Emphasis on the title: Professor (Was: Who calls Voldemort "Lord")

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 150994

coldsliversofglass:

> As for the title part, I have to wonder if part 
> of Harry's need to be reminded to call his professors 
> by their title involves Harry's upbringing. [snip]

> Also, I may be wrong, but I thought that Harry's 
> slips in addressing his professors usually center 
> around the issues he has with them.

houyhnhnm:

Harry meeting Hagrid for the first time:
Harry looked up at the giant.  He meant to say thank you, but the
words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was,
"Who are you?"

Harry meeting the witches and wizards who crowded around him in the
Leaky Cauldron ("Harry Potter  ... what an honor."  "Welcome back, Mr.
Potter, welcome back"  "So proud Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud." 
"Delighted Mr. Potter, just can't tell you.")  Harry says, "I've seen
you before."

Harry meeting Professor Quirrell:
"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?" [I think he's
trying hard here, bless his little heart.]

Harry meeting Mr. Ollivander:
"Hello," Harry said awkwardly.

I think you are exactly right about Harry's not having had the
opportunity to learn social skills while living with the Dursleys.  He
can be meek when he needs help from an adult (his approach to Mrs.
Weasley when he was looking for platform nine and three-quarters).  I
expect he was meek with his teachers at school.  He was probably one
of those invisible children who get overlooked because they don't
cause any trouble.  (The condition of his clothing should have raised
the possibility of neglect and been investigated, had his teachers 
paid any attention to him at all.)

On the other hand, all the skills he learned from the Dursleys about
getting along with adults were corrupt ones because the relationship
was corrupt.  His smart mouth was the only weapon he had against his
dimmer-witted relatives.  Not that it saved him from any actual
punishment, but it may have saved his sense of self.

So when he gets to Hogwarts, Harry's behavioral repertoire toward
adults consists of 1)meekness, 2)a kind of blunt directness which is
innocent in Harry's case, but which some adults might misconstrue as
insolence, and 3)sarcasm when he perceives the adult as an Uncle
Vernon-like threat.

It is not too surprising that Severus "Stict Upbringing" Snape mistook
Harry's lack of socialization for arrogance.  If he were not "The Boy
Who Lived", I think he might have had more trouble getting along with
his other teachers as well, particularly McGonagall.