The TRUTH About Professor McGonagall | Fantastic Beasts Theory 

Who is your favorite Professor at Hogwarts?

My favourite part of this video is when you threw the cursed child on the floor

What if Bob took Isabel's last name? BOB ROSS IS A WIZARD

I actually like this one because McGonagal is the one who gave Hermione her time turner and explained the rules and laws and all that and I always thought that was kinda odd. Like I accept that Minerva is very talented and all and maybe because she was head of Gryffindor house it fell to her but I always thought it would have more naturally fallen to a witch or wizard who specialized in that sort of item, like the dept of mysteries. If Minerva had successfully used it and lived that life for that long and made it back in one piece sane and whole to tell the tale then she would be the best person to brief Hermione.

J: being 20 years old before you're born is pretty impressive. Me: Not to mention teaching magic you haven't learned

Rowling is gonna watch this video and she's gonna say: "yes, that was my plan all along. For only like 50 years... Yolo"

Simplest explanation being, most often, the correct one I'm gonna go with "JK has admitted she's terrible at math."

J: I just don't believe Rowling accidentally made this huge mistake! Me: Oh, you sweet, summer child

Maybe she lied to umbridge - didnt want her to know how old she was and might be outdated and so to kep her job, lied

I think I figured it out though. She just said she taught 39 years. No dates. No mention of 39 *contiguous* years. Maybe she taught 10 years, left for a couple of decades to join the aurors during the Grindenwald debacle, then rejoined Hogwarts. Or left to get married and rejoined when he died. Or whatever.

*McGonagall walks in* McGonagall: DUMBLEDORE, FUTURE-YOU SENT ME INTO THE PAST TO HELP YOU FIGHT GRINDELWALD. *trumpets blare* Dumbledore: cool beans

I just hate that this situation happened period. My gosh someone get JK an assistant to keep track of timelines -_- But I did get the picture in my head of Dumbledore just waiting for McGonagall tapping his fingers together like Oaken in Frozen lol.

Reason they don't have assistants anymore: class sizes are much smaller now. For someone who hated muggles and loved magic, Tom sure stopped the magical world from thriving.

Fantastic Beasts 3: The McGonagall Paradox?

Oh so helping to defeat Grindelwald was her McGona-goal...makes sense.

"I've always hated time travel. The future is the past, the past is the future. It all gives me a headache." Cpt. Kathryn Janeway, USS Voyager

Nicolas Flamel: Minerva, please take this gift. Minverva McGonagall: What is it? NIcolas Flamel: The Elixir of Life.

It's an animagus cat who can turn into a McGonagall

*Plot Twist:* Professor McGonagall is actually Professor McGonagall

I just realized: There's an inconsistency in Minerva McGonnagalls Birthdate, bc JKR once said that she was in her 70s when Harry comes to school. This would be so perfect if she really went back in time, because that would make her 20 years older at the time Harry is at school, so she isn't in her 50s but in her 70s. It all fits together!

Honestly: JK Rowling just did a whoopsie

I can think of one alternate possibility, you're assuming her career is 39 consecutive years working at Hogwarts, if however she had a gap in teaching she could be far older than previously thought. Not saying that's how it is, just an alternate idea that works that you didn't cover, to dismiss or support. It's also a simpler answer than time turners.

Clearly Professor McGonagall is a Time Lord.

Minerva walks into office explains who he she is and why she is there. Dumbles:....cool? Cool! (Walks out of the room and just shrugs)

Him knowing she was coming to Hogwarts would also explain the speedy response to her application owl. I know she was talented and they would be excited to have her but even then you'd expect a day or two gap. Dumbledore probably had his response already written and waiting.

Maybe she’s only answering with the time that she had that position that Umbridge asks about.. Maybe, she doesn’t count the time when she was “the under study” of Dumbledore 🤔

Still think that Magic Teapot had something to do with Queenie's decision at the end of the movie. #EvilMagicTeapot

Any time you solve a canon issue with “time travel!” you know you are lost

"whenever someone travels back in time the new corrective actions they take have already happened" "What is more, her five days in the distant past caused great disturbance to the life paths of all those she met, changing the courses of their lives so dramatically that no fewer than twenty-five of their descendants vanished in the present, having been 'un-born'" Hmmm, I'm sensing some inconsistencies here.

