Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. Before we get started I just wanted
to say a big thank-you to everyone for helping us reach 200,000 subscribers. This is a massive
milestone, and we couldn’t have done it without you. In this video, we’re going
to be discussing Lord Voldemort, the fabled Basilisk that resides within the Chamber of
Secrets, and the effects of its menacing glare. We’re first introduced to the Basilisk - which
was the horrific creation of Hogwarts founder Salazar Slytherin, in the Chamber of Secrets.
The Basilisk was placed inside of a secret chamber in the school because Salazar disagreed
with the other founders and their philosophy that muggle-borns should be allowed to attend
the school. Salazar was a strong advocate of blood-purity, and felt that only pure-blood
witches and wizards were worthy of attending the school. Unable to influence the way that
the other founders felt, Salazar created the basilisk in a list-ditch effort to effectively
rid the school of muggle borns. Knowing that he wouldn’t live forever, Salazar put magic
in place to ensure that whoever was his rightful heir would be able to control the creature.
Any descendant of Salazars would be able to communicate with the giant creature via parseltongue
- the language of snakes. Those who are able to speak parseltongue are known as parselmouths,
and Voldemort was widely known to possess this ability. As Harry Potter had a piece
of Voldemort’s soul fragment inside of him, he also possessed this ability, which is why
he was able to understand the basilisk speaking. However, just because Harry was a parselmouth-
it did not mean that he was able to control the basilisk in any capacity- that responsibility
was left with the rightful heir of slytherin alone - Tom Riddle. When Harry enters the
chamber of secrets, he’s almost immediately faced with the mythical creature, and Harry,
who was aware of the Basilisks capabilities- knew that he had to be very careful. The Basilisk,
you see, possesses the ability to kill people with its gaze alone. If you stare directly
in to the basilisks eyes, you are sure to die, and if you look at it indirectly (i.e
through a reflection), you will be petrified- which is what happens to so many students
at Hogwarts during the 1992 school year.
Harry, who was unaware of how to engage an opponent that he can’t even look at, simply
runs away from the Basilisk- with no real plan in mind. However, fortunately for Harry,
Fawkes saves the day by clawing the Basilisks eyes out, which gives Harry a fighting chance.
Knowing that the Basilisk is blind, and can no longer use its killer gaze, gives Harry
just enough confidence to fight back.
However, one thing that I have always wondered is: would the Basilisks killing gaze have
the same effect on its master- Tom Riddle? Is Voldemort invulnerable to the effects of
the Basilisks gaze? In the chamber of secrets film adaptation - we see Tom Riddle stare
directly in to the eyes of the Basilisk when it’s summoned- so I am going to need some
kind of explanation.
My first thought is that because Tom Riddle was just a memory, the Basilisk would simply
not have the same sort of effect on him.
"I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost... but still I was alive."
Tom Riddle was not a real, corporeal being- he was something else altogether, and staring
directly in to the Basilisks eyes may not have been something that the original young
Tom Riddle would have been able to do.
However, the issue with this theory is of course the fact that there’s no way that
Tom Riddle would be able to know HOW his later form would react to the basilisks gaze- so
why would he stare at it so confidently? Why would he make a reckless mistake like that
without understanding the potential consequences? My strongest theory for WHY Tom Riddle was
able to stare at the basilisk, is that the basilisk can simply decide who it kills with
its stare.
All of the Basilisks victims were people that Tom Riddle, the Basilisks controller, would
have wanted dead, and there’s no canon evidence to support that the basilisk would independently
want these people dead. For this reason, I am of the opinion that the basilisk’s stare
is only ‘activated’ when it has intent to kill - particularly when it is ordered
to do so.
What do you guys think? Why was Tom Riddle able to stare directly in to the Basilisks
eyes in the Chamber of Secrets? Is this a book to film blunder, or did he actually possess
the ability to look it dead in the eyes. If he could stare at it- how was it po’ssible?!
Let me know in the comment section below
Until next time- remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live