Warlock (was: Why do Muggles get a capital letter?

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

No: HPFGUIDX 37749

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Silvercat <silvercat at q...> wrote:

> 
> finwitch wrote:
> > Seems to me that Warlock is some sort of title or achievement. 
> > Like Dumbledore's... Chief Warlock, Order of Merlin, First Class,
> > Grand Sorceror... Did I get it right? I wonder if some of these
> > titles> proves more meaningful in Order of Phoenix than we may 
> > think.
> 
> I forgot about that.  I was referring to the traditional sense.  
> Hmmm. Maybe something like an Ph.D.? But what would Grand Sorceror
> be? Maybe it refers to different types. 

Dumbledore's letterhead: 
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme
Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

I take that to mean 

1) Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorceror
=== I hypothesize that this means that the Order of Merlin is the only 
award the British MoM offers, so it comes in finely subdivided 
degrees: 
Order of Merlin, Second  Class. 
Order of Merlin, First Class. 
Order of Merlin, First Class, Sorceror. 
Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorceror.

2) Chief Warlock
=== Canon offers us International Confederation of Wizards, 
International Confederation of Warlocks, International Federation of 
Warlocks, the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, and the International 
Warlock Convention of 1289 (all summarized in one easy place in 
Steve's Lexicon: http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/titles.html ) 
and also tells us (in QTTA) that the Wizards' Council was the 
predecessor of the Ministry of Magic.

I believe that International [Con]Federation of Wizards/Warlocks is 
all the same thing, and that the (merely national) Warlocks' 
Convention is the same as Wizards' Council. From that idiosyncratic 
belief, I have deduced that 'warlock' means an elected representative 
to a representative assembly (e.g. a Member of Parliament). I imagine 
that Chief Warlock was the title that Barberus Bragge had as Chief of 
the Wizards' Council in the 13th century, but has descended in the 
modern day to being an honorary title for retired (defeated) Minister 
of Magic or Vice-Minister or leader of the opposition party...

3) Supreme Mugwump (of) International Confederation of Wizards
===I imagine that the boss-man of the ICW is called Supreme Mugwump 
rather than Chancellor. Past Supreme Mugwumps might retain the title 
for life.

> Warlock could be expertise
> in transfiguration, curses, potions (the darker, more witchy
> /medicine men/shaman stuff), while Sorceror is charms... (the 
> lighter stuff - more wand waving).  I know in Anthropology 
> witchcraft and sorcery have different meanings. Lessee... Ah! 
> 'sorcery involves the use of rites and spells [...] we define 
> witchcraft as the use of psychic power alone.' Okay, I've got the 
> connotation's backward.  Maybe Warlocks are more nature-stuff 
> [beasts, potions] and Sorcerors are more, ummm, the other stuff.

IIRC Transfiguration involves wand waving. Anyway, the distinction 
that anthropologists draw between 'witchcraft' and 'sorcery' is a 
distinction that was never intended to apply universally: it was 
written by one Evans-Pritchard who was trying to describe the 
different types of magic believed in by the Azande people in Africa, 
and he arbitrarily assigned English names to the types instead of 
calling them something really imaginative like Type 1 and Type 2.