HARRY CLUES ABOUT THE BOOKS: Something else is curious

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 88708

Christy wrote:
I had always assumed that Dumbledore knew something was happening, 
and
as a member of the OoP, McGonagall was sent to do a task (go to this
house), similar to the end of GoF, where Dumbledore just gives
instructions to people and they obey without questioning him.
Dumbledore does seem surprised to see McGonagall, though, so perhaps
the order came from somebody else? Or maybe McGonagall had heard the
rumor and went to the one place she expected Dumbledore would go...
Her being there does seem kind of random, though.


pitaprh (I think--unsigned post):
> It has been wondered if McGonagall is not related to Ms. Figg - the 
> cats and the tartan references.  Maybe she was visiting Ms. Figg when 
> the events happened and so she was there looking for Dumbledore.
> That would give some explanation as to why he didn't know she was 
> going to be there but also wasn't surprised when she was.


Carol:
IIRC, McGonagall had been informed by Hagrid that Dumbledore would be
arriving at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, and she was waiting there
without knowing exactly what had happened or why they were there. As
for McGonagall being related to Mrs. (not Ms.) Figg (her marital
status is part of the reason that the WW has lost track of her--I
think she married a Muggle and is now a widow), we've discussed the
possibility briefly:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/86074

Carol:
I think the tartan slippers are an important clue, and being related
to Professor McGonagall would explain why Mrs. Figg is Harry's
protector and a member of the Order even though she's a Squib. But
maybe the slippers are just a red herring since Filch at one point
wears a tartan scarf (CoS 125, Am. ed.) and there's no reason to
suspect that he's a relative of McGonagall's. Or is there? As someone
else pointed out, he has the same initials as Arabella Figg, so maybe
there's a McGonagall/Filch connection, too. :-)

Carol, who thinks that Mrs. Figg's maiden name will be important later
and that it may well be McGonagall. See the passage in OoP where Fudge
orders her to report the details of her parentage (not revealed to
Harry or the reader).