Basilisk

"*[..] for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before* "
— Description of a Basilisk

The **Basilisk** is a creature in the *Harry Potter book series* and *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*.

It is a giant serpent bred by hatching a chicken egg under a toad. It is a Dark creature that has the power to petrify and kill anyone who looks into their eyes. It is a known wizard-killer but it could be controlled by a person who speaks Parseltongue. The breeding of a Basilisk was banned in medieval times and controlled by governments.

## About

### Appearance

The Basilisk is a brilliant green serpent. It has thin sabre-looking, poisonous fangs and large yellow eyes. They grow up to 50 feet in length. The female Basilisk does not have a scarlet plume upon their heads.

A shedded Basilisk skin is a vivid, poisonous green. It's skin is thick like oak.

### Life

A Basilisk is hatched by putting a chicken egg under a toad and it has a very long lifespan, living up to a thousand years if given a good food supply. They feed by eating vertebrates including humans very easily.

It has a fery long lifespan because it will go into a form of suspended animation using Parseltongue that prevents ageing. Their skin, which sheds in intrevals, is able to deflect spells implying it has tough skin similar to a dragon.

### Power

They have the power to instantly kill anyone who looks into their eyes. If they look at their eyes through a reflection, they are Petrified. It speaks in Parseltongue. The crowing of a Rooster is fatal to a Basilisk. Spiders fear it, fleeing in the presence of one and even an Acromantula will not speak its name.

If you look into a Basilisk's eyes through the lens of a camera and a photograph is taken, it will completely melt the film. It is unable to kill a ghost because they are dead anyway but they will be Petrified. A Mandrake Restorative Draught is capable of reversing Petrification by a Basilisk. If a Basilisk's eyes are damaged, it is incapable of using it's gaze to hurt or kill.

Basilisk venom is found in their fangs. It is very poisonous and it is one of a few "foolproof" ways of destroying a Horcrux. It will kill in less than a minute, causing drowsiness and blurred vision and the only known cure is the tears of a phoenix. The venom stays potent for at least up to five years.

A Basilisk is dangerous to anyone who can't speak Parseltongue and therefore it is very rare for anyone to breed such a creature because it is uncontrollable to nearly everyone.

## History

Herpo the Foul was a Dark wizard who lived in ancient Greece. He spoke Parseltongue and experimented until he eventually worked out if he put a chicken egg under a toad, it would produce a Basilisk. Herpo the Foul's Basilisk was the first Basilisk ever recorded and it lived for nearly 900 years.

Basilisk breeding was banned in medieval times. Since the founding of the Ministry of Magic, any such breeding was watched for by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. However it was very easy to conceal because it was simple to take an egg from under a toad whenever anyone wanted to check.

The final recorded sighting of a Basilisk was four hundred years before 2017. For an unknown reason, it doesn't include the sightings of the Serpent of Slytherin in 1943 and 1992 to 1993.

### Serpent of Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin hatched a Basilisk and put it in the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts School. It would answer to no-one but an Heir of Slytherin and it's purpose was to purge the school of Muggle-born students.

It was first unleashed nearly a thousand years later. It killed a student but Rubeus Hagrid and Aragog were thought to be responsible instead and Tom Riddle closed the Chamber of Secrets. In 1992 to 1993, it was unleashed again by Ginny Weasley who was possessed by Tom Riddle's Diary. Harry was the only person who was able to hear it. Mrs Norris saw it's reflection, and Colin Creevey saw it through the lens of a camera at the foot of the Hospital Wing stairs. It later added two new victims: Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington and Justin Finch-Fletchley.

In April, Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater saw it through a mirror. Hermione had researched in the Library and deduced it was a Basilisk. Harry and Ron later found a piece of paper in her hand about it and Harry deduced he was able to hear and understand it because it was speaking Parseltongue. In May, Harry killed it using the Sword of Gryffindor and closed the Chamber of Secrets forever.

The skeleton of the Basilisk continued to lie in the Chamber of Secrets for at least up to five years. In May 1998, Ron and Hermione found it and took it's fangs because the poison was still potent enough to be used to damage Horcruxes.

## Trivia

* It is known for being a wizard-bred creature and since it was banned in medieval times because it was a dangerous creature, it probably fell under the Ban on Experimental Breeding.
* Igor Karkaoff once told a story about how a paranoid Mad-Eye thought a birthday present was a Basilisk egg and broke it into pieces, until he saw it was a carriage clock.
* In a version of *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*, next to a piece about how the last recorded sighting of a Basilisk was four hundred years ago, Harry Potter writes "that's what you think".

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 16
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: An A-Z of Fantastic Beasts
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 17
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 10
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 11
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 9
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Chapter 6
8. ↑ *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them* was first published in the wizarding world in 1927. A version was canonically published in the Muggle world in 2001 and then updated in 2017.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 13
10. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 14
11. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Chapter 31
12. ↑ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: About the Author
13. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*, Chapter 17
14. ↑ *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them* (2001 version)