What happens if you look at a Basilisk?
Samuel Coleman
Updated on May 22, 2026
Looking a Basilisk directly in the eye caused instant death, but an indirect look would merely render the victim Petrified. It was also the mortal enemy of spiders. Spiders refused to speak of the Basilisk, could intuitively sense their presence, and would flee whenever they sensed them.
What happens if a Basilisk looks in a mirror?
We know form canon that an indirect look into the basilisk eyes (through camera lens, Nick, mirror reflection, etc) only reduces the potency of the basilisk stare, but still causes some damage (that is, petrification).Can Voldemort look at the basilisk?
Conclusion; neither Tom Riddle, Harry Potter, or any other person who can talk Parseltongue is immune to the stare of a Basilisk.Is a Basilisk poisonous?
According to the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyrene is a small snake, "being not more than twelve fingers in length", that is so venomous, it leaves a wide trail of deadly venom in its wake, and its gaze is likewise lethal.Can a Basilisk petrify itself?
In D&D 3.5, NoThe basilisk (Monster Manual 23-4) is not otherwise noted as not being immune to the petrifying gaze attacks of others of its kind, so a basilisk is immune to the petrifying gaze attacks of others of its kind as well as its own petrifying gaze.