Is Voldemort IMMUNE to the Basilisk's Gaze? - Harry Potter Theory

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.....

Watch the video for the rest!


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