Basilisk

The Basilisk is a giant serpent, also known as the King of Serpents. It is a creature bred by dark wizards, specifically Herpo the Foul, the first to breed a Basilisk. This was managed by causing an egg of a chicken to hatch under a toad. Basilisk breeding was banned in Medieval times, by writ of the ban on experimental breeding.

Because the Basilisk is a serpent, a parselmouth may place a Basilisk under their control.

The Basilisk can grow out to 50 feet in length, and is a dark green color with large yellow eyes. These eyes have the power to immediately kill anything who looks into them. If the Basilisk were to gaze upon a living creature, but not in the eye, such as from behind or through a mirror, then the victim will only be petrified. Ghosts may become petrified by the Basilisk's gaze as well, as was Nearly-Headless Nick. A Phoenix is immune to this deadly gaze. Spiders are terrified of the Basilisk.

The Basilisk's sharp fangs are full of venom powerful enough to kill a human in a matter of minutes. The venom is potent even after death. Basilisk skin is armored like that of a dragons, 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 up to 900 years. Their mortal weaknesses include the crowing of a rooster and the smell of a weasel. Basilisks feed off vertebrate animals. The male can be distinguished from the female by a single scarlet plume on its head.

Slytherin's Basilisk
Salazar Slytherin created the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts, and inside this Chamber was placed a Basilisk that could only be controlled by his true heir (a Parselmouth). In the early 1940's, the Chamber of Secrets was opened by a Slytherin fifth-year, Tom Riddle, who was able to control the creature through this method. Riddle unleashed the Basilisk on the school, his goal to kill the muggleborn students. All of the victims were merely petrified, except for a student named Myrtle who was killed in the girls bathroom. This bathroom was also the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. These events were nearly the cause for permanent closing of Hogwarts. To avoid this fate for Hogwarts, Riddle blamed Gryffindor third-year Rubeus Hagrid for all the events, claiming the monster at fault was his pet Acromantula. Hagrid was expelled, and the attacks stopped. However, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore became suspicious of Riddle and thus prevented him from further terrorizing the school from fear of discovery.

During the battle between Harry Potter and the Basilisk, Fawkes was able to blind the Basilisk and buy Harry some time. During that period of hiding, Harry obtained the Sword of Gryffindor and stabbed the Basilisk through the roof of its mouth. Harry subsequently used one of the creature's fangs to destroy the diary of Tom Riddle, which was being used to connect Voldemort's fragile soul to the material world.

Another one of the basilisk's fangs was used again at a later time to destroy a similar object, Helga Hufflepuff's Cup.

Victims
The following list shows all known Basilisk victims both killed and petrified.

Killed Petrified
 * Moaning Myrtle
 * Mrs. Norris
 * Justin Finch-Fletchley
 * Nearly-Headless Nick
 * Colin Creevey
 * Hermione Granger
 * Penelope Clearwater

Muggle Myth
In Greek mythology, a Basilisk is depicted three ways: A huge lizard, a giant snake, and a three-foot high rooster with a snake's tail and teeth. Every new version of the Basilisk in a story added to its deadly array or weapons, such as accounts firebreathing 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.