Ghosts and Their Powers

[LWalshETAL at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 87043

I have thinking a bit more about Nearly Headless Nick and ghosts in general.  
 
As he said himself, he was in Gryffindor, but he also said that he was afraid 
of death.   Since courage is supposedly the greatest strength of students in 
Gryffindor, what if Nick, like Percy, has yet to show why he was put in 
Gryffindor.   What if his most courageous act is yet to come?   How can 
ghosts show courage?   What is it that he has to fear remaining a ghost for another 500 years?   

And, if he is to show courage in any way, what is it that he can actually DO? 
What powers do ghosts have?   They can float through the air and through 
other objects, such as walls.   Peeves, at least, believes that they can become invisible.  They can talk and remember, so they could be used to deliver messages to locked places.   

Since ghosts wear clothes and still manage to go through walls, does anything 
they are holding become able to go through walls as well?   Could they carry 
something with them through the wall?   Can ghosts use wands?   Can they do
 magic?   What power does the Bloody Baron have that frightens Peeves?   

Another speculation: we were not told about was how Madame Pomfrey managed to revive NHN after he was attacked by the basilisk.   We see neither how she did it, nor his reaction to it.   Would NHN have been upset to have been revived?   Would he have thought that he had finally reached the end of 
his 500 years of being a ghost?   

LV also fears death.   If he died right now, would he become a ghost?   Would 
that be worse than death for him? 

LauraW    LWalshETAL at aol.com


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