I've wondered for some time if Salazar's Basilisk might originally have been a rather dangerous and "slytherin-like" way to "protect" the school. I suggested as much in my essay here early last year, with some theories about Slytherin's probable motivations in one of the later chapters - although of course the whole essay needs to be revised in the light of Half-Blood Prince.
It's not just the acromantulas that would have been afraid of the Basilisk. Harry found the caverns near the chamber full of the bones of the creatures it had eaten. What sort of creatures "was" it eating? What exactly lives down there, in the subterranean caves below Hogwarts? There are hints in the books that there's a whole Underworld below Wizarding Britain, with Gringotts tucked away in its southern corner.
Actually, I suspect that (horrible as he was) Aragog was a restraining influence on all the other giant spiders. With him gone, there's every chance that they might now attack the school, and all the "fresh meat" inside - especially if the enemy is also sending giants, inhumi, Dark Wizards and Dementors - and if there are traitors within as well.
It's not just the acromantulas that would have been afraid of the Basilisk. Harry found the caverns near the chamber full of the bones of the creatures it had eaten. What sort of creatures "was" it eating? What exactly lives down there, in the subterranean caves below Hogwarts? There are hints in the books that there's a whole Underworld below Wizarding Britain, with Gringotts tucked away in its southern corner.
Actually, I suspect that (horrible as he was) Aragog was a restraining influence on all the other giant spiders. With him gone, there's every chance that they might now attack the school, and all the "fresh meat" inside - especially if the enemy is also sending giants, inhumi, Dark Wizards and Dementors - and if there are traitors within as well.
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