Professor Rubeus Hagrid, son of Mr Hagrid, a wizard, and Fridwulfa, a giantess,
and grew up in the West Country of England, near the Forest of Dean,
where he acquired his distinctive accent.
Hagrid attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1940 and was sorted into Gryffindor house. In Hagrid's third year, he was framed by Tom Riddle for the crime of opening the Chamber of Secrets and using his pet Acromantula to attack several Muggle-born students and eventually killing one of them. Though Hagrid's wand was snapped and he was expelled, he was trained as gamekeeper of Hogwarts and allowed to live on the school grounds at the request of Albus Dumbledore.
In 1991, Hagrid was given the task of reintroducing Harry Potter to the wizarding world. Hagrid would assume the post of Care of Magical Creatures professor after the retirement of Professor Silvanus Kettleburn. As a member of both the original and the re-instated Order of the Phoenix, Hagrid fought in several battles of the First and the Second Wizarding Wars, including the Battle of Hogwarts.
Rubeus Hagrid
He was still living, and presumably still teaching and tending to his gamekeeping duties at Hogwarts, inviting Harry's son Albus Severus for tea when he joined the school as Harry informed him at the station, just as Hagrid had done to his father, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
When Hagrid was about three, his mother returned to her Giant colony, leaving his father to raise him alone. Hagrid said he had very few memories of his mother from his childhood, but remembered his father fondly; as a half-giant, he overtook his father in size by the age of six, and amused the tiny wizard by picking him up and setting him on top of a dresser when Hagrid was annoyed with him. Later, when talking to Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the death of his mother, Hagrid admitted that she was not a great mother at all.
Hagrid's father was thrilled when his son was accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Hagrid began his education and was Sorted into Gryffindor House. During his third year, Hagrid acquired one in what would be a long line of dangerous pets: a young Acromantula, which he named Aragog.
Rubeus Hagrid
That same year, fifth-year student Tom Marvolo Riddle, who would go on to become Lord Voldemort, opened the Chamber of Secrets and unleashed a far more dangerous monster, which Riddle used to attack and petrify a number of Muggle-born students until he finally caused the death of a girl named Myrtle Warren.
When the school was threatened with closing, a consequence highly undesired by Riddle, the boy found out about Aragog and turned Hagrid in as the culprit; he even further slandered Hagrid with accusations of raising werewolf cubs under his bed and running off into the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls.
Hagrid protected Aragog and helped him flee to the Forbidden Forest; however, he was shortly thereafter expelled from Hogwarts, a fate that he was relieved that his father never knew of, having died during Hagrid's second year.
Following his expulsion, the Ministry of Magic forbade Hagrid from practising magic and destroyed his wand. The then-Transfiguration teacher Albus Dumbledore, who was convinced that Hagrid was innocent, nonetheless convinced then-Headmaster, Armando Dippet, to give Hagrid the job of Gamekeeper and allow him to remain a resident of the school.
Hagrid continued to do magic using his pink umbrella, which most likely contained the broken fragments of his wand, or perhaps even his entire wand intact, reconstructed for him by Dumbledore using the Elder Wand.
Rubeus Hagrid
After Harry was accepted to Hogwarts in 1991, Hagrid was given the task of finding Harry, as Harry's uncle Vernon was doing everything in his power to prevent his nephew from receiving his Hogwarts acceptance letter.
On Harry's eleventh birthday, Hagrid found the Dursleys and Harry in an extremely isolated Hut-on-the-Rock, and accidentally broke the door down from the force of his knocking, much to Vernon and Petunia's intense displeasure; Vernon threatened him with a gun, demanding that he leave, only for Hagrid to contemptuously seize the gun and twist it into a knot like it was rubber.
Not only did Hagrid show Harry some of the first real kindness he had ever known, bringing him a birthday cake and generally caring about Harry's comfort and happiness in a way the Dursleys would never have even considered, but he also revealed to Harry that he was a wizard.
Hagrid several times came close to losing his temper with Vernon due to repeated insults against magic. He finally really lost it when Vernon dared to insult Albus Dumbledore, calling him a crackpot old fool. In retaliation, he attempted to turn Harry's spoiled, bully of a cousin, Dudley, into a pig, but only managed to give the boy a pig's tail. However, Hagrid credited this to Dudley being so much like a pig already, that there was not much left to do.
Rubeus Hagrid and Harry Potter
Once it was confirmed that Harry would be attending Hogwarts, after Hagrid decidedly ignored the Dursleys' protests, he helped Harry find his bearings in the magical world by taking him to Diagon Alley, through the Leaky Cauldron, to buy his school necessities.
