Nagini: If she's not a Horcrux, what the heck is she?

[Neri]

No: HPFGUIDX 171936

> Carol wrote:
>
> I notice that the vast majority of posters don't think that Nagini is
> a Horcrux, possibly because they're sold on the Harry!Horcrux
> hypothesis. Without getting back into that argument (I'll just say
> that I think DD is right about Nagini and that if Harry or his scar
> were a Horcrux, DD would have said so), I want to ask what people
> think Nagini *is* (aside from being a "dirty great snake").

Neri:
Well, I think she's also a dirty great red herring <g>. 

Dumbledore is probably right about most of his guesses, but he can't
be right about *all* of them, or it'll get too predictable. Besides,
Dumbledore never actually says that Nagini *is* a Horcrux.

The scenario of Nagini as a Horcrux doesn't seem to make for a very
good story. When did Voldy make her a Horcrux? If before GH, then what
 was she doing all that time? And who was the murder that made her a
Horcrux? I don't see an interesting story here. Nagini seems much more
useful to the plot as a red herring. Besides, she has already
fulfilled another important function: through her we've learned that
living Horcruxes are canonical. Now that we know about this charming
possibility, using it on for a mere overgrown snake seems like big
waste of plot potential.


> Carol:
> Is she
> Voldemort's familiar? Just his ugly pet, who conveniently provides
> venom when it's needed as a potion ingredient? How can he possess her
> without doing lasting harm to her if she's not a Horcrux?

Neri:
I don't see the difficulty. Voldy did explain to us that snakes where
his first preference to inhabit. IIRC he also explained that
inhabiting them for long periods makes them die. This implies that
possessing them only for short periods (as in a quick excursion into
the MoM) is just fine. And anyway, even if every minute Voldy
possesses Nagini shortens her life span by, say, one hour, do you
really expect him to care much about it? Not unless she really is his
Horcrux. Indeed, the canon we're lacking here is that possessing your
living Horcrux does *not* shorten its life.


> Carol:
> Is she, erm,
> a garbage disposal for the bodies of his victims?

Neri:
Well of course. Every evil overlord must have one of those. I believe
it's in the manual, although I haven't checked.


> Carol:
> <snip> Is Nagini evil in her own
> right even though she's a snake, not a human being with free will, or
> just too dangerous to live?

Neri:
Was the Basilisk evil in its own right, or just too dangerous to live?
And who cares, as long as the hero sticks him in the kisser with the
magical sword?


> Carol: 
> I think that, Horcrux or no Horcrux, Harry will slay her as he slew
> the Basilisk, with the Sword of Gryffindor.

Neri:
Personally I doubt that. You don't make the hero stick the giant snake
with the magical sword in the second episode, only to have him stick
the much smaller snake in the seventh and last episode, with that same
sword. As an Author you're supposed to build *up*, not down, towards
the climax. Nagini seems to me just the right size for Ron, or maybe
even Peter. Which would be fitting if she *isn't* a Horcrux, and so
isn't Harry's job. 


Neri