TBAY: Evil! McGonagall Revisited (WAS: Who Will Betray the Order?

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 83852

Debbie scans the empty shores of Theory Bay. The summer tourists have gone, and Kirstini's souvenir shack sits deserted. Debbie spies an old newspaper scrap caught in a crevice and pulls it out. The headline reads, "Who Will Betray the Order?" The article, signed by Pippin, states:

We are looking for someone who is supposed to be 
> nice, and close enough to Harry for him to take the betrayal 
> personally. I'd say the candidates are: Dumbledore, Hagrid, 
> Hermione, Lupin, Molly and Ron. Any others? Most of you know 
> which one I'd pick.

Wait a minute, Debbie thinks. Where's McGonagall on that list? She's supposed to be nice. She should be considered *close* to Harry - she's his Head of House, and she's cut him a few breaks over the years. Debbie draws a deep breath and shouts, "Elkins!" No response. "Elkins! Are you here?" Still no response. "Elkins! They've forgotten EverSoEvil!McGonagall!" 

There is no sound in Theory Bay except the wind and the waves lapping the shoreline. Debbie spies a scaffold near the souvenir stand, undoubtedly used to execute discredited theories, and quickly climbs on the landing. She clears her throat and begins to speak loudly.

<<Ever So Evil! McGonagall lives!  Don't be fooled by surface evidence!  Yes, I know the conventional wisdom is that McGonagall came into her own in OOP. McGonagall is shown to be a faithful member of the order *and* an effective fighter against Umbridge. But I'm not convinced. Not at all. 


I go back to Elkins' brilliant analysis of ESE McGonagall. 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/39470 

I submit there's nothing in OOP that resolves the questions Elkins raised. 

McGonagall's part in the battle against Umbridge does not counterbalance her suspicious behavior in allowing the Dementor to soul-suck Barty Crouch, in refusing to celebrate the downfall of Voldemort and all the other evidence Elkins laid out in her first Evil!McGonagall post. 

Sure, McGonagall fought Umbridge tooth and nail, but that proves nothing. Umbridge is not allied with Voldemort any more than she is allied with Dumbledore. She works for Fudge, He-Who-Keeps-His-Head-In-the-Sand. Well, that is, if she really works for anyone. In fact, she seems to follow nobody's agenda except her own. Someone who thinks it's ok to send Dementors to a Muggle neighborhood without consulting anyone is a danger to Voldemort *and* the Order. McGonagall would be right to oppose her at all costs regardless of which side she's on. Besides, what could provoke McGonagall more than a rival for her position at Hogwarts?

And if you examine McGonagall's actions closely, they're not as clear-cut as they appear at first.

Take, for example, the scene where Umbridge sends Harry to McGonagall with the note informing her of the detentions. I don't know what's in those ginger biscuits but the entire scene is a bit suspicious to me. Look closely at McGonagall's reactions.

"'Well?' said Professor McGonagall, rounding on him. 'Is this true?' . . . .'Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?' . . . 'You called her a liar?'  'You told her He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back?' 'Yes.' Professor McGonagall sat down behind her desk, watching Harry closely. 'Have a biscuit, Potter.' . . . . Professor McGonagall set down Professor Umbridge's note and looked very seriously at Harry. 'Potter, you need to be careful.'"

What does McGonagall focus on? It's the fact that Harry told Umbridge that Voldemort had returned. That's what sets her into orbit. We don't learn till later, though, that Voldemort is devoting all his energies to finding other people to break into the DoM and steal the prophecy because Voldemort doesn't want to do anything that might provide evidence for the MoM while they are blithely ignoring his return. But Evil!McGonagall knows this. 

We next see McGonagall intercepting Harry in the hallway when he escapes History of Magic with the injured Hedwig in tow. What does McGonagall do there? She chastises Harry for using Hedwig to communicate with Sirius, because of the ministry spies at Hogwarts. Yes, indeed, McGonagall doesn't want the MoM getting their hands on information that Sirius is in London when they're using up so much energy hunting for him in Albania - instead of looking at the evidence of Voldemort's return. 

How about that careers advice? McGonagall tells Harry (in Umbridge's presence, of course), "in ringing tones, 'I will assist you to become an Auror if it is the last thing I do!" That *sounds* good, but let's look carefully at the Aurors again. Except for Shacklebolt and Tonks, they're off on wild-goose chases these days. And under a predecessor head of Magical Law Enforcement, they were using unforgivable curses on suspects. This is not necessarily a job that Harry would want. She made that offer loud and clear, just for Umbridge's benefit.  Because Umbridge doesn't want Harry to be an Auror. 

And so on. McGonagall's actions are not *for* the Order; they are *against* Umbridge. What does she do for the Order, anyway? Name one thing she did other than to fight Umbridge.

Ok, when Harry-the-snake attacks Arthur Weasley, McGonagall *says* she believes Harry, and she does take him to Dumbledore. But when it's time to explain to Dumbledore? She says Harry had "a nightmare."

