[HPforGrownups] Re: Did Voldemort make use of a Horcrux already?

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 165727

I just got around to reading Carol's post --

Carol:
But I wonder if Voldemort's experiments included a search for *bodily*
immortality. The Horcruxes protect his soul and keep it earthbound,
but what good is an immortal soul in a frail and aging body? Even
wizards get old, unless, like Nicholas Flamel, they have a
Philosopher's Stone and can keep taking the Elixir of Life.

Debbie:
I had always interpreted Voldemort's statement that "one or more of my
experiments must have worked" to mean that he experimented with other means
of immortality than simply the creation of Horcruxes.  After all, the
evidence suggests that he created two before he even left Hogwarts, so he
must have been doing something else.  He could have been experimenting with
his own Elixir of Life (could Snape have worked on this?) as well as the
creation of a new body.  Interesting, though, that he did not succeed in
creating a functional adult body.  Could this have been because after all
that soul-splitting he did not have enough humanity to inhabit a fully
functioning adult?  Or because his experiments were not fully
successful?   Just thinking out loud here.

Carol:
At any rate, if Voldie wants to "live" as opposed to surviving, he's
going to need an immortal body to go with his immortal soul. I wonder
whether he took small doses of Nagini's venom to make himself immune
to poison. He would also need to protect himself against disease and
especially old age. Possibly, that's where young Severus Snape came
in. Was he "putting a stopper in death" for Voldemort, not by helping
him with the Horcruxes, of course, but by brewing potions that would
help to sustain Voldie's body long beyond its natural life?

Debbie:
It's my view that Nagini is intended to symbolize both the devil and
resurrection (both historic uses of snakes as symbolism).  Thus her initial
appearance at the beginning of GoF to provide venomous 'milk' to nourish
Baby!Mort foreshadows Voldemort's anti-resurrection at the end of the book,
and is perhaps a necessary precursor to that resurrection.

Carol:
And, to return to Nagini, there's the whole question of why Voldie
becomes more snakelike. The Horcruxes blur his features, making him
appear less human as he loses what shreds of humanity he ever had, but
do they also make him more snakelike? The Voldemort who applies for
the DADA position is much less snakelike than the one who pops out of
Quirrell's head in SS/PS or the restored Voldemort who appears in the
graveyard, looking exactly as he did when he killed the Potters, as
far as I can tell. (The Death Eaters are surprised that he's
resurrected, but not by his snakelike appearance.)

Debbie:
The connection between horcruxes and snakes is strictly symbolic, so if the
horcruxes caused Voldy's appearance to become more snakelike it's only
to symbolize his trafficking with his diabolical version of immortality.  I
tend to think that he's been drinking Nagini's venom all along (though we
have no idea how long she has been with him) as another one of his
experiments, and that made him increasingly snakelike.

Carol:
Yes, Voldemort has always had an affinity for snakes and can talk to
them in Parseltongue, but why Nagini? Where did she come from, and why
is she his "dear" Nagini when he cares for no other living creature?

Debbie:
Although I have no canon to support my view (other than Voldy's affinity for
her), I want to believe that Nagini is a magical creature in her own right
(even though the  only creature in Fantastic Beasts that could possibly
qualify is a basilisk), and that her venom is diabolically magical.  I might
even go one step further and speculate wildly that Salazar Slytherin imbibed
some of this same venom (not from Nagini but instead from her ancestor who
I'll call Nag), perhaps not realizing its diabolical effects, which
precipitated the split from the other Founders.

Ok, I'm probably way off the reservation with this one.

Carol, who thinks that Harry will slay Nagini with the Sword of
Gryffindor whether or not she's a Horcrux

Debbie
who agrees 100% with Carol on this point


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