Throughout the Harry Potter series, Harry and friends regularly encounter types of magical beings beyond their fellow wizards and witches. The Hogwarts grounds are teeming with enchanting creatures, but the halls of Hogwarts in particular play host to a large number of ghosts. The ghosts are described as pearly white, and if you bump into one, you might just feel a sudden chill—one that Harry describes as akin to “a bucket of ice-cold water” when a ghost pats his arm. Whether acting as stewards of houses or haunting the hallways, ghosts are a regular and colourful part of the Hogwarts experience.
Who are the house ghosts of Hogwarts?
Each Hogwarts house has a house ghost that serves as a kind of figurehead. They are Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the Fat Friar, the Grey Lady, and the Bloody Baron.
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington (“Nearly Headless Nick”)
Gryffindor’s house ghost is one of the first that Harry properly meets at Hogwarts. During the start-of-term feast, he introduces himself to Harry as Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. Ron refers to Sir Nicholas by his nickname—Nearly Headless Nick—which is clearly not the Gryffindor ghost's preference.
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Stephen Fry
Though the details aren’t extensively relayed, we know he was sentenced to die by decapitation. The death part stuck—the beheading part, not quite so. Curious about what prompted it? You’ll have to dive into this curated collection of stories From the Wizarding Archive.
Throughout the rest of the series, Nick is always kind to Harry. Even when other ghosts try to pump him for information about Harry, Nick’s loyalty (given his past as a knight) wins out. He’s an excellent representative for Gryffindor house.
The Fat Friar
Like the living characters who call Hufflepuff home, the Fat Friar is a warmhearted and generally happy person. He attended Hogwarts and was sorted into Hufflepuff, so upon his death, he returned as a ghost and provides a kind face for Hufflepuff students.
In his life, he was very caring and a devoted member of the clergy. He was suspected of using magic to cure the pox simply by poking peasants with a stick and had a habit of pulling rabbits out of the communion cup. These eccentric behaviours raised suspicion among senior churchmen, ultimately leading to his execution.
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Stephen Fry
His kindness persists in his afterlife. Whenever the ghosts discuss Peeves the Poltergeist, the Fat Friar tirelessly advocates for Peeves to be given another chance after his many disruptive pranks. Hufflepuff students have an excellent guide and steward in the Fat Friar.
The Grey Lady
Harry doesn’t officially meet the Grey Lady until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Before then, he’d seen her wandering the halls of Hogwarts donning a haunted look. She wore a grey dress and rarely spoke.
From Chapter 31: The Battle of Hogwarts
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter 31: The Battle of Hogwarts
Performed by Stephen Fry
When Harry finally does speak to the Grey Lady, he learns of her tragic backstory and the shocking truth of her identity.
The Bloody Baron
The house ghost of Slytherin, the Bloody Baron’s moniker is no mystery—he’s covered in blood and heavy chains. Given his appearance alone, it’s no wonder he inspires fear in Hogwarts students and other ghosts alike.
The stately Baron haunts the dungeons of Hogwarts castle, which is where the Slytherin Common Room is located. He is also often called upon by other ghosts for help with controlling Peeves the Poltergeist. Whenever his pranks are getting out of hand, other ghosts go off to find the Baron to help rein Peeves in. Like many students at Hogwarts, Peeves is terrified of the Baron—a fear that serves our heroes well while trying to navigate the Hogwarts corridors under cover of the invisibility cloak.
From Chapter 16: Through the Trapdoor
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter 16: Through the Trapdoor
Performed by Stephen Fry
Meet the ghosts of the deathday party
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry, Ron, and Hermione attend Nearly Headless Nick’s deathday party. Harry agrees to come to the party because he felt bad for Nick, whom had just been rejected from joining the Headless Hunt. (Given he wasn’t entirely headless, the leader of the Headless Hunt, Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore, remained steadfast in his rejection.)
When Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrive at the deathday party in the dungeon, it’s full of ghosts from all over. Nearly Headless Nick mentions that even “The Wailing Widow” came all the way from Kent.
From Chapter 8: The Deathday Party
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter 8: The Deathday Party
Performed by Stephen Fry
But the real action begins when the Headless Hunt bursts into the party on horseback. Sir Patrick leads the group, and they quickly take attention away from Nearly Headless Nick by displaying tricks and games that they play with their severed heads.
Do any ghosts teach at Hogwarts?
History of Magic has a very appropriate teacher in the ghostly Professor Cuthbert Binns. Long before Harry attended Hogwarts, Professor Binns died in his sleep in the teacher’s lounge. He got up as usual to teach his next class but left his body behind.
History of Magic is known to be quite boring among Hogwarts students. Professor Binns is a very unexciting speaker, lulling multiple students to sleep during long lectures about various goblin rebellions. The one time he had an interactive class was when Hermione convinced him to explain the history of the Chamber of Secrets, though Binns advised the students that it was a myth.
From Chapter Nine: The Writing on the Wall
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Nine: The Writing on the Wall
Performed by Stephen Fry
What other ghosts reside at Hogwarts?
Moaning Myrtle
Myrtle is a teenage ghost who died at Hogwarts at the end of her third year. During her Hogwarts years, she was in Ravenclaw. She had trouble making friends, and before she died, she was in the bathroom on the second floor crying because another student, Olive Hornby, had made fun of her glasses. As a result, she regularly haunts the second-floor bathroom.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry, Ron, and Hermione use the bathroom that Moaning Myrtle haunts to brew Polyjuice Potion, since other students avoid it. Later, Harry and Ron ask Myrtle to tell them the story of how she died, a revelation with major implications.
From Chapter 8: The Deathday Party
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter 8: The Deathday Party
Performed by Stephen Fry
Myrtle is not totally locked to the second-floor girls bathroom. While she’s normally found there, she popped up at Sir Nicholas’s deathday party and in other Hogwarts lavatories, too. Notably, when Harry uses the prefects’ bathroom in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to solve the mystery of the Golden Egg, Myrtle is there to lend a helping hand.
Peeves
Peeves the Poltergeist regularly pranks the students, teachers, and house-elves of Hogwarts. He causes so much mayhem that the ghosts usually have to vote on whether he can attend the start-of-term feast. (The answer is usually a resounding no.) To make sure Peeves follows these directives, the ghosts usually have the Bloody Baron deliver the news.
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Stephen Fry
Peeves doesn’t have any loyalty to school employees or students. He tends to find students and eavesdrop on them, then loudly mock them. He shows deference to Professor Dumbledore, but outside of that, he’s constantly causing mayhem, whether throwing objects or pranking students. Indeed, Peeves is only truly loyal to chaos.
