I've been thinking about this for a while now and I can't remember for sure, but who bit Arthur in Ootp? Was it Nagini? If it was then how could Harry see through her eyes? Or was it Voldemort in an animagus form? Wouldn't it be a massive risk for him if it was?

I haven't read Ootp for a while now so I'm slightly hazy on the whole issue.

 

I think it was Voldemort possessing Nagini.

 

Wouldn't that be a massive risk for him? If somehow he was found out then wouldn't the destruction of Nagini while he was possessing her mean the end of another Horcrux plus his corporeal body?

 

Do we know for sure that Nagini was Horcrux at this stage?

But yes, it does seem like a risky move if it was. Though, would Nagini need to be possessed by Voldemort if she was a Horcrux?

 

Dumbledore said that he had great control over Nagini, would he really need to possess her?

Maybe Voldemort was looking through Nagini's eyes the at the same time Harry was looking through his?

 

I don't think it was Nagini, because, like you said, there was a huge risk with sending Nagini to do a job that could be potentially dangerous. It could, however, have just been another highely dangerous snake that he possessed.

 

It would certainly have meant the death of one Horcrux, but I don't see why it would destroy his 'corporeal body'. Likewise, I don't think Voldemort would have died had Dumbledore killed Harry when he was being possessed.

Voldemort's natural control over Nagini is such that I'm not convinced he was truely possessing her. The fact that Harry could see from Nagini's point of view lets it look like Voldemort was at least looking through her eyes (which is probable), but it could also simply be explained by the link between two Horcruxes.

I'm pretty sure Voldemort having a snake menagerie is entirely fanon. Dumbledore mentions that Voldemort is a bit careless with Nagini and lets her run errands, but that he would protect her once he realised his Horcruxes were being hunted down. It is either explicitely or implicitely mentioned that it was Nagini biting Arthur.

 

I'm not sure but I've always thought that Voldemort could only possess someone/thing that he had placed a horcrux in.

 

Huge risk? Voldemort thought he was the only person who'd uncovered the secret of the Room of Requirement - ignoring the fact that there were piles upon piles of shit in there.

My point? In the HP 'verse, Voldemort is the smartest dumbfuck ever. He probably thought nobody would dare attack a snake as large and intimidating as Nagini, especially a bunch of goody goody wizards. Given that, I'd still say it was a risk stacked heavily in his favor.
1. Arthur didn't see the snake, nor did anyone else.
2. Arthur can barely handle his bitch wife, much less a real threat.
3. He was probably reassured due to the existence of his other horcruxes. I don't remember at this point if he knew about the Diary's destruction yet.

EDIT: as for posession, he can possess anything and anyone. Quirrel ring a bell?

 

Possession is obviously canon... I just don't see how Voldemort wouldn't be able to possess another snake if he prepared for it.

Voldemort was not aware that Harry was a Horcrux in book 5, was he? Yet he knew that he could possess because of the Magical Link between the two. Whos to say that Voldemort can't artificially create a link between him and some random ass snake to do his bidding?

I am going to have to cave and say that it probably was Nagini, I just had hoped that Voldemort was a little more... careful than that.

 

He was a shade when he was possessing Quirell. I'm guessing that the whole possession trick is a lot harder to do when you have a body.

 

I meant 'possessing' as in 'having in his possession'. I fixed it for clarity's sake.

 

Harder =/= impossible. And as far as canon, Voldemort is the shit when it comes to magic. Dumbledore doesn't count 'cause he's a fag with a super wand.

 

We know Voldemort is overconfident, we know he lets Nagini run errands, and we never see him use any other snake for anything significant in the books... Why would this be very different?

Remember DH when he uses Nagini to impersonate the old historian lady. I think this is the same.

 

I hardly thought that Voldemort had an army of snakes in his lair to do his bidding, but it is hardly impossible for Voldemort to go out and purchase/steal or find a snake to possess.

Edit: Yes, I suppose so oephyx, but that doesn't mean I have to like the fact that Voldemort is going out and sacrificing 1/7th of his soul on a duty any snake could accomplish.

 

Lol'd. Arthur was asleep ^^.

 

Nagini became a Horcrux through Jorkins' death...so yes, she was definitely a Horcrux by book five.

He wasn't in a corporeal form when he possessed Quirrel. At that time, he only had a soul, not a body to accompany it. Post GOF, he had body and soul, so I dunno if he would still be able to possess others as easily as he possessed Quirrel. I agree with oephyx's argument of the link between two horcruxes...after all, Voldemort himself was a Horcrux, and Harry could often see through his point of view.

EDIT: Eh..Seratin beat me to it.

@Kaishek: That's it, Nagini's only 1/7 of his soul. Voldemort's powerful, but he's also overconfident; he believed that no one knew about his other horcruxes. As far as he was concerned, he could afford to risk Nagini.

 

Meh, I'd thought he was awake but dozing off...but that gets into semantics. Even if he were wide awake and staring at Nagini, his ass still would've been pwned.

And there's nothing stating that possession isn't possible without a link to the one being possessed. I think the horcrux makes it easier if you already know how to do it. Otherwise, Harry could've attempted to possess Riddle, instead of just playing peek-a-boo with his mind.

 

It's a very sensitive 'duty', and one she is ideal to fulfill. She is certainly easier to control or possess than 'any other snake', and she is not easy to kill. She could very well be magically protected, we wouldn't know. Voldemort was not sacrificing her, and certainly didn't imagine it likely that she would come to any harm.

 

Did he know that Weasley was asleep? If he was awake, I am sure that he could have cast a spell or two that could do damage. But then, magical protection on the snake is a speculation, so who knows.