Who or what is Nagini? (Was: Harry Horcrux redux)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 155083

Ken wrote:
> Oh my, could Nagini be the snake Harry released from the zoo in the
first book?? I know it is the wrong kind of snake, constrictors are
not poisonous as far as I know, but that is the kind of detail that
Rowling would overlook and that I as a reader could forgive an author
for fudging anyway. It certainly would give Nagini a debt of love to
Harry that could be useful in the end.

>
Carol responds:
That question has been asked before and I'm pretty sure that the
answer is "no." Setting aside all the arguments that I've made for
Nagini being made a Horcrux, the boa constirctor is, as you say, the
wrong kind of snake, it seems to be male while Nagini is definitely
female, the boa constrictor was born in captivity (presumably a Muggle
zoo) and is somehow planning to return to Brazil, whereas Nagini is
clearly magical and was probably encountered by Voldemort on his
travels (which probably did not include Brazil). My guess is that
she's a king cobra given her size and the lethal nature of her venom
(for everyone except LV)--a bite from a king cobra in RL can kill an
elephant within an hour. There's a distinct difference in personality,
too. The boa constrictor is friendly and grateful to Harry; Nagini is
the loyal servant of her evil master even when he isn't possessing
her, circling the graveyard waiting for Harry's body to be tossed to
her. BTW, it will be interesting to hear Harry conversing in
Parseltongue with Nagini as they confront each other in battle!

I think the fact that Nagini didn't die after Voldemort possessed her
in OoP is another indication that she's a Horcrux. In fact, I'm
wondering whether Quirrell brought Nagini and Voldemort back to
England together (Voldemort at that time possessing Nagini) when he
returned from Albania. Of course, there's the question of what a king
cobra (or similar huge snake) would be doing in Albania, and why
Vapormort didn't return to her instead of possessing smaller snakes
and rats in Albania (again) when Wormtail found him. Or maybe he *was*
possessing Nagini again when Wormtail found him, which is how Wormtail
recognized his master?

Okay, I still think that Nagini is an entirely different snake from
the boa constrictor, which is IMO just a plot device to show that
Harry can talk to snakes, and that Nagini is a Horcrux (and has been
one for a long time, as indicated by the effects of her venom on LV),
but I'm more confused than ever about her whereabouts when he was
vaporized, how he found her again (or vice versa), and how Quirrell
got Vapormort to England *before* Vapormort was in his head (notice
that when Harry shakes hands with Quirrell in the Leaky Cauldron,
Quirrell isn't wearing a turban, and the very fact that he can shake
hands with Harry indicates that he hasn't yet become dangerous to Harry).

Help me out, someone, please. (No doubt Geoff or someone who keeps
track of the threads can link you to an older discussion of the boa
constrictor and why it probably isn't Nagini.

Carol, imagining a sequel called "Voldemort: The Lost Years"