Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall
Biographical information
Born	October 4, 1925 (DH age 72)
Title(s)	Deputy Headmistress Professor (formerly) Head of Gryffindor (formerly)
Physical information
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Black
Eye colour	Green
Family information
Family members	M.G McGonagall (Unknown)
Magical characteristics
Animagus	Cat (Registered)
Patronus	Cat
Affiliation
Occupation	Professor of Transfiguration (fomerly) Headmistress of Hogwarts

Minerva McGonagall (born October 4, 1925) was Professor of Transfiguration (1956 to 1998), Head of Gryffindor House, and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She is one of the few registered Animagi of her century, her Animagus form being a tabby cat with markings near the eyes resembling her square spectacles. Her Patronus is identical to that cat. After the defeat of Lord Voldemort, she became Headmistress of Hogwarts.

Quick Answers

What is subject does Professor McGonagall teach at Hogwarts?

Professor McGonagall teaches Transfiguration, a core subject and one of the most complex and dangerous types of magic taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It involves changing the form and appearance of an object or a person. Professor McGonagall believed Transfiguration to be more elegant and superior to other types of magic. In her class, students practiced actual transfigurations and sometimes, accidents resulted in partial transfigurations. She also taught the concept of a wizard using a combination of wandless and non-verbal magic to change themselves back into a human, adding another layer of complexity to the subject.

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What house was Professor McGonagall in during her time at Hogwarts?

Professor Minerva McGonagall was in Gryffindor house during her time at Hogwarts. Not only was she a member of Gryffindor, but she also served as the Head of Gryffindor House during Harry Potter's time at the school.

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What is the role of Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series?

Professor Minerva McGonagall plays a pivotal role in the series. She is the first magical character introduced in the books, appearing in her Animagus form, and the second magical character introduced in the films following Albus Dumbledore. As a key figure at Hogwarts, she is often seen guiding and mentoring students, including Harry Potter himself. Her character is known for her stern yet caring nature, and her expertise in Transfiguration.

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What does the title 'O.M. (First Class)' given to Professor McGonagall stand for?

The 'O.M. (First Class)' in Professor McGonagall's name stands for 'Order of Merlin, First Class'. This is an award bestowed upon wizards and witches who have achieved great things for the wizarding world. It's the wizarding world's equivalent to the Order of the British Empire, with three different award levels: First Class, Second Class, and Third Class. Professor McGonagall, being a prominent figure in the Harry Potter series, was awarded the First Class for her significant contributions.

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Personalities and Views

Minerva McGonagall is usually very serious and stern, and is held in respect (and some fear) by all students. She tolerates no talking or silliness from her pupils. She once told students that the Yule Ball would be a time for them to "let their hair down," and even she seemed to note it was unlikely she would ever let her own hair down.

She is also an avid Quidditch fan and has a love for cats. She wears emerald-green robes. She is also very fond of tartan patterns. Even her nightdress and biscuit tins are tartan.

Biography

Career at Hogwarts

Minerva McGonagall attended Hogwarts as a pupil from 1937-1944. She was sorted into Gryffindor House.

Professor of Transfiguration

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

— Minerva McGonagall lectures the first-years.

Minerva McGonagall wowed students on their first Transfiguration lesson by turning her desk into a pig and back again. Transfigurations lessons have consisted of match-to-needle, beetle-to-button, rabbits-to-slippers, teapot-to-tortoise, hedgehog-to-pincushion, guinea fowl-to-guinea hens, and mouse-to-snuffbox, with extra points for how pretty the snuffbox was, points off if it still had whiskers.

Minerva McGonagall sees other forms of magic less elegant and more simplistic then the art of Transfiguration. This thinking generally applies to Divination, a subject McGonagall thinks low of, mostly because she sees the Divination Professor, Sybill Trelawney, as a fraud.

Unlike her colleague Professor Severus Snape, she is careful to take an even-handed approach to discipline with all pupils, punishing those from her house even when this could mean losing the House Cup.

House Advisor

Minerval McGonagall was the Head of Gryffindor house. She was a mentor and role model for Hermione Granger, for they shared much in common, especially a certain fondness for rules. Both are particularly clever. She gave Hermione a "rare smile" when Hermione successfully transfigured a match into a needle on her first Transfiguration lesson. McGonagall also arranged for Hermione to use a Time-Turner in her third year to take additional classes. McGonagall was also personally moved to emotion when Hermione was attacked by the Basilisk in 1992.

McGonagall was also very attached to Harry Potter, as she was his House Advisor. For example, when Dolores Umbridge commented that McGonagall was "too ill to talk to anyone," causing the Inquisitorial Squad to laugh, Harry "found he was so full of rage and hatred he was shaking." Later, Harry becomes so infuriated when Amycus Carrow spits in McGonagall's face that he is able to successfully perform the Cruciatus Curse on him, something Bellatrix Lestrange had previously mocked him for being unable to do. What's more, Harry noted the worst sound he ever heard was McGonagall's scream when she believed Harry to be dead.

