It's Rude to Ask a Lady Her Age But...

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

Y'all, I've got a problem, and I'd love some ideas to solve it.

 

So, I'm writing a story for @RoxiMalfoy @MrsDarcy and @CheekyTorah-Lex's new challenges and my MC is Minerva McGonagall. I'm going to be writing about her as a young woman, pretty fresh out of Hogwarts. The trouble is (whispers) when was she actually born??

 

 

So here's the deal. In OotP, McGonagall self-reports that she's been working at Hogwarts for 39 years, meaning she started in 1956:

Quote

"How long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?" Professor Umbridge asked.

"Thirty-nine years this December," said Professor McGonagall brusquely, snapping her bag shut

--OotP by JKR

Apparently Pottermore used say that she was born in 1935 (which, interestingly, would mean she started teaching when she was 21, just like Snape did).

 

BUT

 

In Crimes of Grindelwald, she shows up as a teacher at Hogwarts in 1927, and is apparently in her twenties. AND there's a flashback set in 1910, where she is ALSO a teacher.

 

So....what to do??? I see a few options:

1. Ignore the movies and go with the books as the authority on what is Canon and what is Not; thus Minerva is born in 1935 and I set my story in 1955ish (which is interesting, because that's when Todentanz is set too...).

2. Go with the movies and ignore the books; thus Minerva is born in 1889 and I set my story in 1909.

3. Cry and give up (just kidding, I'm not doing that one)

4. Something else????

 

What would you do?

 

[GinnyPotter242]

Personally, I would probably go with the books and Pottermore as the best authority on it. I haven't seen CoG, but I did hear there was some other discrepancies with ages and timing with some of the other characters there, so I don't hold it to the upmost canon- at least, not with things such as dates and ages and the like. I'm sure you could get it to work no matter what you choose- both technically have some backup in canon, so it's not totally out of left field whatever you choose- but I feel like 1935 is a more believable and accurate birth date in my opinion.

Personally, I feel like she was born in 1935, she was Dumbledore's protegee while she was at Hogwarts and he was the Transfiguration professor, and then a couple years after she graduated, he got the position as Headmaster and immediately went to her to fill the Transfiguration position. If you choose to follow the book canon, all this would have had to go down in the middle of the school year, for her teaching anniversary to be in December. I think it's a pretty open slate of what happened to the previous headmaster- whether he died or stepped down mid-term or anything else. 

(This does bring up another question for me regarding her timeline: I was always under the impression she went to school with Tom Riddle. But if McGonagall was born in 1935, she wouldn't have started Hogwarts until 1946. If I'm doing the math right, he would have graduated no later than 1945 though. Not sure what to do with that.) 

Honestly, both would work. If you count the books, Pottermore, and the Fantastic Beasts movies as canon, then both options have a basis in canon. You can explain your reasoning behind both options. Go with whichever one feels more accurate and right to you- it's ultimately your story and you should feel confident in the choices you make for it. The only thing we can take strictly from the books is that she started teaching in 1956. Beyond that, everyone has their own ideas of what they consider canon or not. As long as you feel happy and confident in your choice, I really feel as though you can't go too wrong here! 

[Lost_Robin]

I agree, and I tend to use the 1935 date because the Fantastic Beasts bit was a bit... odd in timing and such (and there were a few characters where the math didn't really feel like it worked out), especially since there is that line about thirty-nine years teaching in, I believe, OOTP. I think they might have been going off of Maggie Smith's age, as she is a bit older than McGonagall seemed to be in the books, but I don't know. If you have her be born in 1889, she'll only be about eight years younger than Dumbledore. He definitely could have mentored her if they were that close in age (though Dumbledore would have had to become professor at a young age, which is very possible), but I always got the feeling that there was a good bit of an age difference between the two and that she was near the same age as Flitwick and Sprout (which, I think, was supported by Pottermore).

Of course, I usually (except in some tiny cases) tend to follow book canon. I think it could be interesting to have it be the same year as Todentanz, but it really depends on what you want to do.

[CheekyTorah-Lex]

So I don't go with either, because let's be real: JKR DOESNT understand the concept of time. Love her stories, but the lady needs a calendar. 

 

I have always loved the idea that Minerva went to school with Tom Riddle. It's just something I enjoyed, something I possibly read somewhere in the fandom but regardless of where it came from it's something I HC. She's BEEN through war. She's seen it felt it tasted it, so when the Battle of Hogwarts happens she is just so there and ready. 

 

I also like the idea of someone having that connection with Tom riddle as a student. Minerva is also very close with Hagrid in the first book, in a flirty way, and hagrid went to school with tom too. So it's not far fetched to think there night be more Hogwarts staff who were students with Tom. 

 

If anything I would go by the books as the movies we're just an invention for money and publicity. 

 

But ultimately it's your fix and your choice and you need to do what FEELS right for your Minerva McGonagall. 

 

Xoxo look forward to your new story!

 

[Pixileanin]

Ignore Fantastic Beasts.  It just messes everything else up.  What they said... (points up)

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

@GinnyPotter242 @Lost_Robin @CheekyTorah-Lex @Pixileanin thank you! I agree, the 1935 birthdate makes more sense--although the idea of Minerva being at school with Tom Riddle IS fascinating. I'm going to go with the 1935 birthdate for this story and I think I'm going to set it in 1956, right as Minerva becomes a teacher at Hogwarts.

23 hours ago, GinnyPotter242 said:

Personally, I feel like she was born in 1935, she was Dumbledore's protegee while she was at Hogwarts and he was the Transfiguration professor, and then a couple years after she graduated, he got the position as Headmaster and immediately went to her to fill the Transfiguration position.

This makes so much sense that I'm going to assume it is true

21 hours ago, CheekyTorah-Lex said:

So I don't go with either, because let's be real: JKR DOESNT understand the concept of time. Love her stories, but the lady needs a calendar. 

This is also so true XD

 

Thanks everybody!