A Guide to Magical Creatures of the Wizarding World
written by Kitty Bellamore
In this book you will find a complete and informational guide to all the creatures and beasts of the Wizarding World. From Pixies to the rare Thunderbird, this guide has it all! (Credits to Harry Potter Wikia, http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_creatures)
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
38
Reads
1,917
Magical Beasts-Basalisk
Chapter 15
The Basilisk is a giant serpent, also known as the King of Serpents. It is a creature bred by Dark Wizards. Herpo the Foul was the first to breed a Basilisk; he accomplished this by hatching a chicken egg beneath a toad which resulted in the creature known as a Basilisk. Basilisk breeding was banned in Medieval times. The practise can be hidden when the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures comes to check by simply removing the egg from the toad.
Looking a Basilisk directly in the eye will immediately kill the victim, but indirect contact will merely render them Petrified. It is also the mortal enemy of spiders, who can intuitively sense them and flee whenever they do.
The Basilisk has a classification as an XXXXX creature, meaning it is a known wizard-killer that cannot be domesticated due to its immense powers. Since the Basilisk is still a serpent, a Parselmouth may place a Basilisk under his or her control. This depends on the relationship between the Basilisk and the Parselmouth. Tom Riddle was the only one who could command Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk, while Harry Potter had no control over it.
Nature:
"The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least."
—Description of the snake skin.
The Basilisk can grow up to fifty feet in length, and is a dark green colour with large yellow eyes. These eyes have the power to instantly kill anyone who looks into them. Basilisk skin is armoured like that of a dragon's, which deflects spells cast upon it. The Basilisk sheds its skin at intervals, like all other snakes, when it grows.
Ecology:
Basilisks can live a natural life of at least nine hundred years, though Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk lived for approximately a thousand years. This is accomplished by using Parseltongue to put the creature into a deep sleep that prevents it from ageing, similar to suspended animation. Their mortal weakness is the crowing of a rooster. Basilisks feed off vertebrate animals, it is unknown how much they eat at one time. The Serpent of Slytherin survived on rats. The male can be distinguished from the female by a single scarlet plume on its head.
A basilisk egg is the egg of said creature. They are chicken eggs hatched beneath a toad, thus creating the deadly King of Serpents.
Ablities:
When a victim looks indirectly at the Basilisk's eyes, such as its reflection, they will merely become petrified, similar to the Medusa stare. This was the case with Hermione Granger and Colin Creevey. Myrtle Warren (commonly known as Moaning Myrtle) was not so fortunate and looked directly into the Basilisk's eyes, which resulted in her immediate death.
A way of surviving a Basilisk's gaze is by seeing it through another object. An example mentioned above was when Colin Creevey saw it through his camera, resulting in his petrification and his camera lens becoming melted. Justin Finch-Fletchley saw the Basilisk through the translucent ghost Nearly-Headless-Nick, and was petrified. The already deceased Sir Nicholas became petrified as well, although he did look at the beast's eyes directly. Hermione Granger was petrified, while gathering information on the basilisk. She discovered it was the monster in the Chamber of Secrets and that the serpent travelled through the pipes in the school. Hermione was petrified after seeing the basilisks' eyes in her mirror.
Petrification seems quite powerful, as the Elder Wand-wielding Albus Dumbledore concluded that the only way to reverse the effect was through the use of Mandrake Restorative Draughts. Phoenixes are immune to its deadly gaze. Spiders are terrified of the Basilisk, described as their enemy and they flee before it. Spiders (such as Aragog) also refuse to even speak of it or mention its name.
Venom:
Basilisk venom is an extremely venomous substance that only has one known cure: phoenix tears. Basilisk venom is so powerful that it can kill a person within minutes, making the person drowsy and blurry-visioned before they die. It has a very long lasting effect which still remains potent even up to five years or more after the snake has died. It can also damage inanimate objects so thoroughly that they are impossible to restore, and thus it is one of the few substances powerful enough to destroy a Horcrux.
