Nagini

Nagini (d. 2 May, 1998) was a long, green female snake belonging to Lord Voldemort, with whom she had a special bond. She also became a Horcrux, after her master killed Bertha Jorkins in 1994. After Voldemort's initial downfall, he used Nagini's venom as one of the ingredients for a potion in order to regain strength, which eventually led to his rebirth. In 1995, she attacked Arthur Weasley, but he managed to survive. During the Second Wizarding War, she had to be destroyed in order for Voldemort to be finally defeated. Nagini was killed by Neville Longbottom in 1998, and was the last Horcrux to be destroyed.

Early Life
Not much is known about Nagini's early life or when she was acquired by Voldemort. It is unknown whether Voldemort owned Nagini before his fall in 1981, or if he found her during his exile in Albania.

Rebirth of the Dark Lord
He used Nagini to help him regain strength and a basic physical form after living in a weak, spectral state, following his attempt to kill an infant Harry Potter, during which he was struck by his own rebounding Killing Curse. He had Peter Pettigrew milk her venom, and with it, create a potion that sustained him until he could regain a body. Nagini further kept Voldemort alive after he turned her into a Horcrux, with the murder of Bertha Jorkins, in 1994; his habit of keeping her unusually close to him was what led Albus Dumbledore to suspect that she had become a Horcrux. Nagini was also able to alert her master to the fact that Frank Bryce was listening in to a conversation between Peter Pettigrew and himself, leading Voldemort to kill the Muggle man.

Attack on Arthur Weasley and the Murder of Charity Burbage
He used Nagini in the aforementioned attempt to kill Arthur Weasley while he was on guard duty for the Order of the Phoenix. In 1997, Voldemort's prisoner, Hogwarts Muggle Studies teacher, Charity Burbage, was fed to Nagini. Later, when Thorfinn Rowle and Antonin Dolohov failed to capture Harry, Voldemort offered them a choice in punishment: being tortured by Draco Malfoy further or be killed and devoured by Nagini.

Godric's Hollow
At Christmas in the same year, Nagini was stationed at Godric's Hollow, posing as Bathilda Bagshot using extremely powerful Dark Magic. When Harry and Hermione Granger arrived there, she lured them into the late witch's home, signaled Voldemort, and attacked Harry. Nagini bit and coiled herself around Harry to hold him in place until Hermione came to his assistance, using a Blasting Curse against the snake; the two escaped just before Voldemort arrived.

Later, on Potterwatch, Lee Jordan revealed that the remains of Bathilda's body had been found after being informed by the Order of the Phoenix.

Battle of Hogwarts
In 1998, Nagini was placed in an enchanted barrier by the Dark Lord, who told her it was for her own good, though since he was trying to ensure his own immortality, it was primarily for his.

Later on, while in the Shrieking Shack, she killed Severus Snape on Voldemort's command, biting his neck and injecting him with her deadly venom.

Death
After Voldemort tried to kill Harry Potter in the Forbidden Forest, she was released from the orb, as Voldemort believed there to be no more threat of her being killed, and he wore her around his neck and shoulders, like a scarf. She was beheaded by Neville Longbottom using Godric Gryffindor's Sword during the penultimate confrontation.

Physical appearance
Nagini was a large, green snake, roughly twelve feet long and as thick as a man's thigh. In the movies, she is portrayed as either a Reticulated or Burmese python, despite the fact that pythons are non-venomous and do not even have fangs. There is no known species of venomous snake matching Nagini's description; therefore, she most likely a species of snake found only in the magical world. This would also account for her unusually high level of intelligence, far beyond that of a normal snake.

Personality and traits
Nagini was completely loyal to Lord Voldemort. While she remained aloof to most others, she obeyed Voldemort completely, and seemed to enjoy being close to him, as she often slithered up to his shoulders to receive his affection. Nagini is also shown to be very intelligent and was able to understand the concept of strategies and plans, as seen when she sets up a trap for Harry. She was rather cunning and deceptive, and seems to have understood how humans behave.

