The Basilisk's voice

[ingachristsuperstar <ingachristsuperstar@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51490

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Susanne <
siskiou at e...> wrote:
> After reading all the discussion about parseltongue and
> whether Dumbledore knows about the basilisk or not, I
> started wondering why only Harry can hear it.
> 
> Shouldn't other people at least hear *something*? A hissing
> sound?
> 
> Harry can understand parseltongue, but is it spoken at a
> level that other humans can't hear anything at all?
> 
> Seems strange, since everyone can hear Harry speak it.
> 
> --
> Best regards,
>  Susanne                        


I noticed this problem recently as well.  Frankly, I think its just a 
slight logical problem with the plot.  No writer can be perfect.

However, giving JKR the benefit of the doubt, I think the best 
explanation is that a very very quiet hiss is much more llikely to 
blend into background noises than a very low voice.  Human 
ears are just conditioned to pick up voices over anything else.  
The hissing may have been barely audible to non-Parselmouths 
but just not noticable, especially if they were listening for a voice 
(as were Ron and Hermione when Harry insisted he could hear 
a voice).

-Ing