While in Diagon Alley, Hagrid took Harry to Gringotts Wizarding Bank to withdraw some funds from the Potters' vault, and to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone from high-security Vault 713, to be transported to Hogwarts for even safer keeping.
Hagrid also bought Hedwig, a snowy white owl, for Harry's eleventh birthday. He comforted Harry about his upcoming attendance at Hogwarts school and provided him with a ticket detailing the date, time and place that he would need to catch the Hogwarts Express.
Hagrid's personality and sheer power made him almost a force of nature, as he could be a kind, benevolent, and caring guardian of the lives around him, but when stirred, he could be a frightening, titanic, and overwhelming force.
In many ways, Hagrid is the Green Man of the forest, as he lives for the outdoors and the creatures of magic, roaming the woods without fear, and caring for the creatures within. He embodies the personality and almost elemental might of the natural world and holds great standing with the beasts and beings of magic who have come to know him. If anyone personifies the spirit of the forest, it is most certainly Hagrid.
I am what I am, and I’m not ashamed. Never be ashamed, my old dad used ter say, there’s some who’ll hold it against you, but they’re not worth bothering with. And he was right.
Professor Severus Snape is a half-blood wizard serving as Potions Master, Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, and Headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as well as a member of the Order of the Phoenix and a Death Eater. His double life played a extremely important role in both of the Wizarding Wars against Voldemort.
The only child of Muggle lowlife Tobias Snape and Gobstones witch Eileen Snape, née Prince, Severus was raised in the Muggle dwelling of Spinner's End, which was in close proximity to the home of the Evans family, though in a poorer area. He met Lily and Petunia Evans when he was nine and fell deeply in love with Lily, becoming a close friend of hers.
Severus Snape was a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose and yellow, uneven teeth. He usually dressed in flowing black robes which made him resemble an overgrown bat. He had shoulder-length, greasy black hair which framed his face in curtains, curling lips and dark, penetrating eyes that resembled tunnels. As a Death Eater, he bears the Dark Mark on his left inner forearm.
Severus Snape
Snape was a repressed, solitary man with no friends. In his early life, he was insecure, vulnerable, and yearned to be part of something better.
As a child, the bleak normality of working-class suburbia compounded with his neglectful Muggle father inspired in him a contempt for ordinariness. This urgent desire to be a part of something powerful and important was what drew him to Lord Voldemort's inner circle. The younger Snape had a stringy, pallid look, being round-shouldered yet angular and with a twitchy walk that recalled a spider, as well as long oily hair that jumped about his face.
Snape had a strong, authoritative presence. He spoke in a soft, contained voice most of the time, except during the occasional instances when he lost his temper. Severus started at Hogwarts with Lily in 1971, where he was Sorted into Slytherin House. This put him in the same year as Lily but unfortunately for him in rival houses. Severus became the immediate enemy of James Potter and Sirius Black and was a frequent victim of their bullying. This led him to be irritable towards James's son Harry when he was a professor.
Severus Snape
Snape, when young, developed a passion for the Dark Arts, which increased as his desire for revenge grew stronger. Snape became involved with the bullies in Slytherin House, many of whom were pure-blood supremacists. This put his friendship with Lily, a Muggle-born, under great strain until it was eventually broken in their fifth year. In an attempt to win back Lily's affections, Snape joined the Death Eaters along with a group of his fellow Slytherins.
Severus was made a member of the Slug Club presumably because of his talent at potion-making and Horace Slughorn kept a picture of him as a student, clutching his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. Despite this, Horace did not have many hopes for Severus's future, as his photograph was kept behind many others.
Shortly before Lily Evans was murdered by Lord Voldemort, Snape changed sides and became a member of the Order of the Phoenix and double agent during the Second Wizarding War. With tremendous difficulty, Snape prevented Lord Voldemort from learning the truth about his loyalties.
Severus Snape
Despite the opinions of most others including Harry during his early life, Albus Dumbledore trusted Snape for reasons that were kept between them both until their deaths. Despite Snape killing Dumbledore, it is learned that they had a special agreement for him to do so. When he died, it was revealed that his deep strong love for Lily Evans caused him to redeem himself, joining Dumbledore's cause for her protection from Lord Voldemort.
The relationship between Dumbledore and Snape would be one of an unusually strong loyalty, so much so that Snape agreed to kill Dumbledore upon the latter's own request. Before Dumbledore's death, Snape promised to protect the students of Hogwarts from the Death Eaters, who would inevitably take control of the Ministry of Magic as well as the school.
