[HPforGrownups] Re: Chap. 9 Summary: The Writing on the Wall

[Ali Wildgoose]

No: HPFGUIDX 24589

<snip>

>4. Why does the incorporeal Myrtle cause the water in the toilet to
>splash when she dives in?
>
>Is it possible that ghosts can become a little more corporeal at
>will? In one of the other books (I think it's GoF) Myrtle talks
>about not having much choice about ending up in the lake when
>someone flushes the toilet while she's sitting in the u-bend.
>Again, if she's completely incorporeal, you'd think any solid
>material would just pass through her (eeeyuck). So I'm
>wondering if strong emotion (and Myrtle's usually fairly
>agitated) or even willpower could allow them to become a little
>less non-corporeal.

</snip>

Remember, also, that when Nearly Headless Nick was petrified they used a fan 
to move him down the hallway.  This, along with the Myrtle details before, 
suggests that Ghosts are definately corporeal to some extent.

Also, it'd be very difficult for Professor Binns to teach if he was 
completely without substance.  How could he pass out an exam, for example, 
if he was unable to pick up the papers?  How could he grade them, without 
the use of a quill?

Ali

http://home.nyu.edu/~amw243 :: Diagon Alley
Harry Potter for Slightly Older Folk

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