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Minerva McGonagall
Mcgonagall
McGonagall next to the Great Hall doors
Born 4th October
Died Unknown
Species Human
Parentage Muggle father (Robert McGonagall), witch mother (Isobel Ross)
Family Members Husband Elphinstone Urquhart, deceased. No children. Brothers Malcolm and Robert Jr.
Affiliations Hogwarts (joined as teacher in December 1956), Ministry of Magic
Hogwarts House Gryffindor
Wand Fir and dragon heartstring, nine and a half inches, stiff
Special Abilities Animagus (distinctively marked silver tabby cat)
Hobbies Needlework, correcting articles in Transfiguration Today, watching Quidditch, supporting the Montrose Magpies

Professor Minerva McGonagall is the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, head of Gryffindor house and deputy headmistress of Hogwarts during Harry's first year. She is described as fair, but very strict. Amongst other things, she led Harry to his sorting in his first year. She has the ability to transform into a tabby cat, because she is an Animagus.

Introduction[]

Minerva McGonagall is the deputy headmistress, head of Gryffindor house and Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A tall, stern-looking witch with black hair usually drawn into a tight bun, few students dare cross her; she is an imposing figure who can quickly spot trouble. Professor McGonagall can also transform at will into a tabby cat, distinguishable by spectacle markings around the eyes.

New from J.K. Rowling[]

This information was revealed in The Sorting Hat.[1].

Birthday: 4th October
Wand: Fir and dragon heartstring, nine and a half inches, stiff
Hogwarts house: Gryffindor
Special abilities: Animagus (distinctively marked silver tabby cat)
Parentage: Muggle father, witch mother
Family: Husband Elphinstone Urquart, deceased. No children
Hobbies: Needlework, correcting articles in Transfiguration Today, watching Quidditch, supporting the Montrose Magpies

Childhood[]

Minerva McGonagall was the first child, and only daughter, of a Scottish Presbyterian minister and a Hogwarts-educated witch. She grew up in the Highlands of Scotland in the early twentieth century, and only gradually became aware that there was something strange, both about her own abilities, and her parents' marriage.

Minerva's father, the Reverend Robert McGonagall, had become captivated by the high-spirited Isobel Ross, who lived in the same village. Like his neighbours, Robert believed that Isobel attended a secret ladies' boarding school in England. In fact, when Isobel vanished from her home for months at a time, it was to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that she went.

Aware that her parents (a witch and wizard) would frown on a connection with the serious young Muggle, Isobel kept their burgeoning relationship a secret. By the time she was eighteen, she had fallen in love with Robert. Unfortunately, she had not found the courage to tell him what she was.

The couple eloped, to the fury of both sets of parents. Now estranged from her family, Isobel could not bring herself to mar the bliss of the honeymoon by telling her smitten new husband that she had graduated top of her class in Charms at Hogwarts, nor that she had been Captain of the school Quidditch team. Isobel and Robert moved into a manse (minister's house) on the outskirts of Caithness, where the beautiful Isobel proved surprisingly adept at making the most of the minister's tiny salary.

The birth of the young couple's first child, Minerva, proved both a joy and a crisis. Missing her family, and the magical community she had given up for love, Isobel insisted on naming her newborn daughter after her own grandmother, an immensely talented witch. The outlandish name raised eyebrows in the community in which she lived, and the Reverend Robert MeGonagall found it difficult to explain his wife's choice to his parishioners. Furthermore, he was alarmed by his wife's moodiness. Friends assured him that women were often emotional after the birth of a baby, and that Isobel would soon be herself again.

Isobel, however, became more and more withdrawn, often secluding herself with Minerva for days at a time. Isobel later told her daughter that she had displayed small, but unmistakable, signs of magic from her earliest hours. Toys that had been left on upper shelves were found in her cot. The family cat appeared to do her bidding before she could talk. Her father's bagpipes were occasionally heard to play themselves from distant rooms, a phenomenon that made the infant Minerva chuckle.

Isobel was torn between pride and fear. She knew that she must confess the truth to Robert before he witnessed something that would alarm him. At last, in response to Robert's patient questioning, Isobel burst into tears, retrieved her wand from the locked box under her bed and showed him what she was.

