Peeves (Was: HBP of What?)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 106110

Angie wrote:
Interesting.  Someone (drawing a blank on who said it, but I think 
it was in SS) said that Peeves wasn't a real ghost, anyway, or words 
to that effect.  Never understood what was meant by that remark.
 
Katie responded:
So far as I understand it, a poltergeist *isn't* really a ghost. 
They're both disembodied, cognizant spirits, but a ghost is the 
spirit of *someone who used to be alive*, while a poltergeist is a  
malevolent spirit that was *never actually alive*. So Peeves can't 
be a half-blood of that kind, anyway. He's always been a 
poltergeist, and always will be.
 
Carol adds:
I agree with Katie with one small difference. Peeves isn't
"disembodied." Unlike the silvery ghosts, who can pass through walls,
Peeves is always described as "a little man" who happens to be able to
float but is apparently tangible. He can write naughty words on the
chalkboard, dump water balloons on people, and (in PoA) suffer the
indignity of having Lupin send his chewing gum "down" his left nostril
(he's upside down at the time). Definitely a spirit of mischief and
not a "proper ghost."

Carol, who wonders just how the Bloody Baron is able to control him