When Harry Potter slew Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk with Godric Gryffindor's Sword in 1992, the sword became imbued with the basilisk's venom, giving it the ability to destroy a Horcrux. However, the venom is not poisonous. When Ron Weasley extracted a basilisk fang with his bare hands in the Chamber, he did not die.
History:
Dark wizard Herpo the Foul, while in Ancient Greece was the first to breed a Basilisk. He accomplished this by hatching a chicken egg beneath a toad which resulted in the creature known as a Basilisk. Herpo was able to control Basilisks due to the fact that he was a Parselmouth and thereby could speak snake language.
Basilisk breeding was banned in Medieval times. The Ministry of Magic has said that all chicken coops in the Wizarding world are subject to police inspection in order to thwart Basilisk breeding. However, the ban is quite easy to evade, by simply removing the egg from underneath the toad whenever the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures comes to check. A more natural and effective limit on breeding is the simple fact that the creatures are uncontrollable except by Parselmouths, and therefore every bit as dangerous to Dark Wizards as to other wizards and Muggles. For this reason, the serpents remain mercifully rare; in fact, until the incident in 1943 described below, there had been no confirmed reports of Basilisks in Britain since the 16th century.
Salazar Slytherin was responsible for the construction of the Chamber of Secrets beneath Hogwarts dungeons. It was specifically created for the purpose of purging the school of all Muggle-born students. The Chamber contained a Basilisk, which could be controlled only by his own 'true heir', and use it to rid the school of all those he considered unworthy to study magic. In 1943, when heir Tom Marvolo Riddle opened the Chamber he used the Basilisk to attack Muggle-borns.
The Basilisk actually killed one girl by the name of Myrtle Warren. In 1993 Riddle opened the Chamber again, through the use of one of his seven Horcruxes. Using the bit of his soul encompassed by the diary he possessed Ginny Weasley and forced her to do his bidding. During this second opening of the Chamber numerous Muggle-borns were petrified, due to catching a glimpse of the Basilisk's reflection. While he still attacked Muggle-born students, his ultimate goal was to lure Harry Potter into the Chamber and kill him. Harry Potter ultimately slayed Slytherin's Basilisk by stabbing it with the Sword of Gryffindor.
The skeleton of Slytherin's Basilisk lays within the Chamber today and is over 20 feet long. During the opening stages of the Battle of Hogwarts Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley went down into the Chamber to fetch Basilisk fangs in order to be rid of Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. They had to resort to the fangs after losing their earlier means of destroying Horcruxes. The Basalisk is a class XXXXX.
Looking a Basilisk directly in the eye will immediately kill the victim, but indirect contact will merely render them Petrified. It is also the mortal enemy of spiders, who can intuitively sense them and flee whenever they do.
The Basilisk has a classification as an XXXXX creature, meaning it is a known wizard-killer that cannot be domesticated due to its immense powers. Since the Basilisk is still a serpent, a Parselmouth may place a Basilisk under his or her control. This depends on the relationship between the Basilisk and the Parselmouth. Tom Riddle was the only one who could command Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk, while Harry Potter had no control over it.
Nature:
"The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least."
—Description of the snake skin.
The Basilisk can grow up to fifty feet in length, and is a dark green colour with large yellow eyes. These eyes have the power to instantly kill anyone who looks into them. Basilisk skin is armoured like that of a dragon's, which deflects spells cast upon it. The Basilisk sheds its skin at intervals, like all other snakes, when it grows.
Ecology:
Basilisks can live a natural life of at least nine hundred years, though Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk lived for approximately a thousand years. This is accomplished by using Parseltongue to put the creature into a deep sleep that prevents it from ageing, similar to suspended animation. Their mortal weakness is the crowing of a rooster. Basilisks feed off vertebrate animals, it is unknown how much they eat at one time. The Serpent of Slytherin survived on rats. The male can be distinguished from the female by a single scarlet plume on its head.
A basilisk egg is the egg of said creature. They are chicken eggs hatched beneath a toad, thus creating the deadly King of Serpents.
Ablities:
When a victim looks indirectly at the Basilisk's eyes, such as its reflection, they will merely become petrified, similar to the Medusa stare. This was the case with Hermione Granger and Colin Creevey. Myrtle Warren (commonly known as Moaning Myrtle) was not so fortunate and looked directly into the Basilisk's eyes, which resulted in her immediate death.
