Why I Love Minerva McGonagall  July 20th

Click here to listen. If you’re too lazy to read this post, let me read it to you.

I started reading the Harry Potter series when I was in the 4th grade, so it was either 1999 or 2000. I initially didn’t want to read them because I seriously thought I was “too cool” or “too smart” for them. My librarian introduced the series to us, not long after Chamber of Secrets was released in the U.S. I remember she read an excerpt from Sorcerer’s Stone in which Harry Potter put on a jumper, and she explained to us that, in England, a jumper is what we would call a sweater. This clarification was important because a jumper, at least here, is a type of a dress. Harry Potter was not wearing a dress.

Anyway, a few of my friends started to read Sorcerer’s Stone, and I didn’t want to be like all of them. Finally, I decided I would read it for a book report my teacher had us do. After that, I was hooked, and I immediately went out to Barnes & Noble to purchase Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. (I no longer possess my original copy of the latter because a friend of mine never returned it.) That summer, I went to the midnight release party of Goblet of Fire with my dad, who had yet to read the books but took me anyway. They were guaranteeing a copy to the first 150 people who hadn’t already reserved it. I was the 147th person to get one of those tickets that guaranteed I would get the latest book that night.

The Harry Potter books spanned eight or nine years with me. I have changed significantly over the course of that time period. By the time Half-Blood Prince came out, I had read some great literature. I did not need many examples to know that the quality of the writing was not excellent. Leading up to its release in 2005, I was so hyped for it; saying I was disappointed would be an understatement. When Deathly Hallows came out, I was no longer very excited. I had just spent a year reading novel after amazing novel (check out how many books I recommend that I read in 2006 and 2007), and I wasn’t sure I could stomach a mediocre end to an overall enjoyable series. It took me a year to open it up. Although it wasn’t great, it was better than I expected. The series was worth finishing.

Now, back to the title of this post. As I got older and my tastes changed, there was one character whom I will always love: Professor Minerva McGonagall. J.K. Rowling didn’t ruin her. In fact, I think she may have gotten even cooler as the series progressed. There is no denying that she kicked absolute ass in Order of the Phoenix and the end of Deathly Hallows. Part of the reason I love her so much is because I want to be a teacher myself, and she represents everything I want to be. Her class is serious business, and there is no crossing her. Despite the rigidity she displays as a professor, anybody who took a moment to get to know her would realize that she is unmistakably human.

It is her character that I love most. From “Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned” (SS 134) to “Of course, I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been… I quite understand. Yes, Potter, of course you may visit Miss Granger” (COS 288) to “He will not be single-handed!” (OOTP 620) to “We teachers are rather good at magic, you know” (DH 595)… Minerva McGonagall is incredible. Nearly everything she says is positively great. It is my aim, as ridiculous as this sounds, to be her. However, instead of teaching magic, I will be teaching the one thing that trumps it: science.