- "Hello! How are you? Welcome to Gryffindor!"
- — Sir Nicholas greets the first years.[src]
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington (known after his death as Nearly Headless Nick) (d. October 31, 1492) was a wizard who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Gryffindor house. He was executed by decapitation, after he argued with Lady Grieve. Since then, he is the resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower at the Hogwarts Castle.
Biography
Early life
Little is known about Sir Nicholas' past. As a child, Nick attended Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor House. It is unknown which subjects he excelled at, but he was apparently poor at Transfiguration. In his adulthood, he was a Wizard of the Court.[2]
Meeting Lady Grieve and Death
Sir Nicholas was sentenced to death by beheading after a teeth-straightening spell went awry on Lady Grieve. However, the executioner's axe was blunt. Thus, even after forty-five hacks Nick's head was only partially severed. Sir Nicholas was executed on the dawn of October 31st, 1492.
Post-mortem
After he died, Sir Nicholas chose to return as a ghost; the resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Since many years, he appeared to know the other ghosts and Peeves the Poltergeist; he and the Fat Friar were discussing in 1991 about Peeves, when he told the friar that Peeves shouln't be given another chance.
Sir Nicholas at the Hogwarts Great Hall in 1991.
Harry Potter, after befriending Nick the previous year, attends his Deathday Party (the 500th anniversary of the event) in a Dungeon at Hogwarts. To Nick's great annoyance, his head was not off enough to join in the games of the Headless Hunt, a society of ghosts who had been decapitated on earth (a source of annual vexation to the ghost). During the 1992 school year, when the Chamber of Secrets was opened, he was one of those petrified by the Basilisk, which suggests that he might be Muggle-born, though it might have been simply a coincidence as Justin Finch-Fletchley appeared to be the main target of the Basilisk. Nick saved Justin's life by taking the brunt of the Basilisk's otherwise-lethal gaze (being already dead, however, Nick was simply immobilized rather than killed again). By the end of the year he was revived (back to being a ghost). It's unclear what method was used to restore him, as being a ghost the mandrake concoction created to revive the human students may have been difficult to administer a ghost.
Harry Potter discovering that Nick was petrified.
After Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, is killed, Harry asks Nick if he can return as a ghost. Nick explains that only a wizard afraid of death can become a ghost. It is most likely that Sirius Black is not afraid of death; he tells Harry that dying is "quicker and easier than falling asleep" when his spirit comes out of Resurrection Stone, along with three others, to speak to Harry as he went to what he believed to be his death in 1998. The alternative to becoming a ghost, or leaving an imprint of oneself on the earth, is to move on, or rather to move beyond the veil. However, such a thing did not happen to Lord Voldemort, though Voldemort's soul was so unstable there may not have been enough to leave an imprint on the earth. It is also possible that being a mere imprint, one with no power, may not have been appealing to Voldemort.
Sir Nicholas possibly fought at the Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort and, after the Second Wizarding War, remained the house ghost forever.
Behind the scenes
Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Sir Nicholas in 1996.
- In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Nick says he hasn't eaten in nearly 400 years. Yet he had, at the time, already been dead for 99 years longer than that.
- The Harry Potter timeline is based upon Nick's deathday party in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Having died in 1492, and celebrating his 500th death day, this ostensibly places the novels in the early to mid 1990s.
- In the film versions of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Nearly Headless Nick is played by John Cleese. Cleese is most famous for his work with Monty Python and his television show, Fawlty Towers. At the time, he was also playing Q in the James Bond film series, giving him the distinction of appearing in the two biggest-grossing UK film series of all time.
- In the first draft of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Nick sang a self-penned ballad explaining how his head had (nearly) come off:
- While most of the Hogwarts students call him "Nearly Headless Nick," he prefers the more formal "Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington" or "Sir Nicholas." But, Harry also calls him Nick.
- Nick's death was the same day as Lily and James Potter's, October 31st, but different years.
- Although Nick claims that he has never been guilty of cowardice in his life, he also claims to have broken down sobbing when they told him that he would die.
- He also admits to not being as brave as Sirius Black; Nick chose to become a ghost because he feared death, but Sirius would have "gone on" in Nick's own words.
- He doesn't like Ron because he is always reminding Nick that he is dead.
- It is unknown as to how he recovered from petrification by the Basilisk since he is unable to drink potions.
- Professor Dumbledore explains in his notes on "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" that muggle executions of wizards such as Sir Nicholas are rarely successful, given that wizards can magically protect themselves and escape. Sir Nicholas had his wand taken away, however, and was unable to leave his dungeon cell.
- As of yet, Nick is the only one of the four house ghosts to have a speaking role in the films.
Appearances
A drawing of Nicholas, whilst he was alive (note that this depiction is somewhat incorrect as his hair is "not very Elizabethan").
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance) (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film) (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Appears as a ghost or a spirit)
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Mentioned only)
Notes and references
- ↑ F.A.Q. question on J.K. Rowling's Official Site
- ↑ The Tales of Beedle the Bard (real)
