Basil was a Ministry of Magic employee. In the 1990s, Basil worked for the Department of Magical Transportation, possibly in the Portkey Office. At the Quidditch World Cup final in 1994, he was one of the wizards staffing the Portkey terminus and had been there for most of the morning with a large party that was arriving from the Black Forest in Germany. He was wearing a poncho and a kilt in an attempt to look like a Muggle.