![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Mayfield Application
Character Name: Minerva McGonagall
Character Series: Harry Potter (with supplemental information from Pottermore)
Character Age: 18
Background: Linky
Personality: Minerva is a definite type-A personality, liking things to be just so and having little tolerance for rulebreaking. She was forced into having such a mindset from an early age, having to conceal her magic and help her younger brothers conceal theirs in order to live peacefully in their father's non-magical community. She's also a very talented, dilligent, and hard-working student, earning top marks and high honours throughout her school career. Though she is clearly naturally gifted, she refuses to take it for granted, and continually pushes herself to be better. At seventeen, not only was she balancing schoolwork (acheiving outstanding grades on her end-of-school exams), head girl duties, and extracurricular sports, she had been nominated "most promising newcomer" by a prominent transfiguration magazine, and mastered the animagus transformation, something achieved by only ten other witches and wizards in the twentieth century.
She also has a very strong sense of justice-- stronger in fact than her desire to uphold the rules, as unjust rules ought to be broken. Though some may see her as overly strait-laced and studious on a day-to-day basis, if somoeone has been wronged, she will go out of her way to stand up for them, whether overtly or subversively, until the wrong is righted. Especially as prefect and later head girl of her school, she feels that it is not only her duty to reprimand students when they misbehave, but also to look out for and watch over them and make sure their needs are met. In Harry Potter canon, she has become Head of Gryffindor House, and while she is very stern with her students, it's also clear that she cares greatly about them, and takes any serious insult or injury to them to be an injury to her own self. One can imagine that she felt the same as a young woman as well.
Of course, Minerva isn't all seriousness and business; she has her fun side too. She has a very sharp, dry sense of humour (which those who aren't well acquainted with her might mistake for seriousness), which comes out especially strongly to lighten up tougher situations. She also plays and is quite an avid fan of quidditch, which is not a sport for the weak of heart. She has a ridiculously fierce desire to see her team win, and will hold game grudges for a very long time. She sustained serious injuries in her final match against her house's rival team, resulting in a desire to see them crushed which lasted well into her old age.
She has a softer side as well, particularly a strong affinity for cats. While she may not always project an outwardly friendly appearance, she does have a strong affection for her housemates and friends, and the bonds she forms are nigh unbreakable. Once a person has earned her trust, it is unwavering, and she will stand by them even in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Abilities: She can do a variety of spells with the use of a wand, and particularly excells at transfiguration spells. She can also transform into a cat at will.
Sample Entry: I thought I would go to the library this afternoon for a bit of light reading, but apparently that was a mistake. The selection here is, quite frankly, appalling. Not that there is anything wrong with cookbooks or sewing patterns in their own right, but to call such a collection a library is a misnomer at best.
Does anyone know where I might be able to find some textbooks? I've been told I'm meant to be teaching here, and I suppose that means I'll have to do a bit of brushing up myself.
Addendum: In many ways, the young Minerva is a model of the woman that she grows to become in the main body of the Harry Potter canon. She proved herself to be a gifted witch from the cradle, summoning her toys after her parents put them away and even commanding the family cat-- an affinity that manifests itself in her animagus form. Upon entering Hogwarts, she immediately took to Transfiguration, and was esteemed as the most outstanding student of her year in general aptitude. She was both a prefect and Head Girl during her tenure, suggesting an aptitude for leadership and discipline that the reader will recognize from her position as Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts.
On the other hand, while the older McGonagall certainly retained her sharp wit and dry, subtle sense of humour, the younger McGonagall was a spitfire. Her relationship with her first love (a muggle boy by the name of Dougal McGregor) was based largely on they way they challenged each other in sharp-tongued debates, which sometimes got very heated. It would probably surprise Harry and company to know that their strait-laced, austere Professor had not only been married once upon a time, but had actually completly lost her head over a clever muggle boy.
It might also surprise them (although possibly not-- considering the very personal and intense interest she takes in the Gryffindor team's success on the pitch) to know that she was once a quidditch player, and a gifted and fierce one at that. Though she left the sport after her injury in the Slytherin match, her fierce desire to see her opponents crushed on the pitch never left her-- it merely muted a bit.
