Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Characters/Minerva McGonagall
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
| Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Character | |
| Minerva McGonagall | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Unknown |
| Related Family | Unknown |
| Loyalty | Order of the Phoenix |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Minerva McGonagall is the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. She is also Head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress. Minerva also has the distinction of being one of the seven licensed Animagi of the 20th Century, being able to transform at will into a tabby cat (with distinctive markings around its eyes).
According to the author, Minerva McGonagall's birthday is 4 October.
[edit] Role in the Books
[edit] Philosopher's Stone
Minerva McGonagall meets with Albus Dumbledore as baby Harry is brought to Number 4, Privet Drive. As they discuss the recent events that have brought Harry there, McGonagall unsuccessfully tries to dissuade Dumbledore from leaving the infant with his aunt and uncle, calling them, "the very worst sort of Muggles."
McGonagall greets the first-years at the school's entrance and escorts them into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony. Harry quickly realizes she is the wrong person to get onto the bad side of. However, he nearly does just that when he is almost late to his first Transfiguration lesson.
At breakfast in the Great Hall, McGonagall stops a confrontation that would have pitted Draco Malfoy and his cronies against Harry, Ron, and Neville Longbottom.
During Harry's first flying lesson, she spots him flying "like a natural" and recruits him for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, even though first-years are normally ineligible. Against school policy, she gets him a new broom – a Nimbus 2000.
At Hallowe'en, Harry and Ron defeat a mountain troll that was about to attack Hermione Granger in the girls' bathroom. To cover for them, Hermione tells McGonagall that she was planning to tackle it herself, but that Harry and Ron came to her aid; McGonagall penalizes Hermione five House points and rewards Harry and Ron five points each—for sheer dumb luck.
When Harry is caught wandering the halls after hours and for "making up some cock-and-bull story about a dragon," it is McGonagall who metes out punishment. She penalizes her own house 50 points each for the three involved students, Harry, Hermione, and Neville – 150 points – as well as assigning detention. She earlier similarly penalized Draco Malfoy for wandering the halls.
She is startled when Harry reveals that he knows about the Philosopher's Stone, but when pressed by him for an audience with Professor Dumbledore, she says he has been summoned to London. This triggers Harry, Ron, and Hermione to go through the trap door to protect the Stone.
McGonagall's part in guarding the Philosopher's Stone was enhancing a giant chess set. Ron had to play a game through in order to allow Harry and Hermione to pass on to the next barrier.
[edit] Chamber of Secrets
When Professor Snape catches Harry and Ron after they crash into the Whomping Willow with the flying car, he takes them to his office and fetches Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore is also summoned, and after hearing their story, he leaves Professor McGonagall, their House Head, to determine their punishment. She gives both detentions but does not dock any House points.
Harry, following the voice that apparently only he can hear, finds himself in the second floor hallway where words have been scrawled on the wall and Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, has been hung off a torch bracket. Filch, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Professor Lockhart, and Professor McGonagall take Mrs. Norris to Lockhart's office where Dumbledore examines her. He finds that she is Petrified, not dead. In the ensuing conversation, Filch demands that someone be punished, Snape accuses Harry of knowing things he is not telling and suggests suspending him from Quidditch, McGonagall refuses to accept such severe punishment, and Dumbledore reminds Snape that Harry is innocent until proven guilty. Dumbledore then lets Harry, Ron, and Hermione depart.
When Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick are petrified, Professor McGonagall is the senior teacher on the scene. She takes Harry to Professor Dumbledore's office, but does not stay, however, allowing Harry and Dumbledore to speak alone.
When Professor Dumbledore is suspended as Headmaster, McGonagall becomes the temporary Headmistress.
Professor McGonagall ends a Quidditch match when Hermione and Penelope Clearwater are found petrified. She takes Harry and Ron to see Hermione in the hospital wing, and asks if there is anything they can tell her about what is happening, although they do not know. She informs the Gryffindors that security restrictions have been enacted.
Ignoring the restrictions, Harry and Ron sneak off to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. When they encounter McGonagall along the way, Harry concocts a cover story saying they were going to visit Hermione in the infirmary. Touched by this apparent concern for their friend, McGonagall allows them to continue. Of course, they now have to actually visit Hermione. In her petrified hand, they discover a clue revealing the Chamber's secret. While waiting in the staff room to tell McGonagall what they have found, all students are ordered to their Common rooms; it is McGonagall who tells the other teachers that Ginny Weasley has been abducted. McGonagall is the driving force behind sending Gilderoy Lockhart into the Chamber to find the Monster and rescue Ginny. Once he leaves, she details plans for closing the school.
