Minerva McGonagall

Full Name: Minerva McGonagall
Birthdate (MM/DD/YYYY): 10/23/1935
Age: 73
Country of Origin: Scotland
Current Home: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

General Appearance
Hair: Black long hair
Eyes: Green
Complexion: Fair
Height: 5’’9
Build: Thin
Special Features:
Blood Purity: Half-blood
Sexual Alignment: Heterosexual
Personality (3 sentence minimum): Minerva almost constantly exuded magnanimity and sternness and was held in great respect (and some fear) by nearly all students and staff. Used to having her way, she tolerated neither audacity nor silliness from her pupils, and was known to turn cold towards people who said or did things in front of her that were stupid, or if she thought they were trying to be funny.[12] Despite her strict demeanor, however, Minerva did exhibit a dry sense of humor which usually came out when times were tough.
True to Gryffindor, she valued bravery and loyalty highly, thinking cowardice a heavy flaw. Despite her loyalty to her house, though, and a fair-minded person, McGonagall was known for docking points from students in her own House when she saw it must be done so.
Minerva was not afraid to speak her mind and showed quite a sharp tongue, especially during arguments. For the most part, though, she usually maintained great emotional composure, without being indifferent. Although she was not always particularly personable, she was a huge supporter of Harry and trusted the likes of Dumbledore, Sprout, Flitwick, Pomfrey and Hagrid. She could be very warm and supportive during times of trouble or loss and cared a great deal about her students, both personally and academically.
Minerva enjoyed needlework, correcting articles in Transfiguration Today, watching Quidditch, and supporting the Montrose Magpies. She has showed a great fondness for taratan patterns and love for cats.
As the devoted instructor of Transfiguration classes, Professor McGonagall highly respected the specific branch of magic, and considered it to be more complex and sophisticated than all others, though she respected most others just as much; she became an Animagus to further her study in the magic. On the other hand, she has very little patience with Divination, due to its impreciseness and rarity of true Seers.
As well as this, she has a temper that can reveal itself on occasions when she is angrily flustered.
Background (3 sentence minimum): Minerva attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the age of eleven. During her Sorting, she proved to be a hatstall: the Sorting Hat spent five-and-a-half minutes wavering between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw before deciding to place her in the former.
Minerva was quickly recognised as the most outstanding student of her year with a particular talent for Transfiguration. Minerva's school career overlapped by two years with that of Pomona Sprout, and the two students enjoyed an excellent relationship both then, and in later years.
By the end of the 1953-1954 school year, her seventh and last year at the school, Minerva had achieved an impressive record: she achieved top grades in her O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. examinations, she had been both a Prefect and a Head Girl, and won the Transfiguration Today Most Promising Newcomer award. She, like Dumbledore, received "Outstanding" in all her O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's. Having learned Transfiguration from Professor Albus Dumbledore, Minerva became, under his guidance, an Animagus, an ability that was duly recorded in the Animagus Registry at the Ministry of Magic. Minerva also played for Gryffindor Quidditch team in her student years; a nasty fall in her final year (a foul during the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match which would decide the Quidditch Cup winner) left her with a concussion, several broken ribs and a lifelong desire to see Slytherin crushed on the Quidditch pitch.
After graduating from Hogwarts, Minerva was offered a position at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the British Ministry of Magic. She returned to her family's manse to spend one last summer with her family before moving to London.
During these months Minerva, aged eighteen, met Dougal McGregor, a local Muggle, who was the handsome, clever and funny son of a local farmer. Minerva fell head-over-heels in love with McGregor. The two got to know each other, and eventually McGregor proposed to Minerva on a ploughed field and she accepted his offer. That night, she was unable to tell her parents of her engagement. Thinking about her future, Minerva realised that wedding a Muggle who was oblivious to the fact that she was a witch would mean Minerva would follow her mother's footsteps and live unhappily with her wand locked away, shredding all of her ambitions. Early next morning, Minerva went to tell McGregor she had changed her mind, and could not marry him, aware 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 McGregor devastated and left for London three days later.
Minerva worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic for two years after graduation.
