What, Voldemort Kill Myrtle ? (Was Re: Moaning Myrtle is Harry's aunt on James's

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 167759

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jordan Abel" <random832 at ...> 
wrote:
>
> > Annemehr:
> > Nah.  The Basilisk did not have an innocent purpose, like a welding
> > torch does.  Riddle summoned it to kill, and it did.  That's murder.
> 
> It's an animal, it doesn't have to have any kind of purpose. And we
> don't know what was going through Riddle's mind, whether the intent to
> use it to kill had formed prior to that moment
> 
> --Random832
>

Julie:
Then maybe it's more like a student tossing a rattlesnake into 
a dorm room. The snake doesn't have a nefarious purpose, it only
acts on its instinct to survive. But if it strikes another student
and kills said student, is the student who tossed the rattlesnake
into the dorm room responsible for murder? Or can he just say "I
tossed it in the room for, er...I tell you it was the snake that
did it!"

The student who tossed it into the room knew it was deadly.
He knew what could--and likely would--happen. He's guilty.

Julie (who does know rattlesnake bites don't usually kill but
let's just say this one does)