Who are they really? And what makes Peeves a Poltergist? What bugs me is how a Baron and a Friar (and even sir Nick who got beheaded) ended up in the school. Was there something on the site before the school was made? I always thought the building was created by the founders.



We also never really hear about the Grey Lady (I tend to forget who the ravenclaw ghost is) so here's a bizzare theory (with not evidence what so ever I might add). Could this elusive ghost be Rowena herself? More of a hunch than a theory, but oh well.

<span style="color:red;font-family:harrington;font-size:medium;]Scarlet Phoenix[/color]

The only one we really know anything about is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, the Gryffindor Ghost, who died in a botched execution on October 31, 1492. This obviously means that he was killed after the founding of Hogwarts, as it has been said that although a fixed date is unknown, the school itself has been up for over a thousand years. Beyond the fact that he was struck forty-five times in the neck with a blunt axe, we don't know much about him at all.



And personally? I don't consider Peeves a ghost in the slightest, and although the other ghosts don't either, the rest of the school sure does. From what I know of poltergeists, they never were human, and thus there's no knowing where they came from. The fact that he can turn from invisible to solid sets him apart from all the others quite nicely, not to mention his love for trouble and chaos.



As for your theory about the Grey Lady, who knows. However, there may be the slight chance that J.K. might have gotten this character from the "Grey Lady" that haunts Brodick Castle, on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Mm, the castle itself was originally built and owned by the Stewarts, but was then captured by the English during the War of Independence. In 1406, a fleet of English sailed into the Clyde and destroyed most of the original castle. Supposedly, the older part of the building is said to be haunted by the Grey Lady, who starved to death in the dungeons because she had the plague. Whether or not this has anything to do with the Ravenclaw Ghost, I really haven't the faintest idea.



One more thing to add. We all assume that the blood stains on the Bloody Baron's robes are silvery simply because of his being a ghost, but there is the possibility that it might not be human blood, but Unicorn instead. It would make sense of his ill-temper, and give reason to the fact that even Peeves is afraid of a man who killed the purest of things on Earth. Perhaps he's lead a cursed life, in the fact that he's damned to live forever, without the blessing of actually living anymore.



-shrugs- I certainly hope we find out more about these people later in the books, as it would be interesting to know why they are the things they are.

I remember the last points from the Lexicon (wonderfull site!).



I got the giggle pretty bad when you said Sir Nick's full name-- by dog had a stuffed bunny that he mostly decapitated, so we started calling &quot;bunny&quot; &quot;Sir Nick&quot;, &quot;Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington&quot; etc, and the funny thing was my puppy responsed more to the book name that just calling it bunny. Wow, that was horribly random!



Anyway, I find it curious that we don't hear more of the Grey lady. Ravenclaw has a very elusive ghost...



Bouncing around like heck-- Why would Sir Nick have gotten beheaded at the school (or based on something he did at the school). What decides the place a ghost haunts?

<span style="color:red;font-family:harrington;font-size:medium;]Scarlet Phoenix[/color]

Well, just about anything really. As we all know, beheading someone was common consequence for a variety of things, and of course, being a witch was one of them. If he was beheaded by a Muggle, one could ask what the Hell he's doing at Hogwarts in the first place. Which is why, I suppose, witch persecution isn't on my high-list of possibilities.



It might've been punishment in part of the Ministry, if such existed back then, for something rather frivolous that has nothing to do with his character. Perhaps he went against certain orders, was accused wrongfully for a rather serious sin, or was simply murdered cold blood. Either way, it all could've happened at Hogwarts, for who knows what it was like at the time? For all we know, it might have been a time of war, and poor Nick was very much the loser.



As an ending note, I'm glad to see you around again, Scarlet. It's been a while since I last saw you post ;].



(And yes. The Harry Potter Lexicon does rock)

MWA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!! Watch me as I slay the "Bloody-Baron-is-stained-with-unicorn-blood" theories!! I rest my case.







~Sothis~



** "For lack of a better closing quote." **

What other color would you have her blush then, Sothis? Pink? The Hogwarts Ghosts, and I quote, "shone misty silver", their skin between silver and pearly white. When one blushes, it looks like a darker shade of flesh, and therefore in a ghost's event, it would be natural for them to blush silver as their skin is white in the first place.



Now that we've got that clear...



I would think, logically, that anything on a ghost would be silver-oriented. The idea that it might be Unicorn blood is not only possible because it is silver in its original form, but because the moment two things are allowed the same color, it is very well possible that it might be either one of the two. Especially is we're talking about stains. The only "Hogwarts Ghost" that is allowed a solid form and actual color is Peeves himself, meaning the other's are all of the same tone, your statement therefore proving nothing.

I think that the ghosts, since Hogwarts has been around so long, are those who were students and/or Professors and Head Masters/Head Mistresses, at one point while they were living, and liked it so much that they came back. Or, in Myrtle and Professor Binn's case, they died here and just haven't left. Even Nick could very well have been a student at one point in his life. He was a wizard, after all...



If they were around before Hogwarts was built, maybe the spot Hogwarts now stands was once something else that a particular Hogwarts ghost was attached to? Perhaps a faveorite place to take a stroll, faveorite hunting grounds, etc. They could have been haunting that spot long before, or maybe came back to it after they died because they loved it so much there.



Peeves, since he's a poltergeist, probably just manifested there because a school is a prime place for mischief-making, as Fred and George, as well as the Marauders, have proven time and time again.



These are just my opinions of course, though. I'm most certainly not going to claim them to be fact. ^_~ This is just what I've always thought of about the ghosts...

