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

[Andrea]

No: HPFGUIDX 57949

--- darrin_burnett wrote:
> Andrea wrote:
> I don't know if it only has to kill Muggle-borns. There have been plenty
> of slurs 
> thrown around against "Muggle-Lovers" to make me think that just being a
> pureblood isn't necessarily protection enough. Protecting a mudblood
> could 
> be sin enough in the eyes of a madman like V-Mort or Slythering.

Which is, IMO, one more indication that the basilisk wasn't the best idea
if its purpose was slaughter of only certain people with a varying
definition.

> Let us assume for the moment that whatever the reason Salazar left
> behind 
> the basilisk, it was not a benevolent or harmless act. 

Why?  The only indication that it *wasn't* is a thousand year old legend
and the actions of his many-time-great-grandson who wasn't even raised by
the family and so wouldn't know any family stories passed down, whether
for or against Muggle-borns.  He just had whatever knowledge he learned
from his research, and his own prejudices formed by growing up in an
orphanage after being rejected by a Muggle.

> He did have a secret area that could only be found by a Parselmouth and
> he did leave a giant snake in there that could only be controlled by
one.

Yes.  But, as I said earlier, that doesn't necessarily mean it was meant
to be used for harm.  A man leaves a gun in a locked box hidden away
someplace only he can access.  Later someone he doesn't know uses it to
shoot someone.  Why is the first man blamed for the murder?

> I am willing to concede that, although I believe Salazar to be a
> genocidal 
> loony for even leaving the damn thing behind, V-Mort has perhaps twisted
> Slytherins wishes. 

Thank you. :)  I also will concede that it's fully possible that Salazar
is a raving genocidal madman.  But it's not canon, and I always feel
obliged when people treat it as such.  It's simply one interpretation of
still vague text.

> Then why not take it with him when he left? Didn't he miss his wittle
> Fido?

*snickerfits* I actually have a fic where a magical serpent's very
complicated Parseltongue name is translated into English as "Fido". :) 
I'm sure if the pet scenario was true, he'd miss it when he left, but it's
a lot less practical to take a basilisk on a cross-country journey than
keep it in a hidden room of a castle.  And if it was meant for defense or
was confined because it was a danger, then there's no reason he'd take it
and every reason he *wouldn't*.

> A defense that can only be unleashed and controlled via a Parselmouth? 
> When there -- apparently -- have been only two such gifted people in the
> last 1,000 years? 

We only know that Riddle was the first Parselmouth who opened the Chamber.
 He said himself that it was very difficult to find, so it's fully
possible that there were other Parselmouths at Hogwarts who either never
looked for the Chamber or just couldn't find it.  We know that it's a
*rare* gift, but not that Harry and Voldemort were the first Parselmouths
since Slytherin.  I think that's a pretty big jump.

And at the time he created the Chamber, Slytherin may have thought he and
his descendants would *always* be at Hogwarts.  We don't know how long the
Founders were all together at Hogwarts before the last argument that split
them.

> I would agree it would have been a defense... for Salazar. I could see
> him thinking: Let the other three nitwits fight the invaders brought on
by
> their Muggle-loving foolish ways, while I -- and perhaps the other
Slyths,
> though that is not a requirement --  retire to my hideout and wait for
the 
> dust to settle.

That would also be a possibility.  But it still doesn't mean he was
actively advocating the deaths of Muggle-borns and Muggle-lovers.  It's
reasonable to think each Founder would have a special defense for their
own students.  No one thinks there's anything wrong with Godric leaving a
sword for students in *his* House.  The only difference was in how their
respective students chose to use it.  Harry could have just as easily gone
on a mad rampage with that sword and killed off the Slytherins.  Riddle
used the basilisk to attack, Harry used the sword to defend.  Neither is
necessarily an indication of their House's Founder's original intentions.


Andrea


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

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