Parseltongue was the language used by snakes, including other serpentine creatures such as the Runespoor, and the ability to communicate with them.
It was an extremely rare ability, and it could be inherited.
Famous Parselmouths throughout history included Herpo the Foul, Salazar Slytherin, and Voldemort. Now Harry Potter had joined their ranks.
In fact, this was not the first time Harry had made those sounds. No one had noticed before, so he had no idea why everyone around him was staring at him in shock.
Apart from Colin Creevey, everyone present, including Snape, looked horrified.
Then Snape dragged Harry into the Headmaster's Office.
With those present fanning the flames, the news spread rapidly.
Will heard about it as he left Professor Flitwick's office.
His thoughts raced. I wasn't controlled by the Diary, but the Basilisk was still active?
Will thought back over the "plot," though it could no longer be trusted. He had left too many traces in the past, and the world's history must have changed considerably.
Basilisks had extraordinarily long lifespans—the Basilisk bred by Herpo the Foul had lived for over nine hundred years, almost ten centuries.
The Basilisk at Hogwarts had been left behind by Slytherin, roughly a thousand years ago.
Salazar Slytherin had fallen out with Hogwarts' other three Founders over questions of blood status and left the school.
Before leaving, Salazar Slytherin had built the Chamber of Secrets inside the castle, without the other Founders knowing. He had prophesied that only his heir could open it. Every fifty years, when that heir arrived at the school, he would release the vicious Basilisk living inside the chamber to purge the school of all its Muggle-born students.
As Will recalled what he knew about the Basilisk, something suddenly struck him as wrong.
The whole thing was