by Galena May » Tue Dec 03, 2024 3:38 pm
When I was watching the first Harry Potter movie, Professor Minerva McGonagall's (Maggie Smith's) first appearance to the first year students of Harry's batch at Hogwarts stuck with me, and with good reason. There was authority in her voice, and seriousness on her face, as she looked down at her students, telling them then and there that she would be that one teacher they wouldn't want to mess with. Yet, when Neville suddenly spotted his lost toad and gave a cry of delight, interrupting her, she softened up and her expression changed to that of concern and worry, indicating that she personally cared about her students and their needs and would be greatly disturbed if any of them fell into misfortune or anything bad or unfortunate. This showed me right then what kind of a teacher at Hogwarts she was going to be. She would be strict and rule-abiding, yet at the same time, she would be like a guardian who would personally care for and protect each of her students. Her personality indeed portrayed the same throughout the series.
Another time her expression stuck with me was when Harry first caught Neville's Remembrall during Flying class when Draco was bullying Neville by snatching up his Remembrall after Neville's accident. Harry intervened and caught the object, in a show of excellent broom expertise, which Minerva observed from the window, prompting her to enter Harry into the Gryffindor team as Quidditch Seeker despite Harry not meeting the traditional requirements. Maggie Smith's expression when she saw Harry flying on his broom and swerving side to side in the air through her window showed her surprise, awe, and delight, capturing the required emotions perfectly. Then, she reached the scene, fixed the issues there, and said to Potter, "Follow me", following which she gave him a coy smile and swiftly turned around and started walking with her usual no- nonsense attitude. Despite having read the books first and already knowing what was going to happen, I was worried for Harry because of Maggie Smith's stern no-nonsense "Stop it right now" facial expressions, until that one coy smile against her usual demeanor relieved me and hinted to me that Harry wasn't in for anything bad. When Harry was asking questions about what was going to happen to him, I found myself snapping at Daniel Radcliffe (portraying Harry Potter) in my head, "Didn't you see Professor Minerva McGonagall's smile? She is certainly pleased though that's not easy with her strict no-mischief demeanor. If I were you, that smile would have told me everything. You are clearly not in for any sort of trouble, rather, I'd expect something good if I were you."
Beauty is everywhere, if only you will choose to see it!
Galena May for you, a first year witch student at Hogwarts. Say hi if you see me.
