InsaneJournal

Name: Minerva Livingstone McGonagall
Birthday: 4 October, 1925
House: Gryffindor
Year: Don't be ridiculous! She's the deputy headmistress and Transfiguration teacher.
Kind of blood: Muggle-born
Pet: A white-naped raven called Smythe
Wand: oak and unicorn hair, nine and 3/4 inches, very rigid

Physical Appearance: Minerva is a little above average height (5'8"), but her high-heeled boots, the way she holds herself, and her tall witches' hat make her appear much taller -- somewhat imposing, even. She'd rather not have her exact weight divulged, but she has a fairly good figure for a woman her age (the word "statuesque" springs to mind). Her hair is black, and she wears it pulled back in a loose bun at all times except when she's asleep, though her bun seems to get progressively tighter with each passing year. She wears square spectacles and has somewhat beady green eyes. Her normal robes are emerald, and she wears those most of the time whilst teaching, but her dress robes are in the tartan of her late husband's clan. Minerva may also occasionally be seen in a tartan dressing gown in hairnet, but those who witness her dressed that way are normally in a fair bit of trouble. In her Animagus form, she's a grey tabby cat with square white patches around her eyes.

Biography: Minerva McGonagall was born in Inverness, Scotland to Duncan Livingstone (a sheep farmer) and Helena Buchanan Livingstone (the daughter of a local apothecary). She was christened Minerva Eleanor Livingstone. The family had a strong Catholic tradition, and from an early age, Minerva -- the oldest of five (Ronald, Deidre, Mary, and Callum, in order of birth) -- wanted to be a nun. When her Hogwarts letter arrived, the family was shocked ... to say the least.

Duncan Livingstone had always doted on his eldest daughter, but upon learning that she was a witch, he wanted to send her to the local friar for an exorcism. Helena intervened, however, saying that for whatever reason, Minerva's magical talent was God's will. As she reminded her husband, Minerva had always been the brightest, sweetest, most responsible, and least evil child imaginable. "And besides," she had asked him, "do you want to burn your daughter at the stake?" After that suggestion, Duncan relented, and an excited Minerva started at Hogwarts in the autumn of 1936, where she was sorted into Gryffindor.

None of her younger siblings received Hogwarts letters, but they still thought no differently of Minerva, other than missing her since she spent ten months of every year at a magical boarding school. During her holidays, Minerva kept her studies to herself as much as possible out of deference to her father and attended masses regularly with the family. She still attends mass every Christmas and Easter, despite the fact that both Duncan and Helena Livingstone passed on long ago. Minerva remains close with all her siblings, who continue to seek her level-headed advice on nearly every subject imaginable.

During her fifth year at Hogwarts, Minerva was named a prefect, and she also became Head Girl in her seventh year. Because of her exceptional talent in Transfiguration (her NEWT committee said they didn't have a letter high enough to describe how well she'd performed), when she left Hogwarts in 1943, Minerva received a special invitation to study to become an Animagus. At the Animagus Academy, she met Edgar McGonagall, a dashing and kindly Hufflepuff who attended the adjoining Auror Academy. It was love at first sight, and the two were inseparable from the first day on. They married nine months later -- a mere month after Edgar completed his qualifying exams. The two had an abbreviated honeymoon, however, due to the rising conflict with Grindelwald.

Minerva worried constantly about her husband's performing such dangerous assignments, but she also understood how deep his committment to his duties ran. For the first time in her life, she had trouble being brave. And then it happened: After the news arrived about a heated battle in Amsterdam (shortly before Grindelwald's defeat in 1945), two Minstry officials knocked on her door late one night. They were very sorry, they said, to report that Edgar McGonagall had been killed in action. Then they handed her his wand and a posthumously awarded Order of Merlin, First Class. She keeps both in a box on her mantel to this day.

In spite of her living in a wizarding area, Minerva's entire family came to stay with her and help see her through. Her mother, who had lost her own husband two years earlier, forced Minerva to eat and bathe and occasionally go outside, even though her daughter wasn't always co-operative or even appreciative. She also took up smoking because her healer thought it might be therapeutic. Now she smokes like a chimney and only hopes one of her students won't catch her with a butt in her mouth. (They still allow smoking in the staff room in 1978. She'll finally kick the habit before Harry's day.)

Minerva's depression following Edgar's death lasted the better part of two years. When she finally snapped out if it, she returned to the Animagus Academy to complete her training. In January of 1956, she completed her first successful Animagus transformation and sustained her form for two hours, which was more than enough to pass her examination. Three months later she received a letter from her old mentor, Albus Dumbdore (then deputy headmaster of Hogwarts), asking if she would consider taking over his position as Transfiguration instructor beginning with the start of the winter term. She eagerly agreed and began teaching some of the lessons for the younger students under Dumbledore's supervision in December of that year.

As a professor at Hogwarts, Minerva quickly developed the reputation of being especially strict but also very fair. In her zeal to appear unbiased, she often is harder on Gryffindors than she is on students from other Houses. She is, however, quite reasonable -- provided the pupils in question aren't attempting to pull the wool over her eyes. Her bollocks and trouble detectors are first rate. One would expect a Muggle-born to oppose Voldemort on priciple, but for Minerva it cuts deeper than that. She also despises the Dark Arts in any form and would have even if she hadn't lost Edgar to Grindelwald's forces of Dark wizards. The fact that she did, though, makes battling the Dark Arts very personal for her.

Likes: Transfiguration, Charms, Quidditch, tartan, order, discpline, biscuits, cigarettes

Disikes: Divination, Potions, the Dark Arts, Dark wizards, disorder, rule-breaking, rats and mice, cigarettes

Hobbies: knitting (especially tartan afghans), reading, playing wizard's chess with Filius or Albus, baking (though most of her attempts are disatrous), giving advice to her siblings

Romantic history: Minerva married Edgar McGonagall in 1943, but she lost him two years later in the war with Grindelwald. She has been alone ever since, though she has found herself having those type of feelings again recently about Professor Dumbledore. She tells herself that she's only being silly, that such a great wizard as Albus Dumbledore would never show an interest in her. And yet, she can't help feeling a little giddy whenever they speak, even if she tries her best to hide it.

Goals: Minerva wants to give up smoking, even though she's quit a dozen times already, but can't quite seem to stay "quit" for long.

Astrology: THE LUCID SEEKER (Libra/Ox) -- Beauty and the Beast. This subject is a veritable storm of contradiction. Every detail must be perfect, every line straight, and every flaw concealed. Weakness must be routed. Sloth eradicated. Yet, under this foil of faultlessness, Libra/Ox hides a secret. On the strict surface, Libra/Ox is efficiency and power, example and security. Underneath? An anthill of conflicting emotions. Purity charms this sterling character. She claims not to want any messing about. She protests she needs calm and cannot live in turmoil. Yet, Libra/Oxen are forever getting themselves involved in emotional scrapes. Even though they seem to be above it all, they take in strays. They seek out madness. They are magnetized by complexity. The love life of Librans born in Ox year roil with complications. Nothing is simple...

Status before Dumbledore's Spell: Running down the sloping lawn to try and help before it was too late, and she died not long after that.

DISCLAIMER: This journal is for role-play purposes only. I am not Maggie Smith, nor do I own Minerva McGonagall -- more's the pity. If I did, I'd be rich, and I'd be writing about her for real, instead of merely playing her.