Maggie Smith's 9 most iconic scenes as Professor McGonaggal in Harry Potter

Dame Maggie Smith, known to Harry Potter fans as the stern yet beloved Professor Minerva McGonagall, passed away on September 27 at the age of 89. She had an extensive career on stage and screen spanning over seven decades, with two Oscars, five BAFTAs, four Emmys, and several other accolades to deck her mantelpiece. Be it the ever-snippy Violet Crawley in Downtown Abbey or the controversial Jean Brodie in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Smith has left an everlasting legacy in the world of cinema.

Professor McGonagall may not be the biggest role on her decorated resume, but it is the one that endeared her to kids, young adults, and even grown-ups who love fantasy. It also led to some iconic anecdotes, like the time a child asked her if she really could turn into a cat, and she heard herself say, "Just pull yourself together."

Smith featured in some of the most iconic scenes from the Harry Potter franchise. She inhabited the character of the tall, spectacled, formidable Head of House Gryffindor perfectly. For those of us (millennials, 90s kids, etc.) who grew up with the Harry Potter movie marathons every summer vacation, we would imagine Smith as Professor McGonagall when we binge-read the books later during the fall.

McGonagall's feats in the story are many. Here are her nine most iconic scenes brought alive by Maggie Smith for the screen.

9. Professor McGonagall's first transfiguration class (Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone)

Harry and Ron are late for transfiguration class on their first day in Hogwarts. As they rush into the classroom, Draco smirks and Hermione shakes her head in frustration. Ron heaves a sigh of relief seeing that the teacher's chair is empty. But his solace lasts about two seconds, as the tabby cat perched on the table leaps off and transforms into a disapproving Minerva McGonagall.

This is the first time we see McGonagall in all her intimidating glory. Ron voices our emotions when he says, "That was bloody brilliant!" But the professor is neither swayed by the flattery nor too mean with her rebuke. Yet her measured scolding probably ensures they won't be late to class ever again. It takes Smith only mere seconds to establish Professor McGonagall's unyielding but compassionate personality without making herself unlikeable in any way.

8. Opposing Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's plan for Harry Potter (Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone)

Professor McGonagall appears in the very first scene of the first Harry Potter movie, as she waits outside No. 4 Privet Drive in her animagus form of a tabby cat shortly after the death of James and Lily Potter.

When Dumbledore (Richard Harris) arrives, she questions all the decisions made around Harry so far. Whether Hagrid could be trusted with delivering Harry safety. Whether it would be safe to leave him with the Dursleys. She even adds that she has been keeping an eye on the family all day and arrived at the conclusion that they were the "worst sort of muggles imaginable."

We later find out that she was very much right about the Dursleys, as they committed full-blown child abuse on little Harry for the entire time he was there. While J.K. Rowling explains the whole mother's love mumbo-jumbo that seemed to protect Harry's life while he lived with the Dursleys, the fandom is quite divided on the matter. McGonagall's instincts are almost always on point, and there's a large section of people who agree that Harry was better off anywhere else rather than getting traumatized by the Vernon and Petunia Dursley.

The scene between Smith and Harris is brief, but it establishes the trust they have in each other over something so important. In hindsight, it shows that McGonagall is one of the few people who genuinely cared about Harry since he was an infant, with zero regard for whether he was the 'Chosen One' or not.

7. Yule Ball practice with Ron Weasley (Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire)

Maggie Smith's Yule Ball practice scene with Ron Weasley (Rupurt Grint) remains one of the most memorably lighthearted moments in a movie otherwise welcoming an impending doom.

Until things go south, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is full of many awkward scenes (and even more in the book) as the kids go through their embarrassing teenage phase. But nothing comes close to the hilarity of McGonagall asking Ron to be her companion as she demonstrates to the Gryffindor students how to dance. Before that, she warns the kids to not act like "a babbling, bumbling band of baboons" at the Yule Ball, which earns a not of appreciation from George and Fred Weasley, who appreciate a good tongue-twister.

It's a testament to her legendary acting chops that Smith perfectly conveys how McGonagall is harmlessly picking on Ron for fun all the while keeping a very straight face.

6. "Why is it... always you three?" (Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince)

Maggie Smith has some of the funniest one-liners in the entire series. One of her best quips happens in The Half-Blood Prince when an exasperated McGonagall asks Harry, Ron and Hermione, "Why is it when something happens it is always you three?" Ron's response that he has also been wondering the same for six years makes the scene even funnier.

She says very little, but you can almost see the past six years flash in front of her eyes, starting right from the battle with the troll in the girls' bathroom in the first movie. McGonagall manages to look concerned, exhausted, and yet proud of the Golden Trio's antics at the same time, thanks to the brilliance of Smith.

5. Recommending Harry Potter for Quidditch Team (Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone)

Almost halfway through The Sorcerer's Stone, Professor McGonagall surprises us by showing exactly how loyal she is to her house. Having played on the Gryffindor Quidditch team herself as a student, she naturally has a soft spot for the team in the years to come and is invested in the outcome of the tournament.

