In the Chamber of Secrets, how do the petrified Muggle-borns see the Basilisk?

The basilisk does indeed travel through the pipes of the school. However, it can certainly get out and into the hallways to attack. This theory is supported by the fact that there was water on the floor after the basilisk attacked.

The basilisk has a very keen sense of smell and can identify muggle-born students that way. The serpent obviously knows when it is safe to attack because it can smell when others are around.

The basilisk attacks people that are in a vulnerable position because there is no one around. Colin Creevey is wandering the halls alone and sees the basilisk through his camera. Justin Finch-Fletchly is with Nearly Headless Nick whom the basilisk could never have smelled and sees the animal through Nearly Headless Nick. Hermione just found out that the thing that attacked muggle borns was in fact a basilisk so when she ran into Penelope Clearwater, Hermione explained this and they used Penelope's mirror to look around the corner.

Now, Hermione and Penelope were obviously not alone but then again, the basilisk had been roaming the casle for months, looking for muggle-borns to kill... it is safe to say that at this point it wouldn't matter that Hermione and Penelope were together instead of alone in the halls.

On the subject of WHY there was no one around at the time those people got petrified;
-Colin Creevey went out late at night, after curfew, to visit Harry who was in the hospital wing because Lockheart had removed all the bones from his arm. Since everyone was in bed at that point it is obvious that no one was around to witness Colin getting petrified by the basilisk.
-The gryffindors had an unexpected free hour on the morning in December that Justin Finch-Fletchly is attacked. Everyone else in the school however, DID have classes during this hour. This means that when Justin was attacked the hallway was deserted because everyone was in class.
-When Hermione and Penelope were petrified the quidditch match between Griffyndor and Hufflepuf was about to start. It's therefore safe to say that Hermione and Penelope were two of the very very few people in the castle, which means the basilisk had free reign that morning.


I hope this helped you :)

I'm not really sure, but weren't those who were petrified alone when they met the Basilisk, for example when it happened to Hermione and Penelope C., the majority of the students were watching a quidditch game outside the castle.

Well the batlleisk travel through pipes but come out of the end only coz it has broke the pipe x that si y thee is always water on the floor x
They see it by a mirror,camera,through a ghost and the reflection of it on the water x

They see him through the reflexion of the water, to be more precise they see his eyes reflexion in the water that's of the floor. the answer could be found in the 2nd book or in the movie