The Harry Potter series has its fair share of monsters and villains; from Hagrid's three-headed dog Fluffy, to the Hungarian Horntail, and even Lord Voldermort himself. But one of the creepiest and most enigmatic villains in the Harry Potter mythos is the Dark Lord's pet snake Nagini - who was more than just a hungry reticulated python. In fact, for a snake Nagini seemed to be unusually perceptive and intelligent, even factoring Voldermort's parselmouth abilities.
Where did this giant serpent come from? It seems as though, once Wormtail finds Voldermort in between the third and fourth books, that the snake is just suddenly there. For the longest time, we've never had so much as a hint as to her origins ... until now. Yes, the new trailer to the second Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them movie appears to have dropped a major bombshell. It turns out that Nagini was actually a witch all along!
A scene from the trailer shows a young witch trapped in a cage in some sort of magical circus performance, who suddenly transforms into a huge snake. Credence, who is watching from the crowd, then says "Nagini" - which suggests that Nagini was actually a snake all along! Another big hint as to the identity of the witch (played by Korean actress Claudia Kim) came in the form of a promotional image of the movie's cast, which showed her wearing a snakeskin dress.
So what's going on? Did Voldermort curse Nagini later on, trapping her in Snake form permanently? Or is she an animagi who chose voluntarily to stay as a snake? Well luckily, Pottermore cleared up some of the discrepancies later on. It turns out that Nagini is actually a 'Maledictus’ - a witch who suffers from a blood curse which gradually turns them into an animal. J.K. Rowling later took to Twitter to confirm Nagini's Maledictus status, and making it clear that they are distinct from werewolves, writing: "Maledictuses are always women, whereas werewolves can be either sex. The Maledictus carries a blood curse from birth, which is passed down from mother to daughter."
Sadly, there has been some controversy over Claudia Kim's casting, with racist trolls mocking her on social media. Commenting on this in a recent interview, Kim stated: "When I found out that I’m playing Nagini, I thought it was meaningful because it’s an important character in the Harry Potter series. [It's] a franchise film with many Caucasian actors, so I thought many Korean viewers would be happy."
She added: "I think Nagini should've been played by an Asian. Scriptwriter JK Rowling probably searched for an Asian actress because she researched the origin of Nagini. I'm not sure if it's just my pride, but I think I was able to bring out a different vibe as a Korean in Hollywood where there are many Korean Americans."