Dissatisfied with her job at the Ministry, in December 1956, Minerva returned to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this time not to learn but to teach Transfiguration, under the head of department, Albus Dumbledore. She later replaced Dumbledore as Head of Department after he ascended to the position of Headmaster of the school. As a teacher, Minerva was a strict disciplinarian, maintaining control of her students with a stern hand that made her someone not to be crossed. Later on in her career, Minerva was also be appointed the position of Head of Gryffindor House, the house in which she used to reside whilst studying at Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore would later on in his career also trust her enough to allow her to become Deputy Headmistress of the school and fill in for him on the occasions of his absence. Her lessons consisted of but were not limited to match to needle, animal to water goblet, beetle to button, and mouse to snuffbox transformations, as well as Vanishing, Conjuring, and Switching Spells.
Through her early years at Hogwarts, Minerva remained close friends with her former boss, Elphinstone Urquart. During one visit, he proposed marriage to Minerva at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Surprised, embarrassed and still in love with Dougal, she declined. Elphinstone, however, had never ceased to love her, nor to propose every now and then, until she finally accepted.
After the first rise of dark wizard Lord Voldemort, Minerva took part in fighting back against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. McGonagall still taught at Hogwarts during the first war.
In the early days of the First Wizarding War, McGonagall joined the movement against Voldemort, the Order of the Phoenix, led by Albus Dumbledore. Minerva played a vital role in the resistance against Voldemort and his army of followers (Death Eaters), and throughout the war. McGonagall stayed loyal to the Order despite the rise in murders of members. McGonagall got through the war unscathed where others suffered loss of limb or other injuries.
After the First Wizarding War had ended Minerva continued on with her career at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, carrying on teaching the art of Transfiguration. She remained loyal to the Order of the Phoenix and kept watching over Harry Potter as he grew up to keep him from harm.
In the summer of 1982, Elphinstone proposed to Minerva again during a stroll around the Black Lake. Minerva, who had felt freed by the earlier death of Dougal McGregor, finally accepted. Always something of a feminist, she kept her maiden name upon their marriage, to the dismay of pure-blood supremacists who disapproved of her keeping her Muggle father's name. Together they lived in a small cottage in Hogsmeade where Minerva traveled easily to work every day and often hosted her nieces and nephews for visits.
In 1985, three years into their marriage, Elphinstone died from a Venomous Tentacula bite. Minerva, who could not bear to remain alone in their cottage, packed her things after her husband's funeral and returned to her first-floor study in Hogwarts Castle. It is unknown whether Minerva still owns the cottage.
In 1991 friend of Albus Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, had the Philosopher's Stone that was keeping him alive moved from his safe in Gringotts to Hogwarts for safe keeping. Minerva contributed to the defences set up around the magical artefact by transfiguring an enormous chess set and animating it to behave as a normal Wizard's chess set would. As part of its protection duty, it required that the person or persons seeking to get past would have to take the place of a piece on the board and play an actual game of wizard's chess, at great physical risk to themselves. Wizarding chess is known to be brutally violent and sacrificial for wizards to have to take part in themselves.
Also in this year, Harry Potter, who Minerva had been watching over for many years would start his first year of education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, unknowingly to him as he was unaware of the fact he was a wizard. Once Harry eventually arrived at Hogwarts, after the delivery of many acceptance letters, Harry was Sorted into the house of Gryffindor which Minerva was head of. Harry was therefore again placed under the watchful eye and care of McGonagall.
In the beginning of the 1992 school term, Minerva had to deal with Harry and Ron, who crashed Mr Weasley's Flying Ford Anglia into the Whomping Willow, due to the barrier of the King's Cross Station that was sealed by Dobby so the two couldn't board the train. This nearly exposed the wizarding world to Muggles, but Minerva was more fair than Snape, the one who brought the matter up in the first place. Minerva ultimately let them off with a mere detention and a letter to their parents and guardians; she did not take any house points as Harry pointed out that term had not started yet when they took the car, and she almost smiled at this remark.
