- "Wizards can leave an imprint of themselves upon the earth, to walk palely where their living selves once trod... But very few wizards choose that path."
- — Description of a ghost.
A ghost is an imprint of a witch or wizard's soul. The spirit of the deceased stays behind in the world of the living because they are too afraid of death or too unwilling to leave something behind. They are transparent and silvery and they are able to pass through solid objects.
About[]
A ghost
Description[]
A ghost is a semi-transparent[1] and weightless[2] imprint of a deceased wizard.[3] Very few witches and wizards choose to be a ghost.[3] They have a fear of dying or a strong connection to something in the living world which they do not want to leave behind. The spirit of the witch or wizard chooses to stay trapped in the living world. They tend to haunt a location that they are connected to. They look the same way they did at the second they died, but they shine pearly-white or silvery.[1]
Only a witch or a wizard can be a ghost.[3] If a person's soul is damaged by their actions in life, they can't be a ghost. Tom Riddle split his soul into seven pieces for Horcruxes and was trapped in limbo forever.[4]
Abilities[]
A ghost has limited abilities and experiences. They cannot eat or do any kind of action beyond gliding and they can't physically interact with the living world.[1] They can leave the place they haunt if they want haunt specific people. They can also communicate using ghostly letters.[5]
If someone is in the proximity of a ghost, the temperature drops. If a person is touched by or walked through by a ghost, it suddenly feels like they are being plunged into a bucket of ice-cold water.[1] They are Petrified by the gaze of a Basilisk[2], but a Mandrake Restorative Draught is capable of reversing it.[6] In a Petrified state, the wind will move them around.[2]
Character[]
A ghost has changed sensibilities and enjoy things that the living do not. They like harsh music, with an orchestra sounding like they have thirty saws, and they eat rotten food because it is the only way they can taste something.[5] They might regret their choice to be a ghost and would pass on if they still could.[3] They lament about the days they could eat and like to talk about their lives.[1] A ghost can't give a good answer about death because they chose "a feeble imitation of life" instead of passing on.[3]
Society[]
When the Wizards' Council first tried to define the definitions of a being or a beast, they failed to find an adequate classification for ghosts. Burdock Muldoon refused to classify ghosts as "beings", because he considered such creatures to have the ability to walk on two legs while ghosts glide instead. Elfrida Clagg tried to change the definition of a "being" to creatures that can speak and be understood. A delegation of ghosts attended her meeting but they left in protest because she focused on "the needs of the living".[7]
Centuries later, Grogan Stump finally reached a classification for ghosts that they are happy with. While they would have fallen under his definition of a "being" because they can understand and shape wizarding law, they feel that they aren't in "being" anymore and are rather "has-beens". Grogan decided to add a third classification, spirit which adequately describes ghosts.[7]
The Ministry of Magic have some control over ghosts in power or jurisdiction because they have a Spirit Division in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.[8] They will force a ghost back to the location they haunt if they leave and cause any trouble. Ghosts have their own groups and events including the Headless Hunt. They have Deathday parties to celebrate the anniversary of deaths.[5]
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is home to about twenty ghosts and is one of most haunted places in the world. Each school House also has a House ghost who acts like a patron. The ghosts were in that House when they attended Hogwarts. They also guide students.[1] Another ghost, Cuthbert Binns, is a teacher.[9] The Shrieking Shack is thought to be very haunted and even ghosts at Hogwarts refuse to enter it because they heard a rough crowd is living in it. However, the Shack wasn't haunted and had instead been used by a werewolf, Remus Lupin when he had to transform.[10]
Known ghosts[]
Trivia[]
- Uric the Oddball once woke up and thought he was a ghost because his pet Augureys were crying. Augureys are thought to cry when they sense death, but they actually cry when it is raining. After trying to walk through the walls of the house, he developed a concussion.[11]
- Initially, there was a concept for a "toad ghost" that never manifested into the story properly. It would have left ectoplasm all over the classroom it was in.
Notes and sources[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 12
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 38
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 35
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 8
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 18
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Introduction (What is a Beast?)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 7
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 8
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 14
- ↑ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: An A-Z of Fantastic Beasts (Augurey)