After catching Harry flying on a broomstick, which technically is against the rules, McGonagall furiously marches him away from the field. But instead of dishing out a punishment, she introduces him to the team captain, Oliver Wood. One could never accuse Minerva McGonagall of being biased, but it is delightful to see her be all giddy having discovered a new Seeker for the team. The scene also shows that she's good at identifying what her students excel at and encouraging them to pursue it.

4. Giving Harry Potter his first broomstick (Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone)

Amid the abuse of the Dursleys, the bullying of Snape, and the distant affection of Dumbledore, it warms one's heart to see Harry find something of a parental figure in Professor McGonagall when he arrives at Hogwarts.

He does not know that she was looking out for him even when he was a few months old and newly orphaned. But when he receives a delivery of a nicely wrapped Nimbus 2000 broomstick after he is selected for the Quidditch team, Harry instinctively looks at McGonagall seated at the teacher's bench in the Great Hall. Harry gives a nod in acknowledgment as the twinkle in her eyes confirms what he is thinking.

Without a single word, Smith creates one of her best moments of chemistry with Daniel Radcliffe, who she had recommended be cast as Harry. The two had worked before in a BBC adaptation of David Copperfield. Funny how their real-life relationship was quite similar to the one they shared onscreen.

3. Defying Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix)

It says a lot for an antagonist when they're hated even more than the evil dark villain that repeatedly tries to kill the hero of the story. But Dolores Umbridge claims that position in the Potterverse, perhaps even proudly.

With her draconian rules, the pink-clad bureaucrat from the Ministry of Magic makes life at Hogwarts hell in The Order of the Phoenix. One of the worst things she does is brutally punish Harry for alleged misdeeds, making him write 'I must not tell lies' with a special quill that makes the words appear in blood scratched out on Harry's hand.

McGonagall confronts Umbridge about it and asks her to stick to traditional disciplinary practices. In return, Umbridge warns McGonagall about questioning her authority. Maggie Smith and Imelda Staunton are remarkable in this scene as they use their dialog and body language to make this clash of ideals feel larger than life.

McGonagall's defiance continues later in the movie when she sides with Professor Sybill Trelawney after Umbridge banishes her from the school. She protects Trelawny with her body as she hurls the line, "There are many things I'd like to say" to Umbridge with quivering sadness and anger in her voice. Loyalty is a little-spoken-of Gryffindor trait, and Minerva shows she has got it to the bitter end.

2. Sparring with Severus Snape (Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 2)

Minerva McGonagall's character lives on wit and integrity for most of the series. But in the final arc, during the Battle of Hogwarts, she shows what she's truly made of. Before a full-on war breaks out between the school and the Death Eaters, Harry reveals himself to Snape and confronts him about Dumbledore's death in front of everyone.

In response, Snape, whose full backstory we have yet to discover, raises his wand. McGonagall quickly pushes Harry away to put herself in front of Snape. Once again, no words are exchanged; only stares, will, and the genius of Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman. The little startle Snape gives seeing McGonagall as his new opponent speaks volumes about her strength. She is determined to not let any harm befall her students.

McGonagall shoots off spells. Snape deflects them and crashes out of the window. Granted, he had no real interest in harming her or any of the students. But without knowing that, McGonagall stepped up in a moment to do what's right, what's necessary, what must be done. We never quite see her in the middle of combat action, so this scene does a lot to show how McGonagall was not one to mess around with at all.

1. "Piertotum Locomotor" (Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 2)

This is, hands down, not only one of Maggie Smith's best scenes in the Harry Potter movies but one of the most iconic moments of the entire series. With Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters at Hogwarts' doorstep, McGonagall leads the defense of the school with aplomb.

Smith delivers one cracking line after another, as the professor first allows Neville and Seamus to make things go "Boom!" Then she corrects Professor Flitwick and urges him to stop being afraid of calling Voldemort by his name. Flitwick points out that 'You-Know-Who' can't be kept at bay indefinitely, and McGonagall reminds him that they could at least delay him.

McGonagall's unbending resolve shines through in this moment, as she prepares to fight a potentially lost battle simply because someone has to do it. She is not prepared to lose the war before the war is lost. Determined, she casts the animation spell "Piertotum Locomotor" to bring to life the statues of Hogwarts and rally them to guard the school.

The armored statues jump down from the parapets and march towards the gate as McGonagall orders, "Hogwarts is threatened. Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duties to our school!" The goosebumps barely settle in your skin before she is back in her cheery self, telling Molly Weasley how she had always wanted to use that spell. After all, who is better suited to crack some jokes in the middle of a war?

Honororary Mention: “May I offer you a cough drop, Dolores?”

Fans almost unanimously agree that one of Minerva McGonagall's best scenes never made it into the movies. In Order of the Phoenix, Harry meets her for career advice and says he would like to be an Auror. Their conversation is repeatedly interrupted by Umbridge's purposeful throat-clearing.

It's a pity that we could not see Maggie Smith say, "May I offer you a cough drop, Dolores?" dripping with her true-blue British sarcasm.

Which is your favorite Maggie Smith scene from the Harry Potter series? Tell us in the comments below!

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