You can't believe J.K. messed up even though Newt clearly casts Accio on his Niffler despite J.K. explicitly stating (on her own site) that Accio can only ever be used on inanimate objects? As much as we might not like to admit it, J.K. messes up all the time - she isn't a god. C'mon man. It'd be cool if it somehow wasn't a mistake but it clearly was :/

BOB GONAGALL

I’m always impressed at how time turner’s don’t affect Dumbledore. He could meat himself and be wise enough, and wouldn’t become crazy like he warns the trio in POA :P

You have to consider that McGonagall only says that she has been teaching for 39 years. These years might exclude the time she worked as an assistant, which is the position she was offered from Dumbledore. If she held that position for a while, then it is still possible that she was alive and working at Hogwarts during the plot of Crimes of Grindelwald.

I sorta like the time turner theory, but there’s a much simpler explanation. We can say from the fact that her birth year was never established, and from the fact that she never said she worked 39 years in a row in OotP, that her birth year definitely wasn’t what everyone thinks it is, because she didn’t work 39 years in a row. She could have taken one or more breaks from teaching. Either this, or a theory I like even more. You said yourself that she went to teach transfiguration under the head of transfiguration, dumbledore. However, we know that, by the time Harry is at hogwarts, McGonagall is the sole transfiguration teacher. So, 39 years before OotP, she must have gotten some sort of promotion to be the only transfiguration teacher, and that is when she started counting her years of teaching (since she was now an official teacher). McGonagall is in CoG, so she is likely not counting her years of teaching yet, and is teaching under Dumbledore, who is teaching DADA and is the head of transfiguration, being the talented wizard he is. This is much simpler than time travel, which I’m sure Dumbledore would never allow McGonagall to do, because of the ginormous risks.

MAYBE THEY ACCIDENTALLY SWAPPED HER PARENTS NAMES AND HER DAD WAS BOB ROSS

Option 3: She worked at Hogwarts for a while, left to do other things and then returned, and that was the 39 years she was counting from.

"JK Rowling wrote the screenplay herself, I don't believe she made this huge mistake" JK Rowling: "I never said Hermione was white, she could be black" Also JK: "her white face"

Why did they decide to name-drop McGonagall anyway? If they wanted to put fan service, Slughorn would have been fine, and worked better if the students were reporting Leta to him rather than McGonagall.

If you look in the screenplay it literally calls her YOUNG MINERVA MCGONNOGALL Uhh

Does anyone else still feel that, even in the Wizarding world, time traveling is jumping the shark?

When I see her on the movie i was really confused because I have this memory from somewhere where i kind of calculated some stuff (I forgot now srry) that her's and voldy's age are close-ish to each other.

Also wasn't it Minerva who gave Hermine the time turner?

She was born in 1935, i think/heard it was on pottermore but was removed after the film was released and people complained.

"Being 20 years old before you're born is like, really impressive" I love that

During the whole video i was thinking that he-who-used-to-not-be-named was older than minerva

Sometimes I think that, when writer/producer/whoever messes up something in movie/book series, they look for fan theories online to make up the mistake 😂😂 It's a win-win situation, fans get what they wanted (also, they're super proud for discovering it) and producer/writer/whoever is happy because they saved the movie/book We'll see if this is another situation like that 😉

What if her 39 years at Hogwarts weren't consecutive years? So she worked there for 10 years, took a 20 year hiatus, then returned and has been there for 29 consecutive years?

I just think that it’s Entirely possible that professor McGonagle was a lot older when she excepted the position as a professor at Hogwarts. She certainly looks like she’s in her 70’s during all the movies not her 50s’s!! There was obviously was a lot a lot more time in between things that happened in her life, then before she started teaching at Hogwarts as a teacher

Yeah, we all pretty much agree Cursed Child doesn’t count.

Now explain why was Dumbledore was teaching D.A.D.A when an old woman it's supposed to be teaching it for 50 years straight when Voldemort asked the first time for the position (circa 1940s)

Please no time turners please please please no time turners. Well shoot. It looks like it’s gonna be time turners

She's a time cop. She went back in time to prevent someone else using a time turner to help Grindewald. During her assignments at Hogwarts she realized her true passion lay with teaching future generations.

When I told my mom about Minerva being in a movie from before she was born my mom said timetravel without a second thought.

McGonagall was actually born in 1935. You miscalculated just a bit. First of all, Order of the Phoenix takes place in 1995 and 1996, and Umbridge interviews her sometime during the first half of the school year (since the chapter where it occurs, ch. 15, is before the Christmas chapter, ch. 23) So, you need to start counting back from December of 1995. 39 years before that would be December of 1956. If she was working at the ministry of magic for 2 years, then she would have graduated from Hogwarts in June of 1954. At this point, she would have actually been almost 19 because having an October birthday means that she started at Hogwarts when she was almost 12 (as all students have ALREADY turned 11 when they start their first year at Hogwarts). So she would have turned 19 in October of 1954, which places her birthdate as 4 October 1935. ALSO, her birth year was on Pottermore before Crimes of Grindelwald came out.

