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

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 57931

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Melanie L Ellis 
<emeleel at j...> 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?<<

I don't think Salazar Slytherin anticipated that the Chamber would 
be opened by a halfblood or  a student.   In the world Slytherin 
knew, a powerful  wizard with a noble bloodline and a 20 foot 
basilisk at his command would have seemed formidable 
indeed.

Tom, knowing neither the Muggle world nor  the wizarding world 
would  accept the leadership of a halfblood schoolboy, turned to 
terror to accomplish Slytherin's aim.  He didn't have to attack all 
the Muggleborns, just enough to scare the Ministry into sending 
them away.

We needn't  assume Tom was working alone. He refers to his 
"intimate friends."  There could have been  lookouts by the 
bathroom and confederates who lured Muggleborns into lonely 
places where they might be attacked. 

Pippin