Questions tagged [basilisk]

A Basilisk is a mythical reptile known for its deadly gaze. Use this tag together with [harry-potter] when asking about J.K. Rowling's fictional Basilisk in her Harry Potter books.

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Why did Moaning Myrtle choose to become a ghost? [duplicate]

Moaning Myrtle was a ghost in Harry Potter. She is a minor character, but I would have to say that she is relevant to the series. Her death was quite tragic. She was bullied by Olive Hornby about her ...
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Why did Salazar Slytherin arm the Chamber of Secrets with a Basilisk?

Why did Salazar Slytherin arm the Chamber of Secrets with a Basilisk? If the main reason was, as the legend says, to "let his heir purge those who were unworthy to study magic" (i.e., kill Muggles) it ...
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Would Vipera Evanesca work on a Basilisk?

If someone casted Vipera Evanesca on a Basilisk, would it have worked?
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Did Salazar Slytherin actually use the basilisk to kill anyone?

Did Salazar Slytherin actually use the basilisk to kill anyone during his lifetime? Or did he only hide the basilisk in a deep, dark, dank place? Prefer answers from canon sources.
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How come there were no witnesses to the monster when the chamber of secrets was first opened?

CoS Ch.13 In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. If there were witnesses to the attacks, then how come Hagrid was expelled? Even ...
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How did the basilisk decay so fast?

How did the Basilisk decay so rapidly in the Harry Potter film? Only 5 years passed from CoS to TDH Part 2. It should have had flesh left on it, but all they show are only bones. The chamber is not ...
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Harry was bitten by a Basilisk - how is he still a Horcrux? [duplicate]

It is revealed in "The Deathly Hallows" that, when Voldemort tried to kill the baby Harry Potter, he unwittingly created in him a horcrux. Basilisk blood destroys horcruxes. In "The Chamber Of ...
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Why did the Basilisk in Harry Potter only listen to the Heir of Slytherin?

So in both the books and movies, the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets is said to only listen to the Heir of Slytherin. We all know Tom Riddle was the Heir, but I want to know why the basilisk could ...
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Could someone look at a Basilisk through a remote camera?

In Harry Potter, what could possibly happen if a person wanted to look at a Basilisk through a remote camera inbuilt into a drone or a robot for instance? Would only the camera be damaged, or would ...
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Did the Basilisk attack anyone else in the 1940s?

According to Riddle, the Basilisk attacked several students when the Chamber of Secrets was opened for the first time. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several ...
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Why didn't the ghosts and the portraits know about the Basilisk? [duplicate]

The ghosts of Hogwarts have been around the castle for a very long time, and possibly should remember the first time this happened, 50 years ago, when Tom Marvolo Riddle opened the Chamber and killed ...
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Why wasn't Myrtle more involved with the Basilisk parts of the story?

I was watching 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' and found myself with intriguing doubts. Moaning Myrtle houses herself in the unused girl's bathroom in Hogwarts. She would be able to ...
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Can a fake rooster kill a Basilisk?

... Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it. (Chamber of Secrets) Now, in Harry Potter, there ...
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Other than stabbing it with an enchanted, 1000-year-old, goblin-made sword, how else can I kill a Basilisk?

So today I found out that my best friend's sister got taken by a beast into a place called the Chamber of Secretions. I went down there together with my best friend Wazlib to try and rescue her using ...
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Can only wizards create / hatch a Basilisk?

There doesn't seem to be much mention about how to create / hatch a Basilisk except for: Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than ...
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Why did the Basilisk obey Tom Riddle (or anyone)?

Why would the giant, hungry, blood-crazed basilisk obey Tom Riddle or Ginny under his influence, or really anybody, and not simply go out and eat on its own?
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Is a Parselmouth immune to the effects of the stare of the Basilisk?

We see in the Chamber of Secrets when Tom Riddle summons the Basilisk, he looked at the Basilisk's eyes directly. So are they immune to the effects, or is it just the controller?
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Basilisk birth and rarity [duplicate]

Why are Basilisks so rare if they are born from such common conditions? (A Chicken egg and a Toad sitting on top whilst hatching) A simple charm should keep the Toad stationary you'd have thought? A ...
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Was Myrtle's death an accident?

Was she simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and got killed accidentally when the basilisk emerged from the plumbing or was it intentional, with Tom leading the basilisk to her?
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Can a basilisk attack any type of wizard?

We know that the Basilisk could attack muggleborns but could a basilisk attack a half -or pureblood (by free will) and get the same results? Or does it has to be controlled if it were to attack any of ...
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What if something that destroyed Horcruxes were made into a Horcrux?

If you made a Horcrux something that destroyed Horcruxes like a basilisk fang, what would be the result? Could it still be destroyed by venom?
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Can the Basilisk's petrifying power be 'turned off'?

Theoretically, could the basilisk 'turn off' its petrifying power? Or is it something the basilisk has no control over?
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Why didn't Harry Potter die from the basilisk venom in COS? [duplicate]

In The Chamber of Secrets, Harry gets bitten by the basilisk. Also, we know Harry IS a horcrux. Basilisk venom one of few things that can destroy horcruxes. So why didn't Harry go to the white place ...
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Could you use the Imperius Curse to control a basilisk?

Sorry if this is mentioned somewhere (I am by no definition a Harry Potter nerd), but can you use the Imperius Curse on magical creatures and by default a basilisk? If not, why?
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What would happen if you were to look at a picture of a Basilisk? [duplicate]

Would you be petrified by it, or would nothing happen? Or is it not possible to take a photo of a Basilisk?
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Why didn't Voldemort turn the Basilisk into a Horcrux? [closed]

Ok, Voldemort (Tom Marvolo Riddle) created 7 Horcrux's including his pet snake Nagini... Well why didn't he just turn the Basilisk into a Horcrux instead or also?
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Would Voldemort's Horcruxes protect him from being petrified?

