Four Questions We Have About the Maledictus
SPOILERS AHEAD: PROCEED WITH CAUTION
In case you’ve been living under a rock, the final Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald trailer was released yesterday morning and it had my jaw dropping just a few times. It’s safe to say that we are all a little bit shocked and excited about Nagini’s appearance. With just a few seconds of a cameo, we can’t help but wonder more about her…
Is she a witch herself? Or is she just a Muggle with a curse?
Although Muggles are not often turned into werewolves (according to Pottermore, they “taste” different from wizards and are much more likely to die from their wounds), it is possible. In the case of a blood curse passed only through the X chromosome, it’s hard to imagine that MACUSA or the Ministry would not be aware of a Maledictus. It’s also highly unlikely that there aren’t immense regulations or tracking for those affected, and we can guess by the relationship with Credence that Nagini has some knowledge of the wizarding world.
“She has powers that are yet to be explored,” Claudia Kim, who plays the Maledictus, says. “I can’t confirm she has powers like wizards have. And she doesn’t have a wand.” I’m not sure that we can wait two more months for those answers! You’ve got us hanging on the edge of our seats, JKR!
Can Nagini comprehend and remember what she does as a snake?
Remus Lupin – a known werewolf – can’t remember who he is once he has transformed. That’s what the Wolfsbane Potion is for, after all! It allows the werewolf to keep their human mind during transformation. We can only speculate whether the memory loss applies to a Maledictus as well as a lycanthrope. I’d venture a guess that for the time being, she has some awareness of what she does. With what we can assume is a very rare condition, I’m not sure if there will ever be a cure in the wizarding world. Where does that leave Nagini, and her potential offspring’s fate?
Does she have the choice to transform?
In the few seconds that Nagini appears in the trailer, she is able to change her form willingly. However, Kim tells us that “she is bound to [permanently] transform at some point to a beast so she feels this pressure that the clock is ticking.” Is this part of the plot for the movie? Does Credence meet Nagini because of their shared secret magical powers? I’ll be interested to see the progression of their relationship and what role Nagini plays in Newt’s story as well.
Does she choose to serve Voldemort?
Does Voldemort ever know Nagini in her human form? If so, is she recruited or does she seek him out on her own? Does Voldemort have power over her as he does over other snakes, or is her humanity still somewhere deep down? Does the Horcrux inside Nagini make the blood curse worse? Do we already know a Maledictus in the early stages of the curse? It’s safe to assume that a young Tom Riddle will make an appearance before the end of the Fantastic Beasts franchise, so we have about a million questions on this one.
