Minerva McGonagall

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Professor McGonagall
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Minerva McGonagall
Fantastic Beasts
films)
In-universe information
Occupation
Family
  • Robert McGonagall (father)
  • Isobel Ross (mother)
  • Malcolm McGonagall (brother)
  • Robert McGonagall Jr (brother; deceased)
SpouseElphinstone Urquart (husband; deceased)
NationalityScottish
Gryffindor
Born4 October

Professor Minerva McGonagall is a fictional character in

Fantastic Beasts prequel films The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Secrets of Dumbledore.[1]

Fictional character biography

Education and employment at Hogwarts

Minerva McGonagall was born on 4 October in Scotland to Robert McGonagall and Isobel Ross. McGonagall was born a half-blood witch as her father was a

Vernon Dursley in Surrey. Despite McGonagall's reservations that the Dursleys were the "worst kind of Muggles", she understood that due to the framing and imprisonment of Harry's godfather Sirius Black, the Dursleys were the only family the infant had left. After the war, McGonagall and Elphinstone married, but three years later he died from a Venomous Tentacula bite, making Minerva a widow.[citation needed
]

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

In 1991, Dumbledore revealed to his closest colleagues and allies that he would be keeping the

Argus Filch
and all of them were sentenced to detention. Towards the end of the year, it was revealed that Professor Quirrell was attached to Lord Voldemort and was the one attempting to steal the philosopher's stone, but was stopped by Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Due to the trio's bravery as well as Neville Longbottom's courage in attempting to stand up to them for breaking the rules, Gryffindor eventually won the House Cup that year.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The following school year began with McGonagall having to deal with Harry and Ron crashing

Tom Riddle's diary
with a Basilisk's fang. With the monster defeated and the Chamber of Secrets closed, Dumbledore was reinstated and assigned McGonagall to prepare a celebratory feast.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

At the beginning of this school year, McGonagall assigned Hermione a

Firebolt
. However, McGonagall confiscated it assuming it was sent by Sirius and cursed. However, the broomstick was returned to Harry after being declared safe. That year McGonagall watched as her house won their first Quidditch Cup in years, which resulted in McGonagall openly crying tears of joy.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

During this school year, it was announced that Hogwarts would be hosting the Triwizard Tournament as well as providing accommodation for the wizarding schools

Cornelius Fudge
to kill Crouch in an attempt to stop mass hysteria over the return of Lord Voldemort. The Ministry began a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore and silenced any rumours that the Dark Lord had returned and downplayed the death of Cedric Diggory as a result.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Due to Voldemort's return, McGonagall finally joined the re-formed Order of the Phoenix alongside colleagues Dumbledore, Snape and Hagrid, as well as former colleagues

Peeves the poltergeist
in chasing Umbridge off if her injuries had not prevented her from doing so.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

McGonagall was one of the first people Harry, Ron and Hermione turned to after

Alecto Carrow
during the Battle in the Astronomy Tower and later learned of Snape's murder of Dumbledore. McGonagall was initially appointed as Headmistress, but was demoted after Voldemort took control of the school and placed Snape as Headmaster.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Despite the school's being overrun by Death Eaters, McGonagall remained at Hogwarts to ensure little harm came to the students. Later during the year, McGonagall was present when Harry, Ron and Hermione returned to Hogwarts searching for

Pansy Parkinson
and all those in favour of giving Harry over to Voldemort in exchange for their lives to leave. She was present to watch Harry defeat Voldemort once and for all and was one of the first people, aside from Ron, Hermione and Ginny, to congratulate him.

Epilogue

After the war ended, McGonagall was fully instated as the Headmistress of Hogwarts and was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class by new Minister for Magic

Herbology professor due to his gifts in the subject, and elected him as the new Head of Gryffindor House. McGonagall later learned that Snape was secretly Harry's protector and had killed Dumbledore at Dumbledore’s request. McGonagall then made a controversial decision to add Snape's portrait in the Headmaster's Office as a testament to his bravery.[3]

Characterisation and abilities

McGonagall is considered to be a formidable witch who is skilled in many forms of magic, notably transfiguration and spell-casting. She is able to perform certain magic without casting spells or sometimes without the use of a wand. McGonagall is a registered Animagus and can transform herself into a tabby cat at will. McGonagall was always held in high respect by her peers and students at Hogwarts and commanded a position second only to Dumbledore. She was notable for her sternness and dry sense of humour. Furthermore, Minerva McGonagall was inspired by the Roman goddess Minerva, or Athena in Greek mythology. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom and war (particularly in defensive war). During the series, Professor McGonagall displays many traits similar to the Roman goddess. For example, in The Deathly Hallows – Part II, McGonagall directs and orders vital defensive tactics before the penultimate battle against Voldemort.[4]

Reception

IGN ranked McGonagall as the 18th-best character in the franchise stating, "As the head of Gryffindor house and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall can be a strict disciplinarian. She is quick to kick misbehaving students out of her class, and deduct house points when the situation warrants. But she can also be kind of like that cool aunt of yours – the one who sometimes lets you get away with a bit of mischief. And that's what's so endearing about McGonagall."[5]

J.K. Rowling stating that she had always pictured the actress in the role of McGonagall.[7] Despite this, Smith stated that she didn't feel wholly comfortable while making the films and that "it didn't really feel like acting", but has said that she enjoyed being a part of the franchise as it gives her something to bond with her grandchildren over.[8][9] In 2007, Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer and struggled during the filming of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but made a full recovery in 2009.[10] McGonagall's inclusion in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was controversial for some fans of the series, as the character had been believed not to be born yet and was shown in the film teaching at Hogwarts.[11][12][13][14]

References

  1. ^ "10 Facts About Minerva McGonagall Left Out Of The Movies". ScreenRant. 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  2. Jkrowling.com. 20 October 2007. Archived from the original
    on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  3. ^ Hedash, Kara (2019-11-07). "What Happened To Professor McGonagall After Harry Potter Ended". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  4. ^ Dizayi, S., & Bagirlar, B. (2022). Mythmaking In Modern Literature: Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling. Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences, 5(3), 26–31. https://doi.org/10.33422/jarss.v5i3.761
  5. ^ "Top 25 Harry Potter characters". IGN. 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  6. ^ "Top 10 Harry Potter Characters". WatchMojo. 2014-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  7. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Archived
    from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  8. ^ Peppin, Hayley (2019-12-06). "Professor McGonagall actress Maggie Smith said working on 'Harry Potter' 'didn't feel like acting' and 'wasn't satisfying'". Insider. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  9. Associated Newspapers Limited. Archived from the original
    on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  10. ^ "Maggie Smith Discusses Cancer Treatment Struggle". The Telegraph. 2009-10-05. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  11. ^ Singh, Olivia (2018-11-17). "The 'Fantastic Beasts' sequel had an unexpected 'Harry Potter' cameo — here's why it doesn't make sense". Insider. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  12. ^ Wade, Jessie (2018-11-20). "Fantastic Beasts: Why THAT Cameo Has Fans Confused". IGN. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  13. ^ Moore, Rose (2018-11-24). "Fantastic Beasts 2's Professor McGonagall Plot Hole Can't Be Fixed". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  14. ^ Baxter-Wright, Dusty (2018-11-06). "Harry Potter fans are mad because of this Professor McGonagall error in Fantastic Beasts". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2020-07-18.