Fawkes and basilisk - Slytherins

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 20239

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Vicky Ra" <andromache815 at h...> wrote:
> It just occurred to me that if a basilisk kills with a glance and 
petrifies
> with its reflection, why didn't anything happen to Fawkes when he 
pecked at
> its eyes? Does it only kill mortal creatures? Is Fawkes immune to 
it because
> he's a magical creature?
> 
> And a post I made to Syrina's Snape list:
> 
> I often wonder why Dumbledore keeps the Slytherins around. Are 
there any
> good ones? I'd imagine if a Slytherin did, by some miracle, turn 
out good,
> he/she'd
> be very powerful. And is Salazar Slytherin evil? I know he created 
the
> Chamber of Secrets because of the rivalry with Gryffindore, but 
there must
> have
> been some reason the other three founders agreed to work with him 
to build
> Hogwarts.
> 
> Vicky, who has too much time on her hands

This is, I fear, another "suspension of disbelief" issue, but what 
always surprised me was that Colin Creevey was actually looking 
through the lens of his camera when he saw the Basilisk.  Why?  Did 
he hear it slithering along and thought that he could hear something 
worth photographing?  Did he see the basilisk from behind before it 
turned on him?  I want to know!

Catherine