As a House advisor, McGonagall's contribution to the guardians of the Philosopher's Stone was a life-sized set of Wizard's Chess, transfigured to make it "alive."

In her Gryffindor capacity, it is unlikely that she would have taken her usual unbiased approach to discipline as far as to harm her beloved Quidditch team. Indeed, when she caught Harry disobeying Madam Hooch's instructions and flying a broomstick, her reaction was to recruit him as Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team rather than to punish him. On the other hand, she did support Snape in giving Harry detention on the same day as a final Quidditch match in 1997.

McGonagall: "Right then. Well, I think Potter and his friends ought to have fifty points apiece for alerting the world to the return of You-Know-Who! What say you, Professor Snape?"

Snape: "What? Oh - well - I suppose ..."

McGonagall: "So that's fifty each for Potter, the two Weasleys, Longbottom and Miss Granger. Oh - and fifty for Miss Lovegood, I suppose. Now, you wanted to take ten from Mr. Potter, I think, Professor Snape - so, there were are ..."

— McGonagall adds House Points to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Hourglasses.

Deputy Headmistress

In her capacity as Deputy Headmistress, McGonagall leads the Sorting of first-years and acts in Albus Dumbledore's stead when he is away from Hogwarts.

Against High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge

Minerva McGonagall saw it as a personal affront when Dolores Umbridge invaded Hogwarts in the capacity of High Inquisitor. McGonagall did all she could to circumvent Umbridge's authority without risking her own security as Deputy Headmistress. Indeed, she treated Umbridge with as little creedance and respect as possible while Hogwarts was under investigation by the Ministry of Magic, and even gave Peeves tips on how to unscrew a chandelier when he was trying to cause havoc for Umbridge. McGonagall also managed to put aside her dislike of Professor Trelawney for a time.

McGonagall: "False hope? He has achieved high marks in all his Defence Against the Dark Arts tests -"

Umbridge: "I'm terribly sorry to have to contradict you, Minerva, but as you will see from my note, Harry has been achieving very poor results in his classes with me -"

McGonagall: "I should have made my meaning plainer. He has achieved high marks in all Defence Against the Dark Arts tests set by a competent teacher."

— McGonagall and Umbridge discuss Harry's future as an Auror

Minerva McGonagall did all she could to thwart the influence of the Ministry over Hogwarts. On the night that Rubeus Hagrid was attacked by Aurors on the Hogwarts grounds, she received four Stunners to the chest after attempting to intervene. She spent the rest of the school year in St Mungo's, recuperating. She returned after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and when Peeves chased Umbridge out with her walking stick and a sack full of chalk, she and the other teachers only tried half-heartedly to stop him and stop the other students from watching and cheering. In fact McGonagall was so happy about this she was heard commenting that she'd have joined the students in watching Umbridge being chased away and cheered as well but Peeves was using her walking stick (she was a bit weak still from the Stunners) so she couldn't make it to the door.

In spite of the differences between McGonagall and Umbridge (one might say one is "good" while the other "evil"), they shared a love for cats. Even in that single common trait, their tastes in cats were very different. McGonagall's Patronus and Animagus form cats are noble and dignified, like herself, and bore the markings of spectacles. On the other hand, Umbridge had an affection for "cutsie" cats, and covered her office in pictures of revoltingly-adorable kittens. Umbridge's Patronus was a "princess"-type cat - a fluffy Persian breed, which would require a lot of maintenance. This could be yet another source of irritation for McGonagall - the trivializing of her patron animal must have annoyed her a great deal.

McGonagall

Headmistress

Upon Albus Dumbledore's death in 1997, Minerva McGonagall succeeded as Headmistress of Hogwarts. Subsequent to Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry of Magic, Severus Snape was temporarily appointed Headmaster by Pius Thicknesse, and McGonagall returned to her former duties. Following Snape's murder in 1998, McGonagall recommenced her duties as Headmistress. She had retired by the time Harry's second son, Albus Severus Potter, was going to Hogwarts for the first time.

Order of the Phoenix

Minerva McGonagall is a leading member of the Order of the Phoenix, and played a pivotal role in the Battle of Hogwarts. With help from Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood, she incapacitated the Death Eaters Amycus and Alecto Carrow. She also had a brief duel with Severus Snape, which ended with him fleeing out of a window. She then led the rest of Hogwarts' defenders in battle against the remaining Death Eaters. At one point in the battle she even dueled with Voldemort himself, alongside Kingsley Shacklebolt and Horace Slughorn, though the duel was interrupted by Bellatrix Lestrange's death at Molly Weasley's hands.

Etymology

Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom. McGonagall comes from the Scotsman William Topaz McGonagall, considered one of the worst poets in the English language.

Trivia

• In an interview after the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling said that Hogwarts had a different Head by the time Harry Potter's children arrived in 2017, saying that McGonagall was "getting on a bit".
• A movie from 1974 entitled "The Great McGonagall" was about the aforementioned poet William McGonagall.