I never heard the theory of the Bloody Baron being bloody because of unicorns, and it's very intriguing. I had always thought, of course, that the blood wasn't his own, but that of a victim. Although the unicorn blood theory is interesting, I think he might just be an evil person who lived so long ago only the ghosts remember.

As for the color issue, you could compare ghostly color to the color of a black and white movie- it would be almost impossible to say if Mae West's dress is green or blue! So, there's really no way to tell what color the blood originally was.

~Kazul

AAAACHOOOO! Sorry, all the dust from this very old post...still, nothing like resurrecting the dead, eh?

I have a question about the Grey Lady. I know she's the Ravenclaw ghost, but only because I've read it on sites like this. Where did we originally learn that little tidbit of info, because I don't ever remember seeing it in any of the books?

Bloody Baron: I always thought the blood was his own. Afterall, if it were a victim's, wouldn't he have washed it off before he died - unless, of course it's his blood mixed with a victim's blood? I suppose it could be a Dickens thing where you have to carry your sins around with you after death. However, the other ghosts seem to be how they were upon their death, so I don't think this is likely. I'm also not convinced that's its unicorn blood either. All of the ghosts are silver or pearly white, as said above and I think that's all it is. (I have been known to be wrong, though. Not often, but it has happened! ).

The Fat Frair cracks me up. As Nick tells us in OotP, people decide to stick around and so they don't know what's out there. Now, you'd think a man of the cloth would have more faith about the great beyond and wouldn't stick around! Our friendly Huffelpuff ghost does click with my image of medieval friars, though; not really the God-fearing men they pretended to be. Ooo. I'd best tread lightly here - don't mean to step on toes! Sorry if I did. One other note, though. The friar was obviously a wizard, we know because Nick tells Harry that only a witch or wizard can become a ghost. So, maybe he started out with strong faith, but because of witch hunting he started questioning his chosen path. Or maybe I'm taking this all a little too seriously?

What decides where a ghost stays? I think it's mainly up to the ghost. In GoF, Myrtle tells Harry that she used to haunt Olive Hornby, "...oooh, she didn't forget it until her dying day, I made sure of that...followed her around and reminded her, I did." So, obviously they can get around wherever they like. However, they are still under Ministry control which we know because Myrtle was sent back to Hogwarts by them.

So, how do you control a ghost? They must have some physical property or the Basilisk wouldn't have been able to affect Nick (and Mdm. Pomfrey wouldn't have been able to restore him).

And...how dead is dead if you just fall through the curtain? Sirius wasn't dead when he fell, but DD tells Phineas that he's dead and Nick tells Harry that "He won't come back." "He will have...gone on." So, is he going to be reincarnated or come back as an image (in the mirror for instance - OH, maybe the mirror of Erised. Sorry for being stupid, I'm sure 99% of you already came to that conclusion)? I hope I;m not just deluding myself into believing that he will be back.

Well, I'd better go...kids and all.

Good night.

Oh, I just found a thread with about 130 responses to the last of my questions (about the veil). Should've known!

How do you become a ghost anyway? Is it by choice, by having certain circumstances surrounding your death, or?

glitterKat, JK was asked this in an interview:

Quote::

What makes some witches/wizards become ghosts after they die and some not? You don't really find that out until Book VII, but I can say that the happiest people do not become ghosts. As you might guess, Moaning Myrtle!

I know many people are wondering about this, because JK mentions that you find out the reasons in Book 7, yet the question is answered in a short version in book 5:

When Harry asks Nearly Headless Nick whether Sirius will come back as a ghost:

Quote::

"Wizards can leave an imprint of themselves upon the earth, to walk palely where their living selves once trod,' said Nick miserably. "But very few wizards choose that path." [...] "Why isn't this place full of ghosts?" [Harry] "I cannot answer," said Nick. [...] 'I was afraid of death,' said Nick softly. "I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughn't to have...well, that is niether here nor there...[...] I know nothing of the secrets of death, Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead.' (pg 759 Ootp Bloomsbury)

So we will find out the full answer to your question in the next books, hopefully, but there is an idea. Wizards who are afraid to go on seem to become ghosts, but more than that we do not know.

Hummmm....i want to be a ghost....

but about the Gray Lady...shes Ravenclaws ghost but i seem to have noticed you dont hear all that much about Raveclaw untill recently.
Just a thought.

Cheers

Here's a thought on the Fat Friar...in theory, men of the cloth are faithful and devout, but then again, there was a time when becoming a member of the clergy was forced onto someone by family or other circumstances. Perhaps he never wanted to be a Friar in the first place.

As for the Grey Lady...our information comes solely from JKR herself and the ghost is only seen in SS/PS 12...

Quote::

According to a letter written by JKR to Nina Young, the Grey Lady is "a highly intellectual young lady" and a woman with strong scholarly or literary interests. "She never found true love as she never found a man up to her standards." So how do we know that the Grey Lady is the Ravenclaw ghost? JKR showed a page from her notebook in a televised interview. Clearly visible on that page was the list of house ghosts which indicated that the Ravenclaw ghost was the Grey Lady.

From our friends at the Lexicon.

If you are at a loss for where to find something, the Lexicon is very useful. I would bookmark it if you can. But do remember that the Lexicon is no substitute for actual canon...

howarts was founded nearly 1000 years ago though the date is not presist, the gosts are simply spirits that have chosen to remain behind and in doing so, are refined to 'walk' in araes where their former selves once walked, i think this might mean that all of the gosts are former students who have simply never left school. On the matter of Peves, he is not a gost, remeber when lockhart blew bubblegum up peves's nose, this could not happen to a regular gost, i believe that he is some kind of different spiritual figure.