Protection: The Sword and the Shield

The Second Cup

Poltergeists are semi-corporal phantasms classed as Non-Human Spiritous Apparitions. Due to the method of their creation, they are general perceived as chaos bringers and in the early days of their examination, they were thought to be servants of the God of Chaos or the manifestations of the deity themselves.

One of Lady Rowena Ravenclaw's many contributions to magical understanding was the discovery that poltergeists are not chaos spirits but instead are the missing link between Non-Human Spiritous Apparitions, like patroni (See Chapter 51: Protective Summoning), and Human Spiritous Apparitions, more specifically ghosts (See Chapter 34: Human Spiritous Apparitions, Section 1-Ghosts). Her discovery helping to refine her understanding of the spell her and the other founders had developed to combat Dementors, another type of Human Spiritous Apparition.

Like ghosts, poltergeists can only be formed at the death of a magical and are born of the last will of that dying magical. This dying will is commonly referred to as "unfinished business" and in the case of poltergeists, that dying will is typically expressed as a pressing duty. The commonality in the nature of formation for a ghost and a poltergeist and the fact that a poltergeist never had a soul is the basis of Lady Ravenclaw's conclusion that the poltergeist represents the missing link.

A poltergeist does not have soul. It never had a soul. Like a patroni, it is only a magical construct. To be more precise, it is actually the deceased magical core existing in the living plain without a body or soul to anchor and direct it. A better way to describe a poltergeist is as a burst of accidental magic that occurs at the time of death giving a person's magic one last duty before the body passes on. To express their last emotion (usually fear, anger or a desire for revenge). In an attempt to accomplish that duty, a poltergeist is formed.

Naturally the stronger the magic the more powerful the poltergeist. However, a poltergeist's "power" is only manifested in how much they can interact with the world around them. A very strong wizard that has a very strong emotion will leave a poltergeist that will be almost fully corporeal and who can speak and exchange ideas in pursuit of fulfilling their last duty. The more powerful the remaining magical core the more seemingly independent the spirit will be, but all things the spirit does will be in support of fulfilling their duty.

The most interesting thing about these spirits is that they do not have the ability to perform magic in the traditional sense. As in the case of the Hogwarts Stair Poltergeist, they can inhabit and affect the physical world to any degree their duty requires and the magical core that makes them up can accomplish but they can't create and direct spells. The closest recorded ability discovered is that a poltergeist's presence can allow a non-magical being to brew potions because the potions require the presence of a magical core to catalyze the ingredients into the expected potions.

- excerpt from "The Light Side of Necromancy" by Emanuel Ballard

...Lestrange Vault, Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London

My name is Sophia. I was born in the year 1000 AD, 6 months after my creation. My mother was Helga Hufflepuff and I like to think that my father was Godric Gryffindor. I am, of course, more famously known as, simply, Hufflepuff's Cup. Some people would think that I would be irritated at being referred to as Hufflepuff's Cup since I have a name and they would be right. Though I would not have minded being called Hufflepuff's charmed daughter.

My irritation is more due to the fact that I am not a cup, than the notion that I am just my mother's legacy. My mother and her descendants drank from me regularly so I, at least, understand the confusion. But, in truth, I am a cauldron. And if I do say so myself, I am the greatest cauldron ever created in history. It may seem arrogant to say such a thing, but it is true. My claim to greatness, you ask? Well. Any potion mixed inside me, becomes a part of me. And if you pour all the ingredients into me, I can automatically brew that potion on my own. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself.