of Requirement at Hogwarts while visiting the castle years later. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Nina Young played the Grey Lady, and in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, she was played by Kelly Macdonald. Nearly Headless Nick Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington KG, often referred to as Nearly Headless Nick, Nick, or Sir Nicholas, is the Gryffindor House ghost who in life was sentenced to death by beheading after a teeth-straightening spell went awry on Lady Grieve. However, the executioner's axe was blunt and Nick's head was still attached to his neck by a thin strip of skin after 45 chops. Harry becomes friends with Nick when he attends his "deathday" party (the 500th anniversary of the event) in a Hogwarts dungeon. Nick's death date (31 October 1492) had the distinction of having served as the basis for the entire chronology of the Harry Potter stories, until the timeline was confirmed by James and Lily's headstone in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. His greatest wish is to become a member of the Headless Hunt, as mentioned in the second book. However, he is excluded due to the fact that he is not actually headless ("he is nearly headless") and would never be completely able to participate in the activities (such as "Head Polo"). In Chamber of Secrets, Nick is a victim of the Basilisk that Ginny Weasley unleashes under the influence of Tom Riddle. The stare of the Basilisk is lethal to anyone who looks it directly in the eye. All of its living victims meet its gaze indirectly, either from a reflection or by seeing it through something else, and are only petrified rather than killed. Nick is the only one to look directly at the Basilisk, but he too is petrified since he is a ghost and cannot die again. Nick also protected Hufflepuff student Justin Finch-Fletchley from death after Justin saw the basilisk's eyes through Nick's transparent body, thus only petrifying him as well. The character appears again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Harry has been looking for comfort upon Sirius' death, hoping he can see him later as a ghost. Nick explains that only witches and wizards who fear death and refuse to go on can become ghosts, dashing Harry's hope of communicating with Sirius. He appears briefly in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,