Although Minerva was too young to remember that night, its aftermath left her with a bitter understanding of the complications of growing up with magic in a Muggle world. Although Robert McGonagall loved his wife no less upon discovering that she was a witch, he was profoundly shocked by her revelation, and by the fact that she had kept such a secret from him for so long. What was more, he, who prided himself on being an upright honest man, was now drawn into a life of secrecy that was quite foreign to his nature. Isobel explained, through her sobs, that she (and their daughter) were bound by the International Statute of Secrecy, and that they must conceal the truth about themselves, or face the fury of the Ministry of Magic. Robert also quailed at the thought of how the locals - in the main, an austere, straight-laced and conventional breed - would feel about having a witch as their Minister's wife.

Love endured, but trust had been broken between her parents, and Minerva, a clever and observant child, saw this with sadness. Two more children, both sons, were born to the McGonagalls, and both, in due course, revealed magical ability. Minerva helped her mother explain to Malcolm and Robert Junior that they must not flaunt their magic, and aided her mother in concealing from their father the accidents and embarrassments their magic sometimes caused.

Minerva was very close to her Muggle father, whom in temperament she resembled more than her mother. She saw with pain how much he struggled with the family's strange situation. She sensed too, how much of a strain it was on her mother to fit in with the all-Muggle village, and how much she missed the freedom of being with her own kind, and of not exercising her considerable talents. Minerva never forgot how much her mother cried, when the letter of admittance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry arrived on Minerva's eleventh birthday; she knew that Isobel was sobbing, not only out of pride, but also of envy.

School Career[]

As is often the case where the young witch or wizard comes from a family who has struggled with its magical identity, Hogwarts was, for Minerva McGonagall, a place of joyful release and freedom.

Minerva drew unusual attention to herself on the very first evening, when she was revealed to be a Hatstall. After five and a half minutes, the Sorting Hat, which had been vacillating between the houses of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, placed Minerva in the latter (in later years, this circumstance was a subject of gentle humour between Minerva and her colleague Filius Flitwick, over whom the Sorting Hat suffered the same confusion, but reached the opposite conclusion. The two Heads of house were amused to think that they might, but for those crucial moments in their youths, have exchanged positions).

Minerva was quickly recognised as the most outstanding student of her year, with a particular talent for Transfiguration, As she progressed through the school, she demonstrated that she had inherited both her mother's talents and her father's cast-iron moral sense. Minerva's school career overlapped by two years with that by Pomona Sprout, later the Head of Hufflepuff House, and the two women enjoyed an excellent relationship both then, and in later years.

By the end of her education at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall had achieved an impressive record: top grades in O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, Prefect, Head Girl, and winner of the Transfiguration Today Most Promising Newcomer award. Under the guidance of her inspirational Transfiguration teacher, Albus Dumbledore, she had managed to become an Animagus; her animal form, with its distinctive markings (tabby cat, square spectacles markings around the eyes) were duly logged into the Ministry of Magic's Animagus Registry. Minerva was also, like her mother, a gifted Quidditch player although a nasty fall in her final year (a foul during the Gryffindor versus Slytherin game which would decide the Cup winner) left her with a concussion, several broken ribs and a lifelong desire to see Slytherin crushed on the Quidditch pitch. Though she gave up Quidditch on leaving Hogwarts, the innately competitive Professor McGonagall later took a keen interest in the fortunes of her house team, and retained a keen eye for Quidditch talent.

Early Heartbreak[]

Upon graduation from Hogwarts, Minerva returned to the manse to enjoy one last summer with her family before setting out for London, where she had been offered a position at the Ministry of Magic (Department of Magical Law Enforcement). These months were to prove some of the most difficult of Minerva’s life, for it was then, aged only eighteen, that she proved herself truly her mother’s daughter, by falling head-over-heels in love with a Muggle boy.

It was the first and only time in Minerva McGonagall’s life that she might have been said to lose her head. Dougal McGregor was the handsome, clever and funny son of a local farmer. Though less beautiful than Isobel, Minerva was clever and witty. Dougal and Minerva shared a sense of humour, argued fiercely, and suspected mysterious depths in each other. Before either of them knew it, Dougal was on one knee in a ploughed field, proposing, and Minerva was accepting him.

