In the wizarding world, there are plenty of unique abilities and gifts characters, but Harry Potter boasts one of the rarer and more obscure — the ability to speak parseltongue.
Parseltongue is a way that select humans can communicate with serpents throughout the Harry Potter franchise. For the most part, snakes represent villains in the universe which makes it even odder that the story’s hero boasts this ability.
As we continue through the series, we learn that speaking parseltongue is hereditary which makes Harry’s ability even odder until it’s revealed to be linked to Lord Voldemort. With his death and the subsequent destroying of the soul fragment inside Harry, it may not be immediately clear whether Harry lost the ability to speak parseltongue.
Can Harry Potter still speak parseltongue?
Harry’s history with parseltongue changed in 2020 with the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Prior to this it seemed all but certain he couldn’t use the power, but as we found out he still can.
According to Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling in a 2007 live chat with Bloomsbury.com, Harry lost his ability to speak parseltongue after the piece of Voldermort’s soul that resided within him died. However, this changed with the release of The Cursed Child in 2020.
While Harry was relieved to no longer have the ability after the death of Voldermort, after more than two decades without attempting to use the ability, Harry found that he still held the power to do so and uses it a pair of times to help himself and his friends during the latest story, despite his reluctance.