Hair - McGonagall's secret

[flying_ford_anglia]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C7666
From: flying_ford_anglia
Subject: Hair - McGonagall's secret
Date: 8/23/00 10:36 pm  (ET)

Several people have commented on the fact that Maggie Smith is a tad old
for the part of McGonagall in the upcoming WB film, but I was wondering
why we think she is too old.

In PS, McGonagall is described as " a rather severe-looking woman"
with her hair drawn into a tight bun, and as "a tall black-haired
witch". I guess that mention of black hair makes us think she must be
quite young, but my theory is that Minerva makes liberal use of the
wizarding equivalent of 'Lady Grecian 2000' to create the illusion of
youth. I wouldn't be surprised if to find that she was a contemporary
of Albus Dumbledore and, in fact, about 60.

Another possibility is that spending time as an animagus gives
McGonagall's hair a sleekness and colour that it wouldn't otherwise have
(or ages her body, leaving the hair untouched). We don't know too much
about the physiological changes necessary in holding an animagus form,
but it may affect the ageing process in some way.

Neil