Jk said before that she's not good with math... So I think this might be the case.

J: *opens umbrella indoors* Me: *internally screaming* BAD LUCK!!

6:29 Excuse me, I had to straighten the truth out, Bob has known about magic since the first day he laid his eyes on the natural spendor of a simple tree. He is there with the greatest wizards of all time, transfiguring the ordinary into extasis. He has mastered the greatest magic there is. It's Love, Harry, Love.

In the credits of the movie she’s listed as “MINERVA McGonagall”

What if McGonagall had been teaching on her own for 39 years, but had been at Hogwarts for longer? If she was originally an assistant to Dumbledore she may not have taken up the Transfiguration position until several years later (in 1957). McGonagall might have transferred to Hogwarts as his assistant, stayed as his assistant for several several years (because I could honestly see Dumbledore needing her to fill in for him if he was away or sending her on tasks for him since she did have an interest in law enforcement during this big war) and then when he eventually became headmaster she could have taken over the full position of the Transfiguration Professor, thus signifying the actual start of her teaching career on her own. It makes the weird time gaps make a lot more sense, as well as her friendship and understanding with a man she could have worked beside for so long!

"Every time someone offers McGonagall something nice, she's like SEE YA."

Jon there is a explanation for that other than that. Professor McGonagall didn't said that she was an assistant teacher. She said years of teaching. Can't she be assistant for 30+ years.