Snape later participated in the Battle of Hogwarts but was murdered by Lord Voldemort who mistakenly believed that Snape was the master of the Elder Wand, an immensely strong and powerful wand that Voldemort deeply desired, one of the Deathly Hallows, when in reality, Harry Potter was the master of the Elder Wand, because Draco Malfoy had disarmed Dumbledore, on the night of Dumbledore's death on top of the Astronomy Tower and Harry had disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor.
Severus Snape
After Snape's death, Harry Potter ensured that his portrait remained at Hogwarts, honoring him as a hero, despite their significant personal differences. In addition, Harry later named his second son Albus Severus Potter in honor of Dumbledore and Severus, both an inspiration in Harry's life after the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry also was influenced by Severus' Hogwarts house, and freely admitted that Albus could choose Slytherin if he wished.
Severus Snape was born 9 January, 1960 to Eileen Prince, a pure-blood witch, and Tobias Snape, a Muggle, making him a half-blood wizard. Severus, whose father was neglectful and possibly even violent, began to identify with his mother's family and created a secret nickname from his mother's maiden name, calling himself the Half-Blood Prince. His unhappy relationship with his father may have been the origin of his disdain for Muggles. It is implied that Severus was friendless and uncared for by his parents. This lack of care largely shaped Severus's bitter disposition and cruel behaviour later in his life.
Severus grew up at Spinner's End, a shabby suburb of Cokeworth. This area of town was near a dirty river and full of dilapidated houses, disused factories and broken down street lamps. Through the rest of his life, Severus continued to return there when he was not at school. The young Severus is depicted as being unwashed and wearing ill-fitting clothes that were so mismatched that it looked deliberate. As a child, Severus was neglected and his parents often fought with one another. He could not wait to leave for Hogwarts at the end of the summer.
Severus Snape
Severus attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a student and was Sorted into Slytherin House, at that time led by Potions master Horace Slughorn. On the way to Hogwarts for his first year, Severus sat with Lily Evans on the train. While on the train they met James Potter and Sirius Black. This encounter between the three of them revolved around a disagreement regarding what Hogwarts house was the best. This hostile first encounter would set the tone for the antagonism between the three of them for the rest of his life.
According to Sirius, Severus excelled in the Dark Arts from an early age. At the age of eleven, he knew more curses and hexes than most of the seventh year students. He reportedly was friends with a gang of Slytherins who later became Death Eaters, including Avery and Mulciber.
Severus was credited with creating a good number of popular spells like Levicorpus, Liberacorpus, Muffliato, and curses like Langlock, the Toenail Growth Hex, and his signature curse, Sectumsempra. Other Slytherins that Sirius mentioned as being friends with Severus included Evan Rosier and Wilkes.
Severus also had contact with Lucius Malfoy, who was a prefect during his first year and greeted him kindly when he was Sorted into the Slytherin House. Most likely the two had good rapport at Hogwarts, which could also be a reason why Narcissa Malfoy trusted Severus to take care of Draco Malfoy and why he seemed to favour Draco during his later teaching years. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were also classmates of Severus.
Severus Snape
Severus suffered terrible remorse when Voldemort decided that Harry Potter was the subject of the prophecy, and that Lily Evans, the woman whom he always loved, was now in danger as a result of his actions.
He begged Voldemort to spare her in exchange for the lives of her husband and son. But, knowing that he could not leave Lily's safety in question at the hands of someone who could turn back at his word on a mere whim, and that Lily would probably defend her child to the last breath, Snape also approached Albus Dumbledore to ask him to save Lily.
He pleaded with Dumbledore to hide her, along with her husband and son if he had to. Dumbledore agreed, but insisted that Severus serve him as a spy among the Death Eaters. In fact, it was Snape's request to Voldemort which allowed Lily to let herself die in order for Harry to live, when Voldemort attempted to murder him, his curse backfired and Voldemort's body was destroyed.
Severus Snape
When Severus Snape began his teaching career at Hogwarts, he initially applied for the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts, but was rejected multiple times.
Many students were under the impression that this was because Dumbledore feared Snape might return to his old ways if allowed to teach his favourite subject, but in reality it was because Dumbledore was aware by that point that the job had been jinxed by Voldemort.
