For some reason basilisk doesn’t seem to be very eager to eat its petrified victims.
That is a bit weird. It's like the snake's all, "Oh, I don't want to eat them, I just kill them for fun. It's just like fox-hunting." I mean, why doesn't it eat any of the petrified people? After all, it says it's hungry.
Also how did basilisk recognize him as Slytherin's heir? Talking with snakes isn't enough, since it attacks Harry, who too has this ability.
Well, Harry doesn't actually talk to the snake, so it can't know Harry's a Parselmouth. The movie did a bit of retconning here, what with Tom shouting that Parseltongue wouldn't help Harry because the basilisk only obeys Tom. IMO that wasn't necessary, because there's nothing weird about Harry not trying to talk to the snake: Harry's panicking and not thinking clearly. Moreover, he hasn't really practiced Parseltongue, so most of the time he probably doesn't even consciously remember he can talk to snakes.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-06-01 05:12 pm (UTC)That is a bit weird. It's like the snake's all, "Oh, I don't want to eat them, I just kill them for fun. It's just like fox-hunting." I mean, why doesn't it eat any of the petrified people? After all, it says it's hungry.
Also how did basilisk recognize him as Slytherin's heir? Talking with snakes isn't enough, since it attacks Harry, who too has this ability.
Well, Harry doesn't actually talk to the snake, so it can't know Harry's a Parselmouth. The movie did a bit of retconning here, what with Tom shouting that Parseltongue wouldn't help Harry because the basilisk only obeys Tom. IMO that wasn't necessary, because there's nothing weird about Harry not trying to talk to the snake: Harry's panicking and not thinking clearly. Moreover, he hasn't really practiced Parseltongue, so most of the time he probably doesn't even consciously remember he can talk to snakes.