Future Ghosts?

[**plotbunnies**]

Hey!

I'm trying to write a story set in the future, after Potter and Co are gone. I was wondering, which (if any) of the group will become ghosts? JKR has said that ghosts are people who are really scared of death, which is backed up by what is written in the books.

I'm sure that most of the group would just die peacefully (at least, that's what you'd expect) and I know that most ghosts are ones who either have to atone or who died tragically. But the question of being scared of death interests me.

Do you all think that anyone that we know of, be it Ron, Draco, Lavender Brown, or someone else entirely, would become a ghost after they die?

[A.H.]

Do you all think that anyone that we know of, be it Ron, Draco, Lavender Brown, or someone else entirely, would become a ghost after they die?

I've always imagined Fred as a ghost. It's really less to do with his personality (whether or not it's plausible he was afraid of death) but more to do with the fact that he'd be an amazing ghost at Hogwarts. Peeves' reputation would be lost in the face of a Weasley eternally haunting the corridors.

If Draco died young I think he would be one. He's very adamant about appearing tough-as-nails but in the heat of the moment, he flops horribly. There are several situations in canon where his fear overrides everything else. I can see him being scared of death in his young years. After that, we don't have canonical evidence of what he was like (though I have a few billion theories... )

Is fear the only thing that can help a dead person on in to ghostliness? Because there might be some characters who would willingly choose it, in the right situation. I'm thinking Hermione... yes, I know a career as a professor was never mentioned, but can't you just see her and Binns hanging out in the Dead Professors Club? I think she would feel as if she had too much to share. Why die when you can live on forever, imparting knowledge in to others? It might be appealing to her... maybe?

Hmm... I can't think of anyone else. Harry, Master of Death and all, wouldn't be one. Ron and Hermione experienced some of the same lessons in death as Harry, so I don't think they would be afraid of it either. Luna... I think she'd see it as an amazing adventure to take, dying, but she'd also be a hilarious ghost nonetheless, ha ha.

[CoolCatElly]

Hm oh wow this is a very interesting idea... I've never thought about that.

To be honest, becoming a ghost seems to really be the exception and not the norm, even for people who are scared of death.

I can't see any-one of the "gang" would become a ghost. Maybe... Umbridge? She's the only one I can really see haunting someone/something :-P

I do have a question about this too, actually, for people who are discussing this - does someone have to choose the become a ghost before or after they die? Moaning Myrtle, for example, chose to come back to haunt that girl who made fun of her. Nick, however, made it seem as though he'd made the choice in advance.

So with that thinking, technically, let's say something really tragic and traumatic happened to someone like Lavender, it might maybe be possible that she would choose to remain a ghost, though I think in general the chances are small.

xxxx

[coolh5000]

Personally, I can't imagine any of the characters who grew to old age and died peacefully still wanting to stick around and become ghosts. It just seems that they probably would have accepted it by then and be ready to move on. Becoming a ghost is quite an extreme solution - imagine being around in some form, forever and I think there are few things that could motivate that, particularly in the case of a natural death. I doubt even Hermione would still feel an obligation to stick around and teach by the time she reached wizardng old age.

Fred would make a fun ghost, I agree, but I don't think it's something he would choose. I kind of think he would have more sense. He might think at first that it would be fun but I he would probably realise that they people he knows will eventually die and he will be left alone. Besides, everyone who went to fight willingly in the battle did so knowing there was a chance of death and I think therefore would be more accepting of death.

It's perhaps those that weren't in the Battle willingly that I can imagine becoming ghosts. The people that weren't expecting to find themselves there or who hadn't had time to prepare themselves for the possibility, and whose last, strong thought would be that they wanted to stay.

Generally, though, I don't see ghosts as a common thing. We do not see many in canon and those we do are old. Even Myrtle has been dead 50 years. Of course the war perhaps led to an increase in those dying suddenly, unprepared and unnaturally, and while maybe a couple of new ghosts might have come out of it, I don't think they would be the main characters of the series.

[Tim the Enchanter]

If there was anyone in the series who was scared of death and might remain on Earth as a ghost, that would have to be Voldemort. Given the great pains he went through to try to make himself immortal, he's definitely the person who'd be afraid to move on. The biggest obstacle to this would be the whole soul-splitting thing, though. He might have damaged his soul so much it couldn't stay behind.

But assuming he could stay as a ghost, I think he would. And that would be pretty scary. Voldemort's ghost haunting Hogwarts...

Tim the Enchanter

[msk8]

I think it said somewhere at the end of DH that Voldy's soul was too damaged to allow him to remain.

Hmmmm.... You could always make a ghost out of Lisa Turpin or one of the other students in Harry's year who never get characters.

Draco is one of the only people I can imagine becoming a ghost, but that would only be if he died young. You might be able to make Crabbe a ghost. We never really see inside his head that much, so maybe he's scared of death.

And you could maybe (big maybe) make someone be a ghost because they felt obligated to stay behind, rather than because they were scared of death.

[Equinox Chick]

The only person I can see as a ghost is Peter Pettigrew. I can see him choosing that option because then he doesn't have to face James et al on the other side.Be interesting if he could turn into a rat ghost as well.

I can't even see Draco as a ghost, probably because there were moments in HBP where I think he would have welcomed death.

Fred, Luna, Ron - mmm, great ideas as ghosts but they wouldn't choose that option.

~Carole~

[OliveOil_Med]

Perhapes even some of the other classmates who stayed to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts. These could be any minor players in Harry's class list, or even OCs who were seventeen and in the year below him (or the ones who lied about their age to stay and fight). Their would probably be some pretty scary ghost you could make out of them.

I also believe J.K. has said that a person becomes a ghost when they die in a great deal of distress (like being murdered or emotionally distraught).

[msk8]

Peter Pettigrew... I second this. I think he would be afraid of the other dead Death Eaters as well as James, though. But not nearly as much.

Going off of that, I think Death Eaters would be a good group to draw from. They might have joined because they were scared of dying if Voldemort won. You could probably come up with a whole host of reasons for them.