Later, Minerva was present for the re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets. She, along with the rest of the teaching staff, scoured the castle for the Chamber, but to no avail. She also had to deal with the less than helpful Gilderoy Lockhart, who had been hired for the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. McGonagall had little liking or use for the man, and by the end of the year was only one of the many staff who utterly despised him.
In the final weeks of that school year, Minerva served as temporary Headmistress of Hogwarts after the Board of Governors, under Lucius Malfoy's influence, suspended Dumbledore for failing to stop the attacks against students. She was also quite shaken and softened up, as when Harry and Ron tried to sneak off to investigate on the matters but was caught by Professor McGonagall, she let them off under the belief that they were trying to visit a petrified Hermione; normally, she would punish them with detention. When Ginny Weasley was later taken into the Chamber of Secrets, where "her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever," Minerva despairingly believed that they were facing the end of Hogwarts. However, once the monster of the Chamber had been dealt with, Dumbledore returned to the school and Minerva returned to her normal duties.
The summer of 1993 also saw the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban. When the school year began in September, Minerva had to deal with the effects that the Dementors had on her students, such as Harry Potter. She also authorised Hermione Granger to use a Time-Turner in order to take extra classes, a decision that would prove more useful in future events that year. This year at Hogwarts would prove to be another difficult year with Dementors guarding the castle.
At the start of the year, when McGonagall demonstrated her Animagus form to her first class, she notes how quiet they were. When Hermione explained about their first Divination, McGonagall understood and asked her class which of them would be dying this year. Harry Potter raised his hand. McGonagall assured him that Sybill Trelawney's predictions were a way of greeting her class and that no deaths of any students has occurred yet.
Throughout the year, Minerva assisted in guarding the school, yet nonetheless Black was able to infiltrate the castle. After Black had attacked the Fat Lady, McGonagall tried to tell Harry that Black was after him, but was cut off by Harry, who told her that Mr Weasley had told him, before she could explain, Later in the year Black managed to enter Gryffindor Tower when Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, befriended by Sirius, gave him a discarded list of passwords. When Neville Longbottom admitted to having written the passwords down, McGonagall gave him a detention and wrote to his grandmother. As a result, Neville received a Howler. When Harry received a Firebolt following the destruction of his Nimbus 2000, McGonagall had it confiscated to be "examined" because she believed it to have been sent by Black (and correctly so), and therefore lethally cursed (which was incorrect). This incident caused Harry and Hermione to have a row, because Hermione had alerted Minerva about the Firebolt. It was returned to him later. During the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, McGonagall caught Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe and Marcus Flint attempting to pose as Dementors to catch Harry off guard. She deducted fifty points from Slytherin and put the quartet in detention. In the spring of 1994, though disgusted by the Slytherin Quidditch team's dirty tactics during the final Quidditch match after witnessing Draco Malfoy grab onto the end of Harry's Firebolt to stop him from catching the Golden Snitch, she also witnessed the Gryffindor Quidditch team win the Quidditch Cup for the first time since Charlie Weasley had played for the team during his Hogwarts education. McGonagall was delighted by Gryffindor's victory, but upset to see its captain Oliver Wood leaving. Later on in the year, three students from her house — Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger — would run into trouble when Sirius Black returned to Hogwarts.
In the autumn of 1994, Hogwarts hosted the magical schools, the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute for the Triwizard Tournament. Harry Potter was selected as a Triwizard Champion despite being under age and McGonagall worried for his safety after having looked after him for so many years. Minerva protested with Dumbledore and Crouch to withdraw Harry Potter from the tournament but it was against rules of the tournament and Potter had to continue on, despite it being very dangerous for him to do so.
During the year Minerva more than once exhorted her students to provide a good appearance to their guests at the castle. She attended the Yule Ball with Albus Dumbledore and notably wore her hair down for the first time since Harry started his education at Hogwarts. She also loaned her classroom to Harry, Ron and Hermione so they could practise spells for Harry's preparation for the Third Task, after having walked in on them so many times around the school. At the end of the Tournament, however, Minerva accompanied Dumbledore and Severus Snape in the rescue of Harry Potter from the Death Eater that had spent the entire school year impersonating the Auror Alastor Moody, that year's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.
