Harry Potter discussion

Does anyone have any idea how being a ghost works in Harry Potter.
I understand how you becoe one, I understand that they can't eat, and they are transparent and not solid enough to touch a person and when soeone passes through them they feel like ice water just got dumped on the.

But what I don't get is how the heck they get new stuff??!!

In COS, nearly headless nick gets a letter from the headless hunt. fro one ghost to another. he is specifcally said to be holding it... HOW DO GHOSTS WRITE LETTERS!!!

The headless hunt have horses... how did they get them... and apparenlty they have hockey sticks to play hockey etc.

In the 4th book, Nick is mentioned to be wearing a ore festive ruff then usual.

Where does this stuff come from? Is there a ghost emporium... for all your ghostly needs. do you have to "kill" objects to use them?

inquiring minds need to know.

Kate, wow you've thought a lot about the ghosts. It never crossed my mind. I suppose in the same way a wizard can cast a spell to preserve himself maybe he could do so to an animal? Good questions. I've always wondered what the technical difference is between Peeves the Poltergeist who can touch items and the rest of the ghosts. Where did Peeves come from?

Annalisa wrote: "Kate, wow you've thought a lot about the ghosts. It never crossed my mind. I suppose in the same way a wizard can cast a spell to preserve himself maybe he could do so to an animal? Good questions...."

JKR answered questions about peeves on her page once... *goes to check*
ok... she said (and i quote)
"Peeves isn't a ghost; he was never a living person. He is an indestructible spirit of chaos, and solid enough to unscrew chandeliers, throw walking sticks and, yes, chew gum."

So thats that cleared up... but the whole ghost thing still has inconsistancies.

I may be wrong about this, but I think Harry asks Nick in the 5th book, about why he became a ghost. From what I remember, Nick explained that he was not prepared to move on, and actually scared to move on. Harry's questions were more why Sirius couldn't become a ghost. I think Nick says that Sirius had a full, happy life, so was content to move on to the next world, instead of staying in this one.

I could be wrong. It's been a while since I read that book.

Yeah, thats all very well and good, but you clearly didn't read the other posts Melissa, If you had, you would know the question of this foru was how the heck he gets new stuff, not why he became a ghost, which i said I already knew.

Thanks though, comments are always good.

Yeah, thats all very well and good, but you clearly didn't read the other posts Melissa, If you had, you would know the question of this foru was how the heck he gets new stuff, not why he became a ghost, which i said I already knew.

Thanks though, comments are always good.

I did read the rest of it. My personal thought was that perhaps if he had those things while living, he was able to retain them as a ghost. And besides, he's a ghost in Hogwarts, a school of magic. Maybe one of the founders created a spell for ghosts to be able to conjure up the things they require?

Kate,
Now that you mention it, I think I have read that before. I just couldn't remember where Peeves' came from. I'm sure JKR has an idea in her head of how the ghosts work, but my guesses would only be that. One of those questions you would ask her if you could. I'd ask her how the wands work. I wasn't completely satisfied with the wand transfers in DH.