In Professor McGonagall's office, Harry and Ron describe what happened in the Chamber and the events leading up to it. McGonagall is sent off to arrange a celebratory feast. Later, to the now-revived Hermione's dismay, Professor McGonagall announces that all final exams have been cancelled.
[edit] Prisoner of Azkaban
Following Harry's unpleasant encounter with a Dementor on the Hogwarts Express, Professor McGonagall takes him and Hermione into her office. She summons Madam Pomfrey, who is overly solicitous, but glad to find that they now have a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher (Remus Lupin) who actually knows his remedies. Professor McGonagall suggests bed rest, but Harry insists he is fine and requests permission to go to the Welcoming Feast. McGonagall consents but asks Hermione to remain behind; Harry does not discover why until later.
During Transfiguration class, McGonagall lectures about Animagi and is surprised that students fail to react when she transforms herself into a cat. When informed about Professor Trelawney's prediction that a student will die, she seems to have to restrain herself from criticizing another teacher or subject, but says that Trelawney has predicted a student's death every year and none have yet died.
Just before the first Hogsmeade weekend outing, Harry asks Professor McGonagall if he can also go, despite lacking written permission from his Uncle Vernon; McGonagall refuses, saying she cannot not stretch the rules that far.
Fred and George Weasley give Harry a magical parchment called the Marauder's Map that shows secret passageways in and out of Hogwarts. Harry follows a tunnel into Hogsmeade, meeting up with Hermione and Ron. Together they visit the Three Broomsticks, where they eavesdrop on a conversation between Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid, Cornelius Fudge, and Madam Rosmerta. Harry learns that his godfather, Sirius Black, is believed responsible for revealing his parents' secret whereabouts to Lord Voldemort—information that led to their murders. He also learns the circumstances surrounding Black's arrest.
When Hermione informs McGonagall that Harry received an expensive Firebolt broom from an unknown person for Christmas, McGonagall confiscates it, saying that Professor Flitwick and Madam Hooch will inspect it for any concealed Dark Magic.
After several months, and much nagging by Gryffindor Quidditch captain Oliver Wood, Professor McGonagall returns the Firebolt, saying it is believed to be clean. Harry flies a marvelous match on it, marred only by the arrival of apparent Dementors, who turn out to be Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint; McGonagall gives them detentions and penalizes them House points.
Following the victory celebration, the House is awoken during the night by Ron's screams—Sirius Black was in his dorm. McGonagall asks Sir Cadogan, the guardian of the Gryffindor tower entrance, if anyone was permitted to enter; Sir Cadogan replies he granted access to someone who had all the passwords on a list. When McGonnagall discovers it is Neville Longbottoms's list, she cancels his Hogsmeade weekends and forbids him from having the password. Other students must now let him into the Gryffindor common room. After Black's break-in, Professor McGonagall tells Harry what he already knows: Black is trying to get to him.
Harry learns that Professor McGonagall gave Hermione a Time-Turner at the beginning of the year so she could attend extra classes (taught at the same time). Harry and Hermione use it to go back in time to save Buckbeak from being destroyed and to free Sirius Black. Exhausted from the heavy workload, Hermione drops her extra classes and resumes a normal class schedule. She returns the Time-Turner to Professor McGonagall.
[edit] Goblet of Fire
Professor McGonagall enters our story in the Entrance Hall. As the students are arriving, Peeves is welcoming them with water balloons; Professor McGonagall orders him to depart. At the Arrival Feast, when Dumbledore announces that the Triwizard Tournament is to be restarted, Fred Weasley is heard to say "You're joking!" This starts Dumbledore telling a (perhaps inappropriate) joke, which Professor McGonagall interrupts by pointedly clearing her throat.
When Draco Malfoy tries to Curse Harry in the Entrance Hall, Professor Moody Transfigures him into a white ferret, and bounces him in the air a few times, much to the amusement of Harry and Ron. Professor McGonagall, arriving on the scene, forcefully tells Moody that they do not transfigure students as punishment, and transforms Draco back into himself. McGonagall then tells Moody that he must talk to Draco's head of house; Moody, guessing that to be Snape, heads off to the dungeons with Draco.