She went home, intending to tell her parents of her engagement, yet found herself unable to do so. All that night she lay awake, thinking about her future. Dougal did not know what she, Minerva, truly was, any more than her father had known the truth about Isobel before they had married. Minerva had witnessed at close quarters the kind of marriage she might have if she wed Dougal. It would be the end of all her ambitions; it would mean a wand locked away, and children taught to lie, perhaps even to their own father. She did not fool herself that Dougal McGregor would accompany her to London, while she went to work every day at the Ministry. He was looking forward to inheriting his father’s farm.

Early next morning, Minerva slipped from her parents’ house and went to tell Dougal that she had changed her mind, and could not marry him. Mindful of the fact that if she broke the International Statute of Secrecy she would lose the job at the Ministry for which she was giving him up, she could give him no good reason for her change of heart. She left him devastated, and set out for London three days later.

Ministry Career[]

Though undoubtedly her feelings for the Ministry of Magic were coloured by the fact that she had recently suffered an emotional crisis, Minerva McGonagall did not much enjoy her new home and workplace. Some of her co-workers had an engrained anti-Muggle bias which, given her adoration of her Muggle father, and her continuing love for Dougal McGregor, she deplored. Though a most efficient and gifted employee, and fond of her much older boss, Elphinstone Urquart, Minerva was unhappy in London, and found that she missed Scotland. Finally, after two years at the Ministry, she was offered a prestigious promotion, yet found herself turning it down. She sent an owl to Hogwarts, asking whether she might be considered for a teaching post. The owl returned within hours, offering her a job in the Transfiguration department, under Head of Department, Albus Dumbledore.

Friendship with Albus Dumbledore[]

The school greeted Minerva McGonagall’s return with delight. Minerva threw herself into her work, proving herself a strict but inspirational teacher. If she kept letters from Dougal McGregor locked in a box under her bed, this was (she told herself firmly) better than keeping her wand locked there. Nevertheless, it was a shock to learn from the oblivious Isobel (in the middle of a chatty letter of local news) that Dougal had married the daughter of another farmer.

Albus Dumbledore discovered Minerva in tears in her classroom late that evening, and she confessed the whole story to him. Albus Dumbledore offered both comfort and wisdom, and told Minerva some of his own family history, previously unknown to her. The confidences exchanged that night between two intensely private and reserved characters were to form the basis of a lasting mutual esteem and friendship.

Marriage[]

Through all her early years at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall remained on terms of friendship with her old boss at the Ministry, Elphinstone Urquart. He came to visit her while on holiday to Scotland, and to her great surprise and embarrassment, proposed marriage in Madam Puddifoot’s teashop. Still in love with Dougal McGregor, Minerva turned him down.

Elphinstone, however, had never ceased to love her, nor to propose every now and then, even though she continued to refuse him. The death of Dougal McGregor, however, although traumatic, seemed to free Minerva. Shortly after Voldemort’s first defeat, Elphinstone, now white-haired, proposed again during a summertime stroll around the lake in the Hogwarts grounds. This time Minerva accepted. Elphinstone, now retired, was beside himself with joy, and purchased a small cottage in Hogsmeade for the pair of them, whence Minerva could travel easily to work every day.

Known to successive generations of students as ‘Professor McGonagall’, Minerva - always something of a feminist - announced that she would be keeping her own name upon marriage. Traditionalists sniffed - why was Minerva refusing to accept a pure-blood name, and keeping that of her Muggle father?

The marriage (cut tragically short, though it was destined to be) was a very happy one. Though they had no children of their own, Minerva’s nieces and nephews (children of her brothers Malcolm and Robert) were frequent visitors to their home. This was a period of great fulfillment for Minerva.

The accidental death of Elphinstone from a Venomous Tentacula bite, three years into their marriage, was an enormous sorrow to all who knew the couple. Minerva could not bear to remain alone in their cottage, but packed her things after Elphinstone’s funeral and returned to her sparse stone-floored bedroom in Hogwarts Castle, accessible through a concealed door in the wall of her first-floor study. Always a very brave and private person, she poured all her energies into her work, and few people - excepting perhaps Albus Dumbledore - ever realised how much she suffered.

