Rowling also explained what made Regulus turn on his Dark master too:

"He was not prepared for the reality of life as a Death Eater. It was Voldemort's attempted murder of Kreacher that really turned him."