Voldimort and snakes (Was: Arthurs Wound)

[Susan Miller]

No: HPFGUIDX 86845

Carol wrote:

> (M)maybe the snake is Voldemort himself
> transformed? In his dream, Harry is in the snake's mind, which makes
> sense to me only if the snake *is* Voldemort. That would account for
> its size, its power, its intelligence. It would also be consistent
> with the transformations that Voldemort underwent between 1945 and
> 1970 that resulted in his present snakelike appearance. Yet another
> unregistered animagus, but Voldemort has broken every other law of 
the
> WW. Why not that one as well?
> 

Constance Vigilance (me):

I don't think that the snake is a result of an animagical 
transformation. Voldy has a skill at parasitically assuming the body 
of others. He says he used rats in Albania, and we also know what he 
did to Quirrel. He says that the animals didn't live long with him 
inside. From the Quirrel experience, we can assume that the rats kept 
their own minds and personalities but had to bear the essense of 
Voldy at the same time. My guess is that the same thing happened with 
the snake. I believe it was Nagini who was the host for Voldy during 
that episode. Nagini is described as a large snake. Her intelligence 
would have been her Voldy parasite (Voldysite?) I agree that bone-
crunching doesn't sound like something that a snake would do. Of 
course, snakes in JKR's world talk and point at signs with their 
tails (and maybe wink, too, but that may be movie contamination), so 
who knows what powers they might have.

Constance Vigilance