Now that I think about it, I'm not sure the Basilisk was such a good idea...

[Andrea]

No: HPFGUIDX 57930

--- Melanie L Ellis wrote:
> I was thinking about Salazar Slytherin and his left-behind basilisk last
> night. Now, on the surface, the explanation was that it was left behind
> so that one day, his True Heir could open the Chamber and rid the school
> of Muggle-borns and non-PureBloods. But, um, how was that supposed to
> work, exactly?

An excellent point, and a great analysis of the different possible
methods.  You're right, it DOESN'T seem very practical at all to have this
monster that can kill with a look slithering around the school and yet
somehow expected to kill ONLY the Muggle-borns.  Although one problem with
your analysis in the first two cases -- I doubt the Chamber entrance was
in a bathroom when Salazar made it all those years ago.  They didn't even
HAVE modern plumbing then.  I think the entrance probably modified itself
to whatever use the room was put to at the time.

But anyway, aside from that, the only solution seems for the basilisk to
charmed somehow to only affect Muggle-borns.  Yet Riddle sets it on Harry
in the Chamber, fully expecting it to kill him.  Yes, it could poison him
(like it *did*), but Riddle still seemed quite perturbed at Fawkes
blinding it.  I'd think Riddle might have mentioned that in all his Evil
Exposition to Harry.  ("And so I'll carry on the work great Salazar
Slytherin started -- to cleanse the school from Muggle-borns!  The
basilisk's stare, you see, will only kill Muggle-borns, leaving the
*purebloods* safe. [evil cackling]") 

So if it's not practical to expect the basilisk to only encounter
Muggle-borns and evidence tends against the special charm, what COULD be
the solution?  Could it be...the Chamber of Secrets really WAS a legend,
as Binns said, and most of what we learned as "fact" is really just the
exaggeration of a thousand years of story-telling?

The only "solid, verifiable, historical *fact*" we know is that Salazar
and Godric argued about the admission of Muggle-borns because Salazar
thought they were "untrustworthy", and that eventually Salazar left the
school over it.  I suspect that Salazar the Genocidal Maniac is an
invention of the legend (and fanon).  It's quite a leap to go from
thinking Muggle-borns are untrustworthy to wanting to kill them all! 
Salazar had a problem with the school's admissions policies, argued with
the other Founders about it, and eventually left the school over the
disagreement.  Leaving a fantastic monster in a hidden Chamber to one day
kill all the Muggle-borns sounds like a legend to me, something the
children would tell each other to explain why there was the big argument.
(We had some pretty wild stories going on at MY schools when the teachers
had disagreements!)

Ah, but in this case, there WAS a hidden Chamber with a terrible monster
inside it.  That obviously means the entire legend was true, right?

Not necessarily. :)  As Hermione said, most legends have SOME germ of
historical fact at their core.  If Salazar DID have a workshop that
students were banned from and none knew what was inside, it would be an
easy jump to "hidden chamber" and speculation that it was tied to the
source of his leaving the school.  After a thousand years, the speculation
can get pretty wild, you know. ;)  As Melanie pointed out very
beautifully, the basilisk really was a silly way to cleanse the school of
Muggle-borns.  Why not a targeted spell or ensourceled weapon?  Why a
*basilisk*, locked up so it can't get out and just as likely to kill the
purebloods as the Muggle-borns?

Perhaps because the basilisk was never intended as a weapon against
Muggle-borns in the first place?

There are a dozen reasons I can think of off the top of my head why
Salazar Slytherin would have kept a basilisk.  He *was* a Parselmouth, so
it wouldn't be *that* strange of a pet, as long as he found a way to keep
it from killing him on sight. *g*  And we have canon from "Fantastic
Beasts" that Parselmouths studied Runespoors, so why not another magical
serpent?  For that matter, it seems like a pretty good defense if the
castle is ever breached.  Lock all the students in their dormitories (like
they *should* be in an attack) and send a serpent that can kill you three
or four ways but can only be *controlled* by your side charging down the
hallways.  Let me tell you, *I'd* think twice about invading again!! ;)



Andrea

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

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