She was instructed to guard Crouch Jr. after he revealed his part in the rebirth of Voldemort, but was unable to prevent the Dementor brought by Minister Cornelius Fudge from giving the Death Eater the Dementor's Kiss. She was intensely furious at Fudge for this blunder, and screamed more than Harry had ever seen before. Thus, when the Minister refused to believe Dumbledore and Harry Potter about the return of Voldemort, Minerva nonetheless stood in support of her superior and her student. In the return of the Dark Lord, Hufflepuff student Cedric Diggory was carelessly murdered and a memorial feast was held at the end of the school year. The Second Wizarding War had now begun, despite the Ministry trying to hush up any claims of this.
Once the Second Wizarding War had begun, Minerva rejoined the Order of the Phoenix and spent much of the summer of 1995 doing work for the Order. She would come and go from 12 Grimmauld Place wearing a Muggle dress rather than her robes, which Harry thought made her look odd. Though these duties took up much of her time, Minerva would face even greater challenges at Hogwarts. Because Dumbledore was unable to find a new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Ministry of Magic appointed Dolores Umbridge, a senior Ministry official and stout supporter of Fudge, to the Hogwarts staff. Minerva saw this appointment as an affront to the school itself and did little to hide her disgust.
When Harry Potter crossed Umbridge, earning a detention in his first class with her, Minerva was sympathetic but warned him that Umbridge was not to be trifled with and that he should keep his head down. 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 credence 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 in the face of Umbridge's persecution of Hogwarts' inhabitants. It is shown she brings Trelawney back to Hogwarts after Umbridge dismissed her.
After Umbridge's appointment as High Inquisitor, Minerva was forced to endure the other woman's presence during her evaluation of Minerva's teaching. Minerva kept her temper under control, maintaining an icy exterior and yet still unleashed a dry and pointed wit on Umbridge. The encounter did serve to cheer students like Ron Weasley who heartily disliked Umbridge.
Despite Minerva's best efforts to thwart the Ministry's influence at Hogwarts, things continued to grow worse. After Dumbledore was ousted from the school, Umbridge was appointed Headmistress over Minerva. When Umbridge invaded the career advising of the 5th-year students, Minerva finally lost her temper. During Harry Potter's session, when Umbridge kept interrupting the conversation and declaring that Harry would never be an Auror at the Ministry, Minerva declared to Harry that she would help him in any way necessary to achieve his goal. The atmosphere at Hogwarts continued to devolve under Umbridge's leadership.
During the O.W.L. examinations, events came to a head. When Dolores Umbridge and several Aurors attempted to evict Hagrid from the grounds of Hogwarts, Minerva sought to intervene on behalf of her colleague. However, before she could even draw her wand, Minerva was promptly hit with four Stunning Spells in the chest, which required that she be moved from Hogwarts Hospital Wing to St Mungo's for treatment.
Madam Pomfrey said that it would be very difficult for Minerva to be hit in broad daylight, and would have resigned in protest because of this cowardly attack if the students' well-being was not placed as her priority; many students were also outraged with this attack, to the point of ignoring their Astronomy exam, and even the proctor Professor Tofty expressed aloud his fury.
Minerva did not return to Hogwarts until after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, when she promptly gave the six students involved in the Battle at the Ministry 50 house points each for "alerting the world to the return of You-Know-Who" when Snape was needling Harry about Gryffindor having 0 house points. She also watched with some happiness when Peeves chased Umbridge from the school, commenting that she would've joined Peeves in chasing Dolores away, but Peeves had appropriated her walking stick. After her recovery at St. Mungo's, Minerva resumed her duties within the Order of the Phoenix as well as her teaching duties when the school year would begin again after summer.
Later in the school year, she participated in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower in 1997 after Draco Malfoy sneaked Death Eaters into the school through the Room of Requirement. She was stuck on the level below Harry and Dumbledore and couldn't pass on the stairs to reach them, however Snape could and pushed past her.
