I. Swear. To. God.
If I read one more fic in which Arthur gives Harry some kind of talk - be it the "make sure my daughter is home by eleven" kind or the "Harry you do know what sex is, don't you?" kind or the "if you take my pure darling's virginity without promising her that you will marry her I will shoot you" kind - something is going to die. I
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1. I think that the rule of thumb with "sir" is to steer clear of using it outside of a prefessional capacity - basically, only use it in situations where it is explicitly OK to use it. So, addressing your senior in the police force = yes; adressing the teacher you can't be bothered to say the name of = yes; addressing the man you have stopped for speeding if you are a (polite) policeman / the person you are serving if you a (good) waiter = yes; addressing your father/uncle/father-in-law like that = no. I would hazard a guess that in the Auror department it's probably acceptable, maybe even expected, particularly from newbies.
Any situations in which it is not expected, it wouldn't be done, basically because it looks sarcastic - from my eyes, I always read these "yes, sir" scenes of Harry/Ron/Draco as if they're taking the piss, and there should be a mock-salute at the end. Also, it is one of the few really glaring Americanisms that makes alarm bells ring in my head in an unpleasant manner. I also always expect ( ... )
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addressing your father/uncle/father-in-law like that = no
That reminded me of when a Texas friend met the mum of a friend from New Zealand. Like almost any boy from Texas would he called her "ma'am." And of course she thought he was taking the piss!
Anyway, interesting post. Harry and Arthur do have a bit of a strange relationship. Obviously it's not fleshed out very much. But Molly is obviously a maternal figure for Harry where Arthur is definitely not a paternal figure. I don't think I've ever really seen their relationship explored in fic but it could be interesting. I don't see them ever being particularly close, unlike with Molly, not that they don't get on well.
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I IS AGREEING WITH EVERYTHING.
Understatement and irony FTW.
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