There had actually been some debate at first over what the organization's members should call King, their leader.
Calling Manus "Lord" like the Death Eaters did-king of this, master of that-did not fit their organizational structure at all, and most of them felt there was something wrong with the title anyway.
How to put it? It felt like there was an awfully high risk of a man whose name could not be spoken suddenly coming to their door and sending their whole family off to enjoy the afterlife together.
As for the other suggestions, such as prime minister, party leader, president, commander, knight, or elder, all they could say was that everyone had far too much imagination.
But some members felt restless at the thought of using an ordinary form of address. Surely their boss's title ought to have a little prestige?
If even the head of the organization lacked a respectable title, wouldn't its members have even less prestige? They were not the Order of the Phoenix, whose Dumbledore came with the title of the greatest wizard of the century.
In the end, a Ravenclaw student suggested simply calling him King. That was what they had called Manus back in Ravenclaw-with that form of address, Manus existed in a superposition of King and king, collapsing into the corresponding meaning according to what you had in mind.
This was clearly much more subtle than "Lord," chiefly because Manus's surname was King to begin with. If anyone tried to make a serious issue of it, they could just say the other person was being too sensitive.
Simply perfect.
Right now, for instance, Manus heard the other boy calling him King, but whether the boy himself meant King or His Majesty the King was a matter of interpretation.
"Come with me."
Manus