Minerva McGonagall--DD's Right-Hand Woman or Truly a Secondary Character?

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 115448


Minerva McGonagall.  What do we know about her?

Her nostrils flare  
Her mouth tightens when she's angry  
She looks severe, wears her hair in a tight bun  
She brooks no goofing off in class (nor out of it)
She is stern & strict
She wears a tartan dressing gown & hair net
She stands firm
She drinks gillywater
She is one of 7 registered animagi in the 20th century
She maintains high expectations for her students
She is a Quidditch fanatic
She, on various occasions, sniffs, shouts, shrieks, screeches, 
barks, speaks tartly and bellows
She has a soft spot
She has a dry wit 
She's a tough cookie

These are aspects of Minerva McGonagall that we've gotten to see.  
But who IS she, really?  What roles does she play?  Sure, she 
teaches Transfiguration, she's Head of Gryffindor House, and she's 
Deputy Headmistress, but how important is she to the Harry Potter 
story?  Was she in the Order the first time?  Does she do anything 
useful for the Order this time?  Is it only at Hogwarts that her 
rank & responsibility are high?  If so, why?  If not, why don't we 
hear about it?  Is she a powerful witch?  And what the hell is her 
relationship to DD?

Very rarely do posters at HPfGU even bring McGonagall up.  When they 
do, it is often a brief reference to a specific incident.  Rarely do 
posters theorize about her being ESE!, nor do they often bring her 
up as one of the significant White Hats.  Why is this?  Is it 
because she's boring or innocuous? Has JKR indicated that her role 
is insignificant or inconsequential?  Is it because she's a woman?  
What's up with McGonagall?

By way of trying to figure some of this out, I searched the books 
for MM scenes.  Herewith is a bit of a summary and a few of my 
observations.  The four things which most struck me were:  1) there 
is a stunning change between her first appearance in Privet Drive 
and 10 years later at Hogwarts, in terms of her relationship with & 
interaction with DD; 2)MM is by & large a very fair teacher & Head 
of House; 3) she is portrayed as stern, but she is also a delicious 
source of dry humor; 4) her role expands significantly as the series 
progresses.  

Point 1:  there is significant change between Privet Dr. & 10-11 
years later

We meet MM actually before we meet DD—in cat form at PD.  She 
arrives the morning after GH and waits all day `til DD arrives near 
midnight.  And what is DD's reaction at finding her there?  From 
later books, we might've expected him to *know* that she'd be 
there.  Certainly we'd expect him to start telling her all that's 
happened & what's going on now.  But this is not how it goes.  He 
seems *amused* by her presence.  It's not even clear that she 
intended to reveal herself, but he recognized her cat form.  MM 
wants reassurance and DD offers her a lemon drop!  MM doesn't even 
seem to know about this quirk of his.  She finds she must *ask* 
questions because DD's clearly not automatically offering up 
information.  She expresses reservations about Hagrid's role in 
bringing Harry, but backs down when DD says he'd trust Hagrid with 
his life.  MM asks about getting rid of Harry's scar, but DD says 
no, that scars can be useful.  

When Hagrid arrives & they leave Harry, Hagrid sobs, MM blinks, and 
DD's twinkle is gone.  "I shall see you soon, I expect?" says DD.  
That's it!  He issues no instructions, does not offer to accompany 
her back to Hogwarts; he simply leaves her there.  In short, he is 
cordial & forthcoming when asked questions directly, but clearly, 
they're not confidantes at this point.   

In CoS, when they find petrified Colin, MM mentions how lucky they 
were that DD was "going down for hot chocolate."  [Hmmm.  Were they 
together?]  She also asks, "What does this mean, Albus?"  They seem 
quite familiar at this point.

So what's up with this??  It could be because of something Dzeytoun 
suggested awhile back—that this is merely a literary tool to 
introduce the characters & events.  It would be more *interesting* 
if something really happened in those 10 years to significantly 
alter DD's & MM's relationship – what could it be?? – but given that 
they'd taught together for about 25 years *before* the Privet Drive 
scene, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  

Unless DD & MM fell in love in the intervening 10 years? ;-)

Point 2:  MM is by & large a very fair teacher/HoH

She may lay off the homework the night before a big Gryffindor 
Quidditch match, but other than that, we do not see her favoring 
those in her own house very much.  She berates, she fumes, she 
states (repeatedly) that she's "never!" seen such abominable 
behavior from Gryffindors, she assigns detentions, she takes points –
 BIG points, many times – indeed, she is fair.  When Harry, Neville 
& Hermione are out of bounds, along with Draco, she doesn't excuse 
her Gryffindors and punish only Draco.  Rather, she holds one 
standard -- out of bed = detention -– and all four receive it.  

One should note, also, her continual annoyance with Lee Jordan's 
biased-towards-Gryffindor Quidditch commentary.  She's always 
threatening to "unplug" him if he can't control his remarks (though 
she never does :-)).  The main incident where one could cry "foul" 
re: favoritism is with Harry being allowed to be a Seeker in his 
first year and the fact that she sends him a broom.  Yet even with 
this, we see no scowling by Snape nor protestation by other Heads of 
House.  

Point 3:  MM is a delicious source of dry humor.

"Tripe, Sybill?"
"I assure you, if you die, you need not hand it in."
"Cough drop, Dolores?"
"Miss Brown, would you mind running along to the headmistress and 
informing her that we have an escaped firework in our classroom?"
"It unscrews the other way."

It is often subtle, but it is also present often.  When Harry & Ron 
are in Snape's office, trying to explain away their arrival in a 
flying Ford Anglia & the damage done to the Whomping Willow, MM 
struggles to not smile when Harry tries to argue against taking 
points, since it happened prior to start of term.  She even lets H&R 
eat their supper on SNAPE'S desk after *not* expelling them.  Maybe 
it's just me, but that strikes me as emanating from a fine sense of 
humor. 

