Poltergeists

[Heather Moore]

No: HPFGUIDX 30714

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., lipglossusa at y... wrote:
> What exactly is the difference between a ghost and a poltergeist?  
Is 
> Peeves considered a poltergeist just because he's always wreaking 
> havoc?  Were all the ghosts at Hogwarts wizards and witches while 
> they were alive? (Or witch-in-training, in the case of Moaning 
Myrtle)
> Professor Binns is really the only one we know for sure was a 
wizard, 
> but was Peeves one as well? And why hasn't Dumbledore gotten rid of 
> him anyway-- he really is annoying for the students and teachers.  
> For awhile I thought that Peeves was a potentially important 
> character-- that JKR would reveal his character's purpose in a 
future 
> book-- but since Peeves was not at all in the movie, and JKR 
> apparently agreed with all the cuts the movie made, I'm no longer 
> sure if this is the case.  But I do think there is a reason Peeves 
is 
> still around, and it is not just due to Dumbledore's kind-
> heartedness. 
> 
> Also, if the Hogwarts ghosts were wizards while they were alive, 
JKR 
> has not yet said whether muggles can be ghosts too, though it is 
> implied that you have to "magical" in order to see the ghosts.    
> 
> Marina


 As I understand it, poltergeists are not usually assumed to be 
survivals of personalities -- they are not dead souls. I've usually 
heard poltergeists explained as psychic "entities" spawned by high 
emotions. Under that logic, it makes sense that a school full of 
magical adolescents would have a resident "naughty" entity. (Wonder 
if there are mandrake poltergeists in Sprout's greenhouse? ;>)