[HPforGrownups] Is Peeves a Ghost? was Re: Wizard to ghost?

[Troels Forchhammer]

No: HPFGUIDX 86200

At 18:22 30-11-03 +0000, dj_bagshaw wrote:


<snip>

>"He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a
>ghost"
>
>At this point, the speaker/ghost, who isn;t identified but whose
>description seems to fit that of Nearly Headless Nick, gets
>*interrupted* (and we all know what interruptions mean...)
>
>So, ny question is, why is Peeves not really even a ghost?  Is this
>important, or was the speaker merely saying that Peeves didn't *act*
>like a proper ghost?  Is the distinction between ghost and
>poltergiest (which I belive Peeves is mentioned as) so great that he
>isn't considered a ghost?

In /Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them/ we learn that all creatures
are divided into Beings, Beasts and Spirits.
Naming one of these groups /Spirits/ tells us that /Ghost/ is possibly
(I'd say probably) not a catch-all term for this kind of creatures. That
means that it is possible that ghosts and Poltergeists are indeed two
different creatures in Potterverse.

I discuss the possible differences in my Potterverse FAQ at Hogwarts
Library:
<http://www.hogwarts-library.net/reference/potterverse_faq.html#ghosts_geist>

Troels