Can Hogwarts Ghosts Leave? (& 9 Other Questions About Harry Potter Phantoms & Spirits)

学院幽灵会离开霍格沃茨吗？（有关学院幽灵的九个问答）

The Harry Potter ghosts are mysterious creatures in the universe, but we have the answers to many questions about them

在巫师世界中，幽灵一直都是神秘的存在。今天我们就一起来揭开幽灵的奥秘。

There is just so much to talk about Harry Potter and its multiverse — different tiers of canon include the books, movies, official websites, video games, to name a few. One aspect not discussed in detail is that of Spirits, who are often background fixtures in the story (playing important roles on very rare occasions.)

《哈利波特》中描绘了丰富多彩的巫师世界，哈迷们通过书籍，影视，官网，手游等等多种多样的方式赋予了这个奇妙的巫师世界更多的含义。而有关幽灵的细节却往往被人忽视。其实，他们贯穿于整个故事当中，在一些特殊的场合甚至发挥举足轻重的作用。

Ghosts are the most commonly observed ones, but several others have been featured include Boggarts, Poltergeists and Dementors. As it is with humans, not all spirits are evil, but not all of them are completely benign either, and most of them are more neutral than anything else.

 

我们漫步在霍格沃茨校园中经常能碰见幽灵，那些有特点的总会让我们印象深刻，就像博格特，皮皮鬼和摄魂怪。和人类一样，他们之中有善良的，也有邪恶的，大多数的幽灵在处事上一定比你想象的要更加公平。（绝不偏心于任何一方！）

10Can Hogwarts Ghosts Leave?

霍格沃茨学校里的幽灵可以离开霍格沃茨吗？

The short answer to this is: technically yes, but the fact that ghosts tend to "haunt" a specific place symbolizes the deep affinity they had for that location whilst they were alive. This doesn't necessarily mean that they loiter around wherever they died, for instance, Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady, is killed in Albania, but returns to Hogwarts to become the ghost of her former House.

理论上没问题，事实上幽灵往往只出没在特定的区域，这个区域对每一个幽灵来说，都是生前对自己最留恋的的地方。（相信没有哪个幽灵会愿意离开霍格沃茨！）当然，这并不是说每个幽灵都会在自己死去的地方继续生活着。就像海伦娜*拉文克劳，我们熟知的格雷女士，被血人巴罗刺死在阿尔巴尼亚的森林中，但她却回到了霍格沃茨，守护着她的拉文克劳。

This is in line with the standard understanding that ghosts exist because they are attached to something in the living world, even if it means "choosing a feeble imitation of life," as Nearly-headless Nick says.

幽灵在巫师世界之所以存在是因为他们对这个精彩的世界有着强烈的执念与不舍。正如差点没头的尼克所说，他们宁愿选择不断去模仿和正常人一样的生活，虚弱的生活在这个世界上，也不甘心就这样死去（友友们，珍惜生活在这美好世界的机会吧）

9Where Did Dementors Come From?

9. 摄魂怪从何而来？

The Dementors of Azkaban are officially categorized as non-beings, as they aren't exactly alive (and, by extension, cannot die.) Nobody is really sure how they came into existence, except that the island of Azkaban and its original inhabitant, the Dark Wizard, Ekrizdis, had something to do with it.

阿兹卡班的摄魂怪在官方上已被列为不存在的生物，他们不能完整地活着，也不能彻底的死去。除了阿兹卡班中的一些人和精通黑魔法的邪恶巫师，艾克里斯蒂斯（阿兹卡班岛上的原住民）很少有人知道摄魂怪到底是怎么回事。

He spends his lifetime apparently abducting and experimenting on random sailors who happened to chance upon his vicinity, but when he dies, the Ministry of Magic discovers the hitherto unknown island and its demonic contents: a host of Dementors.

 

艾克里斯蒂斯一生都在以岛上的船员（随机绑架来的）做人体实验。他死后，魔法部发现了这个邪恶的岛屿和一群恶魔般的存在——摄魂怪。

8What Are Ghosts Made Of?

