The ghosts of Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry are an interesting bunch. In the novels, they have a relatively minor role that remains quite consistent throughout the franchise: they’re dead after all, they can’t do much more than give advice.
The films have a different approach, giving them prominence at first, before leaving them to rarely go beyond background decoration after The Chamber Of Secrets. As such, this list will focus mostly on the ghosts as depicted in the books. So without further delay, here are all of Hogwarts' ghosts, ranked from worst to best.
Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore
Anyone who has no idea who Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore is would be easily forgiven because, without a doubt, he is the least relevant ghost anyone ever meets in Harry Potter. In fact, he doesn’t show up at all in the films!
He was present at Nearly-Headless Nick’s 500th Deathday celebration, where the Nearly-Headless ghost remained distressed by the fact that he wasn’t allowed to the Headless Hunt. Patrick was in charge and refused to make an exception to allow Nearly-Headless ghosts in.
The Fat Friar
The Fat Friar is briefly shown in the early Harry Potter films, but his affiliation to Hufflepuff means he was never of particular relevance. His exact date of death is unknown, but all fans know is that he was executed after a muggle at his church became suspicious of his magical powers.
Unlike the complex personalities of the other ghosts, the Fat Friar remained happy throughout his entire dead-life, eagerly welcoming students and even giving advice to all. A true Hufflepuff, indeed.
The Grey Lady
The Grey Lady, also often known by her real name, Helena Ravenclaw, was the daughter of one of the founders of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw.
She was a complex person even when alive, and fled to Albania alongside her mother’s Diadem (which would one day become one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes) before being killed at the hand of the Bloody Baron when she wouldn’t return home with him. This meant she never saw Rowena again, even as she was on her death bed.
The Bloody Baron
The Bloody Baron is named for two reasons that should be very clear: he was a Baron, and he’s covered in blood. His real name is unknown, but he still managed to find himself in a position of power among the ghosts of Hogwarts. His death is directly connected to his murder of Helena Ravenclaw.
After killing her, he turned his knife on himself and stabbed himself to death out of guilt and grief. This might be one of the darkest stories in Harry Potter history and if it hadn’t taken place such a (fictional) long time ago, it probably would have never made it into canon.
Professor Binns
In the Harry Potter films, Professor Binns doesn’t exist. He doesn’t sit at the table alongside the other teachers, his class (History Of Magic) is barely mentioned, and the time that he relayed the story of the Chamber Of Secrets to his class is handed to Professor McGonagall.
In the books, he is known as the most boring teacher at Hogwarts, droning his way through readings from historical books. Even his death was boring: he died in his sleep in the staff room. Death didn’t change his day-to-day life, though, as he continued to teach in his ghostly form.
‘Nearly Headless’ Nick
Possibly the most famous ghost in all of Harry Potter is ‘Nearly-Headless’ Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost. Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington was the ‘youngest’ of the house ghosts, having been beheaded (almost) after turning the teeth of Lady Grieve into tusks.
He seems to always be on hand to provide advice to Harry and his fellow students and was portrayed excellently by Monty Python member John Cleese. It's a pity he never reappeared after The Chamber of Secrets, though he does have a larger role in all seven books.
Moaning Myrtle
The idea of a ghost-child is actually quite a dark one, really. Moaning Myrtle remains furious about her untimely death, and rightly so. She was killed after looking directly into the eyes of the Basilisk fifty years before the events of The Chamber Of Secrets and left to ‘live’ in the girls' bathroom in which she died.
There were many occasions in which Harry confided in the flirtatious Myrtle, but the final time anyone saw her came when she spoke to Malfoy before his violent duel with Harry. Aside from her appearance in The Cursed Child, no one really knows what happened to Myrtle after the series concluded.
Peeves
One of the biggest injustices in Harry Potter film history is the complete lack of Peeves. The chaotic poltergeist loved to cause destruction around the school and did so in just about every book. Granted, he's not technically a ghost but that's just semantics at this point.
While he seemed to lack morality and didn’t really take sides, he seemed to hate both Umbridge and Voldemort and fought against them. He had been at Hogwarts since it was founded and interestingly, isn’t the spirit of a departed human. His existence as a poltergeist means he never ‘died’ and it has been rumored that he is, instead, a supernatural manifestation of the mischief of Hogwarts students.
