ESE!McGonagall (not what you think)

[kibakianakaya]

No: HPFGUIDX 164303

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, juli17 at ... wrote:
Julie wrote
> First, some questions to ponder about McGonagall:
>
>
>
> 1. Why do we know less about McGonagall's past than we do about
any other
> major adult characters (heck, than some of the minor adult
characters)? SNIP
 Is
> this
> lack of notice just because McGonagall is essentially a one-note
and rather
> boring character? Or is there some reason JKR as revealed so
little about
> McGonagall?

Lilygale: I've had a half-baked idea for a while that, when JKR
mentioned in an interview years ago that Hogwarts teachers' families
might play a role, that McGonagall might be important.  Given that
my speculation is based only on your point about knowing next to
nothing about Minerva, and the non-canon appearance of an unknown
McGonagall on a trophy in the first movie, perhaps "nearly raw" is
closer to the mark.


> 2. Why isn't *she* Dumbledore's confidante? <BIG SNIP>

>
> 3. Why does Dumbledore never share any sensitive information with
McGonagall?
>SNIPPAGE  But is McGonagall the only one  who
> seems to know *nothing*?



> 4. Is McGonagall capable of being evil? SNIP Or  maybe he
> has
> reason to believe anything McGonagall learns will go straight to
Voldemort's
> ears.
>
> It's that last one that intrigues me. What if it's true? What if
all these
> years
> Dumbledore has known that any information he gives McGonagall will
> ultimately find its way to Voldemort?

I agree with you that it is strange that McGonagall seems to be so
uninformed about Dumbledore's thoughts and plans.  It certainly
would be in character for him to keep things on a need to know
basis.  But McGonagall is intelligent and clear thinking, a
combination of traits that seem relatively unusual in the wizarding
world.  Dumbledore seems to value her talent sufficiently to make
her his assistant headmistress.  So why not confide more in her?

At this point I depart from Julie's hypothesis and offer a weak one
of my own.  What if McGonagall is married  - to someone that
Dumbledore suspects of passing information to LV.  Or perhaps the
relationship is not that of husband and wife, but of siblings, or
parent/child. In any case, it would be a close enough relationship
that Dumbledore feels that he cannot confront McGonagall and retain
her trust/friendship/service.

One main weakness in my scenario is that JKR has promised that we
have already met all of the main characters, and we have met only
one McGonagall.  So we have to consider that the traitor, if there
is one, is somebody we already know but don't know that much about.
There are actually a number of "older" men about whose marital
status we know nothing.  Fortescue and Minerva?

Lilygale, whose mind may be out of control after seeing certain
promotional pictures of a certain young actor today.