In Chamber of Secrets, the basilisk released from the chamber ends up petrifying a number of people at Hogwarts. It should be noted that the petrification was treatable, which seems to imply that it ...
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How do Basilisk eyes actually work?

I asked a question here, in which @Scanner pointed out that there was a fundamental part of the question that was missing. How does a Basilisk kill with its eyes? Does it sever the soul, cause instant ...
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Does a dead Basilisk's eyes still kill?

If a Basilisk was killed without being blinded, would opening it's eyes (presuming they were closed on death) still cause instant death in the viewer? Edit: I'd do this myself, but I'm not sure how. ...
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Would a Basilisk kill a freshly "killed" Voldemort?

A basilisk kills on contact with vision, but when Voldemort dies, he enters an apparition-like state (bodyless, but not completely detached from the world). Would staring at a basilisk in this state ...
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Why didn't anyone else hear the Basilisk hiss?

I understand that as Harry can speak and understand Parseltongue, he could hear the Basilisk's voice from through the walls. (So, people who can't understand Parseltongue would hear it speak, as a ...
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Can the crow of a rooster petrify/kill a basilisk?

It is said that the crow of a rooster is fatal to a basilisk. So, does it mean that the basilisk would get petrified if it heard the crow of a rooster, or would it be killed? If yes, then how ...
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Should basilisk venom really be able to destroy Horcruxes?

The only way to destroy a Horcrux, as Hermione tells us, is to put it beyond magical repair. The cup, the locket, Nagini, the ring, and the diary are all destroyed by a sword or fang covered in ...
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Why are basilisks mortal enemies of spiders?

Spiders, specifically, are mentioned several times throughout Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as running away, not just all creepy, crawly critters. I looked up basilisks and see other parts ...
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Will a Basilisk get petrified if it sees itself in a mirror?

There were no mirrors inside the Chamber Of Secrets. If there was one, would the Basilisk get petrified if it saw itself in the mirror? On a more complex point, what would happen if two Basilisks ...
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How Was Nearly Headless Nick affected by the Basilisk?

When he saved Justin by letting him see the Basilisk through his own body, Nearly Headless Nick was also affected. Did he see the Basilisk directly to eye? What would have happened if he saw a ...
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Why are Basilisks rare?

I mean to say that anybody can hatch a chicken's egg under a toad, (even Neville can do that with his own toad ), so why are they so rare that there is only one in all of Hogwarts?
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Is the basilisk's stare the same type of magic as Avada kedavra?

Is the same type of magic being invoked when a basilisk kills its victim by its stare and a wizard kills his victim with avada kedavra? We know that avada kedavra does not leave any mark and the ...
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Would seeing a Basilisk in a memory cause death?

I am currently rereading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and I was wondering if looking at a basilisk in a memory would cause death? If, eg., Harry had seen the basilisk in Tom Riddle memory, ...
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Why didn't Ron and Harry ask Professor McGonagall for help instead of Lockhart to enter the Chamber of Secrets?

After Harry and Ron discovered Hermione's note (torn from a book) and they figured out where the Chamber might be and that Slytherin's monster is a basilisk, they went to the staffroom. My question is ...
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When exactly was the Sword of Gryffindor imbued with basilisk venom?

It is assumed that the Sword absorbed basilisk venom when Harry killed the basilisk using the sword in the Chamber of Secrets, but is there any proof that this was the point when the sword got imbued ...
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How could the Basilisk tell if a student was Muggleborn?

At one point, Tom Riddle, and perhaps even Salazar Slytherin himself, used the Basilisk to attack, even kill, Muggleborn students at Hogwarts. Tom Riddle said so himself: ‘Haven’t I already told ...
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How intelligent is the Basilisk?

The Basilisk speaks in Parseltongue that Harry can hear, saying things like "Let me rip you" "let me tear you," " I smell blood," etc. It speaks in full sentences at times. It isn't just saying "I'm ...
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Did Voldemort ever try to create another Basilisk?

In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, we learn that: The creation of Basilisks has been illegal since medieval times, although the practice is easily concealed by simply removing the chicken ...
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Why didn't the Basilisk kill its victims after they were petrified?

"Come... Come to me... Let me rip you... Let me tear you... Let me kill you... "...rip...tear...kill..." "soo hungry... for so long..." These are the words in Parseltongue that Harry hears ...
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Why wasn't Fawkes killed when it attacked the Basilisk? [duplicate]

In Chamber of Secret Fawkes pecks out the Basilisk's eyes, thus preventing its gaze from killing Harry. But Fawkes wouldn't be able to close his eyes because he need to aim where the Basilisk eyes are ...
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Why was the memory of Tom Riddle not killed by the Basilisk's glare?

Why was the memory of Tom Riddle not killed by the basilisk's glare? Even as a memory/horcrux, he is able to perform magic, and hence shouldn't he be affected by magic, magical objects and beasts too? ...
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Could Basilisk be killed using Avada Kedavra?

Provided that the release of the basilisk created a lot of terror in Hogwarts, I was wondering why it was a big thing for Dumbledore type wizards to hunt and kill the subject. Harry didn't know Avada ...
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Would a blind man survive the Basilisk's deadly gaze?

A simple enough question, assuming that one would need to see the Basilisk gaze to die, would a blind man's life be spared? What about someone suffering from neurological blindness (perfectly heathly ...
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Would wearing an Invisibility Cloak block the gaze of a Basilisk?

In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the gaze of the Basilisk is described as lethal (as most of us already know): [The Basilisk] has exceptionally venomous fangs but its most dangerous ...