Parseltongue

Parseltongue was first seen in the Harry Potter series in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry Potter himself spoke to a snake in Parseltongue, surprising everyone present there. People who could speak the language were referred to as Parselmouths. The ability to speak this language was associated with Dark Wizards and Dark Magic because snakes and serpents had mainly been used as pets and companions by practitioners of Dark Magic throughout history. 

Salazar Slytherin was one of the most popular Parselmouths in wizarding history. Most of his descendants were also Parselmouths. The Gaunts, the descendants of Salazar Slytherin, even spoke to each other in Parseltongue. Each descendant of Salazar Slytherin, including Gormlaith Gaunt, Ominis Gaunt, Marvolo Gaunt, Merope Gaunt, Morfin Gaunt, Tom Riddle Jr, and Delphini, were known Parselmouths.

Beings that Spoke Parseltongue

Parseltongue was a language exclusively spoken by magical beings, and even non-magical ones in some cases, that were serpents or of a serpentine nature. Simply put, it was the language of serpents and was sometimes referred to as Serpent-tongue. For instance, the Boa Constrictor that Harry Potter met in the zoo was a serpent and was, therefore, capable of speaking and understanding the language. In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the Boa Constrictor was replaced with a Burmese Python, but since it was also a snake, it spoke in Parseltongue to Harry.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets understood Parseltongue and obeyed Tom Riddle’s instructions because he spoke in the same to it. 

Later, Lord Voldemort’s pet snake Nagini understood and responded to him because he spoke to it in Parseltongue. There were several instances of him ordering Nagini to attack people and sometimes even eat them. He used the same to convey it to her.

Newt Scamander, in his famous book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, claimed that the Runespoor, which was a three-headed serpent, was known to possess three different personalities for each of their heads. This claim was based on several accounts and conversations of Parselmouths over centuries with Runespoors.

Known Users of Parseltongue

One of the most popular and first users of Parseltongue was Salazar Slytherin. Salazar Slytherin was one of the founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Slytherin House was named after him. Salazar Slytherin was a pure-blood fanatic and disagreed with the other founders about letting in students who were Half-blooded or Muggle-born. He also had a pet Basilisk, which he hid in the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts and expected to do the bidding of one of his heirs in the future. 

Herpo the Foul, a notable dark wizard who lived in Ancient Greece, was also a famed Parselmouth. Despite having spoken the language in the time of Ancient Greece and the medieval ages, as in the case of Salazar Slytherin, Paracelsus, a medical genius and a notable alchemist who lived in the sixteenth century, was attributed with the discovery of Parseltongue. Herpo the Foul was also the person who created the first Basilisk.

Other users of the include most of Slytherin’s descendants, including the Gaunt family whom Harry saw in the Pensieve. Morfin Gaunt, Merope Gaunt, and their father, Marvolo Gaunt, spoke Parseltongue fluently. They even talked to each other in the language despite being British. Merope’s son Tom Riddle Jr, who later became known as Lord Voldemort, spoke the language too. He was the Heir of Slytherin who opened the Chamber of Secrets and unleashed the Basilisk to harm Muggle-born students at Hogwarts. He also had a pet snake named Nagini, to whom he spoke in Parseltongue. He also converted Nagini into a Horcrux.

Albus Dumbledore may have understood Parseltongue or even been able to speak it, but there is no known instance of him using that language in the book series. Since he said and understood over 150 languages, including Gobbledegook, Mermish, and even Giant, he may have had some connection to the language.

Another person who very mildly knew how to replicate the language and imitate a Parseltongue speaker was Ron Weasley. Ron mimicked Harry’s chants in the language to open the Chamber of Secrets during the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when the Battle of Hogwarts was going on, where he and Hermione Granger had to find some Basilisk fangs to destroy a Horcrux. Hermione was spellbound by seeing Ron speak it.

Harry Potter was one of the versatile speakers of Parseltongue. Although an acquired trait due to Lord Voldemort accidentally converting Harry into a Horcrux, he seemed to have a commanding grasp of the language and used it very well.

Association with Dark Magic

Parseltongue has very closely been associated with Dark Magic throughout history. Most of the Parselmouths in history have been Dark Wizards. Salazar Slytherin, Herpo the Foul, the Gaunts from the House of Gaunts, and Lord Voldemort were all practitioners of Dark Magic. The only notable exception to this rule is Harry Potter. Still, his ability is justified as also being caused by Dark Magic when it is revealed that he is an unintentionally created Horcrux of Voldemort. Another exception may have been Isolt Sayre, who couldn’t speak the language but understood the Horned Serpent she visited.

Furthermore, several Dark Magic artifacts responded to the language, especially in the case of Salazar Slytherin’s items, including Salazar Slytherin’s locket and the openings of the Chamber of Secrets.

Appearances in the Harry Potter Series

The first appearance of Parseltongue in the Harry Potter series went unnoticed and happened when Harry went to the zoo with the Dursleys. Harry spoke to a snake in the zoo and even performed magic unknowingly when he accidentally made the glass in front of the snake disappear.

The documented appearance of Parseltongue in the Harry Potter series for the first time happened during a meeting of the Duelling Club organized by Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. When Harry was dueling Draco Malfoy, Draco performed a spell that created a snake mid-duel. As the snake started slithering towards Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was among the audience, Harry began trying to tell the snake not to do it. However, to the surprise of everybody there, he was unaware that he was speaking a different language, making a hissing sound and speaking in Parseltongue. Many believed that Harry may be the Heir of Slytherin as even Salazar Slytherin spoke that language, and speaking it was considered the attribute of a Dark Wizard.

Later, in the same book, Harry uses Parseltongue to open the Chamber of Secrets, whose password is required to be spoken in it. From the diary, Tom Riddle’s 16-year-old self also used Parseltongue to guide the Basilisk. The Basilisk only followed Tom Riddle’s commands despite Harry also knowing Parseltongue. 

Since Parseltongue only worked on serpent-based creatures, it was not shown in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban since there were no plotlines revolving around snakes in that book. However, the existence of speakers of Parseltongue remained throughout the Harry Potter series. 

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Lord Voldemort uses it in the Riddle mansion to summon Nagini and command her to kill Frank Bryce. Furthermore, in the same book, when Harry claims Voldemort is back, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, does not believe him and cites Harry’s ability to speak to snakes as one of the reasons.

While talking to Rita Skeeter about whether one could rely on someone who speaks Parseltongue, a member of the Dark Force Defence League claimed that they would be highly suspicious of anyone who spoke the language as it was a very uncommon skill and used by evildoers and practitioners of the worst kinds of Dark Magic.

Parseltongue was also used in later instances of the book series, including the time Harry used it to converse with Nagini disguised as Bathilda Bagshot in Godric’s Hollow and Lord Voldemort using it several times to talk to Nagini. After Lord Voldemort tried to kill Harry again in the Forbidden Forest and instead ended up killing a part of his soul lodged in Harry, Harry lost the ability to speak Parseltongue indefinitely.

Parseltongue: Who Created It?

Paracelsus, a wizard who lived in the medieval ages, is attributed with the creation of the language of Parseltongue, even though Salazar Slytherin, all of his descendants after him, and Herpo the Foul who lived before him happen to have spoken the language themselves, long before Paracelsus was even born. This title is a strange attribution since many people have spoken this language before Paracelsus, yet he is credited with creating this language. 

Paracelsus was known for making this language popular and framing it as a language, which may be one of the reasons that he is credited with creating this language. Salazar Slytherin and Herpo the Foul have not documented it in any way and may have used it for their own need. They saw it as a means to a cause without paying attention to its linguistic attributes like vocabulary and phonology.

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