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Nagini, Voldemort's beloved snake, is an important part of 's terrifying villain. As Voldemort's closest ally, Nagini is also a Horcrux, one of eight pieces into which Voldemort divided his soul. However, the question arises of how the Dark Lord came across such a creature and decided it would be the contender for the most important of his Horcruxes, especially taking into account how risky it was for Voldemort to choose another living thing to store a piece of his soul.
How Voldemort and Nagini met becomes increasingly intriguing, taking into account the events of the where Nagini is depicted as a Maledictus, a human woman cursed to eventually become a snake. This means that Nagini isn't a regular snake, but an actual person turned into this creature, who Voldemort eventually chose as his loyal companion.
When Voldemort first appears in full form in , his figure is menacing, and his noseless face resembles that of a snake. Throughout the previous entries, the story pointed to how the evil character was connected to snakes. The house of Slytherin, to which he belonged at Hogwarts, is represented by a snake symbol.
, and thanks to this ability, he was the only one who could control the Basilisk in the . Therefore, it wasn't that surprising when Voldemort showed up accompanied by a larger-than-usual snake, but people still wonder how Voldemort got Nagini.
Updated on January 21, 2024, by Andrea Sandoval:
Full Name:
Nagini
Status:
Maledictus turned into a snake
Birthday:
Before 1927
Death:
May 2, 1998
In , Nagini is one of , if not the closest. He turns her into a Horcrux, which attests to how close they are and how much Voldemort trusts his snake companion. In fact, Voldemort turned Nagini into one of his Horcruxes partly because that would also give Nagini an immortal life, which speaks of the kind of love that Voldemort had for this creature. Dumbledore eventually refers to Voldemort as being as fond of Nagini "as he could be of anything." However, the story of how they met is difficult to piece together.
There's been speculation he may have found her while in exile in Albania between 1981 and 1994, where he assumed a phantom-like form and possessed many animals (however, only snakes could bear him inhabiting their bodies).
During this time, Voldemort killed a witch called Bertha Jorkins, and J. K. Rowling confirmed it was through her murder that he turned Nagini into a Horcrux (via ), so it makes sense that Voldemort met Nagini during this time. This could have something to do with Voldemort's ability to speak Parseltongue, which was explored during and which also allowed Tom Riddle to control .
However, Nagini was reintroduced in which complicated the previous assumption that he'd met her in Albania, although it doesn't make it invalid. The film is set in 1927 and reveals that , a human woman cursed to transform into a snake.
In , she is a young woman who befriends Credence Barebone while at Circus Arcanus, and the two become close due to their similarly tragic pasts. They plan an escape, and she helps Credence on his path to discover his true identity. Still, Grindelwald lures Credence into joining him, and he can't see the dark wizard's true nature as she does.
Voldemort's Most Loyal Allies:
Most Terrible Things They Did:
Nagini
Brutally attacked Severus Snape, who bled to death, even though Lord Voldemort considered him his most loyal servant.
Bellatrix Lestrange
Used the Cruciatus Curse to torture Neville's parents, Alice and Frank Longbottom, to the point where they lost awareness of themselves and their surroundings, and have to live in St Mungo's Hospital.
Barty Crouch Jr.
Murdered his father, Barty Crouch.
Peter Pettigrew
Revealed the location of the Potter's house, which led to their death.
Antonin Dolohov
Killed Remus Lupin.
Nagini implores Credence to stay with her, but his nature as an Obscurial, a wizard who develops a parasitical dark force due to his magic abilities being suppressed with abuse, is difficult to overcome.
while Nagini joins Newt Scamander and Dumbledore in a Global Wizarding War, an event that was further developed in the next chapter of the series: . In short, no one knows exactly how Nagini ends up as Voldemort's closest ally. Evidently, something happened between the time of her joining Newt and the events of that pushed her to the dark side. It's likely that Nagini spent a considerable amount of time as a snake without knowing other people, so it makes sense that she eventually created a strong bond with Lord Voldemort, who was able to talk to snakes.
She might even have met Voldemort while still human, and
. However, given how difficult it was becoming for her to maintain her transformations during the arc, it seems unlikely. If that were the case, however, perhaps a romance between the two ends up in the strongest of bonds. There might be something in the young Tom Riddle that resembles Nagini's previous relationship with Credence, who is very similar to Lord Voldemort. Nagini did not appear in , but there's definitely room for continued curiosity about how she became Voldemort's closest and most trusted ally. Many fans speculated that by the time Voldemort and Nagini came in contact with one another, she had likely been trapped in her snake form for several years without anyone to communicate with.
Alone, and perhaps even feeling desperate, she encounters Lord Voldemort. Connecting with someone who could see into her thoughts and speak with her, there is a strong possibility that in their communications they developed a real relationship. Whatever the origin of their relationship, there's no denying the closeness of their bond; after all, . A story as intriguing and tragic as Nagini's has a lot of potential for exploration. Hopefully, audiences will see more of her character in the future on the Wizarding World website or even in another adaptation. At this time, however, fans can only imagine the origins of Voldemort and Nagini's dark and strange relationship.
The Harry Potter franchise follows the adventure of a young boy introduced a whole new world of magic, mayhem and darkness. Traversing the obstacles in his path, young Harry's rise to heroics pits him against Lord Voldemort, one of the most dangerous wizards in the world and all his minions.