There's also the curious matter of Moody's photograph. This photo supposedly shows the original Order of the Phoenix. All the old members appear to be in the photo. But there's no trace of McGonagall there. And she doesn't seem the type to be doing the photography. 

Add this to the fact that in PS/SS McGonagall had to sit on the Dursleys' wall all day long on 1 Nov 1981 in an attempt to get information about Voldemort's demise, and the fact that at the end of GoF Dumbledore deliberately sent McGonagall (but not Mrs. Weasley) away before Sirius revealed himself, strongly suggests that she was not in the photograph because she was not in the Order. But why not?

It's not because Dumbledore didn't know her. She had already been teaching at Hogwarts under Dumbledore for quite some time. In fact, she tells Umbridge that she's been teaching at Hogwarts for 39 years. According to my calculations, she started in December of 1956. Why did she start in December? Was she in need of Dumbledore's protection from Dumbledore at that time? Maybe even a second chance? Dumbledore is quite fond of those. Snape got a second chance. Hagrid got a second chance. Why not McGonagall?

[Debbie laughs evilly.] Big mistake, Dumbledore.>>

Debbie stops and smiles out at the imaginary crowd, letting the details sink in. After a few moments, though, she begins to frown, then draws herself up again and resumes speaking louder than ever, though her voice is beginning to show signs of hoarseness.

<<What did you say? Do you think Ever-So-Evil McGonagall is far-fetched? Think ye perhaps that she's missed too many opportunities already to deliver Harry to Voldemort? How about this kinder and gentler alternative? 

Maybe there was a relationship between McGonagall, but of a different kind: not the Dark Lord and his devoted servant, but a relationSHIP. Indeed, Elkins quotes Porphyria, who flatly suggested they were lovers without presenting one shred of evidence. But that doesn't mean there isn't any. We must rely on inferences, but I can find them. 

There's the fact that McGonagall seems to have been alone in the WW in neither celebrating Voldemort's downfall nor being involved in the events. We still don't have an answer to that. Well, maybe she wasn't out celebrating Voldemort's downfall with everyone else because she's still carrying the torch for old Tom, and the destruction of Voldemort's body meant that the human person that was Tom Riddle was truly dead. For McGonagall, it was a time to mourn. 

We also know that Harry resembles Riddle (and James). We know that Riddle and Harry share similarities of background. Both were orphans without memories of their parents. Both lived in emotionally deprived settings before coming to Hogwarts. Remember how horrified she was that Dumbledore intended to leave Harry with the Dursleys? "'You don't mean - you *can't* mean the people who live *here*?' cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. 'Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us.'" McGonagall's no dummy. She knows that Riddle's abandonment to the Muggles was like a dose of poison, and wants to spare Harry the same fate.

And McGonagall seems to have a definite soft spot for Harry. For example:  She bends the rules for Quidditch. She sheds a tear and allows him and Ron to visit Petrified!Hermione in the hospital wing. And later in PS/SS: "Suddenly she smiled. 'Your father would have been proud,' she said. 'He was an excellent Quidditch player himself.'"  I submit to you that Harry (and James before him) strongly reminds McGonagall of Riddle - the old, pre-Voldemort Riddle. Remember that tear in PS/SS when she hears James is dead? 

If McGonagall has a soft spot for Harry, mightn't she have had one for Riddle, too? He certainly seems to have elicited sympathy from most of the Hogwarts crowd. "Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so *brave*, school prefect, model student." And, as the 16-year-old Riddle tells us, "I've always been able to charm the people I needed." 

Yes, that's all the evidence I need. McGonagall was not Order material in VWI because there's an as yet unrevealed relationship between McGonagall and Tom Riddle that Dumbledore -- whether or not he suspected that McGonagall was in Voldemort's inner circle -- knew Voldemort could easily exploit to his own ends. 

Impossible, you say? You think Minerva's too old for Riddle? I acknowledge that the Lexicon gives McGonagall a birth year of 1921 and Riddle a birth year of 1927; however, I think McGonagall's birth year is incorrect. In an interview in the fall of 2000, after the publication of GoF, JKR stated that McGonagall was a sprightly 70 (not in her 70s). If GoF took place in 1994-95, then McGonagall should have been 70 in 1995, which would place her birth year as 1925, not 1921. Riddle was 16 and in his fifth year in 1943, putting his birthdate in late 1926 or early 1927. Under this scenario, McGonagall is only 1-2 years older than Riddle, not a big difference at all for someone with his charm.

And even if McGonagall did not live on the dark side in VWI, it's not too late now for betrayal! If McGonagall wasn't in the Order in VWI, what made Dumbledore take her in this time? Is the Order so desperate that it must take on known security risks?  Why does Dumbledore trust her? Or does he? 

Come to think of it, why don't we just package both theories together?>>

Debbie bows to the imaginary crowd, steps down off the scaffold, and sets off for the Royal George. 

Debbie (with apologies to Elkins for stealing her theory)


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