8. 幽灵是什么做的？

Ghosts in Harry Potter, as they are in most fictional universes, are composed of an enigmatic substance known as "Ectoplasm." This is a glue-y material that magic-users tend to hate as it simply gets in the way half the time, and ghosts are seemingly unable to stop secreting it all over the place for no reason.

《哈利波特》中的鬼魂和大多数虚构世界中的鬼魂一样，都是由 被称为“外质”的神秘物质。（据信为神鬼附体者身上渗出的物质，可能形成死者的外形)这是一种令巫师们非常讨厌的胶水材料，因为他们总是妨碍巫师们的生活。这种材质也自然方便了幽灵们渗透到各个角落。

Luckily, a simple Skurge spell is suggested to get rid of Ectoplasm, which has the convenient secondary effect of also getting rid of any pesky ghosts lurking in the area.

幸运的是，这个非常简单的统统退散咒能够帮你远离幽灵的困扰，这个咒语还可以帮你扫清隐藏在你身边的讨厌的幽灵。绝对好用！

 

7How Do Ghosts Experience Existence?

7. 幽灵怎样生活？

Sadly for ghosts, they are completely unable to sense most things in the world of the living, being a vague approximation of what they used to be (an imprint of reality, if you will.) As such, they experience no personal growth either, holding on to whatever grudges or miseries they had while they were alive。

可悲的是，幽灵们完全无法感知任何现实生活中的人或事。他们只是模仿着他们过去的样子去生活（也可以说是他生前的回忆）。同样的，他们也不会再经历任何成长了，大多数的幽灵都活在自己生前痛苦和执念中，无法自拔。

 

For example, Nick is constantly whining about his quasi-decapitation, regardless that it occurred over five centuries ago. One thing ghosts can supposedly taste, though, is putrefying food, because of its high level of rancidity and possibly because it can be considered not entirely dead.

就像尼克一直在抱怨的那场未能成功的斩首，其实，这件事距今已经走过了5个世纪。幽灵们有品尝食物的能力，尽管他们只能吃腐烂的食物，因为这种食物在巫师世界中被认为是不完全死掉的食物。（你家的剩饭剩菜也许就是幽灵们的饕餮大餐！）

 

6Are Ghosts Able To Affect The Environment?

6. 幽灵会影响环境吗？

Not all the time, but they certainly do have a calling sign of sorts — for example, whenever a ghost phases through an object, it doesn't change the object as long as it's a solid; however, fire develops a temporary blue shade when they "interact with it," and also "create disturbances in water."

在正常情况下，他们确实对环境不会造成太大的影响。举个例子，只要它是个固体，幽灵任何情况下穿过它都不会改变物体的形态。然而，当幽灵穿过火焰时，它本身特殊的材质会和火发生奇妙的反应，产生一种暂时的蓝色光影，在水中制造混乱。

 

As Harry himself has endured, it feels like being "plunged into ice-cold water" when a ghost passes through a human body (and their general proximity results in a reduction in ambient temperature.)

 

就像哈利亲身经历一样，当一个幽灵穿过你的身体时，感觉就像是“掉进了冰冷的水里”（你与幽灵的无限接近导致了周围温度的降低）

5Who Are The House Ghosts?

5. 四大学院的幽灵都有谁？

Although they are all known by name (and a brief backstory), the Hogwarts House ghosts are quite a fascinating bunch. Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington of Gryffindor is executed for a silly cosmetic magic error and the Fat Friar of Hufflepuff is eliminated by paranoid clergymen.

虽然大家都知道他们的名字（还有一个简短的背景故事），霍格沃茨学院幽灵十分受欢迎。格兰芬多的尼古拉斯·德·敏西·波平顿爵士（差点没头的尼克）由于一次魔法事故（愚蠢的咒语事故）被斩首。哈夫勒帕夫的胖修士被偏执的牧师除名，后来在教内被处决了。

 

The other two: the Grey Lady of Ravenclaw is murdered by her jealous admirer, and this admirer happens to be the Bloody Baron of Slytherin, who immediately commits suicide after realizing what he had done. How they all hang out at the same place without brewing conflict is anyone's guess.

