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 his or her control.

Traits
The Basilisk can grow out 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 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 (and perhaps other non-human associated creatures) 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. It is also one of the few substances destuctive enough to destroy a Horcrux. 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 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, and a shape-shifting dragon. 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.

Basilisk's venom
Basilisk venom is an extremely poisonous substance that only has one known cure - phoenix tears. It can be used to destroy Horcruxes. Basilisk venom is so powerful that it can kill a person within minutes, making the person drowsy and blurry-visioned before they die.
 * Main Page: Basilisk venom

Appearances

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

Notes and references
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