"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak,

　　"Can't you --?"

　　I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've in troduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

　　"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you -- you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

　　"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy --" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

　　"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

　　Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.

　　"Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So -- new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable -- he's the Slytherin ghost."

　　Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.

　　"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

　　"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

　"看起来真好吃。"对面的鬼魂看着哈利在切牛排，伤心地说。

　　"你要不要也来吃点——"

　　"我已经有四百年没吃过东西了，"鬼魂说，"当然，我不需要进食，但我仍很怀念那些美味佳肴。我还没介绍自己吧？尼古拉斯。德。米姆西。波平顿爵士，愿为你服务。我是住在格林芬顿高塔上的鬼魂。""我听说过你！"罗恩突然说，"我哥告诉过我有关你的事——你就是无头尼克嘛。""我希望你还是叫我尼古拉斯。德。米姆西。波平顿爵士好一点。"鬼魂开始哭泣了。这时，沙土色头发的谢默斯。范尼更却来插话："无头？你怎么样能做到无头状态呢？"尼古拉斯爵士十分愤怒，这段谈话显然不是他所期望的。

　　"就像这样。"他恶狠狠地说，边说边抓住左耳用力一扯，整个脑袋就从脖子上被拉了下来，倒靠在他的肩膀上。他的头和脖子好像是用拉链连接着一样。显然，曾有人想将他斩首，不过似乎手法不够高明。看到旁人目瞪口呆的神情，无头尼克得意洋洋地将脑袋放回原处，咳了一下，然后说，"好了，——格林芬顿的新朋友，希望你们能帮助我们赢回失落的冠军奖怀。格林芬顿从未试过那么久都与冠军无缘了，史林德林人已经连续六年夺冠了！吸血鬼巴伦已经变得不可一世了——因为他是史林德林的鬼魂。"哈利朝史林德林那边望去，看见一个恐怖的鬼魂正坐在那里。

　　他那全白的双眼，削瘦的面部和沾满血液的银白色长袍令人不寒而栗，他就坐在显然不太满意座位安排的马尔夫身边。

　　"他长袍上的血是怎么来的？"谢默斯饶有兴趣地问。

　　"我从没问过他。"无头尼克说。