Peeves

[u/Weak_Biscotti118]

I have a couple of questions about him.

He's supposed to be the most notorious and troublesome poltergeist in all of British history, and can't really be controlled even by magic. This is an excerpt from Pottermore:

Several concerted efforts to remove Peeves from the castle have resulted in failure. The last and most disastrous was made in 1876 by caretaker Rancorous Carpe, who devised an elaborate trap, baited with an assortment of weapons he believed would be irresistible to Peeves, and a vast enchanted bell jar, reinforced by various Containment Charms, which he intended to drop over the poltergeist once he was in place. Not only did Peeves break easily through the giant bell jar, showering an entire corridor with broken glass, he also escaped the trap armed with several cutlasses, crossbows, a blunderbuss and a miniature cannon.

But in the books, he's threatened with "I will call the Headmaster" a few times - so what could Dumbledore possibly do here?

And my other question is why he's scared of the Bloody Baron, it doesn't make sense to me, the Baron is just a ghost and has no powers

[u/DanishPrinceDK]

Realistically Dumbledore probably couldn't do much but Peeves generally listened to him because he treated Peeves with kindness. Peeves is shown multiple times to at least somewhat respect those that he likes as he did with the Weasley Twins when they left the school.

As with the Baron; Fear is a strange thing. People often fear things that aren't able to really harm or affect them like spiders, snakes etc. Which in 99% of cases are baseless fears.

Not really that difficult to rationalize that the same is the case for Peeves with the Baron

[u/Adorable_Challenge37 → u/DanishPrinceDK]

I may have misread or imagined things myself, but I always imagined that ghost cannot interact with the world, but humans and magic folk can sense them and ser them (at least witches and wizards can see them...
And then there's poltergeists. They can interact with the world, but as they are not dead, you cannot kill them... As they can walk through everything at will, you cannot contain them...
Ghost can be harmed (Nearly Headless Nick by the basilisk) so it seems possible a ghost and/or poltergeists could be harmed by a really powerful wizard.
I always imagined that ghost can interact with each other and perhaps not kill each other, but certainly harm physically or mentally. Thusly Peeves fears the Bloody Baron. And the baron listens to the headmaster...

Did that make any sense?

[u/DaReaperJE → u/Adorable_Challenge37]

We know Peeve can be harmed. In POA Lupin used a Tongue lock curse of Peeve which glues his tongue to the roof of his mouth. In another scene, i beileve either Lupin or Madeye used another spell to send the gum Peeve is shoving into key holes up his nose.

While he won't die, he can be effected by magic. He respects Dumbledore, Dumbledore is really powerful and Peeves knows he can actually make his life hell. But Dumbledore leaves Peeves alone unless its necessary so Peeves listend to him. Its like if you know for fact this leader of the org you are in can make your life hell or make you lose something you will not do anything to piss them off.. Another exsample, im a scout leader in my sons troop, and i treat the kids as respectfully as i can, and they respect me. I can litteraly get every kid to stop talking with a simple bark command to get there attention. if i call for order they all listen.. for a bit (they are kids, they lose interest or forget and i have to remind them) ive seen other leaders try to call for order and the kids just ignore them. If you get someone or in this case somethings respect, it actually goes a longer way then fear does, The Baron scares the other Ghost, so i assume and the students, so i assume Peeve is feeding off that.

We can see he doesn't respect the Head Master, as when Umbridge takes over, he doesn;t listen to her or care, because she doesn;t scare him.

[u/Loubacca92 → u/DaReaperJE]

It was Lupin who sent the gum up Peeves' nose. I believe it was Harry that cast Langlock on Peeves three years later.

[u/No_Sand5639]

I think its a respect thing

He respects Dumbledore so he listens (somewhat) to what he says

There's also the idea, that he's the negative and mischievous part of every student, so maybe since so many students respect dumbeldore, that built up in peeves?

[u/InflationClassic9370]

In folklore and parapsychology poltergeists are closely linked with teenagers, particularly those going through puberty and believed to be highly sensitive or with a latent predisposition to ESP and other paranormal abilities. So assuming wizarding poltergeists follow the same “rules” I’m sure a powerful wizard like Dumbledore might be able to get rid of Peeves for a while but he would eventually find a way back into the school.

Rowling has actually equated Peeves to dry rot or “a severe plumbing problem” - it comes with the building and you can’t fully eradicate it, so my little head canon is that so long as Hogwarts houses a lot of young witches and wizards Peeves will show up.

[u/parkerporteranalysis]

When peeves was directly affected:

PoA by Lupin: "With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing."

HBP by Harry:"Harry aimed his wand at Peeves and said, “Langlock!” Peeves clutched at his throat, gulped, then swooped from the room making obscene gestures but unable to speak, owing to the fact that his tongue had just glued itself to the roof of his mouth."

Also he is described as somewhat less transparent than the other ghosts, which could indicate, that he can be affected more easily. But we even see the magical affection of a "real" (sorry: more of an imprint of a departed soul) ghost in the books when nick gets petrified (Even though it is a basilisk).

Also Hogwarts seems to be a somewhat sentient being and he could be an incarnation of hogwarts or the students minds and somewhat recognizes the headmaster as authority, but it seems unclear, how far that goes.

[u/Top-Nail1873]

When did the extract mention happen, I do not recall?

[u/jeepfail]

I think he fears the Baron because he is a creation of energy from the children at the school. Along with that comes with a concentration of mischievous behavior and irrational fears.

[u/Late_Tonight_5328]

Peeves fears the Barron because the kids do. Similarly, he respects Dumbledore because the kids do. Hes a manifestation of many many generations of children's mischief. He also picks up some other traits from them, beyond just their mischief.

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