Following the success of the Harry Potter movies, Fantastic Beasts, a sequel story featuring tales from the wizarding world long before Harry was born was developed. Initially, the Fantastic Beasts movies centered around Newt Scamander, an avid magical creature owner on his adventure to retrieve his lost pets. However, the spotlight quickly shifted toward Albus Dumbledore and his fight against Grindelwald. Harry Potter fans didn't receive the Fantastic Beasts movies well, as they included plots that contradicted the original events.
Among all the inconsistencies within the Fantastic Beasts movies, one of the most notable ones was the cameo of Professor Minerva McGonagall in Fantastic Beasts movies. The Gryffindor head appeared in two different scenes within Fantastic Beasts: Crime of Grindelwald and Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore. This plot hole wasn’t too minor to overlook and left many fans wondering how was Professor McGonagall even in the Fantastic Beasts movie long before she was born.
Who Is Professor McGonagall?
Professor Minerva McGonagall's role at Hogwarts wasn’t just restricted to being the Gryffindor head. The professor played a huge part in Harry's growth and his journey toward defeating the Dark Lord. While she was strict with her methods, Professor McGonagall supported Harry and his friends numerous times throughout their years at Hogwarts.
The professor always stuck up for Harry with one occasion being in the movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry was accused of attacking fellow students, Professor McGonagall defended Harry's. Professor McGonagall was even supportive of Harry and showed her caring side for the first time during Harry’s Triwizard tasks.
The professor even stood up to become the Headmistress of Hogwarts school after Dumbledore was eliminated which only made sense considering that she was one of the closest people to Dumbledore and was the most capable of holding that position amidst a state of panic.
The Professor’s biggest role, however, was in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 when she led the students in the Battle of Hogwarts. The professor showcased her incredible dueling skills by taking down multiple Death Eaters and even confronting Severus Snape himself. The professor put up a protective charm around the castle preventing the Death Eaters from entering which they eventually did, but it is safe to assume that the outcome of the battle would have been entirely different had Professor McGonagall not been there. After the events of the Battle of Hogwarts and with the Dark Lord getting defeated, Professor McGonagall was awarded the Order of Merlin and became the Headmistress of Hogwarts.
Why Professor McGonagall's Appearance Doesn't Make Sense In Fantastic Beasts
The events of Newt and his friends' story unfold long before Professor McGonagall was even born, but interestingly, the professor made two appearances in the Fantastic Beasts movies. The first appearance was in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald during a flashback event when Leta Lestrange recalled her old memories of studying at Hogwarts. In this memory, she cast Oscausi, a dark charm that seals the victim's mouth shut, on a student from Gryffindor who gossiped about her tragic past which was enough proof that Gryffindor students aren't always friendly. Subsequently, a scene shows a student calling for a young Professor McGonagall, portrayed by Fiona Glascott, who then gives chase after Leta.
The second appearance of Professor McGonagall is in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore. Both Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are shown in a conversation about how he will be absent from Hogwarts for a while.
Newt and Leta Lestrange were fellow students at Hogwarts and started their first year in 1908. The movie sequence portrays them as students, while the events of all Fantastic Beasts movies occur between 1926 and 1945. This contradicts J.K Rowling’s previous writings, which have stated that Professor McGonagall was born in 1935 and it wasn’t until 1956 that she started teaching at Hogwarts at the age of 21.
This makes it impossible for Professor McGonagall to be in the Fantastic Beasts movies as she wasn’t even born then . Many fans theorized that the professor in the Fantastic Beasts movie may not be the Gryffindor head but rather a family member of Minerva. Nevertheless, there is no official explanation for this plot hole.
The numerous inconsistencies in Fantastic Beasts were just a part of the movie series' failure. The films encountered various production problems. Moreover, the poorly written story and underdeveloped ideas, along with other issues, contributed to the overall disappointment of the entire prequel series. As a consequence, Fantastic Beasts is said to have been shelved by Warner Bros. Instead, the focus has shifted to a soft reboot of the Harry Potter franchise, with a TV show currently in development at Max.