Until we hear otherwise, he has access to all the knowledge of Salazar, who knew enough to build Hogwarts.
This may be an exaggeration. First, it seems improbable that Salazar entrusted all his magical knowledge to the basilisk, if only because that would have been a ridiculous amount of magical knowledge. Salazar wouldn’t have known which pieces of knowledge from his time were going to become lost, only that some would based on existing trends, so if he was going to tell the basilisk everything he thought valuable, it would have taken forever. Also, there’s no reason to believe that basilisks have perfect memories—unless I’m misremembering, the basilisk as a species was chosen for its snakeness, deadliness and longevity rather than its intellect.
Which also means the source code to the wards and the means to change them.
Salazar was only responsible for part of Hogwarts. We don’t know that he was at all responsible for the wards, only that he had admin access to them (in order to make them ignore the basilisk), which is no surprise since he was one of the four founders. We also don’t know that Godric didn’t revoke said admin access after Salazar betrayed him and left, in which case that portion of Salazar’s knowledge would be useless. In fact, it would be downright weird if Godric hadn’t done so.
Can you even transfigure something that transfigures itself back? Of course Quirrell can do it if it’s possible, but is it possible?
Since I feel the wrathful shade of Professor McGonagall watching over my shoulder, I’m going to say “I don’t know”. But if I had to guess, a transfigured object takes on all the properties of its new form, including the property of “not having troll regenerative powers”. So if you could initially transfigure the troll faster than its regeneration kicked in, you’d have no trouble maintaining it thereafter.
First, it seems improbable that Salazar entrusted all his magical
knowledge to the basilisk, if only because that would have been a
ridiculous amount of magical knowledge.
Well, it’s not like he had to teach the Basilisk a full Hogwarts curriculum; he only had to teach it what he knew that triggered the Interdict of Merlin, which is only the top whateverth percentile of his repertoire.
Salazar wouldn’t have known which pieces of knowledge from his time
were going to become lost,
Sure he could have. All he had to do was write down the most powerful stuff he knew in descending order until he got to the point where someone else started understanding what they were reading.
Also, there’s no reason to believe that basilisks have perfect
memories
The Basilisk may not have a perfect memory as an animal, but it “would be huge flaw in sscheme” if Salazar’s magical Parseltongue knowledge was corruptible by the limitations of any old snake’s brain.
Salazar was only responsible for part of Hogwarts. We don’t know
that he was at all responsible for the wards, only that he had admin
access to them…. We also don’t know that Godric didn’t revoke said
admin access after Salazar betrayed him and left
I think you’re extending your computer analogy too far. Salazar didn’t have a revocable password to the wards, he knew the magic that created them, and the rest of the Founders certainly did not have the power to revoke spells from the Source of Magic.
Don’t get me wrong, I think we’re meant to understand that Quirrell did smuggle in the troll as a small transfigured object that Dumbledore drew his circle around. But nevertheless, I think we should also assume until further notice that he knowswhoever got the basilisk’s knowledge got the most powerful magic that Slytherin knew.
EDIT: Hedged my last sentence, since Chapter 102′s horcrux information introduces potential ambiguity as to how Tom Riddle’s knowledge has been propagated amongst his alter egos’ bodies.
Well, it’s not like he had to teach the Basilisk a full Hogwarts curriculum; he only had to teach it what he knew that triggered the Interdict of Merlin, which is only the top whateverth percentile of his repertoire.
Fair point. I’d forgotten about the Interdict. With that said (and this applies to your second point as well), it seems unlikely that the Interdict of Merlin is the only reason for knowledge to be lost over time. For example, Riddle apparently found the horcrux ritual in a book, and that seems like powerful mostly-lost knowledge. Also, wizard society generally seems much worse at knowledge maximisation than muggle society. (side thought: is there even a single mention in either canon of wizard universities?)
The Basilisk may not have a perfect memory as an animal, but it “would be huge flaw in sscheme” if Salazar’s magical Parseltongue knowledge was corruptible by the limitations of any old snake’s brain.
True. One has to wonder, generally speaking, just how the whole thing worked, given that Parseltongue seems to blur terms for which it does not have an exact parallel (“schoolmaster”, “hourglass to move through time”), and that seems like it would be a problem for advanced spell instructions.
I think you’re extending your computer analogy too far. Salazar didn’t have a revocable password to the wards, he knew the magic that created them, and the rest of the Founders certainly did not have the power to revoke spells from the Source of Magic.
We don’t know that. The four founders came together to raise Hogwarts in the first place, suggesting that each of them knew only some of the magic necessary. There is no reason to believe that Salazar was the one who knew the magic for the Hogwarts wards, rather than, say, Rowena.
Additionally, you don’t need to revoke a spell from the Source of Magic to prevent someone else making use of it. Going back to the computer analogy, being a system’s original programmer doesn’t mean you can automatically hack into any instance of that system. It is worth remembering that once Salazar left, it would have been three magical prodigies against one in the matter of establishing Hogwarts security.