Magical abilities and skills

 * Combat skills: Nagini was extremely deadly in combat, just like her master. She was very fast, capable of striking her enemies with great dexterity and speed and was able to hold her own against wizards and witches on several occassions. Nagini was also strong and was able to hold Harry Potter in place when she attacked him in Godrics Hollow. If not for Hermione's blasting curse, Nagini's physical strength would have allowed her to hold Harry until Voldemort arrived.
 * Venom: Nagini was a venomous snake and a single bite could result in a wound that was slow to heal. Though her venom was not always fatal it made it difficult for wounds to close and Arthur Weasley's injuries continued to bleed long after Nagini bit him.
 * Bond with Voldemort: Being one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, Nagini had a strong telepathic bond with her master and was capable of speaking to him over long distances. Voldemort could also possess Nagini.

Lord Voldemort
"I think he is perhaps as fond of her as he can be of anything. He certainly likes to keep her close and has an unusual amount of control over her, even for a Parselmouth."

- Albus Dumbledore on Voldemort's bond with Nagini

Voldemort had a special relationship with Nagini, as she was his pet and one of his Horcruxes. According to Dumbledore, Voldemort had strong feelings for Nagini that he had not for anyone else; she was the one thing that he cared about. He was able to communicate with Nagini as a Parselmouth, and he turned her into a Horcrux in 1994, after murdering Bertha Jorkins, which accounted for the unusual amount of control he had over her. By 1997, and likely before then, he was able to communicate with her silently and across great distances, as she was able to signal to him when Harry Potter arrived at Godric's Hollow. This may have been due to her nature as a Horcrux, giving her a link to Voldemort like the one Harry possessed.

Voldemort was also able to possess Nagini, which he did in December 1995. When he possessed her, she entered the Ministry of Magic, and attacked Arthur Weasley, who was on watch duty (guarding Harry's prophecy) for the Order of the Phoenix in the Department of Mysteries. Arthur survived the attack as a result of Harry dreaming about and being connected with Voldemort/Nagini at the time: Harry was able to warn Professor McGonagall, and subsequently Dumbledore, who managed to find Arthur before his injuries proved fatal. It took quite a while for Arthur to recover in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries due to the fact that Nagini's venom seemed to delay blood clotting, and even dissolved stitches, causing the wounds to bleed profusely when the bandages were removed.

In 1994, Peter Pettigrew milked Nagini's venom to return Voldemort to a rudimentary body, and as a Horcrux, her very existence contributed to maintaining Voldemort's immortality. Voldemort usually sent her on missions, such as infiltrating the Ministry, or holding Harry Potter in Godric's Hollow. He allowed her to consume the corpses of those he killed as a reward, though this also served as a way for him to dispose of bodies.

He stopped sending Nagini on missions after he realised Harry Potter knew about the existence of his Horcruxes and was tracking them down. Eventually, Nagini was beheaded by Neville Longbottom during the Battle of Hogwarts. Voldemort was enraged when Nagini died and he attempted to kill Neville in retaliation. Nagini was the last destroyed Horcrux, and her death led to Voldemort's final defeat.

Victims
Nagini was frequently used by Voldemort to kill others, or to dispose of their dead bodies. In 1995, he promised Nagini that she could devour Harry Potter after he had killed him. However, she was denied this when Harry escaped from the graveyard shortly after the promise was made. It is likely that Frank Bryce met that intended fate, sometime in 1994. Voldemort threatened Pettigrew with being fed to Nagini if Bartemius Crouch Sr. was able to contact Albus Dumbledore about the plot behind the Triwizard Tournament. Nagini also attacked Arthur Weasley but he survive the bites after Harry had a vision on it and he was quickly aided. She's also known for disposing the body of Charity Burbage and killing Severus Snape.

Etymology

 * "Naga" is "snake" in Sanskrit and "Nagin" means "female snake" in Hindi and Urdu. A reference to Rudyard Kipling's cobra character Nagaina, referred to as Nagini in some translations.
 * A "Nagini" is also a half-woman, half-snake creature that is found in some Indian mythology.

