Hey everyone! Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’ll
be taking a look at some of the characters in the series that are no longer with us..Except
of course, they are with us..because they’re ghosts. Throughout the Harry Potter books
and films, ghosts are quite prevalent, particularly at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.
The school seems to be home to quite a few of them and I’ve always wondered- how many
are there? Are there any that we don’t know about? In this video, we’ll be taking a
closer look.
Before we start, let’s be totally clear on what characterizes a ‘ghost’: A ghost,
as defined in the world of harry potter, is a ’transparent, three-dimensional imprint
of a deceased witch or wizard’ that ‘continues to exist in the mortal world’. Returning
to the world as a ghost is not something that muggles have the option of doing, and it is
limited to witches and wizards. Those who decide to return to the mortal world as a
ghost, do so because they have ‘unfinished business’- this prevents them from moving
on to the next dimension. Though they remain in the land of the living, their existence
is quite different from the time that they had during their mortality. A ghosts existence
is very limited in that they no longer have any sort of physical pleasure, they aren’t
capable of learning new things, and they harbour any sort of resentments that they had from
their mortality for the remainder of their existence-rendering them entirely incapable
of moving past things.
While they exist and have a semblance of a phyiscal form in the land of the living, ghosts
are mostly incapable of effecting objects beyond water,fire, and air, in which they
can create disturbances. Ghosts pass through solid objects seamlessly, and the immediate
vicinity around them will feel very cold. Additionally, Witches and wizards are much
more likely to pick up on the presence of a ghost than a muggle. With all of the above
out of the way, let’s dive in to all of the ghosts that are present at Hogwarts.
#1: Nearly Headless Nick – Nearly-headless-nick was a fifteenth-century
nobleman who actually attended the school. His full name is Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington.
Nick is notably the Gryffindor house ghost, and is ‘nearly’ headless, because he technically
still has it. Nick was a wizard at the court of Henry VII and fell in love with ‘Lady
Grieve’ who was a lady-in-waiting. When Nick attempted to fix her crooked teeth the
spell backfired and Grieve grew tusks instead. Nick was sentenced to death. Nick is very
dramatic, and after he died he even wrote a ballad about his own demise entitled: ‘The
ballad of nearly headless nick’.
Here’s the first verse:
It was a mistake any wizard could make, Who was tired and caught on the hop,
One piffling error, and then, to my terror, I found myself facing the chop.
Alas for the eve when I met Lady Grieve, A-strolling the park in the dusk!
She was of the belief I could straighten her teeth,
Next moment she'd sprouted a tusk.
#2: The Bloody Baron The bloody baron was was the slytherin house
ghost, and a hot tempered man who would eventually who go on to kill Helena Ravenclaw, the daughter
of Rowena Ravenclaw. Helena is later known as the ‘grey lady’, another ghost of Hogwarts
that we’ll get in to next. The Bloody Baron’s death is quite morbid, as he murdered Helena
after she refused his advances. After killing her, he took his own life. The chains that
the bloody baron has on him, were an ‘act of penitence’ for the actions that he took
with helena. An act of penitence is an expression of sorrow or remorse for sins.
#3:The Grey Lady
The grey lady is also known as Helena ravenclaw. She was the daughter of hogwarts founder Rowena
Ravenclaw. She is the house ghost for Ravenclaw, and was eventually killed by the bloody baron
as I mentioned earlier. Helena stole her mother’s diadem and went in to hiding in the forests
of albania. Interestingly enough, these were the same forests that voldemort would later
frequent. Voldemort found the diadem that Helena had hidden in a hallowed out tree.
After finding it, Voldemort turned it in to a horcrux. Helena would later help Harry locate
the diadem.
#4:The Fat Friar
The fat friar was a jolly man who looked like a monk, he was the hufflepuff house ghost
and was a hufflepuff himself back in the day. He has a reputation for being helpful and
kind towards all hogwarts students. He was executed by his fellow churchmen after they
grew suspicious of his magical abilities- particularly his ability to cure pox, and
pull rabbits out of their communion cup.
#5:Professor Binns Professor binns, aka Cuthbert binns, is the
current history of magic professor at Hogwarts. He taught in clasroom 4f on the first floor-
and he continued to teach there post-mortem. Binns’ lessons were considered to be some
of the most boring at hogwarts, and he made no effort to learn his students names. Calling
Hermione ‘miss grant’ and harry potter ‘perkins’. Binns slept in front of the
fire in the hogwarts staff room one night, and died in his sleep.The next morning, he
left his body behind and got up to teach as if NOTHING had happened. It’s stated that
the most exciting thing to ever happen in his class, was when he entered the room through
the blackboard.
#6:Moaning Myrtle I’m sure you know Moaning Myrtle. She was
a student at hogwarts around the same time as Tom Riddle, and died to the basilisk that
lived inside of the chamber of secrets. While she was still alive, Myrtle was in ravenclaw
house, and was constantly teased and bullied at the school because of her physical appearance.
Post-mortem, Myrtle inhabits the first-floor girls bathroom of Hogwarts. In June 1943,
Myrtle was teased by a student named Olive Hornby. This left myrtle in quite a state,
and she ran in to one of the stalls of the first-floor girls bathroom and began crying.
Shortly after entering the bathroom, Tom riddle entered and opened the chamber of secrets.
When Myrtle heard a boys voice, she asked him to go away, and Riddle ordered the basilisk
to directly stare at her, killing her. Myrtle proves to be quite a frequent companion to
Harry throughout the books/films.
#7:Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore Sir patrick delany podmore, also dubbed ‘sir
properly-decapitated podmore’ by nearly headless nick, was a playful charismatic wizard
who was decapitated, subsequently becoming a ghost. Sir patrick was iun charge of the
‘headless hunt’, which is an organization of decapitated ghosts that play headless games.
Podmore famously denies Nearly-headless-nicks entrance in to the organization, because his
head is technically still attached to his body. It has been speculated that Sir patrick
is related to ‘sturgis podmore’ who was an active member of the order of the phoenix.
#7..and a half Peeves the Poltergeist. What a wonderful kindred
spirit. I say seven and a halfish, because Peeves is considered to be, according to jk
rowling, an "indestructible spirit of chaos" and not a ‘ghost’. Peeves has been at
hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry since its inception in 993 and he is said
to have ‘come with the building’. Some have speculated that Peeves is simply a ‘manifestation
of students’ mischief’- an embodiment of disorder. Throughout the ages, Peeves has
caused all sorts of mischief at the school, and been the source of much trouble. The only
people able to control Peeves (somewhat) are fellow ghost the bloody baron, as well as
albus dumbledore. Peeves was a considerable source of stress for groundskeeper Argus Filch,
and the two were sworn enemies for over twenty five years.
And that concludes the list of ‘named’ ghosts, however, we do know that there are
many more at the school, as shown in the following excerpt from the philosophers stone:
“About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent,
they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first-years.”
The second indicator that there are more ghosts is from a passage in the chamber of secrets:
“The dungeon was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people, mostly drifting around
a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the dreadful, quavering sound of thirty musical saws, played
by an orchestra on a black-draped platform.”
Of course, some of these ghosts could have been from outside Hogwarts, but likely not
all of them. The bottom line is that there are lots of ghosts at the school.
And that concludes the video, I hope you guys learnt a little bit about the ghosts of Hogwarts.
If I missed any, or if you have any questions, please leave them down below.
Until time,
There is plenty to be learned even from a bad teacher: what not to do, how not to be