Looking at this again—why didn’t Hermione become a ghost?
Even assuming it’s just a beta-fork of her consciousness, I find it hard to believe that she would be so willing to just move on, if she had the option. And violent death by troll is exactly the sort of thing that results in ghost formation in literature.
So… evidence that someone’s doing something finicky with her soul?
If dying violently was enough on its own, then there would be scads of ghosts floating around, left behind by the war, even if you also discount those brave or unafraid-of-death enough to fight.
Moreover, Hermione’s greatest fear (from the Dementor chapters) was dying alone, and Harry was there to assuage that fear. It’s possible that that was enough to allow her to pass on, and that Harry’s presence was the only reason that she didn’t actually become a ghost. Which could have interesting effects on him if he ever found out.
Which doesn’t mean that something extra isn’t going on.
Okay.
Looking at this again—why didn’t Hermione become a ghost?
Even assuming it’s just a beta-fork of her consciousness, I find it hard to believe that she would be so willing to just move on, if she had the option. And violent death by troll is exactly the sort of thing that results in ghost formation in literature.
So… evidence that someone’s doing something finicky with her soul?
I don’t think that’s necessarily true.
If dying violently was enough on its own, then there would be scads of ghosts floating around, left behind by the war, even if you also discount those brave or unafraid-of-death enough to fight.
Moreover, Hermione’s greatest fear (from the Dementor chapters) was dying alone, and Harry was there to assuage that fear. It’s possible that that was enough to allow her to pass on, and that Harry’s presence was the only reason that she didn’t actually become a ghost. Which could have interesting effects on him if he ever found out.
Which doesn’t mean that something extra isn’t going on.
Well, sure. Evidence for, not absurdly-strong-evidence that I’d call a proof. :P