Nagini etymology + snakes' lifespan?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 146201

> Krystyna wrote:
> <snip>  Now to my question. What do we know about average lifespan
of snakes? I wonder if Voldemort isn't risking too much by placing
precious piece of his soul into animal with its natural limitations.
Or is Nagini now living according to human rather than snake's
lifespan - I mean, bearing Voldemort's soul, she is no longer prone to
snake aging process?? <snip>


Carol responds:
Maybe magical snakes, like magical rats, have longer lifespans than
their nonmagical counterparts, so she might already have a lifespan as
long as a human's or much longer. The Basilisk, for example, lived for
a thousand years before Harry killed it with the Sword of Gryffindor.
And Nagini, as I said in another post, is clearly magical. Her venom
has sustaining powers for Baby!mort--though, of course, it would kill
anyone else. (Wormtail must have been in terror for his pitiful life
every time he had to milk her.) 

But you may be right about being a Horcrux giving her a still longer
lifespan, or even making her virtually immortal until the soul bit
within her is destroyed. I expect that she'll die by Harry's hand
using the Sword of Gryffindor, like the Basilisk before her, and the
Horcrux will "die" with her, in which case, her lifespan will be a
dead issue, pun intended.

If being a Horcrux does grant her something like the immortality of
Tolkien's Elves (subject to death in battle but not to old age or
disease), that might explain how Voldemort can possess her without
destroying her life force (as he did Quirrell's and those of the small
creatures he possessed at other times). It would also be an argument
against deliberately creating a human Horcrux, especially Harry. Why
would he want to make his archnemesis or a potential rival immortal?
(I don't think a Horcrux can be created accidentally, as it requires a
spell.)

I had thought that the mortality of both human beings and living
creatures like Nagini would be a reason not to use one as a Horcrux
(most of the others seem to be made of incorruptible gold) because the
Horcrux would be destroyed when the creature or person died, but if
you're right, I can understand Voldy wanting his dear Nagini, the only
living being he cares about (rather like Filch and Mrs. Norris),
sharing his immortality with him. But the argument against
deliberately creating a *human* Horcrux still applies.

Carol, wondering how Voldemort expects to protect his still mortal
body against aging since it's only his soul that's protected by the
Horcruxes