J. K. Rowling's thoughts[]

Minerva was the Roman goddess of warriors and wisdom. William McGonagall is celebrated as the worst poet in British history. There was something irresistible to me about his name, and the idea that such a brilliant woman might be a distant relative of the buffoonish McGonagall.

A small sample of his work will give a flavour of its unintentional comedic value. The following was written as part of a poem commemorating a Victorian railway disaster:

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

From the Story[]

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone[]

Privetdrive

McGonagall in her Animagus form of a "distinctively marked silver tabby cat". ("Number Four, Privet Drive")

Discovered in chapter 1, The Boy Who Lived[]

McGonagall is with Professor Dumbledore the evening Harry Potter arrives at Privet Drive. She spends the day in cat form, foregoing the wizarding world’s celebrations of Voldemort’s disappearance in favour of watching the Dursleys and waiting for Dumbledore to arrive. She disapproves of those who flout the wizarding secrecy laws as they celebrate.

Though she is initially against Dumbledore’s choice to send Harry to live with Muggles, she comes around, convinced by Dumbledore it will be better if Harry grows up away from the fame his past is sure to afford him.

–"Harry is Delivered"[2]

Discovered in chapter 7, The Sorting Hat[]

Professor McGonagall opens the castle doors to let the new first-year students in. She leads them across the Entrance Hall and into a small chamber to the side, where she welcomes them to the school. She tells the students that they will shortly be sorted, and explains about the house system at Hogwarts. She tells them she will return for them in a few minutes, and suggests that they use the time to smarten themselves up. When she returns, Professor McGonagall leads the students back across the Entrance Hall, and through the double doors into the Great Hall.

–"The Sorting Ceremony"[1]

Discovered in chapter 9, The Midnight Duel[]

Though Professor McGonagall is a stickler for school rules, she declines to punish Harry when he is caught flying without permission. Instead, having witnessed his spectacular dive, she appoints him Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

–"Flying Lesson"[3]

Discovered in chapter 15, The Forbidden Forest[]

When Harry, Hermione, Neville and Draco are caught out of bed after hours, Professor McGonagall takes fifty points from each of the Gryffindors and twenty from Draco’s house, Slytherin. She also gives them all detention.

–"Harry Becomes an Outcast"[4]

Discovered in chapter 16, Through the Trapdoor[]

Professor McGonagall transfigures a life-size chess set as her piece of protection for the Philosopher’s Stone. Harry, Ron and Hermione defeat the obstacle by taking the place of three of the black pieces; Ron, who is best at chess, directs them around the board. The game progresses like a regular wizard chess game, with pieces smashing each other when they make a capture. One of them knocks Ron unconscious.

–"The Chessboard Chamber"[5]

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets[]

Discovered in chapter 5, The Whomping Willow[]

On the first night back at school, Professor McGonagall punishes Harry and Ron with detention for their actions in flying the Ford Anglia to Hogwarts. She presents them with supper and sends them up to the Gryffindor common room instead of to the feast.

–"Snape's Office"[6]

Discovered in chapter 10, The Rogue Bludger[]

Professor McGonagall helps bring the Petrified Colin Creevey into the hospital wing after he is attacked.

–"Colin is Petrified"[7]

Discovered in chapter 13, The Very Secret Diary[]

On Valentine's Day, McGonagall sits stony-faced at the teachers' table with a muscle going in her cheek.

–"Valentine's Day"[8]

Discovered in chapter 14, Cornelius Fudge[]

McGonagall marches onto the Quidditch pitch to cancel the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff match. It transpires that two more Petrified students have been discovered.

–"Another Attack"[9]

Discovered in chapter 16, The Chamber of Secrets[]

McGonagall bumps into Harry and Ron while they are on the way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to ask Myrtle about her death. McGonagall is very angry until Harry lies and says they were on the way to visit Hermione in the hospital wing. She gives them permission to visit her.

–"Hermione's Clue"[10]

Discovered in chapter 18, Dobby's Reward[]

Fawkes leads Harry, Ron, Ginny and Lockhart to McGonagall's office after they have left the Chamber of Secrets. McGonagall is very surprised to see them all, so much so that she is seen to be taking steadying gasps and clutching her chest.

–"Dumbledore Returns"[11]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban[]

Discovered in chapter 8, Flight of the Fat Lady[]

Professor McGonagall arrives at the portrait of the Fat Lady with Lupin and Snape. When they see that the Fat Lady has disappeared, McGonagall goes to find Filch, to start searching the castle paintings for her.

Professor McGonagall assists the other teachers in the search for Sirius Black. She summons Harry to her office a few days after the attack and starts to explain to Harry why Black entered the castle. She is surprised when Harry tells her that he already knows Black is after him. McGonagall tells Harry that because of the threat from Black, she doesn't think it wise for him to practise Quidditch in the evenings. When he points out that he has to train for their first match, McGonagall agrees that it would be nice to win the Cup at last and consents to him continuing his training under the supervision of Madam Hooch.

–"The Slashed Painting"[12]

Discovered in chapter 10, The Marauder's Map[]

McGonagall enters the pub with Professor Flitwick, Hagrid and Cornelius Fudge. She is frustrated with Hagrid, as he appears to have told a number of people about Sirius Black breaking in to the castle. She supports Dumbledore's refusal to allow Dementors in the castle grounds, as it would hinder teaching at the school. When the conversation turns to Black, McGonagall asks Madam Rosmerta if she remembers who Black's best friend at Hogwarts was. She tells the table that Black and James Potter were the ringleaders of their gang; both bright, but both troublemakers. McGonagall tells them that Dumbledore suspected someone close to the Potters was an agent for You-Know-Who, but that James insisted on using Black as their Secret-Keeper for the Fidelius Charm. She is remorseful when Fudge reminds them of Peter Pettigrew, another of the Potters' friends, who Fudge reveals was also killed by Black. She was often rather sharp with Peter at school, and regrets that now. She suggests the group make their way back to the castle, as Fudge is due to dine with Dumbledore.

–"The Three Broomsticks"[13]

Discovered in chapter 11, The Firebolt[]

McGonagall with the Firebolt b3c11m1

Professor McGonagall confiscating Harry's Firebolt so that it can be checked for jinxes ("The Firebolt is Confiscated").

Professor McGonagall attends the lunch in the Great Hall on Christmas Day. She becomes impatient when Professor Trelawney joins them, wanting to get on with the feast. She is dismissive of Trelawney's fears about having thirteen people at the table, and her supersititon that the first person to rise will be the first to die. As the meal continues, McGonagall challenges Professor Trelawney, and shows little belief in the Inner Eye that Trelawney claims she has. When Harry and Ron get up from the table together, she sarcastically remarks that unless an axe-man is lying in wait outside the Great Hall, it hardly matters which of them rose first.

After the meal, McGonagall accompanys Hermione to the Gryffindor common room. She asks Harry if she can see the Firebolt; pulling it out of their hands, she examines it carefully from handle to twig-ends. When she confirms that there was no note with the present, she tells Harry she will have to take it away. McGonagall is adamant that she must check the Firebolt for jinxes, but tells Harry it shouldn't take more than a few weeks. She reminds Harry, quite kindly, that he cannot know the broomstick is safe until he has flown it, and she won't let him endanger himself. She leaves the common room, taking the Firebolt with her.

–"The Firebolt is Confiscated"[14]

Discovered in chapter 13, Gryffindor Versus Ravenclaw[]

At one in the morning, McGonagall arrives in the Gryffindor common room and insists that the Quidditch celebrations end and that the students go to bed. She enters the Gryffindor common room again after the commotion in Ron and Harry's dormitory, angry that the students are still awake. She stares at Ron when he tells her that Sirius Black was in Gryffindor Tower, and asks how he could possibly have got past the portrait hole. She asks Sir Cadogan if he has recently let a man enter, and is stunned when he says that he has. When she hears that Black had the week's passwords on a piece of paper, she wants to know which student was foolish enough to leave them lying around.

–"A Rude Awakening"[15]

Discovered in chapter 15, The Quidditch Final[]

Professor McGonagall watches the Quidditch final against Slytherin. She keeps an eye on Lee Jordan as he commentates, but doesn't bother to tell him off for swearing after Malfoy cheats. She shakes her fist in Malfoy's direction, shouting furiously. McGonagall is thrilled when Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup; she makes her way on to the pitch, sobbing and wiping her eyes on an enormous Gryffindor flag.

–"Gryffindor Wins the Cup"[16]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire[]

Discovered in chapter 12, The Triwizard Tournament[]

Professor McGonagall is furious with Peeves for causing trouble in the Entrance Hall. She dashes out of the Great Hall to deal with the poltergeist, skidding on the wet floor and grabbing hold of Hermione to stop herself from falling over. She shouts at Peeves, and orders him to come down immediately, only succeeding when she threatens to summon Professor Dumbledore. She ushers the remaining students into the Great Hall, and waits to lead the new first-year students into the room. McGonagall leads the first-years into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony; she puts a three-legged stool onto the ground before the students, and places the Sorting Hat on the stool. After the Hat has recited its song, she unrolls a large scroll, calling the students individually to be sorted.

–"A Late Arrival"[17]

Discovered in chapter 13, Mad-Eye Moody[]

Professor McGonagall is shocked when she sees Professor Moody in the Entrance Hall, controlling a bouncing white ferret. She makes her way down the staircase, her arms full of books, to find out what he is doing. McGonagall is horrified when she realises that the ferret is a student, and runs down the stairs, pulling out her wand and retransfiguring the ferret, Draco Malfoy, into his human form. McGonagall impresses on Moody that they never use Transfiguration as a punishment, and tells the teacher that at Hogwarts they give detentions, or speak to the offender's Head of house. She stares anxiously after Draco and Moody as they head towards the dungeons, then waves her hands at her fallen books, making them fly back into her arms.

–"A Pure White Ferret"[18]

Discovered in chapter 15, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang[]

Professor McGonagall seems oddly tense as the arrival date of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang delegations grows nearer. She is irritable with the students, and gets cross with Neville after one particularly gruelling Transfiguration lesson.

McGonagall organises the Gryffindor students into lines in the Entrance Hall as they wait for the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang groups to arrive on the evening of the 30th October.

–"The Carriage"[19]

Discovered in chapter 17, The Four Champions[]

Professor McGonagall joins the group in the room off the Great Hall after Harry's name is produced by the Goblet of Fire. She is irritated when Dumbledore doesn't deny there might have been a fault with the Age Line, knowing that Dumbledore wouldn't have made such a mistake. She thinks the arguments are nonsense - she believes that Harry didn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire himself, and trusts Dumbledore's acceptance that Harry didn't ask another student to enter him.

–"Four Triwizard Champions"[20]

Discovered in chapter 20, The First Task[]

Professor McGonagall arrives in the Great Hall at lunchtime on the day of the first task to escort Harry to the champions' tent. She looks as anxious as Hermione as they walk; she puts her hand on his shoulder and tells him to keep a cool head during the task. She speaks in a rather shaky voice as she leaves Harry at the entrance of the tent, and wishes him good luck.

McGonagall hurries towards Harry with Professor Moody and Hagrid after the first task. She waves as Harry descends to the ground on his Firebolt, and tells him his performance against the Hungarian Horntail was excellent. She instructs him to go to the first-aid tent before he receives his mark for the task.

–"Facing the Dragon"[21]

Discovered in chapter 23, The Yule Ball[]

Professor McGonagall attends the Yule Ball along with the other teachers. She wears dress robes of red tartan, and has arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat. She instructs the champions to wait on one side of the doors to the Great Hall as everyone else goes inside, as they are to enter the Great Hall in procession when everyone is seated. She leads the champions into the Great Hall, towards the table at the top of the Great Hall. When the Weird Sisters begin their performance after dinner, Professor McGonagall enjoys a dance with Ludo Bagman.

Discovered in chapter 26, The Second Task[]

Professor McGonagall sends Fred and George to fetch Ron and Hermione to her office on the night before the second task.

Discovered in chapter 31, The Third Task[]

Professor McGonagall allows Harry to use the empty Transfiguration classroom during lunchtimes to practise his spells in the run-up to the third task. On the morning of the task, McGonagall tells Harry to go to the chamber off the Great Hall, where the families of the champions are waiting to greet them.

Along with Hagrid, Professor Moody and Professor Flitwick, McGonagall patrols the outside of the maze during the third task, ready to help any of the champions if they get into difficulty and wish to be rescued. She tells the champions to send red sparks into the air, and one of them will come to find them.

Discovered in chapter 35, Veritaserum[]

Professor McGonagall bursts into Moody's office with Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape, after Stunning the impostor teacher. She is sent by Dumbledore to fetch the black dog waiting in the pumpkin patch by Hagrid's cabin and to take it to Dumbledore's office. She returns afterwards, and is shocked when she sees Barty Crouch Junior lying on the floor of the office instead of Professor Moody. She listens as Dumbledore questions the young man, astonished by the story he tells.

Discovered in chapter 36, The Parting of the Ways[]

Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape burst into the hospital wing after Cornelius Fudge. McGonagall is yelling at Fudge, and says that the Minister should never have brought 'it' into the castle. When Dumbledore arrives and asks why she isn't guarding Barty Crouch Junior, she reveals hysterically that there is no reason to guard the prisoner anymore, as he has been given the Dementors' Kiss by the creature brought into Hogwarts by Cornelius Fudge. She is furious with Fudge for allowing the Kiss to happen, having told the Minister about Crouch Junior acting on Voldemort's orders. She thinks Fudge is a fool for believing that the deaths of Cedric Diggory and Mr Crouch are merely the random work of a lunatic. Professor McGonagall leaves the hospital wing after Cornelius Fudge, to fetch Hagrid and Madame Maxime to Dumbledore's office.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix[]

Discovered in chapter 26, Seen and Unforseen[]

McGonagall stands at the edge of the crowd in the Entrance Hall watching the confrontation between Professors Umbridge and Trelawney, looking faintly sick. She breaks away from the spectators as Professor Trelawney begins to cry, marching up to her and comforting her colleague. She assures Trelawney that she is not going to have to leave Hogwarts. At Dumbledore's request, McGonagall escorts Professor Trelawney up the stairs to the Divination teacher's lodgings, with the assistance of Professor Sprout.

Discovered in chapter 27, The Centaur and the Sneak[]

Professor McGonagall is standing beside Professor Dumbledore when Harry and Umbridge arrive in the office. When Umbridge mentions the student meeting in the Hog's Head, McGonagall is curious as to how she found out about the meeting, and raises her eyebrows when she realises the deal the Ministry made with the informant Willy Widershins. McGonagall is horrified when Dumbledore falsely confesses to organising the meeting that evening, but does not attempt to prevent it, and widens her eyes threateningly at Harry to stop him from revealing the truth. She offers to help Dumbledore fight off the Ministry officials if they attempt to arrest him forcibly, but is prevented, reminded by Dumbledore that she is needed at Hogwarts. McGonagall forces Harry and Marietta to the floor to prevent them from being harmed during the skirmish that follows. When Dumbledore escapes and the Ministry officials regain consciousness, McGonagall escorts Harry and Marietta back to their dormitories.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince[]

Discovered in chapter 18, Birthday Surprises[]

Professor McGonagall attends the Apparition lesson in the Great Hall in her capacity as Head of House along with Professors Snape, Flitwick and Sprout. When Susan Bones splinches herself, the teachers converge around her, reattaching her left leg in a puff of purple smoke. McGonagall accompanies Wilkie Twycross, the Apparition Instructor, out of the Great Hall at the end of the lesson.

Discovered in chapter 30, The White Tomb[]

Professor McGonagall attends Dumbledore's funeral by the lake. She sits in the front row of chairs with Rufus Scrimgeour.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7) on Pottermore
  2. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 1) on Pottermore
  3. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 9) on Pottermore
  4. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 15) on Pottermore
  5. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 16) on Pottermore
  6. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 5) on Pottermore
  7. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 10) on Pottermore
  8. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 13) on Pottermore
  9. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 14) on Pottermore
  10. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 16) on Pottermore
  11. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 18) on Pottermore
  12. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 8) on Pottermore
  13. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 10) on Pottermore
  14. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 11) on Pottermore
  15. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 13) on Pottermore
  16. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 15) on Pottermore
  17. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 12) on Pottermore
  18. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 13) on Pottermore
  19. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 15) on Pottermore
  20. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 17) on Pottermore
  21. Professor McGonagall (as of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 20) on Pottermore

See also[]

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