Not Slytherin, not Slytherin

[Andrea]

No: HPFGUIDX 51439

--- BeccaFran wrote:
> What else could the basilisk possibly be there for? A gigantic 
> snake that kills on sight? Slytherin definetely left that monster 
> there to kill *someone.* Whether it was specifically muggle-borns he 
> had in mind, we'll never know, but I think it's pretty clear that his 
> intentions were less than honorable.

A gigantic snake that kills on sight...locked up in a chamber NO ONE could
get to but Salazar.  (Assuming Parselmouth is as rare of a gift as it
seems so far in the books, it's not unreasonable to assume Salazar was the
only Parselmouth at Hogwarts at the time.  After all, it was considered a
given that *only* his heir could open the Chamber of Secrets.)  I
personally stick by the "laboratory" theory -- Salazar liked
experimenting.  As a Parselmouth, he often experimented with various types
of snakes, magical and non.  He bred a basilisk both to see if he could do
it and to do whatever kind of cool experiments these people do. (It's not
just a lucky guess that lets them figure out part of a magical beast can
be used as a spell component, you know!)  Like any responsible person, he
kept his experiments locked away where only he, and not his eager
students, could get to them.  

That's MY theory.  There are lots of other ones I and folks I've talked to
have come up with.  Pet!Basilisk -- Salazar likes snakes and raises them
as pets, including the basilisk. (Again, keeping it locked up for safety.)
 Guard!Basilisk -- Salazar had something hidden in the Chamber of
*Secrets* and had the basilisk there to guard it, like Fluffy guarding the
Stone.  Guard!Basilisk2 -- Salazar trained the basilisk as an odd sort of
security guard, something that would be released magically if there was a
serious threat to the school, the walls were breached, etc. 
Captured!Basilisk -- There was a random basilisk roaming around and
Salazar, as a Parselmouth, managed to capture it before it did any harm
and, since it's not intrinsically evil, confined it where it couldn't do
any harm.

Those are just the ones I'm pulling up off the top of my head, but there
are other theories, and we really don't KNOW enough to contradict most of
them.  Our assumption of MonsterToKillTheMuggleBorns!Basilisk is based
entirely on a thousand year old legend from Binns and what *Tom Riddle*
later did with it.  Tom's actions don't necessarily have a thing to do
with what Salazar intended.
 
> Personally, I have to believe that Salazar Slytherin was pretty much 
> a homicidal maniac. Oh, and probably a big crazy racist to boot. And 
> I *like* Slytherins!

Well sure, if you want the EASY way out. ;)  It's too simple to assume
Slytherin was evil, IMO.  JKR's better than that.


Andrea

=====
"Reality is for people who lack imagination."

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