Lesson Six 

Ghosts and Hags 

Hags: Hags are classified as sentient beings by the Ministry of Magic. This means they resemble human beings in appearance, but are also very ugly and old looking, with pale skin. They also have only four toes on each foot, and have a lot of warts. They are said to a have magical abilities comparable to trolls, which is very rudimentary. They can be found all throughout Europe and Russia, and they can be seen roaming Diagon Alley and, more likely, Knockturn Alley.  Some hags, however, prefer to live in cages and away from civilization. Hags eat two things: Raw Liver and children. Known Hags:  Annis Black: Lived in a cave in Deadmarsh, England, during the twentieth century, and was known to complain to the dDaily Prophet on the view of hags.

to complain about hags being portrayed as flesh-eating monsters by the paper. Babayaga: Lived in Russia during medieval times and ate a lot of children. Cordelia Misericordia: Lived from 1298-1401.

Ghosts: Described as being the disembodied spirits of once living witches and wizards. A person can only become a ghost if they were a witch or wizard while alive. Usually, it is when the person is afraid to move on. Other times, they simply have a strong connection to the place they haunt. They can be seen as a grey/silver apparition of who they were will living, and are transparent. Due to their lack of physical influence, they had the ability to fly through solid objects. They cause no harm to those objects, but cause disturbances to water, fire, and air. They also drop the temperature of the area they are in. Ghosts celebrate their death day instead of their birthday, and are sensitive to questions involving their death. They are also weightless and impossible to destroy, but can be petrified. Once a witch or wizard becomes a ghost, they are stuck like that, in the living world, forever. Some witches and wizards don't get the choice, as if might depend on the state of the soul. Famous Ghosts: 

• Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington, also known as Nearly Headless Nick, is the house ghost for Gryffindor.
• The Fat Friar. He is the house ghost of Hufflepuff. 
• The Bloody Baron is the Slytherin house ghost.
• Helena Ravenclaw is the Ravenclaw house ghost.