McGonagall in OOTP (was Too "Good" Harry and the Resolution of Snape

[littleleahstill]

No: HPFGUIDX 118694


Lupinlore wrote:
>Not at all. I mean McGonagall. Let's see, you have a boy who's
>seen one of his classmates die, is kept in the dark, ridiculed in
>the paper, and persecuted by a government official/teacher. Now,
>you are supposedly a teacher with years of experience in dealing
>with adolescent boys, but you seem totally unable to anticipate that
>Harry will be hurt and angry, and totally at a loss as to how to
>deal with this situation effectively. Granted, there are special
>circumstances and you are under orders from Dumbledore to be
>circumspect, but the best you can come up with is "Get a grip on
>yourself?" NOT impressive. NOT impressive AT ALL.

Leah:

I wonder if you underestimate the effects of recent history on the 
adult characters.  Within (just) Harry's lifetime the WW has been 
engaged in the first Voldemort war, in which many lost a number of 
family members- and as Arthur said, lived in fear of finding the Dark 
Mark over their homes.  In addition, thanks to Imperious, Polyjuice 
etc it would have been far harder than in a "normal" war to know who 
was your friend or your enemy.  Further, McGonagall is old enough to 
have experienced the activities of the dark wizard Grindelwald 
(whatever those may have been), and surely the contemperaneous events 
in the Muggle world can not entirely have passed the WW by?  
Certainly within the Muggle world at that time, people were expected 
to 'get a grip' and get on with life - my father in law for example 
worked horrific nights as a fireman in the Blitz before getting on 
with his factory job in the day.  I am not saying this is necessarily 
the right approach, but that it is unsurprising given the historical 
background and McGonagall's age.  I do believe McGonagall does her 
best within character to stick up for  her students- not only at some 
professional risk, but, as we see in the 'stunning' scene, at actual 
physical risk.

And, on another tack, in McGonagall's eyes, Harry does need to 'get a 
grip'.  Someone is out there to take advantage of any loss of self 
control.

Leah