Silent. Deadly. Beautiful.
Tom Riddle had always had a sick fascination with snakes. Even from a young age, he had been mesmerised by their twisting, writhing bodies. The way they glided across the floor like water droplets rolling down the windows of the orphanage. Silent. Deadly. Beautiful.
The gentle hiss of a snake soothed him to sleep in the way a lullaby would for normal boys. The beady, unblinking eyes pierced his soul like fragments of glass, drawing him in, capturing his attention like nothing else could. Normal boys found interest in running, football, and climbing trees. But Tom Riddle was not like normal boys, for he possessed the most exceptional of abilities. Even in the world of magic, he was not normal by any standards.
He could talk to snakes.
Wool's Orphanage was no more than a prison to Tom. Grey walls surrounding him, confining him. And because of his abilities, he was alone. The other children feared him, not only finding him odd but also frightening. He had to find companions elsewhere.
Just as he was drawn to snakes, they too were drawn to him. On excursions, they would find him, several at once slithering their way to his feet, where he would then bask in the sun, feeling strengthened by their presence. And they would come to the orphanage too, day and night, moving gracefully like leaves in the wind—like shadows in the night.
In many ways, Tom was like a snake, which may have been partially responsible for the connection—the understanding—he felt for them. Independent—like him; grossly misjudged—like him; powerful—like him. Feared...
Like him.
He warmed to snakes more than humans for this very reason. Humans would betray you, would lie to you, would stab you in the back. But snakes? Snakes were loyal, at least to him. Snakes, he could rely on, for they always came to him, always seemed as awestruck by him as he was by them.
It came as no surprise then, when his life was failing, when he was overcome with weakness, a mere shell of the great man he had been—powerful, strong, feared by all—that Tom found himself drawn to the companionship of a snake, rather than any man. In the hallowed woods of Albania, where he found himself fleeing after his biggest fall yet, clinging to the shreds of life he had been able to retain, did he meet Nagini.
Sleek and beautiful, she twisted around the tree Tom had been laid against to rest. After his humiliating defeat in Godric's Hollow, Wormtail alone had remained faithful to him, but only out of fear, not out of loyalty. Tom was humiliated, deformed, barely active and barely a man at all, reduced to the most degrading and weakest state of being.
But he was alive.
Even as she slithered into view, her endless green body wrapping around the trunk like a vine, Tom Riddle knew she was not like other snakes. He did not believe in fate, or destiny, or soulmates, but he did believe that he and Nagini were connected by some external force. His very presence in Albania was a result of something greater—of bringing him to her, and she to him.
Tom, he felt her whisper. It had been a long time since he'd been addressed by that name. 'Tom' was a common Muggle name. It was boring; it was beneath him. In his quest to seek glory and power, he had selected a powerful name—a name that now struck fear into the hearts of those that heard it. A name that people feared as much as they feared the wizard himself.
Lord Voldemort.
But the gentle hiss of his former name caused Tom great pleasure, like it was being whispered inside his mind. A name formed on his lips without him realising it.
Nagini.
The instant he felt her body press against his hand, energy shot up through his body and suddenly power and strength seemed to be coursing through his veins, into his blood, into every inch of his being, both physically and soulfully. The smoothness of her scales against his weak, limp hand, made something charge through him like electricity. He felt strong. He felt alive.
Tom Riddle grew in strength, bound to his snake—who was so much more than a pet, and so much more than a companion or a follower. Nagini was like a part of him. She understood him like no other living creature could, and she was like him in so many ways. Never had he seen a more beautiful snake, and she was larger, faster, fiercer, more agile, more intelligent, and more powerful than any snake he had ever encountered before. She was one of a kind, with exceptional abilities that far exceeded others like her—just as he was. And for that reason, they formed a bond stronger than friendship, stronger than mother and child, stronger than lovers, even.
They thrived off of each other's strength, forming an inseparable team. Tom had never cared for another living creature other than himself, but Nagini was the first. She alone meant more to him than his entire Death Eater army combined. They were traitors and cowards—all of them.
He fed off of her venom, becoming more like a snake with every passing day. And, with his presence, she became more human, understanding and achieving the cunning and deceptive nature that Voldemort himself possessed. By the time his body was reformed and he rose to power once more, Nagini by his side, he was more serpentine than he was human. And he had never been stronger.
Evading death meant taking certain precautions, and over time the man formerly known as Tom Riddle ripped his soul apart seven times. Nagini was the final Horcrux, and the one he prized above all. Each one meant something to him, each a treasured object with significant and personal sentimentality. Nagini was the only living one—the only living thing he entrusted enough with a part of his own soul, further binding them together.
And so it came as no surprise when, on that day, as he strode into battle, an army at his command, intent on ridding the world of the boy who had sent his world spiralling into destruction, it was with Nagini at his side. She was the sole living thing he prized as much as his own life. Man and serpent as one.
In a world where men lied, and fell, and betrayed, she prevailed. Silent. Deadly. Beautiful.
Originally written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season 2—Round 7
Team: Holyhead Harpies
Position: Captain
Task: Write about Nagini