Definitions of Prince

[davewitley]

No: HPFGUIDX 103657

Caius Marcius wrote:

> look at the form of government practiced in the British
> Potterverse. They have a Minister of Magic (who is elected), a
> Wizengamot that seems to mix both legislative and judicial 
functions,
> but no king, no queen, no royal family, no titled peerage or 
nobleman. The only character with 
> royal pretensions is Lord Voldemort, and even Lord is a pretty 
modest 
> claim next to Prince or King.
> 
> My feeling is that the Prince refers to a character from the 
distant
> past - most likely Godric Gryffindor. 

I like this line of reasoning, but wonder if, rather, the HBP 
(sounds like a Croatian political party, doesn't it) was a prominent 
person who put Gryffindor's entrance policy to the test.

One can envisage Slytherin grudgingly and nervously accepting half-
blood or muggle-born students as long as they were commoners who 
could be made to understand the point of secrecy.  If, then, someone 
who was, say the son of a Muggle king (we don't know when Hogwarts 
was founded but it could easily have been in the period when Britain 
was several kingdoms) and a witch, showed magical ability, that 
would present much more problems for Hogwarts.  Such a person would 
be a power in his own land, and schooling at Hogwarts (quite 
possibly effectively in a foreign country) might not go unnoticed.  
He might also have political ideas of his own that would upset the 
delicate balance between Gryffindor and Slytherin, even the basis 
for wizarding concealment generally.

In such a situation, one can imagine Slytherin putting his foot 
down, and refusing to accept such a high profile student, leading to 
the final break with the other founders.  It is also easy to see how 
JKR might have outlined such a scenario in the COS backstory, and 
then pulled it in favour of the vaguer history provided by Binns.

Finally, one can speculate on the Bloody Baron.  He could have been 
Slytherin's hired assassin, who murdered, or tried to murder, the 
HBP.  He could *even* be the HBP himself: a son of royalty, 
particularly if illegitimate, could well have had a lesser title.

David