J.K. Rowling is releasing some character bios on Pottermore, and showing a flagrant disregard for MoR!canon. In particular, McGonagall’s father was a Muggle Presbyterian minister. Even though, in MoR:
Minerva stared at Severus, feeling sick to her stomach. She had studied Muggle religion—it was the most common reason for needing to Memory-Charm the parents of Muggleborns—and she knew enough to understand what Severus had just said.
Furthermore, per the bio McGonagall was ten years old and still living in the Muggle world when atomic bombs were dropped, so she’d probably know about nuclear war.
Obviously this sort of collision is inevitable, and since it’s a full-blown AU there’s no obligation to fix it. In this case, though, it might be possible to enhance the text with some minor retcons. In chapter 61, maybe when Severus mentions prayer, Minerva remembers her childhood and thinks “they had offered prayers, every dinner and every Sunday at church, for the brave soldiers at the front. It had seemed impossible to her, at that age, for any remotely humanlike being to even consider not answering them.”
Then later in the same chapter, when Dumbledore alludes to nukes:
“What?” said Minerva. She had heard of guns, of course, but they weren’t that dangerous to an experienced witch -
Maybe then Minerva thinks back, and remembers that nobody would explain to her exactly why Japan surrendered, as though what had happened was something even more terrible than a war...
I think Eliezer shouldn’t fuss too much making the MoR! universe consistent with any new information, especially not chapters already posted. Too much cost in time, too little benefit.
And a half-blood McGonnagal would need be drastically rewritten, it’s not just those few passages, it’s her entire attitude towards the Muggle world.
It seems to me that Minerva serves a useful narrative purpose primarily because she is a not-particularly-well-informed pureblood in Dumbledore’s inner circle. Making her a half-blood alongside Snape… well, it reduces the opportunities for culture shock rather a lot. Who could be brought in to showcase the viewpoint of Light-sided purebloods, the Weasleys?
Not to mention I feel like Minerva would be a lot less sympathetic as a character if she weren’t so consistently off-balance.
This is great. I really like this idea. The only worry I have is that as Rowling keeps releasing more and more stuff as part of her bid to stay relevant and continue to make oodles of money, this will lead to a temptation to make more and more convoluted changes to HPMR.
J.K. Rowling is releasing some character bios on Pottermore, and showing a flagrant disregard for MoR!canon. In particular, McGonagall’s father was a Muggle Presbyterian minister. Even though, in MoR:
Furthermore, per the bio McGonagall was ten years old and still living in the Muggle world when atomic bombs were dropped, so she’d probably know about nuclear war.
Obviously this sort of collision is inevitable, and since it’s a full-blown AU there’s no obligation to fix it. In this case, though, it might be possible to enhance the text with some minor retcons. In chapter 61, maybe when Severus mentions prayer, Minerva remembers her childhood and thinks “they had offered prayers, every dinner and every Sunday at church, for the brave soldiers at the front. It had seemed impossible to her, at that age, for any remotely humanlike being to even consider not answering them.”
Then later in the same chapter, when Dumbledore alludes to nukes:
Maybe then Minerva thinks back, and remembers that nobody would explain to her exactly why Japan surrendered, as though what had happened was something even more terrible than a war...
I think Eliezer shouldn’t fuss too much making the MoR! universe consistent with any new information, especially not chapters already posted. Too much cost in time, too little benefit.
And a half-blood McGonnagal would need be drastically rewritten, it’s not just those few passages, it’s her entire attitude towards the Muggle world.
Yes, this.
Methods of Rationality already contradicts Harry Potter canon on several counts, and we’re all okay with that. Why bother changing this one thing?
It seems to me that Minerva serves a useful narrative purpose primarily because she is a not-particularly-well-informed pureblood in Dumbledore’s inner circle. Making her a half-blood alongside Snape… well, it reduces the opportunities for culture shock rather a lot. Who could be brought in to showcase the viewpoint of Light-sided purebloods, the Weasleys?
Not to mention I feel like Minerva would be a lot less sympathetic as a character if she weren’t so consistently off-balance.
This is great. I really like this idea. The only worry I have is that as Rowling keeps releasing more and more stuff as part of her bid to stay relevant and continue to make oodles of money, this will lead to a temptation to make more and more convoluted changes to HPMR.
Word of God is not canon, and indeed is often trumped by fanon.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.