But what if the 39 years McGonagall mentioned is actually 39 CAT years...??? 🙀

Dear youtube, Here you have the longest post so far on this towel section. Enjoy. TL, DR; McGonagall could have easily took a break from teaching, a fact which is the basis for my timeline. It's about Mcgonagall's timeline, as Crimes of Grindelwald seems to go against canon in a number of ways. This is my attempt to justify McGonagall being in CoG, let me know what you think! A lot of people have commented on the fact that McGonagall was both a teacher in 1927 (when Dumbledore got questioned by the ministry) as well as around the time Newt attended Hogwarts (1908-1914). As she was said to only have worked at Hogwarts for 39 years, this would break canon as fans have concluded she should have been born in the 1930's. I tried to reconstruct a timeline which is consistent with all facts presented to us by the Harry Potter books, Pottermore and the Fantastic Beasts films, without creating plotholes or breaking canon. It should also explain why Dumbledore was teaching DADA, when it is stated in the books that Merrythought had been working at Hogwarts as a teacher for 50 years. My theory is based on the fact that McGonagall states to Umbridge that she has been working at Hogwarts for 39 years, but it is not stated she worked there for 39 years consecutively. This might all be far-fetched and a lot of effort to ensure putting McGonagall in Crimes of Grindelwald (CoG) isn't just a fanservice by Rowling, but if I'm correct the combination HP, Pottermore and Fantastic Beasts all add to a consistent timeline without breaking canon. If I'm missing facts, please comment and I'll try to fit them in the timeline. First off, we know Dumbledore became Headmaster at Hogwarts after teaching Transfiguration (TF) for decades. I think we can safely say that McGonagall wasn't teaching Transfiguration at the time, since we have never seen multiple teachers at the same post in the HP world. If she would have started teaching TF the moment Dumbledore became headmaster (which was between 1966 and 1971, getting to that), she would have only worked at Hogwarts for 23-28 years in 1995. However, she says to Umbridge that she's been working at Hogwarts for 39 years. This would imply she worked for 11-16 years at Hogwarts before this period in time. My theory is that this period was in the Newt-era, as will become clear. Secondly, Professor Merrythought is stated to have been teaching at Hogwarts for 50 years in 1945, but not necessarily only DADA (just as Minerva didn't have to have been teaching TF for 39 years consecutively). My theory relies on the fact that Merrythought was teaching another course in the time that Dumbledore took up the DADA-job. Let's say charms. We know some teachers are able to teach multiple courses as Snape teaches both Potions and DADA in the time Harry goes to school. The following facts are supporting the timeline: Professor Merrythought is stated to have been teaching at Hogwarts for 50 years in 1945 (but not only DADA!) Albus was Transfiguration teacher when Mcgonagall went to school (Pottermore) Minerva worked at the Ministry between the age of 18 and 20 (Pottermore) Minerva started working at Hogwarts around the age of 20 (Pottermore) Albus was Transfiguration teacher when, or until, Mcgonagall started working at hogwarts (Pottermore) Minerva worked as a professor at Hogwarts between 1908-1914, Newts years (CoG) Minerva worked as a professor at Hogwarts in 1927 (CoG) Albus taught DADA in 1927 (CoG) Albus was Transfiguration teacher in 1943, when Tom Riddle attended school (HP) Albus has been teaching TF for decades before becoming headmaster (HP) Lupin can attend hogwarts because Dumbledore becomes headmaster after he's been bitten by Fenrir. As he's born in 1960 and bitten shortly before turning 5, this puts the timeline between 1965 and 1971 (HP) Dumbledore becomes headmaster between 1965 and 1971 (HP, Lupin) Minerva worked at Hogwarts for 39 years in 1995 (HP) Here it goes: 1881: Albus is born 1891: Minerva is born 1892: Albus starts at Hogwarts 1899: Albus sits his NEWTs 1902: Minerva starts at Hogwarts 1904: Albus starts teaching Transfiguration (give or take a few years) 1908: Newt starts at Hogwarts 1909: Minerva finishes hogwarts. By this time Albus was her TF teacher and has helped her with becoming an Animagus. 1910: After the summer, Minerva works at the ministry for 2 years 1912: Minerva sends an owl to Hogwarts, asking for a job. Dumbledore, the current TF professor replies that she can come teach. Here is where it get's shady and my theory begins: By offering McGonagall a job, Dumbledore stops teaching TF, knowing she is very gifted in transfiguration and being a good friend of Minerva. He starts teaching DADA instead. This is either because there was a job opening in the DADA department or Dumbledore created one by saying Professor Merrythought should teach another course (Charms, for example). It would require a job opening for Charms, but let's say Mcgonagall's letter came at the right time and Dumbledore acted adequately on it. Merrythought (DADA-> Charms) Dumbledore (Transfiguration -> DADA) McGonagall (Starts at transfiguration) Why didn't Dumbledore just start teaching charms? Could also be the case, but we know he's teaching DADA. Maybe because this was one of his dreams, maybe because there actually was an opening in DADA: Dumbledore(Transfiguration-> DADA) McGonagall (starts Transfiguration) Either way: 1927: Albus is fired by the ministry as a DADA professor for not cooperating in the fight against Grindelwald. Mcgonagall recognizes her superior in Dumbledore, and feels she's in his debt since he helped her getting a job at Hogwarts. She offers him his old TF-job again, and quits in the proces. Merrythought starts teaching DADA (again, and the Charms position is filled either by Flitwick or another teacher). At this time, the war is starting against Grindelwald and Minerva might have a role to play here. Anyway, from here till the late 1960's McGonagall goes off the radar. Dumbledore (DADA-> Transfiguration) Merrythought (Charms -> DADA) McGonagall (quits) 1945: Merrythought quits. Riddle asks Dippet to become DADA teacher, Dippet refuses. 1960: Lupin is born 1965: Lupin is bitten by Fenrir. He thinks he cannot go to Hogwarts because of this. Between 1965 and 1971: Dumbledore is appointed headmaster and Lupin is able to attend Hogwarts. This means Dumbledore became headmaster after Lupin is bitten, but before Lupin starts attending school (which is 1971). Let's say Dumbledore is appointed headmaster in 1971. The only other thing we know is that Riddle comes to Hogwarts a decade after he kills Hepzibah Smith, to ask for a DADA teaching job, which means he killed Hepzibah in 1961. As far as I know, there is nothing that disproves this. 1971: Dumbledore is appointed headmaster, just in time for Lupin to attend Hogwarts. By accepting, the Transfiguration post becomes vacant again. He asks his old friend Minerva to fill it, and she happily consents. 1995: McGonagall has been working again at Hogwarts for 23-24 years. Adding the time between 1912-1927 (which is 15-16 years), she could very well be working for 39 years at Hogwarts when she says at much to Umbridge. This way, all facts I deemed relevant are woven together in a consistent (albeit far-fetched) timeline. If I missed additional facts which completely destruct this theory, please say so. For now, the remaining question is: What was McGonagall doing in the period 1928-1971? I'd love to hear your theories!

Minerva could have been deliberately obfuscating about her length of time as a teacher. It is possible that she would have been teaching at Hogwarts for 39 years as Head of the Transfiguration Department (as the film shows Dumbledore teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts) and was referring to that whilst leaving out how long she had been teaching prior to assuming that title.

The time turner was the first thing I thought of right after finding out her birth year

When I first saw her in the movie I just figured it was one of her lives or something, because, you know, her animagus is a cat and they have 9 (and before anyone says that's a myth- most of the Harry potter universe is, well, mythical)

Favorite professor would definitely be McGonagall! But I was so confused when she showed up. At first I thought it was fine, but then realized that she should not have been born! I think someone just wanted the cameo in there. Also, did anyone else think that the lack of wizarding robes for the teachers was a bit odd? McGonagall was wearing a brightly colored dress and Dumbledore was wearing a suit. And everyone in the ministry was wearing suits not robes.

