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

[jmwcfo]

No: HPFGUIDX 171959


> Lisa:

> > has everyone already rejected the 
> > idea that Nagini is the snake that Harry freed in SS?  Do their 
> > descriptions conflict? 
> 
> Nagini is a python; the snake Harry freed was a boa constrictor.


JW:
I know nothing about snakes, but a few minutes of googling divulges 
that boas and pythons are both contrictors.  Pythons are old world 
while boas (which used to be considered new world) are found in both 
old and new world.  Both groups can live to 30-40 years, so Nagini 
could easily date back to VWI.  Is there canonical indication that 
this was the case?  If so, where was she for the intervening years?

They are both primitive snakes, with some lizard-like structures, and 
are cousins often placed in the same taxonomic family (boidae, 
IIRC).  You can find some non-scientific references that do NOT 
carefully distinguish between boas and pythons, and I found some non-
technical references that seem to use the terms as practically 
synonymous.

This might be interesting:  NEITHER PYTHONS NOR BOAS ARE POISONOUS!!  
Nor do they chew or otherwise crush prey with their teeth - they 
constrict to smother, not to crush bones, and they swallow prey whole.

Nagini therefore can not be a RW python or boa - she is poisonous, 
crushes, and crunches.  Perhaps JKR's knowledge of biology is as 
precise as her use of math.

Harry's zoo friend came from Brazilian stock (IIRC), and would NOT be 
a python.  However, in layperson's usage, there does not seem to be a 
sharp differentiation between the two types of snakes.  Those who 
wish to consider the issue further may wish to research the detailed 
descriptions in SS/PS, GOF and OotP.