Magical Creatures

Basilisk- The first recorded Basilisk was created by Herpo the Madman, a sorcerer, a native of Greece, who after many experiments discovered that a hen's egg hatched by a frog would produce a gigantic snake endowed with extraordinarily dangerous powers. Basilisk is a bright green snake that can reach up to fifteen meters in length. The male has a red plume on his head. His teeth are exceptionally poisonous and his most dangerous attack is the brightness of his huge yellow eyes. Whoever fixes them directly will die instantly. If the food is sufficient (Basilisk eats all mammals, birds and most reptiles), the snake can reach a very old age. Herpo the Madman's Basilisk is thought to have lived close to nine hundred years. The creation of Basilisk's has been illegal since the Middle Ages, although this practice is easily disguised by removing the egg from a gall under the frog when someone from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures appears. However, since Basilisk's are indomitable, except for sorcerers who speak serpentine, they are just as dangerous to most magicians as to others and there is no evidence that they have been seen in Britain for at least four hundred years.