Accidental Harrycrux with a Bloodsucking Snake (long)

[Neri]

No: HPFGUIDX 155106


> 
> Pippin:
> Googling produces the information that snake venom is used medicinally 
> for its anticoagulation effects, or did you mean to say that it is not 
> unusual in snakes?

Neri:
No, I didn't know that. So JKR taught me something new about biology
<g>. In the snake species I'm familiar with (common vipers mainly) the
venom has exactly the opposite effect: it's *highly* coagulant and the
clotting in the arteries is basically what kills the victim. I wrote
"unusual" because I had the hunch that certain other species might be
different (generally snake venom from different species has all kinds
of interesting agents in it, many of them still unknown). I did a
quick search now and you're right: Ancrod, snake venom from the
Malayan pit viper, is medically used as a rapid anticoagulant
(alternative treatment to aspirin in old people with a risk of stroke). 

Here, however, we have a slightly different situation: the potion
itself contains blood, and this blood (unicorn blood) is known to be a
magically powerful restorative. So the simplest explanation would be
that Nagini's venom was needed to keep the unicorn blood from clotting.

Neri