McGonagall ashamed or fibbing?

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 113234

Potioncat wrote:
> Something about McGonagall jumped out at me while looking for 
> something else.
> 
> Let's start with canon:
> SS/PS chp 14 last pages
> 
> Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and hair net, had Malfoy 
> by the ear.
> "Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin!  
> Wandering around in the middle of the night, how DARE you--"
> 
> Malfoy protests that Potter has a dragon.  She accuses him of 
> telling lies and hauls him off to see Professor Snape.(That must 
> have been an interesting interview!)
> 
> chp 15
> McGonagall has returned to discover Harry, Hermione and Neville are 
> also up. Part of her tirade includes:  
> "You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, 
> trying to get him out of bed and into trouble."  
> cutting to:
> "I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall.  "Four students out of 
> bed in one night!  I've never heard of such a thing before!"
> 
> Having docked Malfoy 20 points for being out of bed and lying, she 
> now docks each Gryffindor 50, including Neville, who she thinks was 
> tricked like Malfoy was. She ends with, "I've never been more 
> ashamed of Gryffindor students."
> 
> 
*********************************************************************
> 
> Seems the Marauders did pretty well. You'd have thought they would 
> have at least been caught once or twice out of bounds at night.  
> 
> What is she ashamed of?  That they were out of bed or that they 
> tricked Malfoy?  (Remember, she doesn't know the truth.)  And how 
> must this have appeared to Snape? Dejavu?  
> 
> Not too much later, though I'm not sure of timeline, in chapter 16 
> Snape warns Harry, "...any more nighttime wanders and I will 
> personally make sure you are expelled."
> 
> I always thought Protector!Snape was trying to keep Harry safe.  
Now 
> I'm wondering if Snape was trying to prevent a repeat of history. 
Is 
> he protecting Draco? And was McGonagall telling the truth? never so 
> ashamed, or is she also aware of the Snape-Marauder episodes?
 

SSSusan:
She is ashamed of their behavior **on behalf of** Gryffindor House, 
imo.  I'm currently on a looking-through-all-the-books-for-MM-scenes 
tear, and this is a recurring theme with her:  that she can't BELIEVE 
someone would behave in such a manner and besmirch the image of her 
House! ;-)

Siriusly Snapey Susan