Harry is amazed at the amount of homework that he is being called upon to do; Professor McGonagall tells the class that they are being prepared for their O.W.L.s, which will be happening in the next year.
As time for the arrival of the representatives of the other two schools taking part in the Tournament approaches, Professor McGonagall is heard exhorting her House to be on its best behaviour. In particular, she asks Neville to not allow it to be known that he cannot master even a simple Switching Spell.
When Harry's name unexpectedly appears from the Goblet of Fire, making him a fourth Champion, he and the other three champions meet with the competition judges: Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff of Durmstrang, Madame Maxime of Beauxbatons, and Mr. Crouch and Ludo Bagman from the Ministry. Professor McGonagall is present, as are Professor Snape and Professor Moody. Professor McGonagall's contribution is limited; when it is suggested that Professor Dumbledore had drawn the age line incorrectly, allowing an underage Harry to put his own name in, McGonagall declares loyally that he could not have made a mistake.
McGonagall escorts Harry to the dragon enclosure for the first task, and leaves him there with the other champions.
At the end of Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall announces that there will be a Yule Ball this year as part of the Triwizard Tournament. Fourth-year and above will be allowed to attend, as will younger students as their guests. As class breaks up, McGonagall takes Harry aside and tells him that it is traditional for the Champions and their partners to lead the way into the Ball and to have the first dance. Harry is shocked: he has only a month to find a dance partner, learn to dance, and prepare to lead the schools in to the ball.
On the night of the Ball, McGonagall takes the four Champions aside and tells them that they will be entering in procession after the rest of the students are seated.
As Harry, Hermione, and Ron are attempting to find a way for Harry to breathe underwater for an hour, as required for the Second Task, Fred and George arrive, saying that Professor McGonagall wants to see Hermione and Ron in her office. We later learn that they were charmed and handed over to the Merpeople, who held them in their underwater town as the goal for the Second Task.
Near the end of May, Professor McGonagall sends Harry down to the Quidditch pitch, where he will be getting news about the Third Task.
On the morning before the Third Task, Professor McGonagall tells Harry that the Champions and their families are congregating in a small room off the Great Hall. Harry knows the Dursleys would not care to see him, so he stays in the Great Hall, reading; but, summoned by Cedric, goes to find that Mrs. Weasley and Bill have come to watch him.
Professor McGonagall, with Hagrid, Professor Moody, and Professor Flitwick, are to patrol the outside of the maze during the Third Task, to rescue those who fall to its challenges.
When Harry returns from the duel in the graveyard, he is taken aside and effectively kidnapped by Professor Moody. Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Snape rescue Harry from him by breaking down the door and Stunning him. Once Moody is safely bound up, McGonagall wants to send Harry to the Hospital Wing, but Dumbledore overrules her, saying that Harry needs to know what has happened and why. Dumbledore sends McGonagall to fetch the large black dog out of Hagrid's pumpkin patch and take it to his office. While she is gone, Moody's dose of Polyjuice Potion wears off; on her return, she is stunned to find that it is Barty Crouch Jr. lying on the office floor.
After Barty has confessed, Professor Dumbledore leaves Professor McGonagall to guard Barty, and takes Harry up to his office to hear what happened in the graveyard. He then takes Harry to the Hospital Wing, where he allows Madam Pomfrey to dose him unconscious. Harry is awakened, though, by the arrival of Professor McGonagall looking for Dumbledore; it seems that Cornelius Fudge had felt it necessary to bring a Dementor with him when he came to hear Barty's story, and the Dementor had instantly administered the Kiss. Barty would no longer be able to tell anyone anything.
[edit] Order of the Phoenix
We learn that Professor McGonagall is a member of the Order of the Phoenix when Harry, then staying at the Headquarters of the Order sees her arriving, looking somehow odd in Muggle clothes.
Professor McGonagall is, if course, at the Entrance Feast and presides over the Sorting. She seems to be one of the few teachers who listens to Dolores Umbridge's "welcome speech".