“I don’t believe JK Rowling did this by mistake as she wrote the screenplay” HHhAHaHa funny joke J...

I love your videos. So pumped with energy and always bringing views I hadn’t thought of. Keep up the good work.

i feel like for all the effort Ben and J have put into these videos over the years, they should be given a cameo in the next fantastic beasts, that would just be fantastic and a bloody great sentiment for their hard work and dedication

1:23 The word you're looking for is "calculable"

"WE LOVED IT " LATER...."why the crimes of grindelwald failed" DoN't LiE tO mE!!!

*ANOTHER QUESTION* If Queenie is a *legilimens* why did she not figure out Grindelwald's true thoughts on muggles as expressed in the beginning of the movie when they killed the newborn? Was Grindelwald an occlumens? He was powerful, but we know he wasn't a *legiliems* as he needed Queenie to know what "Credence" thought at the end of the movie...

What if the Time Turner theory is true and McGonagall helps Dumbledore destroy the blood pact that he did with Grindelwald and thus the reason why she gets a job under him later on...

My theory is that she was an assistant to Dumbledor (nearly as a preparation for him to become Headmaster) for a bit before being a full time professor, which is when she starts counting the years being in charge of Transfiguration.

7:07 Time turner? She gave one to Hermione, how about USING that one exactly?

The truth is they wanted a cameo and didn’t care

I think this is a classic Book canon versus Movie canon. In the books she should be 53 years old when Harry first arrives at Hogwarts (1991-1938=53) but in the movies she is around Dame Maggie Smith's age, which in 2000 was 65 years old. I would say that this is why we see her in Crimes of Grindelwald earlier than we should due to book canonicity :)

McGonagall's comments to Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where she says she had been working at the school for "thirty-nine years" never specified that she taught those thirty-nine years consecutively, which was the assumption for the calculation to work. This could mean Minerva had been teaching as Head of the Transfiguration Department for 39 years and not Hogwarts in general.

Love this channel but he is bending wayyyy over backwards to save Rowling from her mistake.

I know there aren't any teaching assistants in the book, but I think I can make that work. So we know the children of Hogwarts during Harry's time at school were children of war. People died/didn't have kids during the First Wizarding War. It's well known that there were less students there than there normally would be. What if there always used to be assistants, because of how many students there were, but Harry's generation didn't need so many teachers.Just a thought to make some of the finer details of this work out

There is evidently a deleted scene where Dumbledore and Minerva do something significant? Jude Law said so. I wonder if this scene would expand upon this issue?

I very much appreciate the tossing aside of Cursed Child 👏👏

McGonagall: I was sent from the future by you to help you defeating Gellard Grindelwald. Dumbledore: Ok I want to see this scene in Phantastic Beasts 3!

I think pottermore had a birth year, they just got rid of it when Crimes of Grindelwald came out which I believe was actually *1935* not 38

Hey, guys. If Dumbledore was the one teaching Transfiguration when McGonnigal got hired... then she wasn't teaching then. She was helping.she wouldn't have started teaching until Dumbledor became headmaster.

13:03 "Oh, cool." A. Dumbledor (maybe) XD

I feel so much better about this now, thank you!!

Isn't it easier to think that J.K just goofed? I mean, isn't the simplest explanation usually right?

I thought the rules of Time Travel were to NOT interact with anyone (as we see in the Prisoner of Azkaban). Even if she was there to help defeat Grindelwald, WHY WAS SHE TEACHING? A generation of students would have known a "Professor McGonagall" who would suddenly disappear. Years later, their children would have been classmates with a "Minerva McGonagall"!!

A problem with the theory is that I do not think that Minerva and Albus would be that close just after she joined the school as a teacher, even though they opened up about their past to each other.

I think this is by far my favorite theory you've ever covered!

This was the plothole that drove me crazy, J! 😂 Glad I could get your thoughts on it

Do you ever think Rowling just waits for these theories and then is like “yup thanks for the cannon reason SCB”

Man, you've done it again. I always doubt you'll be able to do it, but once again you've convince me on one of your cray cray theories.

I love your explanation on the blip in crimes of grindelwald

I love how time turners are taboo in the Potter fandom

So basically they shoehorned her in the film against all logic. And now we have a mucked up canon just for a couple minutes of pointless fan service

When Isabel mcgonagall's husband found out she was a witch he left her she took her maiden name back and became a teacher at Hogwarts

I figured this out wayyy before this video came out, but I thought I was wrong!! Thanks for making this video!!