The Story of Nagini (+ How She Met Voldemort) - Harry Potter Explained

Hey everyone,

Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be discussing both the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises, as well as lord Voldemort and his trusty companion Nagini.

The Nagini that we know from the Harry Potter films was first introduced in the Goblet of Fire, where she is described as eating the body of muggle Frank Bryce after his brutal murder.

And from as far back as we can remember, she’s glued to Voldemort’s side- a trustworthy and loyal companion through seemingly any kind of adversity. When Voldemort was weak and just a shadow of the powerful man that he usually was, she was still there right by him- and this truly speaks to the bond that Voldemort and Nagini had. However, the Nagini that we know from the Harry Potter franchise is not expanded upon much in the original series, and it’s not until Fantastic Beasts came out that we got a little bit more of her history. Nagini is such a rich character with a lot of history, but in harry Potter we only see her in her snake form, and the relationship that she has with Voldemort had already been developed.

We don’t really get a proper sense of who is she or what her story is, and in today’s video I’m going to be diving in to the history of Nagini, not just the snake, but the woman.

Nagini’s birth year is not officially recorded anywhere, but we do know that when we first see her in Fantastic Beasts, it’s the year 1927, and she looks to be in her late 20s or so. With this in mind, I’m going to assume that Nagini was born sometime around the year 1900.

However, Nagini wasn’t born in to normal circumstances- she wasn’t born as a normal, healthy young baby, she was born with a curse. We don’t know whether or not Nagini came from a family of witches, muggles, or something else, but we do know that her lineage had the ‘maledictus’ curse in it’s bloodline, a dark curse that is passed on through generations of family members and is transferred from mother to daughter. Because of this, Nagini was born a female ‘Maledictus’ - one who carries the Maledictus curse. A ‘Maledictus’ suffers from a blood malediction- a type of curse that causes the sufferer to slowly transform in to an animal over the course of their life. The animal can vary according to the specific curse. In Nagini’s case, her blood malediction meant that she was destined to turn in to a snake- becoming less human and more snake each and every day. Generally, for quite a number of years, the Maledictus will possess the ability to transform at will, but that’s what slips over time. Eventually, you will lose the ability to transform, and will be stuck in whatever animal form that is destined for you.

Though we don’t have an exact date, it’s speculated that Nagini and Voldemort met in the forests of Albania, sometime in the 1980s. At this point, Nagini would have likely fully-assumed her snakelike form, and Voldemort would have been hiding in his disembodied state.

What their initial interaction would have looked like is anyone’s guess- however, we do know a couple of things about Voldemort that would have helped him in interacting with a giant snake.
First of all, Voldemort is the descendant of Salazar Slytherin- this means that his connection to snakes is strong, and that he can even communicate with them because of his ability to speak parseltongue. Nagini, who would have been stuck in her Maledictus form at this point in time, would have probably leaped at the opportunity to finally speak with someone. She was a lost Maledictus that was devoid of communication- and finally she encountered someone who could understand her- it was someone that she could tell her story to. Whether Voldemort would have been able to recognize that she was a Maledictus or not is unclear, however, he is an extremely versed Legilimens, so I’m sure he could have taken a look inside of her mind and figured it out.

At this point in time, both Nagini and Voldemort were a bit lost in the world, similar to when she first met Credence. Nagini was stuck in a snake form, an entirely new identity, and was completely devoid of human interaction. She probably had no idea what her next move was going to be, and she must have been incredibly lonely.

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[alucard]

-Are u still watching Harry Potter theory after all this time?
- Always /*

[jk_]

I have a suspicion that Nagini being a horcrux is the reason she became more like Voldemort. Remember how the necklace affected Harry, Ron and Hermione, they became dark while wearing it while she was the horcrux so the evil must have affected her

[kaenachoo]

It’s riddikulus how people still think that the snake Harry set free in the zoo was nagini. The snake in the zoo was a male. 🤦‍♂️

[arunsreenivasan]

Whenever I hear the word “freak” all I can think of are Petunia’s words

[katherinenordli]

Voldemort was a master manipulator. He probably made Nagini believe he had the power to free her from her curse by completing the horcrux ritual. And by doing so, her soul was corrupted, not destroyed. It was no longer hers but an extension of Voldemort. A slave to his will, much like the nazghul were an extension of sauron's will in lord of the rings.

