PEEVES

[Snow_Crystal]

Hmm not sure where that came from but yeah I'm disappointed that Peeves didn't make it into the films especially as Rik Mayall would have been brilliant at him. I heard that Rik was quite upset that his part had been cut. I hope we get to see the Directors Cut of PS some day. I'm not sure they continued to film Peeves though for the later ones.

The only thing is I don't know is how they would have been able to "do" him. I thought that Poltergeists were invisible and they do not take a solid form like Ghosts. I must admit every time I read the books it does bother me because JKR keeps making references to Harry etc looking out for Peeves - how would they be able to do that unless he had a solid form?? Gets me every time.

Can anyone confirm the difference between Poltergeists and Ghosts?

[Nightcrawler]

Also notice that Peeves is able to throw things about and knock things over and ghosts can't. Another thing is that the ghosts are transparent, and Peeves is always described as quite colourful (I think he has an orange bow tie).

In mythologies and folklore, ghosts and poltergiests are pretty much the same thing. Here's the dictionary.com deffiniton for Poltergeist:

[a] ghost that manifests itself by noises, rappings, and the creation of disorder.

Essentially, a poltergiest is a ghost. The only real difference is the connotations attatched, like the difference between "good" and "great". Poltergiests are more known for being either evil or mischevious whereas a ghost is just a generic spirit of someone who has died.

So if a storyteller is going to have both ghosts and Poltergiests, it's up to the storyteller to distinguish between them in any way they see fit. Other examples JKR has used are hags/witches and goblins/gnomes/elves

If you look at the FAQ on her website, she explains the difference between her poltergiests and her ghosts. Apparently Peeves was never a living person. He's always been a spirit of mischief who is just a little more solid than the ghosts.

[Snow_Crystal]

Interesting - thanks Nightcrawler! I think I'll check out her website - whereabouts was it? I'm sure I'll find it though.