Dumbledore's use of names (was: Old buds?, Moody-Crouch)

[dfrankis at dial.pipex.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 18699

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., catherine at c... wrote:
> > He (Dumbledore) also treats 
> Moody with slightly more familiarity than we are used to - I don't 
> think he often calls other teachers by their first names - at least 
> not in the presence of students, and I recall at least one instance 
> when he calls him Alastair instead of Professor Moody, which in my 
> mind shows that they have at least some history/friendship prior to 
> Hogwarts.  

One of the ways that JKR shows the different characters of the 
different teachers is in their use of first names.  So, for example, 
McGonagall uses 'Mr Potter', 'Miss Grainger', etc most of the time.  
Snape often just says 'Potter' or 'Longbottom'.  Notice too Dobby's 
rather inexpert grasp of names.

Dumbledore almost without exception uses first names for everyone 
(though there are exceptions).  It is he who lets us first know what 
these names are in many cases.  So I think calling Moody 'Alastor' is 
what I'd expect, even after a fairly slight acqaintance.  He does, 
however, refer to other teachers as 'Professor...' when talking to 
Harry, even correcting him in PS/SS when Harry refers to 'Snape' 
without title.

It's worth noting that Lupin always calls students by their first 
names, most memorably when arguing with Snape about Neville.

So Dumbledore reproves Harry, implying he should respect Snape, by 
use of full title and surname, while Lupin reproves Snape, implying 
he should respect Neville, by use of first name.  Cool, as Dean would 
say.

There is also a study to be done on use of He-who-must-not-be-named 
vs You-know-who vs Dark Lord (unless I've missed it).

David

BTW, it's Alastor