Harry remembered Voldemort casting the horcrux spell, but filed it away as a “strange word” in Ch.45.
Doubt it.
He had regained an impossible memory, for all that the Dementor had made him desecrate it. A strange word kept echoing in his mind. And all of that could be put on hold for later, while the phoenix still shone red and gold beneath the setting sun.
[...]
Harry glanced in the Dementor’s direction. The word echoed in his mind again.
All right, Harry thought to himself, if the Dementor is a riddle, what is the answer?
Actually, what is the evidence that creating a horcrux involves saying that word? I mean, it could be just an (uncommon) common noun (like “hat”), perhaps in some older language, and the incantations for creating one could be completely different. You don’t really say “flight” to fly in this universe.
One more reason HJPEV cannot be allowed to learn the word, ‘horcrux,’ and a narrative reason, this time. When he looks up the making of them he’ll realize what happened and solve or nearly solve the plot.
Doubt it.
Why is this evidence the strange word was not “horcrux”?
Actually, what is the evidence that creating a horcrux involves saying that word? I mean, it could be just an (uncommon) common noun (like “hat”), perhaps in some older language, and the incantations for creating one could be completely different. You don’t really say “flight” to fly in this universe.
No other evidence that I know of, it just seems a priori more likely than any other specific word you could pick out.
“Avada” is up there.
But then why would Harry, remembering it, not recognize it and just say it was a “strange word”?
It’s almost certainly not the word Harry is thinking of. It is just a word with a rather high chance of being involved while creating horcruxes!
One more reason HJPEV cannot be allowed to learn the word, ‘horcrux,’ and a narrative reason, this time. When he looks up the making of them he’ll realize what happened and solve or nearly solve the plot.