Use of names

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 18711

David wrote:

> 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.
> 
<snip>

> 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).

A few more observations on names:

-Dumbledore calls students by their first names one-on-one (cf any 
conversation with Harry), but when speaking to them in front of 
others, may use their first names or call them "Mr. Potter and Miss 
Granger" (cf PA ch 21).  In large gatherings he almost always uses the 
latter (cf "I am =not= joking, Mr. Weasley," at opening feast in GF). 
 Dumbledore, in whatever situation, seems to be the model of 
courtesy (I get this from lots of Dumbledorean adverbs: "politely," 
"courteously,") so this familiarity does not seem to me to be 
rudeness.

-McGonagall actually refers to most male students by their last names; 
I don't believe she ever calls Harry Harry, even when she's feeling 
quite tender towards him (e.g. when she takes him out to the tent for 
the first task [GF, "The First Task"], or tries to bring him to the 
hospital wing after he's narrowly rescued from Crouch Jr. [GF, 
"Veritaserum"]).  Like Binns and some other professors, even Snape, 
she is more likely to refer to girls as "Miss" whomever.

-Snape usually calls Dumbledore "Headmaster," unlike the rest of the 
adults, who call him variously Albus, Dumbledore, and Professor 
Dumbledore.  This seems formal in a very respectful way to me.

-Lupin calls Snape by his first name but Snape calls him by his last 
name.  I'm not sure what to conclude from this.  Is one of them being 
rude, and if so, which?  (Lupin for being more familiar than Snape is 
comfortable with, or Snape for rebuffing a friendly gesture?)  Or 
maybe it means nothing; each is simply referring to the other the way 
he refers to everyone of similar rank. 
   It's a key plot issue, though, because we don't learn Lupin's first 
name until Sirius uses it near the end of PA (ch 18).  We already know 
at that point that he's a werewolf.  I wondered whether JKR was 
withholding his first name because she thought it would clue us in too 
quickly to his secret.  

-There was a thread a few months back on mentions of "the Dark Lord," 
and it is almost always a follower who calls him that.  When Moody is 
about to drop his pretence ("Veritaserum"), he calls him "the Dark 
Lord" repeatedly; it is a last-minute clue to readers that he didn't 
take Harry back to his office to keep him safe.  I like CMC's point 
about his never calling him Voldemort.  We know from Pettigrew's wince 
when Sirius says The Name (PA 19) that being a follower emphatically 
does not make one more comfortable with calling him by name.

-I'm interested in why those who call Voldemort by his name do so.  
Sirius and Remus do--Harry comments internally on the latter (PA 
8)--but we get no explanation of why they are the only people besides 
Dumbledore and Harry who don't do the You Know Who thing.  The 
implication is that they are less fearful and/or understand that 
creating a layer of mystery around the name just increases fear, but I 
wonder whether it indicates that they're a part of a circle close to 
Dumbledore, have gotten the same talk he gave Harry, or what.  

Lea wrote:

> What do you think Dumbledore would call him if they came face to 
face?

> In his habit of using literally everybody´s first name (which I find 
> very nice, if slightly American), would he make it "Tom" again?

I think he might call him Tom Riddle, in order to say to V "I remember 
where you came from and I'm not impressed or frightened by you."  
Voldemort, especially Lord Voldemort, sounds so impressive and 
intimidating; Tom Riddle is a combination of oh-so-ordinary-British 
and comical.

-Vernon and Petunia never call Harry by his name (it's just "boy" or 
"you") unless they're trying to kiss up to him (a), or, on one 
occasion, when Vernon's just automatically repeating what Dudley has 
said (b):

 (a) He took a deep breath and then forced his face into a smile, 
which looked quite painful.
     "Er - yes, Harry - about this cupboard.  Your aunt and I have 
been thinking . . . you're really getting a bit big for it . . . we 
think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."  
(PS/SS 3)

 (b) "Get the post, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper. 
     "Make Harry get it."
     "Get the post, Harry." (PS/SS 3) 

I'm pretty sure those are the only times a Dursley calls Harry by 
name.  I might have forgotten a couple.  But it definitely fits in 
with their way of trying to make Harry feel as if he is beneath their 
notice.

-I find it a little odd when Parvati refers to Hermione as "Hermione 
Granger" (it's right after Harry asks her to the ball).  There is 
probably only one Hermione in the school, and she's Parvati's roommate 
and constant classmate--this gives an odd sense that they are quite 
distant.

-This last observation is not about what characters call each other, 
but what JKR calls them:  she uses Lee's, Dean's, and Seamus's full 
names very frequently (e.g. the first mention of them in a scene), 
which gets to me after awhile.  Does she think we'll forget who they 
are?

David, what did you mean by Dobby's inexpert grasp of names?

Amy Z
who, like your typical USAmerican, prefers for everyone to call her by 
her first name (as long as they permit her to do the same--don't you 
hate when doctors call you Joe but expect you to call them Dr. Jones? 
 even if they're years younger than you?) but admits to a fondness for 
the NY Times' old-fashioned practice of affixing a title to every name

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 The [Chudley Cannons'] motto was changed in 1972
 from 'We shall conquer' to 'Let's all just keep
 our fingers crossed and hope for the best'.
                      -Quidditch Through the Ages
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