Basillisk

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 127492


> In a message dated 4/12/2005 12:30:45 PM Pacific Standard Time,  
> rowanbrookt at h... writes:
> 
> I was  re-reading HPATCOS last night and wondered how did Salazar 
> Slytherin plan  for the basillisk to only kill muggle born witches 
and 
> wizards.   Surely the basillisk would just kill anyone who 
happened to 
> look at it as  it searched for muggle borns.  The book does say 
that 
> Ginny  controlled by Tom riddle was setting the basillisk on 
muggle 
> borns  specifically, but that doesn't seen satisfactory to me.  
Any  
> ideas?

Hannah:  Well, this is supposing that he really did intend for it to 
kill Muggle-borns.  There was some interesting speculation recently 
on this list that Slytherin did not in fact intend that at all, 
rather that he left the snake to protect the school in the event of 
an attack.

Assuming he did intend it to kill Muggle-borns, I think it was down 
to the one the controlling it - Slytherin's heir - to identify the 
Muggle-borns and tell the snake who to attack.  If the snake 
naturally went for people with Muggle blood then Tom himself would 
have been attacked by it, and he wouldn't have needed to instruct it 
to go for half-blooded Harry either.  Also, it wouldn't explain the 
attack on Mrs Norris, who is a cat (as far as we know...)

Hannah