Titled characters (WAS Voldemort's "lordship")

[pengolodh_sc]

No: HPFGUIDX 86366

--- In HPforGrownups, Kathryn Cawte wrote:
[snip]

> Bloody Baron strikes me as a nickname, similar to Nearly-
> Headless Nick, so he probably didn't choose it himself - thus
> he would have had no say in whether he was the Bloody Baron or
> the Bloody Marquis or whatever, I suspect is was chosen by
> whoever first used it because it sounds good and is reasonably
> accurate i.e. he is a Baron, but that doesn't mean he's not
> anything else as well.
[snip]

But it seems the Bloody Baron does not mind this title.  First, keep 
in mind that the Bloody Baron seems to have a way of instilling fear -
 not only in the students, but also in Peeves, and, I believe, other 
ghosts - which would grants him a recourse to make them call him what 
he wants to be called, at the very least when he is present.  NHN, on 
the other hand, is not seen as particularly scary beyond the 
scariness of ghosts in general, and so does not have that recourse - 
he couldn't even control his own 600th Deathday party from becoming a 
scene of ridicule of his own person.

Consequently, if the Bloody Baron does not like being called the 
Bloody Baron, he would not have been called so, except quietly - 
because, since ghosts seem to have the ability to become invisible, 
he could be nearby, listening.  We would then see a situation where 
he out loud would be called one thing, but then NHN would give Harry 
and the others a quiet, silent word, that they like to call him the 
Bloody Baron because he doesn't like it - he does not.

If he likes being called a Baron, then he would not mind being called 
a higher rank - Earl, Viscount, etc - either, but in that case, he 
would not like being called Baron if he in fact were something ranked 
higher than a Baron.  When a person has more than one title, he/she 
is always titled at his/her highest rank, as seen with John Edward 
Hollister Montagu, the 11th Earl of Sandwich, who is also Viscount 
Hinchingbrooke and Baron Mountagu of St Neots - he is always referred 
to as Lord Sandwich, or the Earl of Sandwich; to adress him as Lord 
Hitchingbrooke or Lord Mountagu of St Neots would be seen as bad 
form.  If he were something lower in rank than a Baron, it is likely 
again that NHN would say something about it, because he is seen as 
being bitter about the Headless Hunt and not being allowed to 
participate there.

Now, consider also that the Bloody Baron is the one who has to deal 
with Peeves, and the one ghost ofwhom Peeves is afraid, and consider 
the following passage - in PS, Chapter seventeen, 'Through the 
Trapdoor', Harry, Ron, and Hermione have snuck out of Gryffindor 
Tower, after Hermione petrified Neville.  Then they encounter Peeves:

"They didn't meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to 
the third floor.  Peeves was bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet 
so that people would trip.

'Who's there?' he said suddenly as they climbed towards him.  He 
narrowed his wicked black eyes.  'Know you're there, even if I can't 
see you.  Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?'

He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at them.

'Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around 
unseen.'

Harry had a sudden idea.

'Peeves,' he said, in a hoarse whisper, 'the Bloody Baron has his own 
reasons for being invisible.'

Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock.  He caught himself in 
time, and hovered about a foot off the stairs.

'So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr Baron, sir,' he said greasily.  'My 
mistake, my mistake - I didn't see you - of course I didn't, you're 
invisible - forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir.'"

Peeves does not at all question that the Bloody Baron refers to 
himself as the Bloody Baron - and the books go a long way in implying 
that they have had dealings before, in that the Bloody Baron is the 
only ghost having any controlling effect on Peeves.  Peeves is not 
stupid - if Harry had said something out of character for the Bloody 
Baron, Peeves would have realised it.  Thus it seems that the Bloody 
Baron is perfectly comfortable with being named just this.

> I almost wish Harry had become a Slytherin then maybe we could
> have seen the Bloody Baron's version of NHN's introduction.

Not so certain about that - I think the introduction would have been 
of the rather ghastly kind.

> *Do* the books say what he looks like btw? I asked earlier
> in the hopes of dating him and don't think I got an answer.

If it is said, I do not recall it.  He is described as ghaunt and 
bloody.  For what it is worth, the fact that NHN defers to him, *may* 
be taken as a sign that the Bloody Baron predates him - but the 
Bloody Baron is such an intimidating figure that this is not a 
requirement.

Best regards
Christian Stubø