[HPforGrownups] Re: Ghosts

[Lady Macbeth]

No: HPFGUIDX 71553

imamommy Said:

>>> IMHO, Nick made it sound like it was a one-time kind of choice, at
least in his case.  He almost sounded like he regretted it, but it
was to late to change his mind.  I wonder, though if this rules out
any "guardian angel-ing"  from those who have gone on.  There is one
instance of this, during the Priori Incantatum, when Harry parents et
al come out of Voldie's wand and tell him what to do.  But I wonder
about other circumstances.  Any thoughts?<<<

Lady Macbeth:
I also believe it's a one-time choice, though whether or not it is truly a
"conscious" choice as Nick seems to have suggested is debatable.  In a lot
of ways, the ideas suggested about ghosts in the Harry Potter world suggest
that they are exploring a lot of the same questions about death and life
after death that we explore in the real world.

Myrtle's testimony in Chamber of Secrets suggests that she didn't "choose"
to stay in this world as a ghost - she just suddenly found herself back
here.  Upon deciding to make the best of the situation by haunting Olive
Hornby, she also found herself ordered back to the toilet where she died by
the Ministry of Magic, thus making an unhappy situation even more miserable.

Nick was certainly afraid to "die" or to "move on", though I'm of the
opinion that there was also more going through his subconcious mind - the
fact that the executioner couldn't seem to fell a clean strike to save his
life, the blade of the axe was too dull...it's possible that he didn't even
feel his execution was justified, and that would have been weighing in his
mind.  Did he leave family, dependent children behind?  Did he leave
untended affairs of an estate?  Was someone who would commit more dangerous
crimes getting away clean to commit crimes again while he took the
punishment for one of those crimes?  There's a lot left unsaid there that
could make a person very miserable and very attached to this world.

Do all of the ghosts truly want to be confined to their designated
perimeter?  While it's suggested in Prisoner of Azkaban that some have
ventured as far away from the castle as the Shrieking Shack, possibly
further, they all seem to return to the castle.  Would all of them truly
want to spend their afterlife being walked through by careless students?
Nick's Deathday party suggests that while some of them might participate in
outside activities (ie The Headless Hunt), others do not.  Are there special
afterlife activities for other ghosts, or just the rambunctious ones who
don't mind breaking a few rules?  The Grey Lady seems to spend a great deal
of time in the classrooms - is it from preference or sheer boredom?

As far as "guardian angel-ing" and the Priori Incantatum, I think they would
have to be considered separate situations.  Dumbledore said that Cedric,
Frank Bryce, Bertha Jorkins and the Potters were NOT ghosts, but rather
"shades" or "shadows" of the people they once were, reflecting the last
spells of the wand.  The wand seemingly was echoing a "picture" of the
persons as they were just before the Avada Kedavra struck them.

In keeping with the statement JK made that "the happiest people do not
become ghosts" and the evidence put forth by the books, the only "guardian
angel-ing" that could seemingly go on would be by ghosts of people who died
tragically or miserably.  This is why I think that Nick may have been off
the mark, either intentionally or no - there's enough evidence to suggest
that both the Potters and Sirius had enough time before they died for their
minds to switch gears and potentially lock them into this world as ghosts.
Given some of the "lives" that ghosts are shown to live, one might hope it
isn't the case, but I don't think there's definitive proof that ANY of them
absolutely moved on to "the other side of the veil".  Sirius falling
directly through the veil may have had some impact - but I don't know
exactly what the Ministry was doing with that section of the veil or if
mortals have ever taken their body to the other side before either.

-Lady Macbeth


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