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

[erinellii]

No: HPFGUIDX 83919

 A forlorn shout echoes across Theory Bay, "Elkins! Elkins! Are you 
here? Elkins! They've forgotten EverSoEvil!McGonagall!" 
 
 There is no sound in Theory Bay except the wind and the waves 
lapping the shoreline, and so this echo is able to carry out over the 
water, all the way to the deck of the Imperius!Arthur trimaran, where 
it is heard by Erin, who immediately leaps into a rowboat and heads 
for shore in hopes that the Elkins will show. As she paddles, she 
hears other snatches of echoes from the mysterious speaker.


 "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 
 
 

Elkins' brilliant analysis... Erin snorts quietly to herself.  ALL of 
Elkins' analyses are brilliant, even when they're complete bull.  
That is just the sort of writer that Elkins is, and is also why Erin 
has all the main ones printed out and bound in a green folder which 
she takes with her nearly everywhere she goes.  But the ESE!McGonagall
theory is one with which Erin has never been able to completely agree.
Oh it has its brillant points, of course...but there is one glaring 
flaw which Elkins dances brillantly around.

Erin reaches the shore and climbs out, her red hair flashing in the 
sun.  She looks up and down the shoreline and spots Debbie, who is   
standing on a scaffold near the souvenir stand. Erin giggles 
quietly.  Doesn't Debbie know that particular scaffold was erected to 
execute discredited theories?  Oh, the irony.  Sadly, however, there 
is still no sign of Elkins.

Debbie is still going on about McGonagall's actions in OoP, and Erin 
listens calmly until she hears a good point at which to break in.
 
 "Take, for example," Debbie is saying, "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.
  
 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." 


"Um, excuse me," Erin interrupts. "But we DO already know this!  
Perhaps not the part about finding people to break into the DOM, but 
certainly we know Voldemort doesn't want the MOM to realize he's 
back.  Sirius tells Harry that in Ch. 5, for goodness sake. It's the 
very *first* thing he tells him after inviting him to ask questions.  
And by the time McGonagall tells Harry to be careful, everyone who 
believes in Voldy's return must surely know that he's trying to stay 
under cover, because otherwise he would have shown himself.  It's 
really kind of self-evident. The kind of thing McGonagall doesn't 
have to be Ever So Evil in order to know.

"And I really don't understand WHY you think Evil! McGonagall would 
even be upset about Harry telling Umbridge that Voldy is back.  
Because the Ministry isn't supposed to know?  But surely you realize 
that this isn't new information for Umbridge.  She already knows that 
this is what Harry believes!  She's been sent to surpress him and 
Dumbledore.  She's not going to hear "Voldy's back" from Harry and 
say "He is! Oh no! How can I join the resistance?!"

"No; the reason McGonagall (Good, not Evil) wants Harry to "be 
careful" is that his acknowledgement of Voldemort's return opens him 
to reprisals from Umbridge.  Just look at what has been done to 
Dumbledore for saying the exact same thing that Harry is saying. DD 
is voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation 
of Wizards.  He is demoted from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot.  He 
is accused of losing his grip.  There's talk about taking away his 
Order of Merlin, First Class.  

"And look at what's been done to Harry so far.  He's gotten 
detention, had his hand sliced open, and been thought crazy by most 
of the class.  I don't think it's  at all suspicious that Good!
McGonagall tells him to "be very careful".  In fact, if I were Evil!
McGonagall, I'd do exactly the opposite.  I'd tell him "The truth 
will set you free, Harry.  Shout it from the rooftops!" and then 
stand back and laugh as he got expelled and carted off to the loony 
bin."  


     "Well, moving on," says Debbie loudly. "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." 

Erin opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, Debbie hastily 
admits:
 
" 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.""


Erin shrugs.  "Well, he did, didn't he?  Besides, look at that scene 
again.  

"Professor Dumbledore, Potter has had a... well, a nightmare," said 
Professor McGonagall. "He says..."

"See, McGonagall doesn't WANT to use that word, nightmare.  She 
searches for something that will convey the importance of the vision 
a little better, just can't find it quickly enough and has to 
settle.  

"And as for other things she's done for the order, you pointed out 
one yourself a little earlier:

"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."

"I say again, the ministry already knows about Voldemort's return.  
Sirius-hunting or not, that's not going to change.  McGonagall has 
done what she should her- protected the hiding place of the Order.

"And how about the way she got blasted trying to help Hagrid? Name me 
one reason why an evil minion would do that," Erin finished happily.

But Debbie is not yet vanquished:
"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."

"Yes," says Erin. "But the first time I read that post, something 
sruck me.  A horrible flaw.  I think Errolowl said it best at the 
time."

errolowl:
 About the only niggle I get is: Why would Voldmort need Fake! Moody
in the first place, since Evil! McGonagall was already in perfect
position? Does he not know about Minerva then? Is she ever-so-loyal
to Voldmort without actually letting him know she's on board?


"The only answer I ever saw to this question was someone suggesting 
that McGonagall was super-duper undercover, or something of that 
nature.  Well, Elkins' theory has her cooperating with Quirrell and 
Crouch Jr., so she can't have been all that secret.  And I think at 
the time Voldemort was desperate enough to have used her no matter 
how super-duper secret-agent you make her out to be," says Erin.



 Debbie's 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. 
 
 "Come to think of it, why don't we just package both theories 
together?"


"Because," says Erin, "one is plausible and one is not.  I like the 
idea of the relationSHIP.  I'll buy that one.  Also, if you like, 
I'll buy you a drink for your throat. And then maybe we can talk 
about Evil!Bill, the REAL traitor-in-waiting."

> Debbie bows to Erin, steps down off the scaffold, and they both set 
off for the Royal George. 


Erin