Knowing that no Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher would last longer than a year, Dumbledore instead employed Snape in the position of Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House, following the retirement of veteran Potions Master Professor Horace Slughorn. Though it seemed rather uncommon for someone as young as Snape to be named Head of any House at Hogwarts, it is possible that Snape was the only Slytherin teacher left at the school, or that he was placed there to keep a watchful eye on the young Slytherins, who were frequently accused of, but not without reason, joining the Death Eaters.
Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was the TransfigurationProfessor, and later Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Dumbledore also served as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
He was a half-blood, Muggle-supporting wizard, the son of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, and the elder brother of Aberforth and Ariana. His father died in Azkaban when Dumbledore was young, while his mother and sister were later accidentally killed. His early losses greatly affected him early on, even at his death, but in turn made him a better person. He was most famous for his defeat of Gellert Grindelwald, the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with Nicolas Flamel.
It was through Dumbledore that resistance to the rise of Lord Voldemort was formed, as it was he who founded and led both the first and second Order of the Phoenix. Due to the fact that he had a keen mind and legendary power, Dumbledore became the only wizard that Voldemort ever feared. He was the wielder and the master of the Elder Wand from 1945 until 1997 and considered by many as the greatest Headmaster to ever grace Hogwarts. As he was about to die by a cursed ring, he planned his own death with Severus Snape. He was killed by Snape during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Then, it was through Dumbledore's manipulations that Voldemort was ultimately defeated and peace restored to the wizarding world. He is the only Headmaster that was laid to rest at Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore's portrait still remains at Hogwarts. Harry Potter later named his second son Albus Severus Potter after him.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was born to Kendra and Percival Dumbledore in the summer of 1881, in the mainly wizarding village of Mould-on-the-Wold. The early years of Dumbledore's life were marked by tragedy when his younger sister, Ariana Dumbledore, was attacked by a group of Muggle boys, who saw her performing magic and were frightened by what they saw.
Dumbledore began attending Hogwarts in the autumn of 1892 and was Sorted into Gryffindor house. Dumbledore's first year was met with much whispering about his father's crime. Many of Albus' fellow students mistakenly believed that, like father like son, Albus too hated Muggles. Some praised his father's actions, hoping to gain his trust, but they would not find favour with the young Dumbledore this way. Though later in his young life, under the influence of his love for Gellert Grindelwald, some anti-Muggle prejudice did develop, but he soon saw the error of his intent.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
He befriended a young Elphias Doge on his first day at Hogwarts; Doge was suffering from the aftermath of Dragon Pox at the time, greenish skin and pockmarks, which discouraged most from approaching him. Dumbledore demonstrated his uncommon kindness and willingness to look past the surface and find inner beauty in people. Dumbledore also became very well-connected during his Hogwarts years, making notable friends such as Nicolas Flamel, Bathilda Bagshot, and Griselda Marchbanks, who marked him in his N.E.W.T.s for Charms and Transfiguration and later recalled that he did things with a wand that she had never seen before. He also had several of his papers published during his studies.
After graduating from Hogwarts in June 1899, Dumbledore planned to take the traditional Grand Tour of the world with his friend Doge. However tragedy ensued on the eve of the departure when Kendra Dumbledore was killed by an outburst of Ariana's uncontrollable magic, leaving Albus the head of his own broken family and now in charge of his younger siblings.
Dumbledore also served in recruiting students for Hogwarts. Most prominent among the students he recruited was Tom Riddle, who he found in Wool's Orphanage in 1938. Alone of all the professors at Hogwarts, Dumbledore was not charmed by the natural charisma and cunning of Tom Riddle. In their first encounter, Dumbledore became immediately suspicious of his "obvious instincts for cruelty, secrecy and domination" and resolved to keep a close eye on him during his studies at the school. As Dumbledore was not so easily taken in by his charming façade, Riddle came to despise and fear him.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
In 1943, several Muggle-born students were mysteriously petrified by a beast rumoured to have been released by the Heir of Slytherin from the mythical Chamber of Secrets. Indeed, the final victim of the beast, Myrtle, was actually killed; this act seemed likely to ensure the permanent closure of the school, forcing Riddle to go back to the orphanage. While Dumbledore rightly suspected Riddle was behind the attacks, the aspiring Dark Wizard expertly framed Gryffindor student Rubeus Hagrid as the perpetrator.
After Lord Voldemort started his first rise to power in 1970, Dumbledore founded the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organisation of witches and wizards willing to risk their lives to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters. As the only wizard Voldemort was ever truly afraid of, Dumbledore was the perfect leader of the organisation and was a significant contributor to the fight against Voldemort.