Behind the scenes

 * In Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, she is likely portrayed as a Dumeril's Ground Boa, but in the last two films she is portrayed as a Reticulated Python (the longest real life snake species); both instances contradict the book's description of her as a venomous snake. However, it is possible she is a fictional species of venomous python within the film continuity.
 * In, Albus Dumbledore stated that Nagini was made into a Horcrux through the murder of an "old muggle man", likely referring to Frank Bryce. However, J. K. Rowling said in an interview that the murder Voldemort used to make Nagini a Horcrux was Bertha Jorkins. Bertha did not appear in the film adaptation of.
 * Nagini is killed by Neville using Gryffindor's Sword, which is an object that can destroy Horcruxes due to the fact that it had been impregnated with Basilisk venom in 1993. It is unknown if living Horcruxes can be destroyed by anything that cannot destroy an inanimate Horcrux; however, it is likely, because the Horcrux inside Harry was destroyed by Voldemort using the Killing Curse. Nevertheless, it is still possible that living Horcruxes cannot be destroyed by anything that would not destroy an inanimate Horcrux considering that the Killing Curse is a one-of-a-kind unblockable instant death spell. As a living container of a piece of Lord Voldemort's soul, it is unknown what would happen if she could die naturally.
 * The killing of Nagini is very representative of the houses Gryffindor and Slytherin. The sword was originally Godric Gryffindor's, and Nagini is a snake, Salazar Slytherin's symbol, owned by a descendent of the Slytherin line.
 * Nagini and the Basilisk are both giant snakes who serve Voldemort, and both are killed with Gryffindor's Sword, when someone pulls the sword out of the Sorting Hat. Also both their deaths contributed to Voldemort becoming mortal (as the Basilisk fangs were used to destroy two Horcruxes, and the venom absorbed by Godric Gryffindor's Sword allowed the destruction of two or three more). Also, the Basilisk is related to the first appearance of a Horcrux in the series, while Nagini was the last Horcrux.
 * It is never said why Harry's wounds from Nagini are able to be healed just with Dittany, while others, such as Severus Snape or Arthur Weasley (almost), are killed by her venom. The protective enchantments put in place with Lily Potter's death may act against Nagini's venom, but this protection had already faded when Harry was wounded (although it can be argued that the protection still existed due to Voldemort taking Harry's blood) . It is also possible that Nagini can choose whether or not to apply the venom into her bites, which is very likely as Lord Voldemort makes it clear that Harry's life is reserved for his own taking. In real life, venomous snakes can indeed control the amount of venom they inject in each bite, and even sometimes, they inject no venom at all (which is known as a "dry bite").
 * Nagini was usually sent on missions on Voldemort's behalf, making her rather vulnerable, which is against the general purpose of a Horcrux: To protect the portion of the soul. She shares this trait with the diary Horcrux. However, it may be that Voldemort was sure no one had discovered his Horcrux secrets and, as only a few things can destroy Horcruxes, he was fairly sure Nagini and the diary would be safe. However, it could have been that the primary purpose of creating these two items was not so much to provide for Voldemort's immortality, but rather to use the other properties of a horcrux to create unique weapons.
 * There was a rumour that Nagini was the snake Harry released from the zoo in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This was proven false, as Nagini is some type of viper while the snake in the zoo was a boa constrictor. Furthermore, the snake was given a male voice in the film, while Nagini is female.
 * In Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Nagini is a normal-sized snake. In Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7, she is considerably larger.

Differences between book and film
In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Nagini was not protected by the magical orb, but instead by what appears to be an invisible force field that deflects all spells cast at her. This allowed her to participate in the final duel, as opposed to dying before it began, where she attempted to strike Harry from the back while Voldemort dueled him from the front. Eventually, she was fighting against Hermione and Ron, both of whom tried to stab her with a Basilisk fang, before Neville decapitated her. Upon her death, she vanished into black smoke, as opposed to simply dying and falling onto the ground in the novel. Why her body perished is not known, and she as the only Horcrux to disappear in such manner; all the others did not disappear, but instead leave behind fragmented pieces, except the Diadem when Ron kicked the remnants into the oncoming Fiendfyre.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) 
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Notes and references
Nagini Nagini Нагайна Nagini Nagini