Couple of questions after CoS reread

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 125511


<snip of debate on DD's role in protecting students during CoS)

Geoff originally:
(1) What evidence is there to suggest that Colin was found 
 immediately after the attack? He might have been there some 
> time...

> > Hannah originally:  Well, Harry hears the basilisk when he wakes 
up.  
<snip of my incorrect argument (blush)>

> Geoff later:
> But, equally, the basilisk could have been /returning/ from the 
> attack......

Hannah now:  Shame of shame, I've been affected by film 
contamination (feels very embarrassed).  In the book, Harry doesn't 
hear the basilisk at all before Colin's attack.  He wakes up to see 
Dobby there and has his conversation.  So I'm talking about a false 
reference point anyway.  Colin could have been there for a long 
while.  But I still like the theory that they found him quickly 
after because DD was trying to protect the students.
> 
>Geoff(earlier):
(4) So, what do we read into Professor McGonagall's comment about  
Dumbledore being on his way downstairs and what else does she 
think might have taken place if he hadn't?
 
> > Hannah originally replied: Well, given that it's common 
knowledge that those petrified  can be revived, it's quite possible 
the monster (or the 'heir')  would have tried to finish Colin off 
rather than leave him there  petrified.
<snip>
I think it's quite possible that the basilisk would have 
tried to kill Colin had it had the chance - after all, it has those 
poison teeth to try out...
> 
> Geoff replied:
> But why?
> 
> When Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick are attacked 
and Harry finds them, how long after the attack was this? And the 
same  question can be asked about Hermione.
> 
> In all these cases, the victims were left where they fell; I 
suspect  that the basilisk could have attacked very quickly and been 
on its  way in just a couple of minutes.

Hannah now:  Yes, my argument does fall down a bit there.  Maybe 
McGonagall is wrong in her assumption that the 'monster' would have 
waited around to finish off Colin.  But they definitely do *think* 
there is a risk that someone might try to kill those petrified;

'We're taking no more chances... no, I'm sorry, there's every chance 
the attacker might come back to finish these people off.'  Madam 
Pomfrey, p197 Cos paperback UK ed.

The timescale for Hermione's attack is hard to judge, as Harry hears 
the basilisk quite some time before the attack (given that Hermione 
has to get to the library, find the book she wants, find the 
relevant part, do her bit of minor book-vandalism, and head off to 
tell someone, before she gets petrified).  The same goes for 
Justin's.  Perhaps in both cases they were lucky enough to be 
discovered very quickly, but as you say, it would only take a second 
for the basilisk to bite them.  So I guess that McG's comment refers 
to an unfounded fear.  At that stage, Colin was the first human to 
be attacked, so McG wouldn't really have known what to expect (she 
was only a student/ maybe not even at the school when the chamber 
was first opened).

Hannah