Later on in the war, Dumbledore was approached by another person who also wanted a job at Hogwarts: Sybill Trelawney, who applied to become the new professor of Divination, lessons that Dumbledore disliked and barely considered a part of necessary education for young wizards and witches. Dumbledore gave her a chance because she was the great-great granddaughter of the celebrated Seer Cassandra Trelawney. To his disappointment, when he was interviewing Sybill at the Hog's Head, he came to the conclusion that she was not a real Seer.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
However, as Dumbledore was about to leave, Trelawney fell into a real trance and made a prophecy about the birth of the one that would have the power to vanquish the Dark Lord, who would be born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. This fact astonished Dumbledore, but as it turned out, the Death Eater Severus Snape had overheard most of the prophecy, but had been caught in the act of spying and ejected from the tavern by Aberforth Dumbledore. Dumbledore hired Trelawney in order to protect her from the Death Eaters.
Later, Severus Snape approached Dumbledore, having already told Voldemort about the Prophecy. Snape was shocked by the fact that Voldemort had concluded that the prophecy was about Harry Potter, the son of James Potter, and Snape's own loved childhood friend, Lily Evans.
Dumbledore made arrangements to ensure the safety of the three; he advised them to stay hidden in their house in Godric's Hollow, which was protected by a Fidelius Charm. However, their Secret-Keeper, believed by Dumbledore and everyone else to be Sirius Black, but was in truth Peter Pettigrew, betrayed them, resulting in James and Lily's deaths at Voldemort's hands. However, as Voldemort attempted to murder Harry, the curse backfired due to Lily Potter's love for her son and destroyed his body, only keeping a part of his soul alive.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Dumbledore, who likely already knew by then that a part of Voldemort's soul had concealed itself within Harry, made sure that Harry would be kept safe with his family, the Dursleys, despite them not being selected as his guardians in the event of James and Lily's death, as his spells ensured that Voldemort could not harm Harry there as long as he could have a home with them. He convinced Snape to help him protect Harry, although Dumbledore secretly planned to allow Voldemort to kill Harry in the end, which would destroy the piece of Voldemort's soul inside Harry. However, he also hoped to influence Harry into such a person who would willingly sacrifice his life for the greater good, allowing him the chance to choose between life and death in the end.
Dumbledore gave Snape employment at Hogwarts as the Potions master, and later defended Snape against the Ministry of Magic, who were rounding up and arresting remaining Death Eaters. Dumbledore attended many Death Eater trials, including that of the Lestranges and Barty Crouch, Jr He was also witness to Igor Karkaroff's testimony which secured his release from Azkaban in return for the names of fellow Death Eaters.
Albus Dumbledore
Shortly before the Potters' deaths, Dumbledore discovered that James's Cloak of Invisibility was in fact one of the Deathly Hallows. Although Dumbledore had long given up his desire to unite the Hallows and become Master of Death, he could not resist the thought of studying the Cloak. To that end, he borrowed it from James while James and Lilly were in hiding. He confirmed that it was indeed the cloak of legend, but before he could return it, James and Lilly were killed by Voldemort. This unfortunate occurrence provided Dumbledore with ownership of two of the Hallows.
Ten years later, Harry Potter started attending Hogwarts, as happy as Dumbledore had hoped, despite suffering child neglect and abuse, and alive and well. That year, Lord Voldemort formulated a plan to regain human form. Dumbledore and his friend Nicolas Flamel, the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, began to suspect that the disembodied Dark Lord was plotting to steal the invaluable object, which would be capable of restoring him to full power.
Dumbledore had the stone moved to a medium security vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, but later had it moved to Hogwarts itself; coincidentally, on the same day that an attempted break-in was made upon the vault. It was retrieved by Hagrid, who was also taking Harry to buy his school supplies.
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 select ladies’ boarding school in England. In fact, when Isobel vanished from her home for months at a time, it was to Hogwarts Schoolof Witchcraftand Wizardry that she went.
Aware that her parent, 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.
Minerva McGonagall
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 McGonagall 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.
Minerva McGonagall
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 and 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 McGonagall
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 for her mother to fit in with the all-Muggle village, and how much she missed the freedom of being with her kind, and of 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 out of envy.
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 her 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 McGonagall
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 of Pomona Sprout, later 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 eyes- were duly logged in 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 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.
Minerva McGonagall
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.
Minerva McGonagall
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.
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.
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.
Minerva McGonagall
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.
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.
Harry Potter and Minerva McGonagall
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.