Likewise don’t get me wrong, I think it’s reasonable to assume that whoever got the basilisk’s knowledge got at least some very powerful magic from Slytherin; I just don’t think we should overestimate how much that was.
“Yes, nuclear weapons!” Professor Quirrell was almost shouting now. “Even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named never used those, perhaps because he didn’t want to rule over a heap of ash! They never should have been made! And it will only get worse with time!” Professor Quirrell was standing up straight instead of leaning on his desk. “There are gates you do not open, there are seals you do not breach! The fools who can’t resist meddling are killed by the lesser perils early on, and the survivors all know that there are secrets you do not share with anyone who lacks the intelligence and the discipline to discover them for themselves! Every powerful wizard knows that! Even the most terrible Dark Wizards know that! And those idiot Muggles can’t seem to figure it out! The eager little fools who discovered the secret of nuclear weapons didn’t keep it to themselves, they told their fool politicians and now we must live under the constant threat of annihilation!”
This may be an exaggeration. First, it seems improbable that Salazar entrusted all his magical knowledge to the basilisk, if only because that would have been a ridiculous amount of magical knowledge. Salazar wouldn’t have known which pieces of knowledge from his time were going to become lost, only that some would based on existing trends, so if he was going to tell the basilisk everything he thought valuable, it would have taken forever. Also, there’s no reason to believe that basilisks have perfect memories—unless I’m misremembering, the basilisk as a species was chosen for its snakeness, deadliness and longevity rather than its intellect.
Salazar was only responsible for part of Hogwarts. We don’t know that he was at all responsible for the wards, only that he had admin access to them (in order to make them ignore the basilisk), which is no surprise since he was one of the four founders. We also don’t know that Godric didn’t revoke said admin access after Salazar betrayed him and left, in which case that portion of Salazar’s knowledge would be useless. In fact, it would be downright weird if Godric hadn’t done so.
Since I feel the wrathful shade of Professor McGonagall watching over my shoulder, I’m going to say “I don’t know”. But if I had to guess, a transfigured object takes on all the properties of its new form, including the property of “not having troll regenerative powers”. So if you could initially transfigure the troll faster than its regeneration kicked in, you’d have no trouble maintaining it thereafter.
Well, it’s not like he had to teach the Basilisk a full Hogwarts curriculum; he only had to teach it what he knew that triggered the Interdict of Merlin, which is only the top whateverth percentile of his repertoire.
Sure he could have. All he had to do was write down the most powerful stuff he knew in descending order until he got to the point where someone else started understanding what they were reading.
The Basilisk may not have a perfect memory as an animal, but it “would be huge flaw in sscheme” if Salazar’s magical Parseltongue knowledge was corruptible by the limitations of any old snake’s brain.
I think you’re extending your computer analogy too far. Salazar didn’t have a revocable password to the wards, he knew the magic that created them, and the rest of the Founders certainly did not have the power to revoke spells from the Source of Magic.
Don’t get me wrong, I think we’re meant to understand that Quirrell did smuggle in the troll as a small transfigured object that Dumbledore drew his circle around. But nevertheless, I think we should also assume until further notice that
he knowswhoever got the basilisk’s knowledge got the most powerful magic that Slytherin knew.EDIT: Hedged my last sentence, since Chapter 102′s horcrux information introduces potential ambiguity as to how Tom Riddle’s knowledge has been propagated amongst his alter egos’ bodies.
Fair point. I’d forgotten about the Interdict. With that said (and this applies to your second point as well), it seems unlikely that the Interdict of Merlin is the only reason for knowledge to be lost over time. For example, Riddle apparently found the horcrux ritual in a book, and that seems like powerful mostly-lost knowledge. Also, wizard society generally seems much worse at knowledge maximisation than muggle society. (side thought: is there even a single mention in either canon of wizard universities?)
True. One has to wonder, generally speaking, just how the whole thing worked, given that Parseltongue seems to blur terms for which it does not have an exact parallel (“schoolmaster”, “hourglass to move through time”), and that seems like it would be a problem for advanced spell instructions.
We don’t know that. The four founders came together to raise Hogwarts in the first place, suggesting that each of them knew only some of the magic necessary. There is no reason to believe that Salazar was the one who knew the magic for the Hogwarts wards, rather than, say, Rowena.
Additionally, you don’t need to revoke a spell from the Source of Magic to prevent someone else making use of it. Going back to the computer analogy, being a system’s original programmer doesn’t mean you can automatically hack into any instance of that system. It is worth remembering that once Salazar left, it would have been three magical prodigies against one in the matter of establishing Hogwarts security.
Likewise don’t get me wrong, I think it’s reasonable to assume that whoever got the basilisk’s knowledge got at least some very powerful magic from Slytherin; I just don’t think we should overestimate how much that was.
Chapter 20:
A wizard university seems out of the question.