[raylynnblack]

I feel so sorry for Nagini, I mean it wasn't her fault she was cursed. She made the right decisions about the things that were in her hand like choosing Grindelwald's side or Newt's side. I don't even think she would've chosen Voldy's side if she was still in her human form, she might have chosen his side because it's either she didn't remember anything about being a human or she was finally able to talk to someone, after all, she was lonely. And she might've turned dark because voldy turned her into a Horcrux, she started becoming more like him, evil. That poor thing didn't deserve that life :(

[wtfspeedie]

Nagini is such a complex and interesting character. I cannot wait to see more of her in the future of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them!

[dandanniu]

I just feel sad for Nagini.She was such a beautiful woman.Too bad I did not read the Book.😢

[willlewis]

The real question is, did dumbledore realise that the nagini who showed up at hogwarts after paris and the nagini that served Voldemort were the same creature?

[JessidGallardo]

Something else that could be added to this is that staying in contact with an horocrux for for a long periodo of time corrupts the good nature within you, like when Ron wore the locket. Having Voldemort's soul inside would have sealed her position as evil (Note that Harry was inmune to this due to his mothers protection)

[tbjorn]

I myself think Nagini lost her human soul when she was completely turned, thus taking on animalistic instinct. She in her human form knew that Grindelwald was evil and wanted no part in his plan, so why if she still had her human memories would she go with Voldemort?

[gilw]

My theory is that, after whatever happens in the next 3 movies, Nagini finally becomes a snake, and being the shy, timid person she is, she slithers off, embarrassed by what she's become. In the wild, her mind eventually goes, until she is found by Voldemort, who, over time, rehabilitates and brainwashes her to the Dark, and she becomes the Nagini we see during the events of Books 4-7.

[Fiery]

I always noted that her name “Nagini” harkened to a Naga, which is a mythological semi-divine half-human half-snake being from Hinduism.

[desislavaandreeva]

I was reading somewhere that Nagini had enough of eating rats, birds and small animals. At the time she met Voldemort and he gave her the opportunity to eat man’s flesh she lost her identity completely!

[katherinegallagher]

Both were affected by a curse, that fundamentally changed who they were. And as living beings they were drawn together by similar circumstances of loneliness. 💀🧙‍♂️ and 🐍💃

[AustynSN]

I question if Nagini the woman is the same personality as Nagini the snake. Does Nagini the snake even remember being a woman?

[moanan.c]

Honnestly it would have made a lot more sense if the cursed child had been the daughter of Nagini instead of Belatrix. No matter how far the story would have had to go to give her back some human appearance, an intimate relationship between her and Voldy would have been more believable than with Belatrix

[didiman]

Voldemort and Nagini could have also met during the time when he was going to retrieve Ravenclaw's diadam.

[ankanganguly]

I think that nagini told Voldemort about Grindelwald having the elder wand in deathly hallows

[lesliemolina]

Nagini was of utmost importance to Voldemort. The reason why in the first book Voldemort sought out the Philosopher's Stone that Nicolas Flamel made was because Nagini told him that such stone could produce a physical human body for him - just as the stone created Aurelius Dumbledore aka Credence from the obscurus of the late Ariana. Nagini must have learned this from being in Newt's circle. Upon the fall of Grindelwald, Nagini went her separate way and must've met Voldemort sometime after. When the two developed a close relationship, she then gave this information to help Voldemort so he can return in human form. Nagini was not just a strong ally, she was the first and only true friend of Voldemort.