Week 4, Task 4 - Meandering

[Prof. Kendra Givens]

The title of this month's activity elicits the idea of taking a casual stroll with Professor McGonagall. I envision just spending some one-on-one time walking through a peaceful setting discussing a variety of topics with her, learning as much as I can.

For this final task, I want to know - what would you talk about with Professor McGonagall? What questions would you ask? What advice would you want? What would you want to learn about her, Hogwarts, or magic? Write your reflection in 100 words or more by December 31st at 11:59 PM HOL time to earn 10 sapphires/beans. If you complete all 4 week 4 activities by that time, you will earn 10 bonus sapphires/beans.

Thank you for participating this month - I've enjoyed seeing everything you've created!

[River Fenwick]

I would love to hear her life story directly from her and have her express where she felt she may have made mistakes based on her current knowledge or what specific memories she holds close to her heart. Her background growing up is particularly interesting to me, so I'd also ask more about that. I'd want some Hogwarts stories that have yet to be accounted for, such as some troublemakers or the woes of teaching teenagers, especially with the added danger of magic thrown into the mix. Overall, I'd be grateful to listen to whatever she would be willing to share with me, whether it be knowledge or stories.

[Galena May]

I would love to talk about anything under the sun with Prof. McGonagall and hear her perspectives, which I am sure would be worth listening to. I would ask about her early life and how she came to Hogwarts. I would ask more about her friendship with Headmaster Dumbledore to get to know Dumbledore from her lens. I would ask about transfiguration and how to excel at it other than studying hard, if there are any natural skills that sets a great transfigurer apart. I would love to know more about life at Hogwarts as a professor and Headmistress and how it feels to teach students at a school and to manage the responsibility of heading such a huge institution as Hogwarts which is also reputed for safety and secrets besides teaching magic. I would fish for tales of funny and/or notable things that happened at Hogwarts during her time. Finally, I would love to hear about her personal life and future plans, but most importantly, I'd be interested in her behind her labels and ask simple things such as her favorite Hogsmeade candy or favorite drink and her hobbies beyond Quidditch and Transfiguration and what she would see in the Mirror of Erised. We know that Dumbledore loved sherbet lemon and wanted a pair of socks and we even know about the shape of one of his scars, because he was a friendly wizard who didn't hold back on displaying his weird quirks, but, we don't have much of this kind of information about McGonagall, and I am sure that a little one-on-one chat with McGonagall would give me access to the same. I am very interested in knowing what sort of person she is, outside her labels. I would also want to know about her schooling and magical education, after all it is worth knowing the educational history of a witch who excelled in a subject such as Transfiguration.