Nicknames

There are many nicknames and slang terms in the wizarding world. For example, Peeves is in general given to assigning punning nicknames to the castle’s inhabitants based on their real names.

Taunts and Insults

“Crackpot”
Peeves to Harry, another play on “Potter”. As usual with Peeves, the tag is more cruel than it looks on the surface, given that many of the castle’s inhabitants have at times thought Harry crazy, especially during the Prophet’s smear campaign when Peeves dreamed this one up (OP12).

“the dream team”
Snape called Harry and Ron this at the Duelling Club before assigning them to different partners (CS11).

“dung brains”
Fred called Ron this (GF16)

“the elephant man”
Draco referred to Hagrid by this term during his fourth year while Hagrid stayed off work, too distraught by the Daily Prophet’s expose of his family situation to appear in public.
The obvious reference is to Hagrid’s half-giant ancestry and inherited massive physique. However, the term is also a reference to John Merrick, who acquired a lot of notoriety in Victorian England due to an extremely disfiguring condition. Merrick’s personal reputation was that of an usually gentle and cultured man, one of the few with the inner strength to bear his load – though one doubts that Draco would be perceptive enough to consider that. — MLW

“the famous Harry Potter and his faithful sidekick Weasley”
Snape called Harry and Ron this when he intercepted them upon their arrival at Hogwarts at the beginning of their second year (CS5). Draco referred to Harry but not Ron this way during their confrontation in Flourish and Blotts (CS4).

“long-haired pillock”
Rita Skeeter called Bill Weasley this in an article. It didn’t seem to bother him much (GF10).

“loony loopy Lupin”
Peeves calls Lupin this (PA7). Although on the surface it’s just playing with the sounds of Lupin’s name, it’s actually rather cruel, given the dementia associated with lycanthropy, but it doesn’t seem to bother the adult Lupin too much.

making faces

Lupin’s Grindylow did this (PA8).

“mudblood”
Very impolite term for a Muggle-born witch or wizard.

“Patronus Potter”
Lucius Malfoy sneeringly called Harry this after the latter’s disciplinary hearing, when the word got out that Harry was capable of casting a corporeal Patronus (OP9).

“pea-brain”
What Ron called the Mountain Troll in the girls’ bathroom (PS10).

“Phlegm”
Ginny’s nickname for Fleur Delacour, invented because of Ginny’s annoyance at Fleur’s behavior when she was staying at the Burrow (HBP5).

“potty wee Potter”
Peeves calls Harry this (CS11, OP12).

“Potty and the Weasel”
Draco called Harry and Ron this (PA5)

“Pretty Boy Diggory”
Seamus Finnigan called Cedric this, and the Hufflepuffs glared at him (GF16)

Roonil Wazlib
Ron’s Spell-Checking Quill wrote this on his Potions textbook instead of the correct spelling of his name when its charm began wearing off. When Harry later borrowed the book and tried to pass it off as his own, he explained the inscription by telling Snape that this was his nickname (HBP24)

“Squib”
See appropriate section of the Blood Status essay.

“Sir Properly-Decapitated Podmore”
Nearly Headless Nick sarcastically called Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore this after being rejected for membership in the Headless Hunt (CS8)

“Scarhead”
Draco called Harry this during a Quidditch match (CS10)

“lousy, biased scumbag”
What Ron called Karkaroff when he gave Harry a mere 4 for a score on the first task (GF26)

“twitchy little ferret”
Hermione to Draco, referring to Mad-Eye’s famous Transfiguration punishment for drawing on Harry when Harry’s back was turned (GF13).

unrecorded nasty names
Ron called McGonagall these (PA8)

Nicknames

Dark Lord, the (Voldemort)
Seers and those somewhat sympathetic to Voldemort’s philosophy tend to refer to him in this form (PA, GF, OP), although apparently innocent parties have been known to do so on occasion.