On the first day of classes, Professor McGonagall hands out timetables. In Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Harry argues with Professor Umbridge about whether Voldemort has returned, and as a result is given a note that he must take to McGonagall. He learns there that he has been given detention every day for a week. McGonagall asks him if he had understood Umbridge's welcoming speech, and Harry haltingly suggests that it seemed to mean that the Ministry was going to be taking a more active hand in the running of Hogwarts. McGonagall says that she's glad Harry at least listens to Hermione. She then goes on to say that Harry must be careful around Umbridge, especially in keeping his temper, to give her the least possible reason to attack Harry.
Leaving detention on the fourth night, Harry happens to run into Ron, who notices that his hand is cut and bleeding. Ron demands to know what the detention consists of, and says it must be illegal and that Harry should go to McGonagall. Harry demurs, saying it is more of a personal issue now.
When Harry again gets detention for a second week, McGonagall additionally penalizes him House points, as it seems he will not learn any other way that he should not antagonize Umbridge.
When Sirius replies to a message Harry had sent, Hedwig, carrying the message, appears to have been injured. Harry takes Hedwig to the staff room in hopes that Professor Grubbly-Plank will be able to help heal her. Professor McGonagall, who is there, warns Harry that all communication channels in and out of the school are likely to be monitored.
The combination of taunts from Draco Malfoy and an after-the-whistle Bludger from Crabbe result in a brawl breaking out after the first Quidditch game of the year, which was against Slytherin. Harry and George Weasley, being the Gryffindor players involved, are called into McGonagall's office. She assigns them each a week's detention, but Umbridge, appearing with a new Educational Decree, overrules her, saying that a more appropriate punishment is a lifetime Quidditch ban, and confiscation of their brooms. Fred Weasley is included in the ban as well, despite his not having been involved. McGonagall protests that the punishment is out of line, but Umbridge will not be swayed.
Just before Christmas, Harry dreams that he is a snake, and that he attacks someone in a long hallway. Waking up, he tells Ron that he saw his father being attacked, and that he needs help. Neville runs to get Professor McGonagall, who hears Harry out, then takes him and Ron to Professor Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore listens to Harry's story, then sends two portraits, Dilys and Everard, to investigate. When the portraits return, saying that the man was found, but seems to be badly hurt, Dumbledore sends McGonagall to fetch the other Weasley children. McGonagall asks about Molly, but Dumbledore says that will be a job for Fawkes. Shortly after McGonagall returns with Fred, George, and Ginny, Dumbledore sends her off once again to prevent Umbridge from disturbing them. She evidently is successful, as neither she nor Umbridge appears in Dumbledore's office before the Weasley children and Harry have left.
When Umbridge acts to break up "Dumbledore's Army", Harry receives warning from Dobby, and all except Harry are able to escape. Harry, however, is taken by Umbridge to Dumbledore's office, where he finds Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Cornelius Fudge, Percy Weasley acting as scribe, and two Aurors, Dawlish and Shacklebolt; Marietta Edgecombe is also brought in as a witness. Umbridge accuses Harry of holding an illegal meeting at the Hog's Head. When she says that she had gotten her information from Willy Widdershins, McGonagall comments that she had wondered how he had gotten off so lightly for all those regurgitating toilets. When Fudge tries to arrest Dumbledore, there is a sudden burst of white light; Harry finds that McGonagall has pushed him and Marietta to the floor, out of harm's way. Dumbledore, the only one left conscious, quickly checks the three of them to ensure they are fine, and then departs.
Monday after Easter Break, Harry has an appointment with McGonagall to discuss planning for a career. Arriving, he finds that Umbridge is sitting in, with a clipboard. Harry suggests that he might like to become an auror; McGonagall takes this at face value, and starts outlining the course of study he will need to follow. Umbridge repeatedly tries to raise objections to this; McGonagall sharply cuts each objection down, making Umbridge angrier each time. When Umbridge shrieks that Harry will never become an Auror, McGonagall is so outraged she vows to do everything possible to help him achieve his goal. As Harry leaves, he hears their argument continuing in the office behind him.
With the departure of Dumbledore, and the later departure of Fred and George Weasley, the school has become largely unmanageable. The teachers are not helping matters, in a form of silent rebellion against Umbridge. At one point, we see McGonagall walk, apparently uncaring, past Peeves who is loosening a crystal chandelier, though it seems she might have told him that it turned the other way.
