UPDATE: Our Fantastic Beasts 2 theory had been confirmed!

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald may explain the backstory to Voldemort’s snake, Nagini. The prequel film series is ostensibly focused on Grindelwald’s rise to power, and the terror he inflicted upon the wizarding communities across Europe during the 1930s and 40s. However, it seems as though J.K. Rowling is also working on weaving in many elements from Harry Potter into the Fantastic Beasts story, so that eventually the whole arc of 13 movies, from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, will exist as a complete whole.

We know Grindelwald’s reign of terror came to an end in the infamous duel between him and his former lover, Albus Dumbledore, in 1945, when Dumbledore emerged triumphant and took ownership of the Elder Wand. From there, Voldemort eventually rose to power as the darkest wizard of all, until a baby boy named Harry Potter almost destroyed him in 1981. Rowling has always been a master at laying strong foundations and backstories to all of her work, and that’s becoming ever more evident in Fantastic Beasts. In the lastest trailer for The Crimes of Grindelwald, we meet Nicolas Flamel, immortal alchemist and creator of the Sorcerer’s Stone, which was the first artifact that Voldemort sought to help him regain strength. But there’s another connection to Voldemort lurking in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and it’s something (or someone) that goes on to hold great significance throughout all of Harry Potter.

The unknown character played by Claudia Kim has no name billed other than Maledictus; in the Wizarding World, someone who will at some point turn into a beast. She resides in the circus that Credence joins, and all things point to her eventually turning into a snake named Nagini.

  • This Page: The Claudia Kim as Nagini Theory Page 2: Nagini’s (and Voldemort’s) Role In Fantastic Beasts

Nagini Has No History

Nagini was a large, female snake who was always by Voldemort’s side. In part, this was because she was one of his Horcruxes, and so, as Dumbledore suspected, Voldemort kept her close by in order to preserve the life fragment within. She was eventually killed by Neville Longbottom during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Nagini’s origins, though, have always been unclear. It’s not even known if Voldemort owned the snake before his downfall at the hands of Harry Potter in 1981, or if he came by her when he was hiding in the forests of Albania. However, what we do know is that Voldemort used Nagini’s venom (obtained by Peter Pettigrew) to sustain him in a temporary form until he could regain his body. She was turned into a Horcrux after Voldemort murdered Bertha Jorkins in 1994.

The lack of backstory for Nagini is curious; Rowling is meticulous in making sure all major characters and creatures in her stories have them, and for Nagini’s to be so vague would point towards Rowling planning on telling it at some point. Certainly, Nagini will have a complete backstory, even if it’s only Rowling who knows about it for now. Could that all change with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald?

Theory: Maledictus Is Nagini’s Human Form

Claudia Kim’s character in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has been included in all marketing material and trailers for the movie so far, and yet her character is only billed as Maledictus. The lack of a name when everybody else has a full title could either be because she’s only known as that, or some form of misdirection. Given that Maledictus has greater meaning in the Wizarding World, the latter seems more likely.

A Maledictus witch, such as the one Kim is playing, is a witch whose blood was cursed, meaning she will eventually turn into a beast of some kind; like an Animagus except without the free will. That hints at some form of transformation, and a snake seems the most likely outcome:  Kim’s character works in a circus, and the first trailer for The Crimes of Grindelwald has a “snake girl” on their billing; not only that, but Kim was also wearing snakeskin leggings in first look images for the movie.

It’s not difficult to suggest that Kim’s Maledictus is a snake girl, and there’s one history-lite snake that Rowling has yet to deal with. While it’s still firmly in the realm of speculation, evidence it starting towards Kim playing Nagini (especially given the additional presence of Potter-linked characters Flamel and Leta Lestrange.

Page 2 of 2: Nagini’s (and Voldemort’s) Role In Fantastic Beasts

Nagini’s Role In Fantastic Beasts 2

Given Kim’s casting and prominent position in the marketing, in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, it’s likely we’ll see Nagini in her witch form for the most part; if she does transform it would surely be towards the end of the movie, ready to be picked up in Fantastic Beasts 3. 

What we haven’t got much of a taste of so far is what she’ll be like in Maledictus form. Nagini was an exceptionally intelligent snake, and very loyal to her master; she carried out killings, ate Voldemort’s prey, and housed herself inside the corpse of Bathilda Bagshot (Grindelwald’s great-aunt), in order to lure Harry and Hermione into her cottage. Will the Maledictus be as evil and dark? In trailers and first-look images, she is often with Credence, and the most recent trailer shows him harnessing control of his own dark magic (the obscurus) and using it against another. As a pair, are they on a path that will lead them to become followers of Grindelwald? That would follow, since Nagini could potentially be Grindelwald’s snake before she meets the ultimate Dark Lord several years later.

Voldemort’s Role In Future Sequels

If we’re dealing with Nagini (as well as Dumbledore), then it’s possible that we will, at some point in the Fantastic Beasts arc, meet Voldemort. The reason for this is simple: Voldemort (born as Tom Riddle in 1926) was known to Dumbledore by 1938 when he started at Hogwarts. As a child, Tom had no idea he was a powerful wizard but he did believe he had gifts that set him above others. When Dumbledore confirmed this, and he was taken to Hogwarts, Tom became obsessed with immortality and, like Dumbledore and Grindelwald before him, began researching the Deathly Hallows. By age 16, in 1942, he had already made his first Horcrux; hiding a piece of his soul in his diary which would be later found by Ginny Weasley.

It’s hard to imagine that such a young, powerful wizard, with such dark tendencies, would not be known to Grindelwald in the years leading up to his showdown with Dumbledore. It’s harder still to comprehend that someone as inherently evil as Grindelwald - who Rowling has confirmed is a Seer - would not take full advantage of such a young, impressionable wizard, and use him to help his cause; especially since he was a pupil at Hogwarts, where Dumbledore was head. Voldemort can fit in the prequel.

It’s not known if the pair ever met until Voldemort killed Grindelwald in Azkaban after revealing the location of the Elder Wand. Again, this vagueness surrounding the relationship between the two seems to be pointing towards us seeing more of Voldemort’s story entwined with Grindelwald’s in the future. Whether that comes in the later Fantastic Beasts sequels, don’t be surprised if at the very least Voldemort’s snake links him to the prequel.

Next: Fantastic Beasts 2: Every Update You Need To Know

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