Forge (George Weasley)
When each of the Weasley twins’ Christmas jumpers in their their third year bore their initials (an F for Fred and G for George), they began referring to themselves as Gred and Forge (PS12). (They know perfectly well that they can give even their mother a run for her money in telling them apart.)

Gred (Fred Weasley)
See Forge.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Voldemort)
This form of referring to Voldemort is a little less neutral than it might at first appear, because of its extremely formal and rather respectful style. Karkaroff, for example, used it during his trial when trying to persuade the Council of Magical Law that he had completely repudiated his allegiance as a Death Eater (GF30), and Wormtail used it when trying to talk his way around the other Marauders when they exposed his disguise (PA19).

Lord Thingy (Voldemort)
Fudge, unable to bring himself to say the name, referred to Voldemort this way during his statement to the Daily Prophet after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries (OP38)

Mad-Eye (Alastor Moody)
Old disfigured Auror who has one magical eye that moves around uncannily – and incidentally, a reputation for extreme paranoia. (Which may be how he lived to be an old Auror in the first place…) (GF12).

Marauders
James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew (HBP21)

Moony (Remus Lupin)
Werewolf, gained this nickname as part of the Marauders

Padfoot (Sirius Black)
Marauders nickname of Animagus who can turn himself into a large dog (PA18)

Patronus Potter (Harry Potter)
Lucius Malfoy called Harry this to his face in mockery, after Harry’s disciplinary hearing (OP9).

Prongs (James Potter)
Marauders nickname of Animagus who can turn himself into a stag (PA18, PA22)

Snivellus (Severus Snape)
Also: Snivelly
James Potter and Sirius Black hung this one on Snape when they were at Hogwarts together; Wormtail also appears to have used it, although Lupin never seems to have descended to that level. Sirius still used it to Snape’s face as an adult, in fact, though only when particularly aggravated (OP24).

Snuffles (Sirius Black)
Sirius asked Harry, Ron, and Hermione to refer to him as this when talking among themselves about him, so that if they were overheard, the security risk would be minimized (GF27). In fact, the trio were rather sloppy about using it that year, and only developed proper caution during the next school year.

“Stingers”
nickname for fans of the Wimbourne Wasps (QA7)

my sweet
Filch calls Mrs. Norris this

Voldything
Vernon Dursley referred to Voldemort by this name, being unwilling to talk about this whole magic thing at all (OP2).

Weasel King (Ron Weasley)
Draco coined this nickname after the lyrics of his own song “Weasley Is Our King”, written in mockery of Ron’s goal-keeping ability (OP).

Your Wheezy
Dobby refers to Ron as Harry’s Wheezy (GF26)

Won-Won (Ron Weasley)

Lavender Brown took to calling Ron this when they began seeing each other during their sixth year. Hermione took to using it sarcastically when talking about him to Harry (HBP17).

Wormtail (Peter Pettigrew)
Marauders’ nickname of Animagus who could turn himself into a rat, referring to his long bald tail (PA18)

You-Know-Who (Voldemort)
Members of the Order of the Phoenix – other than Black, Dumbledore, and Lupin – tend to use this form. (It’s also in common use outside the Order, of course.)

fun things to call Percy

Bighead Boy
play on “Head Boy” (PA4)

Humongous Bighead
From the HB badge the Head Boy wears (PA4)

Perfect Percy
Play on “Prefect”, also referring to Molly Weasley’s tendency – before Voldemort’s return, that is – to dwell on Percy’s qualities that she wanted his younger siblings to cultivate) (CS4).

Pinhead
The twins bewitched Percy’s prefect badge to say this (CS12)

humongous pile of rat droppings
Fred said this about Percy in an effort to comfort his mother when Percy returned his Weasley jumper at Christmas. Surprisingly, it didn’t make Molly feel any better (OP23).

Weatherby
Crouch (Percy’s boss) called him this, indicating that Percy’s hero-worship evidently hadn’t made enough impression on him for Crouch to remember his subordinate’s name. The twins then began using the name (GF7).