I know that Potter fans are thinking of the basilisk from book 2, but that’s not quite the original…

Basilisks date back way befor, back to the Roman Empire. They call him the king of snakes because of the crown on his head his looks were said to kill. Unlike the giant basilisk from Harry Potter, he was at biggest, 12 inches long. It was said that it had a mucus or gel like secretion from its lower body that would kill plants and things as it slithered.

The only thing that was able to kill it was a bite from a weasel, or a crow from a rooster.

The legend says that it was so vicious that it would scorch rocks, burn plants, and kill animals just by looking at them. And that it would seek things out just to be cruel.