I really do love Professor McGonagall. She's such a fantastic teacher: no-nonsense, strict, but compassionate and sometimes even a little mischievous despite the hard line she usually takes with students. I especially enjoy her enthusiasm for Quidditch. Part of it, I'm sure, stems from her deep pride in Gryffindor as the head of the house, but her fondness for the game goes beyond just wanting to see her students succeed, I think. She has a keen understanding of the rules; it seems she's always the one overseeing the commetation. It would be interesting to hear her commentate a match herself. I wonder if she could show the restraint she tries to coax out of Lee Jordan?
The moment when she plucks Harry out of flying class and whisks him down the hall with her is so marvelous. It certainly seems at that point that she is going to severely reprimand him for unauthorized flying. She does nothing to demonstrate to Harry that she has other intentions until after she finds Wood; I imagine she wanted to make him sweat a bit, as much to ease her own conscience for bending the rules as to punish him. She's usually so composed, but her dander's up when she recalls their defeat the year before. "Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks..." (152) She's obviously been preoccupied by the thought of finding a Seeker, and when she glimpses Harry's stunt that's where her mind immediately goes.
McGonagall continually chides Lee for making favoritist remarks during his commentaries, but she doesn't deny him the job. As heartily as she protests, I think she agrees with him much of the time, particularly when Gryffindor is playing Slytherin and the latter is using particularly unfair tactics. She's especially furious at Malfoy's tactics in the final Quidditch match in Prisoner of Azkaban, (311) losing all her cool to shout ferociously at him. This, of course, is due as much to the threat to Harry's safety as to the potential loss for Gryffindor. She is similarly livid when Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle attempt to cause Harry to have another fainting spell when they dress up as dementors (263). As much as she wants Gryffindor to win, she is much more concerned about her students' well-being, grimly announcing the cancellation the final Quidditch match in Chamber of Secrets after Hermione and Penelope are attacked (257), gently but firmly refusing to give Harry his Firebolt until it has been searched exhaustively for curses in Prisoner of Azkaban.
When she finally does give the Firebolt back, though, she's obviously very pleased about it. As much as she respects her fellow teachers (with the exception of the egotistical Lockhart, the vindictive Umbridge and to some extent the eccentic Trelawney, all of whom are pretty useless as instructors), she and Snape obviously have a bit of a feud going as Heads of House, and she'd like to put his gloating to rest. "Do try and win, won't you? Or we'll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night..." (248)
And when Gryffindor finally manages the long-awaited victory, nobody is more ecstatic than her. "Professor McGonagall was sobbing harder even than Wood, wiping her eyes with an enormous Gryffindor flag." (313) That's just in the first three books, but this is probably the most shining Quidditch moment, and it's really nice to see this prim and proper teacher completely lose her composure for a moment of unguarded euphoria.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
So, shall we speculate that at some point, a young Minerva McGonagall also PLAYED quidditch? Or was she just always a major fan? ;-)
Ah the fun of imagining her as a young girl. What position would she have played if she did play quidditch? And when did she figure out how to turn herself into a cat? And might she once have had a crush on Albus? I'd love to know who Minerva hung out with at school.
I'm so glad you posted this, because so many of these moments are favorite McGonagall moments!
I was just thinking about that. Sure would be fun to see her flying around on that broomstick. I could maybe see her as a Seeker too; those sharp eyes of her don't miss a thing.
I definitely think she could have had a crush on Albus. ;) I always got an almost-romantic vibe from the two of them. Certainly she seems to be his closest friend. I suppose Albus was probably a little too wrapped up in his career to feel he could really be there for a wife... Incidentally, are any of the Hogwarts teachers married? Seems like they all live at the school, so it would be hard to be married unless it was to another teacher, or maybe they have special arrangements for married professors...
Yep, I think she would have been a good Seeker too! Although maybe, like Ginny Weasley, versatile enough to make a good Chaser as well.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who's picked up on the "almost-romantic vibe" between Minerva and Albus. I thought maybe I was going off my all-too-romantic head! ;-) It occurs to me that it's quite possible that Minerva was a student when Dumbledore was teaching -- my impression is that she's younger than he is, but older than Hagrid and Riddle. Since Dumbledore is approximately 150 years old, according to Rowling (at least I think so!) Minerva could easily be in her 60s at least and have had him as a teacher. Can't you picture her as the best pupil in that dashing auburn-haired professor's transfiguration class?!
I went over to Wikipedia, and over there it says he was born in the 1840s and she in the 1920s. So he's about twice her age but certainly didn't look his years when we saw him 50 years before. Anyway, I can definitely see her developing a little schoolgirl crush on him, and Albus admiring her extraordinary talents...
Post a Comment