Good Slytherin (Was: Re: Thestrals and Slytherins)

[bookraptor11]

No: HPFGUIDX 71242

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kathryn Cawte" <kcawte at b...> 
wrote:

> bboy_mn:
>you really should make some
> attempt at explaining away the basilisk, because a benevolent 
philosophy and
> a killer snake aren;t exactly concepts which go hand in hand.
> 
> So I'm going to address that bit. Personally I don't think the 
basilisk is
> that vicious - after all even when it was being controlled by Tom 
Riddle it
> only managed to kill one person. Really as a weapon of mass 
destruction the
> basilisk has been terribly inefficient up till now. 

I think the basilisk was purposely used inefficiently in COS. Tom 
Riddle had Ginny set it loose only in situations where few students 
would be walking the halls.  I didn't check the book, but it seems 
that most of the attacks happened later at night when most students 
would be in their houses.  Harry had finished a late detention with 
Lockheart when he found Mrs. Norris, Colin Creavy was brought into 
the hospital wing in the middle of the night. When Hermione and 
Penelope were attacked, most of the students and faculty were out at 
the quidditch match. Riddle was trying to close the school to 
discredit Dumbledore rather than engage in mass killings.  Possibly 
he or Malfoy were using the basilisk to expose Harry as a Parselmouth 
and cause people to suspect him of opening the Chamber.


>I would argue that it
> was left there by Slytherin so that when he was (in his opinion) 
inevitably
> proved right about the danger posed by muggleborn students there 
would be a last line of defense for the castle so to speak. >


I agree with you, and would add that in a situation where muggles 
were storming Hogwarts, a basilisk would be much more effective. 
Students and staff would seal themselves in the dorms, and the 
parselmouth would wait for all the muggles to storm through the front 
doors, seal all the doors and windows trapping them in one space, and 
then release the basilisk into the room.

Also, I remember reading a long time ago about witch persecutions.  
Scotland (where Hogwarts is located) had more witch burnings and 
torturings than most of the countries studied, and witch persecutions 
were still happening in later centuries when most other countries
had become more enlightened. Has anyone else the facts that back 
this up or disprove this?  It was a long time ago, and I'm not sure 
of my memory.  It would account for Salazar's paranoia.

Donna