Harry is taking his astronomy OWL when Umbridge brings multiple Aurors to the school to attempt to sack Hagrid. Apparently attracted by the confusion and wand flashes, McGonagall runs to stop the battle, but is hit in the chest by four Stunners simultaneously. When Harry sees Voldemort torturing Sirius Black, he attempts to speak with McGonagall, the only Order member that he can think of, but when he goes to visit her at the Hospital Wing, he is told that she has been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital. As a result, Harry attempts to contact Sirius directly by means of Professor Umbridge's fireplace, and gets caught.
Harry, distraught at the death of Sirius, almost gets into a duel with Draco Malfoy, who is angry because his father has been sent to Azkaban, in the Entrance Hall. The incipient duel is broken up by Professor Snape, who then prepares to penalize Harry House points but discovers there are none left in the Gryffindor hourglass. Professor McGonagall chooses this moment to return, physically weakened by the ordeal and using a walking stick. She sends Draco and his cronies off with her packages and parcels, then awards a number of House points to all those students who were in the battle at the Ministry. She then subtracts the number of points that Snape had suggested.
When Peeves chases Umbridge from the school by alternately hitting her with a walking stick and a bag of chalk, Professor McGonagall is upset because the walking stick is hers, which means she is unable to get out to the front door to cheer Peeves on.
[edit] Half-Blood Prince
At the beginning of the year, Professor McGonagall creates and hands out timetables to the sixth-year students. The process is complicated by the fact that the courses that students can take are limited by how well they have done in OWLs. Hermione gets her courses straight away. Neville cannot take Transfiguration with only an Acceptable OWL, but his Charms grade is high enough for that course. While Neville is reluctant, saying that his grandmother says Charms is a soft option, McGonagall points out that just because she failed her Charms OWL, Augusta has no right to argue against it. McGonagall tells Parvati Patil that Firenze and Professor Trelawney are splitting Divination classes, and that Professor Trelawney is teaching sixth year. Harry's lost hope to become an Auror revives when Professor McGonagall says that Professor Slughorn accepts lower OWL grades than Professor Snape for NEWT-level Potions classes. Both Harry and Ron sign up, although Harry worries that Hagrid will be upset that they are not taking Care of Magical Creatures. Professor McGonagall also hands Harry a list with prospective Quidditch players for the House team.
When Katie Bell touches a necklace and is cursed, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Katie's friend Leanne return to the school carrying the necklace safely wrapped up. McGonagall meets them at the gate and gives the wrapped necklace to Filch to take to Professor Snape. She then gets the story of what had happened to Katie in her office. After Leanne is dismissed, Harry, over Ron and Hermione's objections, voices his belief that Draco Malfoy was involved. McGonagall hears him out, but then says that Draco could not have done it because he had been in her office at the time, serving a detention.
We see McGonagall briefly in the Quidditch match following Ron's birthday. Luna Lovegood is commentating, and while the rest of the school seems vastly amused by her announcements, McGonagall is heard correcting her on a couple of occasions.
When Harry, defending himself against Draco, uses Sectumsempra, Snape gives him detention every Saturday for the remainder of the year. It is mentioned that McGonagall agrees with Snape's setting this amount of detention.
While we don't see her in the battle with the Death Eaters, she is in the Hospital Wing after Dumbledore's death while they figure out what had happened. She is shocked to hear that Dumbledore had been killed by Snape, to the point that Madam Pomfrey conjures a chair for her. She said that Dumbledore had always said he trusted Snape, for good reason, but it seems his trust was betrayed. Harry says that he knows the reason Dumbledore trusted Snape: Snape had carried the prophecy about Harry to Voldemort, and then repented of that to Dumbledore. McGonagall blames herself for sending Professor Flitwick to fetch Snape.
McGonagall says that when Dumbledore had left with Harry to go to the cave, Bill, Lupin, and Tonks had been on patrol, but that she did not know where the Death Eaters had come from. Harry tells her about the link through the Room of Requirement.
