basilisk, n. a fabulous creature with fiery death-dealing eyes and breath, so named from its crown like crest.
Who would have thought that basilisk existed in the dictionary before the age of Harry Potter?
I grew up reading Harry Potter as the books came out. Needless to say, I was captivated by the magic of an alternate universe of witches, wizards and the possibility of doing anything with a wand. So much so that my sister and I would pick up random twigs from the street and brandish it at each other, muttering gibberish incantations hoping that magic decides to flow in our bloods one day. Til date I wish I could apparate.
We were big fans. We would discuss trivia, future endings, our favourite characters and read (and re-read) the books until the pages nearly came apart. It was painful to wait years for every book of the series. We would count down the days to the next book, pre-book our copy and line up outside our local book store on the day of the release to be one of the first ones to get our hands on the book. Some of this was before we had any internet access and before any of the movies came out so we would all have our own visions to what a Thestral or a dementor looked.
The basilisk was described vividly in the second book and for the longest time I was scared to use the bathroom at night incase a serpentine form emerged while I was peeing and my inability to speak Parseltongue would be the reason I died.
I still think that the Harry Potter books are some of the best magical fiction to exist. A large part of my childhood revolved around it. Usually, I spend ages looking over the words on a page, trying to decide which one to draw. Basilisk was a no-brainer. As soon as I spotted it, I looked no further.
Were you a Potterhead too?