A way of surviving a Basilisk's gaze is by seeing it through another object. An example mentioned above was when Colin Creevey saw it through his camera, resulting in his petrification and his camera lens becoming melted. Justin Finch-Fletchley saw the Basilisk through the translucent ghost Nearly-Headless-Nick, and was petrified. The already deceased Sir Nicholas became petrified as well, although he did look at the beast's eyes directly. Hermione Granger was petrified, while gathering information on the basilisk. She discovered it was the monster in the Chamber of Secrets and that the serpent travelled through the pipes in the school. Hermione was petrified after seeing the basilisks' eyes in her mirror.
Petrification seems quite powerful, as the Elder Wand-wielding Albus Dumbledore concluded that the only way to reverse the effect was through the use of Mandrake Restorative Draughts. Phoenixes are immune to its deadly gaze. Spiders are terrified of the Basilisk, described as their enemy and they flee before it. Spiders (such as Aragog) also refuse to even speak of it or mention its name.
Venom:
Basilisk venom is an extremely venomous substance that only has one known cure: phoenix tears. Basilisk venom is so powerful that it can kill a person within minutes, making the person drowsy and blurry-visioned before they die. It has a very long lasting effect which still remains potent even up to five years or more after the snake has died. It can also damage inanimate objects so thoroughly that they are impossible to restore, and thus it is one of the few substances powerful enough to destroy a Horcrux.
When Harry Potter slew Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk with Godric Gryffindor's Sword in 1992, the sword became imbued with the basilisk's venom, giving it the ability to destroy a Horcrux. However, the venom is not poisonous. When Ron Weasley extracted a basilisk fang with his bare hands in the Chamber, he did not die.
History:
Dark wizard Herpo the Foul, while in Ancient Greece was the first to breed a Basilisk. He accomplished this by hatching a chicken egg beneath a toad which resulted in the creature known as a Basilisk. Herpo was able to control Basilisks due to the fact that he was a Parselmouth and thereby could speak snake language.
Basilisk breeding was banned in Medieval times. The Ministry of Magic has said that all chicken coops in the Wizarding world are subject to police inspection in order to thwart Basilisk breeding. However, the ban is quite easy to evade, by simply removing the egg from underneath the toad whenever the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures comes to check. A more natural and effective limit on breeding is the simple fact that the creatures are uncontrollable except by Parselmouths, and therefore every bit as dangerous to Dark Wizards as to other wizards and Muggles. For this reason, the serpents remain mercifully rare; in fact, until the incident in 1943 described below, there had been no confirmed reports of Basilisks in Britain since the 16th century.
Salazar Slytherin was responsible for the construction of the Chamber of Secrets beneath Hogwarts dungeons. It was specifically created for the purpose of purging the school of all Muggle-born students. The Chamber contained a Basilisk, which could be controlled only by his own 'true heir', and use it to rid the school of all those he considered unworthy to study magic. In 1943, when heir Tom Marvolo Riddle opened the Chamber he used the Basilisk to attack Muggle-borns.
The Basilisk actually killed one girl by the name of Myrtle Warren. In 1993 Riddle opened the Chamber again, through the use of one of his seven Horcruxes. Using the bit of his soul encompassed by the diary he possessed Ginny Weasley and forced her to do his bidding. During this second opening of the Chamber numerous Muggle-borns were petrified, due to catching a glimpse of the Basilisk's reflection. While he still attacked Muggle-born students, his ultimate goal was to lure Harry Potter into the Chamber and kill him. Harry Potter ultimately slayed Slytherin's Basilisk by stabbing it with the Sword of Gryffindor.
The skeleton of Slytherin's Basilisk lays within the Chamber today and is over 20 feet long. During the opening stages of the Battle of Hogwarts Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley went down into the Chamber to fetch Basilisk fangs in order to be rid of Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. They had to resort to the fangs after losing their earlier means of destroying Horcruxes. The Basalisk is a class XXXXX.