After the battle, she was devastated to learn of Snape's murder of Dumbledore, the man whom she had known nearly her entire life as a teacher, mentor, and friend, and whose murderer she had let pass. After the murder was committed the Dark Mark, which was already cast into the sky, shadowed over the school grounds, McGonagall led the respectful wand raising to rid the sky of the dark mark from the late Dumbledore's body. After the death of Dumbledore, McGonagall held the Funeral of Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts and in the final days of the school year she took over Dumbledore's former position and became Headmistress of Hogwarts, though she was stripped of this position in favour of Snape once Voldemort took over. McGonagall tried to comfort Harry about the death of Dumbledore but her efforts fell short, as she herself was devastated at the death of her beloved teacher.
As the war continued, Minerva remained at Hogwarts, even when it was taken over by Voldemort, most likely to make sure as little harm came to students since she could act as an insider so that that the Order of the Phoenix was informed on what was going on at Hogwarts. Even when Severus Snape was appointed Headmaster and Alecto and Amycus Carrow were given free rein in the school, Minerva did as much as she could to protect the students. The rebel alliance Dumbledore's Army founded by the students reformed, and McGonagall helped to keep their meetings a secret.
Minerva fought skilfully in the first part of the battle, and stood defiant in the lull. She stood among many students in a crowd when Voldemort himself walked into the Hogwarts grounds. It was only when Minerva saw Harry Potter's body being carried by Rubeus Hagrid that she began to despair, letting out a scream terrible to anyone who heard it, equal to that of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's together.
Nonetheless, Minerva continued to fight when the battle resumed after the attack by the Centaurs on Voldemort and the Death Eaters. In the final moments of the battle, she duelled with Voldemort alongside Horace Slughorn and Kingsley Shacklebolt, though they were blasted aside by his fury when Bellatrix Lestrange was killed in a duel with Molly Weasley.
They might have resumed the duel but for the fact that Harry revealed himself, insisting that he himself must duel Voldemort one final time. After Voldemort was finally killed by Harry, she, along with everyone else, hugged Harry in an uncharacteristic display of great emotion.
With the conclusion of the war, Minerva returned to the position of Headmistress of Hogwarts.

Family
Mother
Name: Isobel McGonagall (née Ross)
Age: 64 [Age of death]
Living or Dead: Dead
Blood Status or Species: Half-blood
Father
Name: Robert McGonagall
Age: 63 [Age of death]
Living or Dead: Dead
Blood Status or Species: Muggle
Siblings (Please specify whether the sibling is a brother or a sister)
Name: Malcolm McGonagall [Brother]
Age: 71
Living or Dead: Living
Blood Status or Species: Halfblood
Name: Robert McGonagall Jr. [Brother]
Age: 67
Living or Dead: Living
Blood Status or Species: Halfblood
Other (Please specify the relation for the other category when entering the person's name, Ex: John Smith (Uncle).)
Name:
Age:
Living or Dead:
Blood Status or Species:

Pet
Name: McGonagall’s cat
Age: 15
Living or Dead: Dead
Blood Status or Species: Tabby cat

Family Background (3 sentences minimum): Minerva McGonagall was born on the outskirts of Caithness in the Scottish Highlands, on 4 October,[1] 1935[2] to Robert McGonagall, a Muggle Presbyterian minister, and his wife, Isobel Ross, a witch. She was the couple's first child, and was named after her mother's grandmother, a very talented witch.[3]
Her birth proved both a joy and a crisis: Isobel had given up the use of her magic for her love of Robert, and never told him about her magical abilities as she was afraid to mar the bliss of their wedding. Minerva, however, displayed small but noticeable signs of magic from her earliest hours. As an infant, Minerva had no control of her magic, and thus she inadvertently Summoned toys that had been left on upper shelves to her cot, made the family cat do her bidding, and made her father's bagpipes play themselves which would cause baby Minerva to chuckle happily. Isobel knew she must confess to her husband about their daughter's wizarding abilities and so she did, explaining everything to Robert and telling him that they were bound by the International Statute of Secrecy, and that they must conceal the truth about their magical abilities.
The two parents remained together despite the shocking revelation and had two other sons, Malcolm and Robert Jr.. Both revealed magical ability in due course. Minerva then, as a child, helped her mother conceal from her father the accidents and embarrassments the young wizards' magic sometimes caused.