Snake

Snake
Species information
Eye colour	Various (mostly yellow)
Skin colour	Various
Related to	Lizards
Native to	Various
Alternative names	Serpent
Length of average adult	Varies
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Legless Ectothermic Reptilian Scaled Carnivorous Sometimes venomous
Affiliation	Salazar Slytherin Slytherin House Horned Serpent House Dark Arts
Ministry of Magic Classification	Non-magical
Status	Extant

"...serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers."

— An anonymous member of the Dark Force Defence League, as quoted by Rita Skeeter, HARRY POTTER "DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS", Daily Prophet

A snake (also called a serpent) is a long, thin, legless, carnivorous reptile. The snake is the main animal for the Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Description

Different species of snakes exist worldwide, except in the continent of Antarctica. Snakes are cold-blooded and ectothermic, meaning they must receive warmth from their environments. The vision of the snake varies widely, and are capable of using their smell to track and hunt their prey. Snakes are strictly carnivorous, and feed on a wide variety of small animals, including lizards, frogs, other snakes, small mammals, birds, fish, snails, insects and eggs, which they swallow in whole.

The skin of the snake is scaled, which is frequently shed. Snakes vary in size and length, depending on the species of snake. Many species of snakes, such as Vipers and Cobras, are venomous; the effects of many snake venoms are highly poisonous, even fatal, although non-venomous snakes do exist, such as Boas and Pythons. As snakes are reptiles, they reproduce by laying eggs.

Snakes in the Wizarding world

The symbol of Slytherin House

The Snake is the official symbol of Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, relating due to the fact that the Founder of Slytherin House, Salazar Slytherin, was himself a Parselmouth, a wizard with the rare hereditary ability to communicate with snakes.

Many magical species exist in the Wizarding world. The Ashwinder is a magical fire-dwelling snake that is born out of the flames of any magical fire that is left to burn unchecked. They only live for an hour and lay their eggs before collapsing into dust. The Runespoor is a three-headed snake native to Africa, with each head possessing its own evaluative function and venomous fangs, which are known to be long-lived, and their eggs are used in Potion-making.

The Horned Serpent is a giant water-dwelling snake, that many species are found worldwide. They have horns on their heads, in particular the North American variety, with jewels that grant the powers of invisibility and flight, and shavings of their horns can be used as wand cores. They are intelligent creatures with fierce eyes, who emit a low musical note whenever they sense danger. The Horned Serpent is the House mascot and symbol of the House of the same name at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as one of its founders, Isolt Sayre, had a close relationship with a Horned Serpent whilst exploring the United States of America.

The Sea Serpent is an aquatic creature found in several seas worldwide, including the Atlantic, Pacific and the Mediterranean. It reaches over a hundred feet long with a horse-like head and serpentine body; it is seen as a fearsome creature by many, although they do not harm humans, apart from the flesh-eating Selma.

The most feared however is the Basilisk, a monstrous gigantic serpent known as the "King of Serpents", and the mortal enemy of spiders. It is an incredibly powerful beast of dark magic, whose stare is capable of causing death upon any living being who comes into direct visual contact with, or petrification through indirect visual contact. It is illegally bred by Dark Wizards, through the hatching of Chicken eggs beneath toads.

Apart from the Basilisk, snakes on the whole are often associated with the Dark Arts, a sentiment which is both true and untrue. Many Dark Wizards, such as Herpo the Foul, Salazar Slytherin and Tom Riddle, were all Parselmouths, wizards with the ability to communicate with snakes. Riddle himself, better known as Lord Voldemort, also owned a female pet snake called Nagini, who also served as one of his Horcruxes, as well as having his symbol the Dark Mark, as the ghoulish image of a terrifying snake coming out of the mouth of a skull.

The Snake Summons Spell (Serpensortia) is a transfiguration spell which is used to conjure snakes out of thin air. Its counter-spell is the Snake-Vanishing Spell (Vipera Evanesca), which is used to vanish the conjured snake in a puff of thick black smoke.

The skin of the Boomslang, a highly venomous green snake, is one of the ingredients used in the brewing of Polyjuice Potion. Snake fangs are also a common potion ingredient, such as in the Cure for Boils, Wideye Potion and the Strength Potion.

Furthermore, the curse Fiendfyre, is capable of conjuring cursed and immensely destructive and dangerous flames of enormous size which can manifest in the shapes of fiery serpents, along with other beasts such as dragons and Chimaeras.

History

Nagini turning into her snake form

During Gellert Grindelwald's notorious escape from MACUSA after six months of imprisonment, he transfigured the reins of the carriage carrying him into two ashwinders that attacked one of the two Aurors steering the carriage towards Europe.

In 1927, the magical Circus Arcanus had Nagini, a Maledictus cursed to transform into a snake, as one of their main and most coveted attractions.

During the 1988–1989 school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the then Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Patricia Rakepick, taught her fifth year DADA students how to perform the Snake-Vanishing Spell, mostly to help them deal with and defend themselves against dangerous and venomous species of snake, many of which he likely encountered during her career as a Curse-Breaker for Gringotts.

The Boa Constrictor speaking to Harry

In June 1991 during a trip to a zoo in Surrey, Harry Potter accidentally set loose a male Boa constrictor on his cousin Dudley Dursley using Parseltongue.

Draco Malfoy casting (Serpensortia)

In 1992, during the first and last meeting of the Hogwarts Duelling Club led by Gilderoy Lockhart and Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy used the Snake Summons Spell to conjure a snake out of thin air whilst duelling Harry Potter. After Lockhart foolishly provoked it, the snake became aggressive and turned on the other students watching, forcing Harry Potter to speak to the snake in Parseltongue unwillingly, much to the shock of everyone watching and himself, which was the first time he became aware of his rare and strange ability. The snake was subsequently vanished by Snape with Snake-Vanishing Spell in a puff of black smoke.

Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets

During the 1992–1993 school year, the Chamber of Secrets was reopened, unleashing the Serpent of Slytherin, the Basilisk which previously belonged to Salazar Slytherin, upon the Muggle-born students of Hogwarts, which resulted in many Hogwarts residents being petrified. After the petrification of Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley (along unwillingly with Gilderoy Lockhart) into the Chamber of Secrets to stop the attacks. After Ron and Lockhart got separated, Harry ventured into the Chamber, where he met the disembodied soul of Tom Riddle, who revealed himself as Lord Voldemort and commanded the Basilisk to kill Harry. Harry managed to slay the evil beast using the Sword of Gryffindor and then used the basilisk's fang imbued with its venom to destroy Tom Riddle's diary, one of his Horcruxes.

The notorious Dark Wizard Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort, had a female pet snake called Nagini as one of his most faithful and bloodthirsty servants, who was once a harmless Maledictus. Riddle acquired Nagini at an unknown point, although she played a huge and pivotal role in his return to power and his mission throughout the Second Wizarding War. In 1994, she was present during Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew's meeting in the Riddle House, and on the 24 June 1995, the day Voldemort returned in the Little Hangleton graveyard, Nagini was slithering around the graveyard, and was offered the chance of eating Harry Potter's flesh by her master once he had killed him, although Harry escaped.

In December 1995, Nagini attacked and severely wounded the British Ministry of Magic employee Arthur Weasley whilst he patrolling the Department of Mysteries on the night-shift. In the spectacular duel in the Ministry Atrium at the climax of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort turned to a snake the fiery rope that Dumbledore had attacked Voldemort with, serving as both an attack against the Headmaster as well as a distraction so that he can disapparate and apparate behind the Headmaster and attack him with the Killing Curse.

Nagini in the Malfoy Manor

In late July 1997, Nagini was present with her master and his Death Eaters at the Meeting at Malfoy Manor, where she devoured the corpse of Charity Burbage after Voldemort had murdered her there. In December of that year, she also attacked Harry Potter and Hermione Granger at Godric's Hollow, after she possessed the corpse of Bathilda Bagshot after having killed her along with her master. During the Battle of Hogwarts on 2 May 1998, she killed Severus Snape on her masters orders, but was later slain that battle, by Neville Longbottom with the Sword of Gryffindor.

During the Calamity which affected the Wizarding world in the 2010s, several large red snake Confoundables appeared guarding baby Unicorn Foundables. Volunteer members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force had to repel these monstrous serpents using the Exploding Charm, which would stun the snake and allow the baby Unicorn Foundables to return to their rightful place in the wizarding world.

Language

Harry speaking Parseltongue to a Boa Constrictor

Harry speaking Parseltongue

Snakes all over the world speak a language called Parseltongue (with apparent regional variations, as a Brazilian snake once used a term rendered in English as "amigo"). To those who do not speak it, Parseltongue mostly sounds like barely-audible hissing, easily dismissed as ambient noise by one who was unaware of a snake's presence.

It is possible, though arduous, for humans (and, presumably, other Beings) to learn this language; noted wizarding genius and scholar Professor Albus Dumbledore learned to understand it, but never managed to speak it, while a young Ron Weasley managed to speak a few words but never made an effort to expand his vocabulary.

A small percentage of wizards possess an innate knowledge of this eldritch tongue, and are called Parselmouths; this ability was long associated with Dark Wizards in the Wizarding world's eye, as three of the most notorious Dark Wizards of all times, Lord Voldemort, Salazar Slytherin and Herpo the Foul, were Parselmouths. Other Parselmouths include Corvinus Gaunt, Marvolo Gaunt, Morfin Gaunt, Merope Gaunt, Delphini, and due to soul contamination from Voldemort's Horcruxes, Harry Potter

Species of snake

Adder

Ashwinder

Basilisk

Black Mamba

Boa constrictor

Boomslang

Cobra

Cobra Lily

Common adder

Gigantic serpent

Gorgon

Horned Serpent

Hydra

King Cobra

Runespoor

Rattlesnake

Python

Sea serpent

• Fenny Snake
• Spitting snake

Notable snakes

Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake and final Horcrux

Serpent of Slytherin

Herpo the Foul's basilisk.jpeg

Herpo the Foul's Basilisk

Boa constrictor at the Zoo

Morfin Gaunt's first snake

• Morfin Gaunt's second snake

Behind the scenes

• The ability of even mundane snakes to communicate with Parselmouths and hold meaningful conversations with them implies that even non-magical snakes are notably more intelligent in the Harry Potter universe compared to the real world.
• Snakes are easier to conjure from nothing than any other animal, apart from birds.
• Snakes are an enemy in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 and also an ingredient for the Ageing Potion.
  • In the same game Snake Marks are used as keys to open or move something. These can only be used by Harry Potter and Tom Riddle because they speak Parseltongue.
• One of the bestial forms that Fiendfyre takes is a snake.
• Snakes are usually attributed to the Dark Arts simply due to them being affiliated with Dark Wizards such as Salazar Slytherin, Herpo the Foul and Lord Voldemort.
• Some snakes in the magical world seem to be different species undiscovered in the Muggle parts of the world. Nagini's form once turned into a snake, for example, was as large as a Boa Constrictor, but her venom suggests that she was more akin to a supersized viper (though a prehistoric viper-like serpent of this size did exist in the Muggle world). And the Basilisk was obviously no common serpent (though it may be a mutated, magical version of the ancient 50-foot serpent).

Appearances

Draco Malfoy's conjured snake as shown in the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (console versions only)

A snake in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• 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)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play) (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World
• Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Pottermore
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite