Titles, Names, and Honorifics

Various titles are used for people in the wizarding world. Most of them are fairly common, but a few are unique.

• Gurg
• Head Boy/Girl
• Headmaster/Headmistress
• High Inquisitor
• Keeper of the Keys and Grounds
• Madam (Madame)
• Minister
• Mr/ Mrs
• personal assistant
• Potions Master
• Prefects
• Professor
• Sorcerer
• Supreme Mugwump
• Warlock
• Witch/Wizard

Gurg
Leader of the giants. Succession to the position of Gurg comes about by violent overthrow, typically. The Gurg is usually the largest of the giants. He sits in one place and waits for the other giants to bring him food. Karkus and Golgomath are two of the more recent Gurgs of the giants.

Head Boy/Head Girl
There is one Head Boy and one Head Girl each year at Hogwarts. These are students in their seventh year who are given some of the responsibility of maintaining order and administering discipline. They are also in charge of the Prefects. Percy Weasley was Head Boy in his seventh year. James and Lily were also Head Boy and Girl. Apparently, one does not have to be a Prefect every year to become Head Boy, since James was not a Prefect in his fifth year but was made Head Boy in his seventh.

Headmaster/Headmistress
The witch or wizard who runs a wizarding school such as Hogwarts uses this title. Dumbledore was Headmaster of Hogwarts until the end of Harry's sixth year, while McGonagall was the Deputy Headmistress. Karkaroff is Headmaster of Durmstrang while Madame Maxime is Headmistress of Beauxbatons. Portraits of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses hang in the Head's office at Hogwarts; see portraits. Amando Dippet was headmaster in the 1940s when Tom Riddle was a student at Hogwarts.

High Inquisitor
Umbridge was given this title by a decree from the Minister of Magic. She was given the authority to inspect her fellow teachers and, should they prove lacking, have them sacked. She took the job with relish and clearly enjoyed bullying others. Presumably, the position of Hogwarts High Inquisitor has now been eliminated.

Keeper of the Keys and Grounds
Hagrid's title, along with Gamekeeper.

Madam (Madame)
Witches are given this honorific. Those on staff at Hogwarts who are referred to as "madam" are those who are not professors, such as Madam Pince, the librarian, Madam Hooch, the Flying teacher and Quidditch referee, and Madam Pomfrey, the nurse. Others referred to in that way are Madam Malkin, who runs a robe shop in Diagon Alley, and Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham who really likes the Kwikspell course. Madam Marsh is a little old witch who sometimes rides the Knight Bus. Madam Rosmerta is the proprietor of the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Madame Maxime is Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy.

Minister
This title is given only to the Minister of Magic (see), who is sometimes referred to simply as Minister. This is a term used for top officials in the British government, equivalent to Secretary in the U.S. Cabinet. NOTE: The title varies slightly between the UK and US editions. In the UK, this position is refered to as the Minister for Magic.

Mr./Mrs.
This commonplace title is used for Mr. Ollivander, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Filch, and even Harry himself on occasion. In the case of Filch, it may be the male counterpart of "Madam" to refer to an unmarried staff person who is not a teacher. Note that in British English, there is no period used with the abbreviation, while in the US there is. Interestingly, cats belonging to Squibs are called Mr or Mrs, perhaps reflecting their strong connection to their non-magical owners.

personal assistant
Percy Weasley was made the personal assistant of Mr. Crouch. It is unclear if this was actually Crouch's intention--he, after all, didn't even remember Percy's name, and mentioned that Percy was overeager. Crouch may have done this only under the Imperius Curse.

Potions Master
See master.

Prefects
Students who accept some responsibility for maintaining order and discipline at Hogwarts. There are a number of Prefects from each house: two from each house in fifth year for sure. They are under the jurisdiction of the Head Boy and Girl. Percy Weasley was made a Prefect in his fifth and sixth years, then made Head Boy in his seventh year. Ron and Hermione were Gryffindor Prefects in their fifth year.

Professor
The teachers at Hogwarts are referred to as Professors. Karkaroff of Durmstrang is also called a Professor.

Sorcerer
Most often, the title of "sorcerer" seems to be used to imply that the person referred to practices the Dark Arts. Voldemort is referred to as a sorcerer. However, Dumbledore's list of titles includes that of Chief Sorcerer, and he is clearly not a Dark wizard. Perhaps Dumbledore has studied the Dark Arts in order to be able to fight them, thereby earning the title. As Binns states, "Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't." In Dumbledore's case, this would suggest that he has learned about Dark Magic but that he chooses not to use it, thereby demonstrating that he is not a sorcerer and is in fact good. It is a person's choices that determine who they are, after all.

Generally speaking, sorcery is just as terrible in the wizarding world as it is in the Muggle world. However, the term is also used for Celestina Warbeck, who is referred to as "The Singing Sorceress." Since there is nothing to suggest that she is evil, this is probably a reference to her bewitching voice as well being as a mildly clever alliteration.

The term "Sorcerer's Stone" as used in the American version of the first book was changed from the original, which was "Philosopher's Stone." The stone is not evil, even though it was given that unfortunate name by a well-meaning American editor.

Supreme Mugwump
The head of the International Confederation of Wizards is called the Supreme Mugwump. Dumbledore held that post for years, although he was temporarily removed from it during 1995 [Y15] and reinstated in June of 1996 [Y16]. The first Supreme Mugwump was Pierre Bonaccord.

The term "Mugwump" refers to a leader, derived from an Algonquian (a language of one of the American Indian tribes) word meaning "great chief." But over the years, a number of interesting definitions have evolved for this strange word, some more flattering than others.At one time or another the term referred to a leader who stayed aloof from controversy, a somewhat humorous name for a person in authority who thinks they are more important than they are, and even a political term during the late 1800s in the US suggesting someone who "sits on the fence," with their "mug" on one side and their "wump" on the other side (the phrase "sit on the fence" indicating an inability to take a position one way or the other).

Warlock
Dumbledore is Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, which identifies him as a wise, intelligent, and honorable person to be respected. However, the exact definition of the term "warlock" is difficult to determine from the contexts in which it is used. Warlocks in some cases seem to be simply older male wizards. All warlocks do not seem to be wise, intelligent, and honorable, however. As with Dumbledore, there are distinguished warlocks -- Ernie Macmillan is more than happy to proclaim himself a descendant of nine generations of them, for example. But some warlocks get a little wild sometimes, as with the groups Harry has seen in the Three Broomsticks and the Leaky Cauldron. In fact, Harry actually differentiates between "venerable" wizards and "wild-looking" warlocks whom he observes in the Leaky Cauldron (PA4)

• Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks
• the Warlocks' Convention of 1709
• the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy
• "an old warlock called Perkins" (works with Arthur Weasley)
• Warlock D. J. Prod of Didsbury (fond of the Kwikspell course)
• Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.
• "I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood's as pure as anyone's..." (Ernie Macmillan)
• "No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves." (Gilderoy Lockhart)
• "Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis." (apparently the Confederation is also referred to as the Federation)
• Harry ate breakfast each morning in the Leaky Cauldron, where he liked watching the other guests: funny little witches from the country, up for a day's shopping; venerable-looking wizards arguing over the latest article in Transfiguration Today; wild-looking warlocks; raucous dwarfs; and once, what looked suspiciously like a hag, who ordered a plate of raw liver from behind a thick woollen balaclava.
• "A curvy sort of woman with a pretty face was serving a bunch of rowdy warlocks up at the bar..."

witch/wizard
The members of the magical community refer to themselves as witches and wizards. Technically, they are all called "wizard", although female wizards are more often called "witch". There is a difference, however, between just a wizard and a "fully-qualified wizard." Even a two-year old is a wizard if he has the magical power within him. It is only through years of training, however, that a person becomes fully qualified. Not all witches and wizards attain this status. Witches and wizards come of age at 17 years old in the wizarding world.