More on Parseltounge...

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at y..., "waterdogn" <waterdogn at a...> wrote:
> ...And here's another thought about parseltongue that's been rattling 
> around my head:
> 
> Much is made of Harry being the only one who can hear the basilisk ... 
> ... ... Why can't other people at least hear weird sounds they can't 
> understand  when the basilisk is traveling through the pipes? Why can 
> only Harry hear anything at all? The basilisk certainly makes enough 
> noise -  delightfully creepy!
> 
> Inquisitively yours,
> 
> Robin Nicholls


bboy_mn with my best guess/bad memory comment:

We don't know that other people can't hear the vocal noise the
basilisk is making. All we know is that they don't hear a voice.

An old castle like this is probably full of odd noises; wind whistling
and goaning, boards creaking, Stairways moving, ghosts, Potlergiests,
etc.... So, with no way to draw a corrilation between this hissing
sound and a snake, they have no reason to believe it's anything other
than the numerous noises that the castle constantly makes. Their mind
just puts it into the background with all the other clutter, and they
don't consciously hear it. 

Harry on the other hand speaks this language, and hears it very
clearly. Analogy: You are in a foreign country where you have NO
knowledge of the language. So all these people speaking all around you
soon become background noise. If someone does speak directly to you,
you probably won't hear it because you've tuned it all out. Now
picture yourself walking down a street in this country, and suddenly
hearing a bit of conversation in your native language. It is most
definitely going to stand out from all this tuned out language. 

The same thing happens with Harry, Ron and Hermione have turned it out
as meaningless noise, but Harry, figuratively speaking, has just heard
a bit of his native language.

Just some thoughts.

bboy_mn