Snape, Dumbledore and Harry with a side of MD (Was: The Dueling Club - an interp

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 57925

Gomes Moor wrote:
> Well, but I wonder: why didn't Dumbledore ask Moaning Myrtle?

He probably did ask her. And she might have even answered. But what she 
knows is hardly enough - she opened the door, saw red eyes and died. 
Dumbledore can gather more info from the autopsy (or wizard 
equivalent). And he probably did. There is only so many pets someone 
like Slytherin would have anyway, and at the top of the list would be 
snakes in all their forms. Runespoor is a posibility, of course, but 
when you find petrified people all over the place, it becomes 
increasingly obvious that what they are dealing with is, indeed, a 
basilisk.

> And if he knew there was a basilisk inside, why didn't he take other 
> measures to defeat it, like bringing more roosters to the castle?
> 
> Gomes Moor

But there were roosters in the castle. There have been for 50 years and 
more, I'm sure. And they weren't enough. As I said, the key is how to 
find the basilisk - i.e. how to predict its movements and where it 
stays between events. And neither are easily discovered without parsel 
abilities. Let's say Dumbledore noticed the connection to the bathroom. 
Now what? Let's go even further and say he discovers the snake etched 
in the handbasin. Still this takes him nowhere. Without Parseltongue, 
he cannot go further than that.

Dumbledore does take measures to protect the students, but students 
are, by nature, unruly and that makes them difficult to protect. And 
certain measures aren't particularly useful. Killing roosters is easy, 
and filling the entire Hogwarts with roosters is not. And this is Tom 
Riddle we are talking about - roosters are a minor inconvineance. The 
teachers were on alert, and measures were taken. But there is no such 
thing as a foolproof defence against a creature that kills by sight, 
moves undetected and is mortally venomous. When you get right down to 
it, there is no such thing as a perfect defence for *anything* - there 
is always a way to circunvent it.

Basilisks are classified XXXXX by the MoM. They are amongst the most 
deadly creatures ever. And this one is directed by a cunning mind, and 
has virtually free reign of the castle. I don't think Dumbledore 
could've done more than he did, short of closing the school and sending 
everyone home. But leaving those children uneducated when Voldemort is 
stirring is even more dangerous than the basilisk could ever be.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf