Elspeth MacGillony

Elspeth MacGillony
Biographical information
Born	Between 1 September 1976 and 31 August 1977
Nationality	British or Irish
Title(s)	Professor
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Red
Eye colour	Green
Skin colour	Light
Relationship information
Family members	Father
Magical characteristics
Wand	Unknown length, wood and core
Affiliation
Occupation	Substitute professor of Study of Ancient Runes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (briefly)
Loyalty	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (formerly)

"This crown is imbued with great power, it makes the wearer fearless! With this, I will rid myself of the debilitating phobias that've held me back for too long. Now, all will cower before me!"

— MacGillony having acquired the crown of courage

Professor Elspeth MacGillony was a witch who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the late 20th century and returned to the school to teach Study of Ancient Runes as a substitute teacher during the 2010–2011 school year, while attempting to find a magical object in the Great Lake that could supposedly rid her of fears.

Biography

Early life

MacGillony was born into a family of unknown wizarding descent sometime around the year of 1976.

In 1982, her father took her to a lake, and they sat under a tree for a long time, gazing into the lake. She watched as sunlight was reflected off the surface and dragonflies flew close to the lake, tapping the water with their tails. She counted the dragonflies and noticed that every time they flew near the surface, they reduced in number. She wanted to go near the lake, but her father stopped her.

A kelpie rescuing MacGillony

Nevertheless, she still approached the lake, but got into contact with something cold and dark. She was grabbed by some kind of waterweeds, and felt like they were pulling her into the darkness, when in fact, it was exactly the kelpie that rescued her and lifted her out of the lake. After she got out, she was determined to never go near the lake, or any lake ever again. The traumatic experience would go on to haunt her for the rest of her life.

Hogwarts years (1988–1995)

MacGillony attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1988 to 1995. On the eve of her arrival, she rode on a boat across the Great Lake with other first-year students and was scared by the waterweeds within. Due to this incident, she was made fun of for several months. Some claimed she was afraid of Flobberworms too, and some even put Cornish pixies into her pockets and laughed as she tossed the robes away. MacGillony struggled with her studies during the first three years at the school, during which she came to resent students who were more accomplished than herself, whom she called "proud, righteous and always looking down on the weak and the fearful".

In 1993, as a fifth-year student, her magical abilities improved considerably, and she thought about retaliating against her bullies with the use of potions, hexes and curses. She read about the Imperius Curse and was fascinated by it. As students were forbidden from learning such curse, she went into the Forbidden Forest and practised it secretly. She felt it was hard to master, but was getting the hang of it, as she successfully cast it upon several Nifflers, which walked by the lake as she wanted.

Quest for the crown of courage

In 2009, she dreamt of being pulled towards the bottom of the lake again, during which she was unable to call for help, despite the magic she had mastered. In order to end her suffering, she intended to go back to Hogwarts to find an object that could supposedly rid her of her fears.

MacGillony with McGonagall and students

During the 2010–2011 school year, MacGillony was invited back to the school by Headmistress Minerva McGonagall to serve as the substitute teacher of Study of Ancient Runes while Professor Clodagh Dromgoole was on leave. Upon arrival, MacGillony met several third-year students by the Great Lake and talked with them about the beauty and danger of it. McGonagall then approached them and greeted MacGillony, noting that she expected her in her office to get settled in for an hour. for which MacGillony apologised and explained that she missed the place and wanted to walk around. She formally introduced herself to the students and allowed them to call her by her first name. She then left with McGonagall to see whether there was something else needed in her office.

MacGillony knew that the object she sought was in the Great Lake, and so not only did she frequently went to the lake and look into its depth, but she also began using the Imperius Curse on students to make them go into the lake and retrieve the object for her. When an unidentified student who was investigating creatures in the lake by themself encountered her, she advised them to be careful and said that curiosity, while valuable, was a double-edged sword, since some secrets in the lake could be very dangerous.

MacGillony talking to the student in the library

At one point, MacGillony was found by the same student in the library and briefly talked to them about her next lesson, the topic of which would be basic runic numbers. She had a hard time recalling what was used to represent the number "4" and came up with the Diricawl, but was corrected by the student with the Fwooper, the right answer. She then left in a hurry to allegedly prepare more for her lesson.

Eventually it was Daniel Page who succeeded in getting what she needed, and after he got out of the lake, MacGillony came, summoned the chest that he had found and revealed a magical crown inside. Stating that the crown was imbued with great power and would make its wearer fearless, she started to use the crown, but a kelpie who lived in the lake interrupted her with jets of water and knocked the crown away from her. The two students also got into a duelling stance, and a duel then erupted among them.

MacGillony incarcerated by McGonagall

After she cast a spell that blasted the student into the lake, the kelpie raised to defend them against her. She then confronted it directly, and did not realise she had successfully overcome her fear without the crown's help until she bumped into the dropped crown. Before anything further could happen, however, McGonagall arrived and used the Incarcerous Spell to restrain her, stating that her probationary period had ended and she had become a true monster the moment she decided to take advantage of the students. The crown was then taken from her to Gringotts Wizarding Bank for examination, and she was imprisoned in Azkaban for using an Unforgivable Curse.

Physical description

MacGillony had medium-length red hair, green eyes, light skin and freckles. She wore green robes, adorned with black feathers, with much jewellery, such as earrings and a necklace.

Personality and traits

MacGillony was a lonely and timid individual for the most part of her known life. Her first encounter with a kelpie left her with traumatic memories, which led to her fear of the creature and waterweeds. Hostility grew inside her during her years at Hogwarts due to the constant bullying, which induced her thought of using the Dark Arts to pay the bullies back. Mastery of the Imperius Curse along with her maniacal desire for the crown of courage had made her unscrupulous. Ultimately, she appeared to have overcome her fear without the crown's help, but it was at the cost of the health of students and her own career.

Magical abilities and skills

• Study of Ancient Runes: MacGillony was supposed to know enough about runes to become a professor of the subject at Hogwarts. However, she was in fact incompetent, as shown when she incorrectly believed that the Diricawl was used to represent the number "4" and had to be corrected by a third-year student, which made the student wonder why they knew more about runes than her. The poor quality of her teaching was also noted in one of Rita Skeeter's articles.
• Potions: MacGillony was able to brew potions, some of which could potentially be used to cause harm to other individuals.
• Charms: MacGillony was able to use charms successfully, such as the Summoning Charm.
• Dark Arts: MacGillony was capable of using hexes and curses, including the Imperius Curse, an Unforgivable Curse, which she learnt during her Hogwarts years. In her adulthood, she used the Imperius Curse to force students to go into the Great Lake and find her the crown of courage.
• Duelling: MacGillony had skills in duelling and was a worthy opponent for the unidentified student.

Possessions

• Journal: MacGillony had a journal in which she wrote about her traumatic experiences with lakes and kelpies.

Behind the scenes

• Professor MacGillony is voiced by American voice actress Kaitlyn Robrock in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened.
• The early life of MacGillony is presented through written words of her memories shown in the game (see 1, 2, 3-1, 3-2, 4, 5-1, 5-2). It was indicated that those memories are snippets of her journal, which was confirmed when the side quest was made available without time limit.

Appearances

• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (First appearance)