Character Series: Harry Potter (with supplemental information from Pottermore)
Character Age: 18
Background: Linky
Personality: Minerva is a definite type-A personality, liking things to be just so and having little tolerance for rulebreaking. She was forced into having such a mindset from an early age, having to conceal her magic and help her younger brothers conceal theirs in order to live peacefully in their father's non-magical community. She's also a very talented, dilligent, and hard-working student, earning top marks and high honours throughout her school career. Though she is clearly naturally gifted, she refuses to take it for granted, and continually pushes herself to be better. At seventeen, not only was she balancing schoolwork (acheiving outstanding grades on her end-of-school exams), head girl duties, and extracurricular sports, she had been nominated "most promising newcomer" by a prominent transfiguration magazine, and mastered the animagus transformation, something achieved by only ten other witches and wizards in the twentieth century.
She also has a very strong sense of justice-- stronger in fact than her desire to uphold the rules, as unjust rules ought to be broken. Though some may see her as overly strait-laced and studious on a day-to-day basis, if somoeone has been wronged, she will go out of her way to stand up for them, whether overtly or subversively, until the wrong is righted. Especially as prefect and later head girl of her school, she feels that it is not only her duty to reprimand students when they misbehave, but also to look out for and watch over them and make sure their needs are met. In Harry Potter canon, she has become Head of Gryffindor House, and while she is very stern with her students, it's also clear that she cares greatly about them, and takes any serious insult or injury to them to be an injury to her own self. One can imagine that she felt the same as a young woman as well.
Of course, Minerva isn't all seriousness and business; she has her fun side too. She has a very sharp, dry sense of humour (which those who aren't well acquainted with her might mistake for seriousness), which comes out especially strongly to lighten up tougher situations. She also plays and is quite an avid fan of quidditch, which is not a sport for the weak of heart. She has a ridiculously fierce desire to see her team win, and will hold game grudges for a very long time. She sustained serious injuries in her final match against her house's rival team, resulting in a desire to see them crushed which lasted well into her old age.
She has a softer side as well, particularly a strong affinity for cats. While she may not always project an outwardly friendly appearance, she does have a strong affection for her housemates and friends, and the bonds she forms are nigh unbreakable. Once a person has earned her trust, it is unwavering, and she will stand by them even in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Abilities: She can do a variety of spells with the use of a wand, and particularly excells at transfiguration spells. She can also transform into a cat at will.
Sample Entry: I thought I would go to the library this afternoon for a bit of light reading, but apparently that was a mistake. The selection here is, quite frankly, appalling. Not that there is anything wrong with cookbooks or sewing patterns in their own right, but to call such a collection a library is a misnomer at best.
Does anyone know where I might be able to find some textbooks? I've been told I'm meant to be teaching here, and I suppose that means I'll have to do a bit of brushing up myself.
Addendum: In many ways, the young Minerva is a model of the woman that she grows to become in the main body of the Harry Potter canon. She proved herself to be a gifted witch from the cradle, summoning her toys after her parents put them away and even commanding the family cat-- an affinity that manifests itself in her animagus form. Upon entering Hogwarts, she immediately took to Transfiguration, and was esteemed as the most outstanding student of her year in general aptitude. She was both a prefect and Head Girl during her tenure, suggesting an aptitude for leadership and discipline that the reader will recognize from her position as Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts.
On the other hand, while the older McGonagall certainly retained her sharp wit and dry, subtle sense of humour, the younger McGonagall was a spitfire. Her relationship with her first love (a muggle boy by the name of Dougal McGregor) was based largely on they way they challenged each other in sharp-tongued debates, which sometimes got very heated. It would probably surprise Harry and company to know that their strait-laced, austere Professor had not only been married once upon a time, but had actually completly lost her head over a clever muggle boy.
It might also surprise them (although possibly not-- considering the very personal and intense interest she takes in the Gryffindor team's success on the pitch) to know that she was once a quidditch player, and a gifted and fierce one at that. Though she left the sport after her injury in the Slytherin match, her fierce desire to see her opponents crushed on the pitch never left her-- it merely muted a bit.