10 Oldest Characters In The Harry Potter Universe
1. The Basilisk
Age: 1000+ (now deceased)
Salazar Slytherin’s Basilisk - first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets - has been around as long as Hogwarts castle itself.
Slytherin left the Basilisk in the Chamber around the same time that Hogwarts was built, in the hope that one day, the Heir Of Slytherin would control it and purge the school of those he deemed unworthy to study magic (read: Muggle-borns).
Hogwarts is said to have been founded roughly 1000 years ago (as mentioned by Professor Binns in the Chamber Of Secrets novel), placing the Basilisk's age around that same mark - possibly even higher. The creature was able to reach such a massive number by entering a deep sleep that prevented it from aging, which meant that it could have lived for many more years had it not been killed by Harry in 1993.
That's a hell of a lot of birthday candles to fit on a single cake...