McGonagall, as acting Headmaster, realizes that decisions about the school's future will have to be made. She summons the other heads of Houses, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Professor Slughorn to a meeting in the Headmaster's office; she also asks Harry and Hagrid to join them. There, under the newly-present portrait of Dumbledore, before the others arrive, McGonagall asks Harry what he and Dumbledore had been doing. Harry demurs, saying that he had been instructed to keep their activities secret, and Dumbledore had not said he could stop following his orders if he died. Once the other teachers arrive, McGonagall polls them as to the plans for the school. With the consensus being that the school should be kept open, she then asks if they should send the students home immediately, rather than finishing out the school year. Harry points out that while it may not be possible to finish the year, many students would want to stay to have the chance to say... Professor Sprout finishes the sentence he cannot: "Goodbye." It is decided that the Hogwarts Express will be scheduled for the day after the funeral.
Seeing the Minister for Magic approaching the school with a delegation, McGonagall quickly dismisses Harry.
McGonagall is present at the funeral, but we do not speak with her.
[edit] Deathly Hallows
It is something of a surprise that McGonagall, who was acting Headmistress at the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and who has been Deputy Headmistress from the beginning of the series, was not made Headmistress; however, given Voldemort's interest in Hogwarts, it makes sense that a Death Eater should get the post, and so the appointment of Severus Snape as Headmaster is logical.
We don't see Professor McGonagall until we reach the end of the story. McGonagall, who has previously opened the Ravenclaw common room for Alecto Carrow, is called upon to open it for Amycus Carrow. When Amycus finds Alecto unconscious in the Ravenclaw common room, he decides that he will somehow frame the Ravenclaw students for her having summoned Voldemort. McGonagall refuses to allow this, but Amycus tries to override her. In the process, he spits on her; Harry, from under his Invisibility Cloak, curses Amycus, knocking him out. McGonagall, after learning what Harry is doing there, quickly binds Amycus and Alecto together, sends out messengers for the other three Heads of House, and with Harry, starts for her office. On the way, they meet Severus Snape, who asks what is going on. Snape does not seem satisfied by her explanation, and they duel. Snape breaks and runs when he sees Flitwick and Sprout approaching, McGonagall, in pursuit, sees him jump through a window and fly away.
McGonagall now instructs the other teachers that they will have to prepare Hogwarts for battle. Harry, returning to the Room of Requirement, cannot find Ron and Hermione. As he hears the students heading for the Great Hall, he goes himself, hoping that Ron and Hermione will be there, and hears McGonagall instructing the students as to what will happen. She tells the school that Professor Snape has resigned, news that is met with cheers from all except Slytherin. She says that the underage students will be evacuated, along with any of the older students who want to leave. As she is speaking, she is interrupted by the voice of Voldemort, saying that if they turn Harry over, nobody at the school will get hurt, otherwise at midnight they will come in and get him. Pansy Parkinson, at the Slytherin table, sees Harry and aims her wand at him; the Gryffindor table rises to his defence, as do the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. McGonagall says that all Slytherins will be evacuated. She then reminds Harry that he is meant to be looking for something.
McGonagall then marshals the defence of Hogwarts, mobilizing the armour, and preparing an army of desks (along with other objects, no doubt) to the defence of the school during the Battle of Hogwarts.
In the break in hostilities, Harry sees, in Snape's memories, that Professor McGonagall was present at Snape's Sorting some twenty years before.
In the final battle, Voldemort is dueling McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn. When Bellatrix is felled by Molly Weasley, Voldemort sweeps the three of them aside to attack Molly, but is thwarted by Harry from under his Invisibility Cloak.
We see a glimpse of McGonagall at the victory celebration, but Harry does not wish to talk with her; he is too tired, and simply wants to get away.
[edit] Strengths
She is a very powerful witch and is particularly adept at Transfiguration. She is a strict teacher and has the respect of the students. Her discipline can be severe but is always fair and even-handed. Professor McGonagall has a tender side, though she takes pains to conceal it, and considers the welfare of the Hogwarts students to be her most important vocation.
[edit] Weaknesses
[edit] Relationships with Other Characters
It is hard to imagine Professor McGonagall "letting her hair down" to any great extent, which makes it difficult to imagine that she has many relationships. However, she does have a close friendship with Albus Dumbledore, and she seems to have more concern for the well-being of Harry than his position as a student in her house, or even his potential to bring about the final downfall of Voldemort, would merit.
[edit] Analysis
[edit] Questions
- Professor McGonagall can morph into a cat. What does this animal say about her character?
- Why didn't Professor Dumbledore tell McGonagall more about Harry?
- How will Hogwarts change with Professor McGonagall as Headmistress?
