Basilisk

Basilisk
Species information
Eye colour	Yellow
Skin colour	Green
Hair colour	Scarlet plume on the head (if male)
Length of average adult	50 ft.
Ministry of Magic Classification	XXXXX

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. Basilisk breeding was banned in Medieval times.

Because the Basilisk is a serpent, a Parselmouth may place a Basilisk under his or her control.

Traits

Slytherin's Basilisk, blinded by Fawkes the Phoenix.

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 immediately kill anything who looks into them. If the victim looks indirectly at the Basilisk's eyes, i.e. as a reflection or through an object, they will only be petrified. Ghosts may become petrified by the Basilisk's gaze as well, if they stare directly at it as was Nearly-Headless Nick. This is because ghosts are already dead, so they cannot die again. But Phoenixes (and possibly other non-human associated creatures) are immune to this deadly gaze. Spiders are terrified of the Basilisk, as they describe it as their enemies, and would not even speak of it.

The Basilisk's sharp fangs are full of deadly venom, powerful enough to kill a human in a matter of minutes. The venom is potent even long after death. It is also one of the few substances destructive enough to destroy a Horcrux. 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.

Basilisks can live a natural life of at least nine hundred years. Their mortal weakness is the crowing of a rooster. Basilisks feed off vertebrate animals. The male can be distinguished from the female by a single scarlet plume on its head.

Muggle Myth

In mythology, a Basilisk is depicted four ways: a huge lizard, a giant snake, a three-foot high rooster with a snake's tail and teeth (also known as a cockatrice), and a shape-shifting dragon. Every new version of the Basilisk in a story added to its deadly array of weapons, such as accounts of fire-breathing and the instantaneous killing power of its call.

Muggles of course do not believe the Basilisk to be real. Another creature named the Common basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus) is a small lizard that has no magical powers or properties, although it can run on water for short distances.

Basilisk's venom

Hermione: "It doesn’t have to be a basilisk fang. It has to be something so destructive that the Horcrux can’t repair itself. Basilisk venom only has one antidote, and it’s incredibly rare—"

Harry: "—phoenix tears."

— Harry Potter and Hermione Granger on how to destroy Horcruxes using Basilisk venom.

Basilisk venom is an extremely poisonous 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 fang was removed from the snake's body. The venom is one of the few known substances that can destroy Horcruxes.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

See also

• Slytherin's Basilisk
• Chamber of Secrets
• Herpo the Foul's Basilisk