some thoughts about the Ghosts

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 26690

Maria/MaryBlue pondered:

<<does it say anywhere that Ghosts come from Muggles and 
Wizards/Witches alike? Are they only from magical people (therefore, 
any thoughts about the Fat Friar being one, and same with Bloody 
Baron and NHNick? >>

Jeremy added:

<<I remember reading an interview with JKR saying something 
like, "Only the unhappiest people become ghosts when they die," which 
would explain Moaning Myrtle.  But what about the house ghosts?  Were 
they unhappy when they were alive?>>  

Amy Z proposed:

<<Ghosts seem magical in themselves.  If a Muggle dies and becomes a 
ghost, he/she basically is becoming magical:  able to pass through 
walls, float, etc.  Maybe death is one way Muggles can enter the 
magical world.>>

I recall reading somewhere that JKR said something significant would 
be revealed in future books about the ghosts at Hogwarts.  Perhaps it 
was the point that Jeremy makes above, but there is a general view 
that ghosts are people who died with unresolved issues, in which case 
that wouldn't be anything new.  

I like the idea that the Hogwarts ghosts are not necessarily former 
witches and wizards, but Muggle spirits who can stray across the 
boundaries between the two worlds, and Maria has a point, in that the 
titles of the House ghosts do not really marry up with our knowledge 
of the Magical world.   

This question raises some interesting parallels with the skills of 
mediums in the Muggle world, who might be perceived as having some 
magical ability, but not a full set of magical `senses': in other 
words, they sense ghosts and communicate with them, but do not 
interact with them in the same way as a fully-fledged witch or wizard 
could.

A spanner in that wheel is Trelawney, who comes across like a cheap 
sideshow fortune teller, whilst being a resident teacher at the 
finest school for witchcraft and wizardry.   Her apparent ability to 
act as a medium is completely at odds with the fact that everyone 
else chews the fat with the Hogwarts ghosts as if they were flesh and 
blood.   Trelawney doesn't fit in at all
 Hmmm...I wonder why? 
[strokes imaginary beard].

On the other side of the argument is the fact that the House ghosts 
are assigned to the four Houses.  Are we to assume that the Houses 
adopted these ghosts at some point, or were they perhaps former 
students or teachers of Hogwarts who were sorted when they were 
alive?   If so, did the Fat Friar leave Hogwarts as a young wizard 
and decide to enter a Muggle friary to find his inner self or brew 
beer for tourists?  That seems a little unlikely. 

I can't recall now, without referring to the books, if any of the 
House ghosts have referred to "their time" at Hogwarts, in the sense 
of having been there in life.  I have a vague idea that Nick does 
make such a reference.  C'mon L.O.O.N.s – do your worst!

Neil/Flying Ford Anglia

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PS: Any takers for H.O.W.L.![Hands Off Werewolf Lupin!]?