In Case You Missed It, This Harry Potter Character's Backstory Is Seriously Intense

A lot of Rowling's work post-Deathly Hallows doesn't really belong in fans' personal Harry Potter canon (those Fantastic Beast movies… don't get us started) but the backstory for Professor McGonagall is surprisingly heartbreaking, and we have to talk about it.

According to Rowling, the Professor's story begins with her mother, Isobel Ross, a gifted young witch. Isobel was attracted to a Muggle named Robert McGonagall.

Like the rest of their Scottish village, Robert was under the impression that Isobel attended a regular boarding school, never dreaming that she was instead studying at the academy for the magical arts (aka Hogwarts).

As a pureblood, Isobel was aware that her parents would never approve of her blossoming romance with a Muggle minister. When the couple eloped, her parents were enraged. Afraid of putting even more strain on her relationship, Isobel didn't try to reconcile with her parents. Neither did she tell her new husband about her secret abilities.

From the beginning of the union, Isobel mostly hid her identity. She and her new husband lived far away from any community of wizards, leaving Isobel feeling more and more isolated.

Their first daughter was named Minerva. Isobel saw clear signs that the baby had strong magical powers. She tried to keep the secret but eventually had to confess the truth to Robert. He was in shock, not just about Isobel being a witch, but at the discovery that she had buried the core of her identity for their entire marriage. Although they stayed together, their relationship never recovered from the breach in trust.

Minerva McGonagall grew up knowing that there was some kind of tension between her parents. She witnessed her father's struggle to keep secrets that he barely understood, and her mother's struggle to hide her true self in a Muggle community. According to Rowling,

Minerva never forgot how much her mother cried when the letter of admittance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry arrived on Minerva's eleventh birthday; she knew that Isobel was sobbing, not only out of pride, but also out of envy.

After Hogwarts, Minerva was offered a terrific position at the Ministry of Magic. She returned home to Scotland for one final summer… and fell in love with a Muggle. Dougal McGregor was attractive, humorous, and intelligent enough to match her. They argued fiercely but laughed even more, and eventually Dougal proposed. Minerva accepted.

But that night, Minerva went home and remembered her parents' marriage. Dougal was set to take over his father's farm, and Minerva knew that if they married she could face the same troubles as Isobel.

Like her mother before her, Minerva would have to live in secret, give up her lofty ambitions, and live apart from the Wizarding community. She was frightened by the idea of falling into the same trap as her parents.

After a long night of wrestling with both her heart and her head, Minerva returned to Dougal and reversed her decision on the proposal. She couldn't even explain herself, because she was forbidden by the International Statute of Secrecy. She simply had to leave him behind without an explanation.

Although Minerva McGonagall went on to have a rich life, she never quite got over her first love. Perhaps if she hadn't grown up around a strained mixed-blood marriage it wouldn't have caused so much turmoil, and she could have found a way to live happily with Dougal. However, maybe it's a good thing that McGonagall made the choices that led her to a Transfiguration post at Hogwarts. Without Minerva, a lot of things in the Potter world might have turned out very differently.