另外两个呢，一个是拉文克劳的格雷女士被她狂热的崇拜者杀害了，而另一位，恰好就是这位崇拜者，斯莱特林的幽灵血人巴罗，当他意识到他杀了自己最爱的人时，他惭愧地自杀了。这些有着恩怨纠葛的幽灵们是如何在同一屋檐下和谐相处的，一定也是大家心目中最大的问号。

4Can Ghosts Be Controlled?

4. 幽灵们能被被控制吗？

An interesting detail about ghosts is that non-magic folk do not become one when they die, nor are they able to actually perceive their presence. Aside from the Skurge, the Ministry of Magic has been shown to have some level of authority over ghostly activities, which is ensured by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

 

细心的读者一定会发现，麻瓜死后是不会变成幽灵的，幽灵们也不能真正感知到他们的存在。除了统统退散咒之外，魔法部已经开始采取行动约束幽灵们的行为，由魔法生物的管理和控制部门统一管理。

3What Does A Boggart Actually Look Like?

3.博格特到底长什么样？

The existence of a Boggart is proven by its manifestation of fear, as it takes whatever form is most terrifying to the person standing before it. Why it does this is unclear — perhaps they thrive off their victim's terror, or maybe they are just irksome creatures.

其实博格特的外形是恐惧的一种表现形式，他会变成站在它面前的那个人最害怕的样子。他到底为什么这么做一直是个谜——也许他靠受害者的恐惧维持生命，也许它只是一种讨人厌的生物。

2Will A Ghost Ever Be Able To Move On?

2. 幽灵能持续生存下去吗？

This is a rather complex conundrum: on one hand, Nick gently explains to Harry that Sirius would never be coming back because he would have "gone on," while on the other, is it really possible for something to remain static forever? Ghosts have what they call "unfinished business," so does this mean that they are freed of their condition if said business is finished?

这是一个相当复杂的难题：一方面，尼克耐心地向哈利解释说，小天狼星永远不会回来了，因为他会“继续”。而另一方面，真的有可能让某些东西永远保持静止吗？幽灵们有他们的执念和使命，那当他们对自己执着的事情释怀之后，或者说使命达成之后，他们还能继续在世界上生存吗？

Consider Lord Voldemort, who gets himself trapped inside a horrifying baby-monster because of all his soul-mutilation. He may have been a super evil Dark Lord, but punishing him for eternity without a single chance for reprieve doesn't really make moral sense. On the opposite end of the scale, the History of Magic Professor, Cuthbert Binns, wouldn't move on even if he could.

想想伏地魔，他所有的灵魂都被摧毁了，因此被困在一个可怕的怪物里。他是一个超级邪恶的黑魔王，对他施以什么样的惩罚都不过分，任何一个缓刑的机会都变得毫无道德意义。在道德天平的另一端，魔法史教授卡斯伯特·宾斯（Cuthbert Binns）说，即使可以，也不可能让他继续生存下去。

1What On Earth Is Peeves?

1. 什么是皮皮鬼？

Peeves, who inexplicably doesn't appear as comic relief in the movies, is a poltergeist, but not a normal one (as almost all others are not visible to people.) This devious fiend takes great pleasure in causing havoc at Hogwarts, but is not evicted by Dumbledore because he isn't that much of a disruption, to be honest.

皮皮鬼在电影中并没有以讨喜的形象出现，他是一个恶作剧者，但绝不是一个普通的恶作剧者（因为几乎所有的恶作剧都不为人们所知）他的所作所为 给霍格沃茨造成了很不好的影响，但并没有因此被邓布利多驱逐出校，毕竟，他倒也没有给学校造成太大的破坏。

It's said that he has been at the Castle ever since it was built, which implies that his character is an intrinsic part of the school, as much as anything that the four Founders have done.

据说自从霍格沃茨建校以来，皮皮鬼就一直在这。他的这种调皮也渐渐成了校园生活的调味剂，像 四位创始人所做的一切那样，他也渐渐成为了霍格沃茨学院很特别的一部分。