Unhappy Ghosts (was; Professor Binns)

[jodel at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 60316

katien0w Points out:

>>I, for some reason, always thought that unhappy people become ghosts:<<

And goes on to say:

>>If my theory is correct, then for James and Lily to *not* have returned as 
ghost, they must have been happy.  However, I am beginning to contradict 
myself because IIRC, James and Lily knew that Voldemort was after them, so how 
could they be happy? <<

Well, you're on the right wavelength, but this needs some fine-tuning. 
Rowling has directly said that the happiest people do not become ghosts. But she 
never said that only people who *die* happy do not become ghosts. 

Happy people can be frightened or unhappy for damn good reasons, but they are 
still basically happy people. Take away those reason and they revert to their 
naturally sunny state. Moaning Myrtle would have been a miserable sad sack 
even if Olive Hornsby had left her strictly alone. From what we can see and have 
been told, Professor Binns lived out a "half life" and has gone on to 
unliving a "half death" without, apparantly, even noticing a difference. (Will 
somebody please exorcise the man and bring in a teacher who will do the subject 
justice?) Nearly Headless Nick has a fretful streak which was probably of 
longstanding and I seriously doubt that the Baron's actual manner of death had any 
effect whatsoever on his eventual fate. 

By this sort of criterion, it is unlikely that Cedric Diggory will manifest 
as a ghost.

-JOdel