Bloody Baron

[justcarol67]

"Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote:
>
> Hey, Carol, did I miss something in Chapter 31? Just because the
Bloody Baron has a bad temper and a sword does not explain to me why
he was the only being, alive or dead, of whom Peeves was afraid. Can a
ghost sword (or being struck or stangled by a ghost hand) hurt or harm
Peeves? If yes, is the Baron the only ghost who has a sword? I'd think
ghosts could get swords wherever new members of the Headless Horsemen
get their horses.

Carol:
First, though this has nothing to do with your question, I saw the
Baron primarily as a foil to Snape, who tried to save the woman he
loved in contrast to the Baron, who murdered his beloved (and then
killed himself)--contrasting Slytherins; contrasting reactions to
obsessive love. 

As for Peeves, I think he was afraid of the Baron for exactly that
reason; the Baron is the only ghost in the castle who had committed
murder--rather like Bill Sikes, whom Fagin calls "a violent man, a
very violent man." Even the students in the Baron's own House seem to
be afraid of him, judging from Draco's initial reaciton in SS/PS. And
evidently, he goes around groaning and clanking his chains like an
apparition out of "A Christmas Carol." Altogether, he's the closest
thing we get to a scary ghost in the HP books. 

I have no idea whether the Bloody Baron could actually hurt Peeves
(who, after all, is just a spirit of mischief), but sometimes fear
isn't related to logic, and logic isn't Peeves's strong point.

Carol, who agrees that an immortal spirit of mischief probably
wouldn't be afraid of anyone, living or dead, but thinks the Baron's
being a murderer is all the explanation we're likely to get