Point #4:  Her role expands throughout the series

Pretty much what MM does at Hogwarts can be summed up by saying she 
sends return-to-school letters, she teaches Transfiguration, she 
makes announcements, and she herds & leads the students around.  She 
also fills in for DD when he is kicked out of Hogwarts.   But how 
much of these things she does—or how much we SEE her doing these 
things—has grown from Book 1 to Book 5.

SS/PS
*Greets 1st years, explains Sorting process [standard each year]
*Is a strict teacher who "could spot trouble quicker than any 
teacher in the school"
*Tells Oliver Wood she's found him a Seeker and gives Harry Nimbus 
2000
*Giggles & blushes at Christmas when Hagrid kisses her
*Issues detentions & docks 50 pts. each from Harry, Hermione, 
Neville & Draco
*Tells H/R/H SS is well protected & dismisses them w/ threat of more 
points

CoS
*Handles discipline after Whomping Willow incident
*Defends Harry when Snape implies he petrified Mrs. Norris; DD agrees
*After Colin & JFF are petrified, *then* MM says, "This is out of my 
hands, Potter."
*Announces cancellation of Quidditch match
*Takes over when DD is removed
*Announces exams still on
*Orders students to dorms, tells staff students must be sent home--
it's the end of Hogwarts
*Plays along w/ Snape about Lockhart rescuing Ginny
*Once DD is back, falls apart a bit -- clutches chest, takes great, 
steadying gulps of air, speaks weakly -- but still does majority of 
questioning of Harry & Ron, though DD announces no punishment.

PoA
*Sends Hogwarts letters signed "Deputy Headmistress"
*Makes arrangements to allow Hermione's use of TT
*Refuses to sign Harry's Hogsmeade permission form
*Calls Harry in to tell him about Sirius & is surprised he already 
knows
*Discusses James/Sirius/Peter w/ Fudge & Rosmerta—gets teary
*Agrees w/ Hermione that Firebolt must be stripped down [only 2nd 
time Harry's seen MM in Gryffindor common room]
*Gets "a bit shirty" with Oliver Wood when he tries to get Firebolt 
back
*Actually smiles when returns Firebolt to Harry
*Has ongoing teasing with Snape over Gryffindor/Slytherin Quidditch
*Gives Malfoy et al. detention & takes 50 pts. for Dementor stunt
*Asks which abysmal fool left passwords lying about, then bans 
Neville from future Hogsmeade trips, gives him detention & forbids 
anyone to give him passwords
*Yells at Lee Jordan for biased commentary -- until Malfoy blatantly 
fouls, and then she screeches at Madame Hooch
*Sobs harder than Wood when Gryffindor wins

GoF
*Greets students & yells at Peeves for water balloons
*Clears her throat to stop DD from telling joke
*Shrieks, "Is that a student?" when Crouch!Moody turns Draco into 
ferret
*Tells George to "shut up" when he asks about TWT champions
*Whispers urgently to DD after Harry's name pops out  of cup [??]
*Worries about Harry before first task & assures him no one will 
think less of him if he gives it his all; praises him after.
*Announces Yule Ball ["a chance for us all to—er—let our hair down"]
*Fetches & leads students into ball
*Tells Ron & Hermione their part in the 2nd task
*Patrols perimeter during 3rd task
*Goes straight to Harry after return from graveyard, wants to take 
to hospital wing; DD says no
*Gets Padfoot at DD's request; guards Barty, Jr., at DD's request
*"Loses control" with Fudge after Dementor kiss on Barty, Jr.  
*Calls Fudge "You fool!!" when he won't believe Harry

OotP
*Visits Order HQ in Muggle attire
*Gives first years "the sort of look that scorches" for whispering
*When DJU sends Harry to MM, warns him to be careful—it's not about 
truth & lies, but about keeping temper under control
*Tells Neville there's nothing wrong w/ his work but a lack of 
confidence
*"Umbridge won't know what hit her" predicts Ron re: MM's class 
inspection
*When Harry gets more detention, MM takes 5 points & says he "must 
get a grip!"
*Stands up to DJU during inspection
*Warns Harry channels of communication are being watched
*Warns Ron & Harry she doesn't want to hand over the Quidditch Cup 
to Snape
*Is livid with Harry & George after post-Quidditch fight w/ Draco.  
Gets more livid w/ DJU for interfering.
*Takes Harry to DD after vision of snake attack; heads off DJU
*Comforts Trelawney when she gets sacked; knows plan for her to stay
*Sarcastic commentary on WW justice system during questioning of 
Harry on DA
*Tells Fudge DD won't be taking the ministry on single-handedly, but 
DD says he will because "Hogwarts needs you."
*Tells Harry she'll do whatever is necessary to see that he becomes 
an Auror, even if she must coach him herself nightly
*Runs to defend Hagrid/confront DJU and takes 4 stunners to chest
****Harry comments:  "Dumbledore had gone, Hagrid had gone, but he 
had always expected Professor McGonagall to be there, irascible & 
inflexible, perhaps, but dependably, soundly present."****
*Returns to Hogwarts & interrupts Snape confronting Harry; adds 300 
points for students involved in MoM battle
*Regrets she can't go cheering after departing DJU, but Peeves has 
borrowed walking stick :-)


Hopefully it is apparent that her role has changed from beginning to 
present.  She evidences more responsibility, she is officially 
Deputy Headmistress, if she was not before; she stands firm, she 
metes out punishment.  For me, Harry's thought [just above] when 
McGonagall had been sent to St. Mungo's spoke volumes about how HE 
sees her importance.  I wonder why we HPfGU'ers just don't talk 
about her much....

With apologies for the length of this,
Siriusly Snapey Susan