Character from harry-potter-chamber-of-secrets by
Gryffindor's house ghost, a jovial 15th-century nobleman whose botched execution left his head hanging by a thread. This year he throws a Deathday Party and is petrified alongside Mrs Norris -- the first hint that whatever is attacking students isn't alive.
Nick is sociable, vain about his death story, and deeply hurt by the Headless Hunt's rejection -- they won't let him join because his head is still technically attached. He takes his role as Gryffindor ghost seriously and genuinely cares about the students. This year he invites Harry to his five-hundredth Deathday Party -- a miserable affair in the dungeons with rotting food and ghostly orchestras. Harry attends out of guilt and obligation, and it's there that he first hears the voice in the walls that no one else can hear. Nick himself is petrified along with Mrs Norris -- an important clue, because a ghost cannot die a second time, meaning the Basilisk's reflected gaze merely freezes rather than kills those who see it indirectly.
Translucent, pearly-white. Elizabethan ruff collar strategically positioned to hide the near-severance. Doublet and tights. Head tilts at wrong angles.
Also known as: Nick, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, Nearly Headless Nick