Ship of this Week: Minerva McGonagall and Dougal McGregor

Because McGonagall Sex Hair was not a successful Google search. Go Figure.

In celebration of a new (and probably short-lived) Pottermore addiction, this week’s ship manages to break my heart, even if I only found out about it around 60 years after it had already ended. If you are tragically ignorant of the earliest love affair of Hogwarts Headmistress and all around badass Minerva McGonagall, hit the jump and prepare to have your day seriously brought down.

The best part of Pottermore so far is the brand shiny new content, (the worst is that after months in beta, there’s still only one interactive book available). I’ve deemed this content a fanfiction service, because the new information has really fleshed out several minor characters. The first to get the full-body-background treatment is the forever sassy and tartan-bathrobe-wearing Minerva McGonagall. For instance: Did you know she was married?! DID YOU? Well if you didn’t, you’re not about to because that’s not the relationship I’ll be mooning over today. Because I’m some sort of masochist; I’m here to tell you the tale of Minerva’s first love, the muggle Dougal McGregor.

However, young Maggie Smith kissing hot dude was an EXCELLENT thing to google

Way back when, during the dawn of Magic (not really, but McGonagall is pretty old), Minerva was born to an extremely talented witch who hid her abilities from her minister muggle husband. Now you may be wondering, how on Earth did that work? Well, it didn’t. Minerva began showing signs of magical ability only hours after she was born and her mother, Isobel, was forced to reveal her true nature to her husband. The couple remained together (thank Merlin, or else Minerva may have partnered up with Voldemort to create an unstoppable team of angsty teen angst), but their relationship remained shaken. To compensate, Isobel  suppressed most of her talent and covered up her children’s magical outbursts. Minerva grew up in a family where love meant concealing denying who you were. Sad, right?

You know something? There’s no way I could summarize what happens upon Minerva’s graduation better than the dame herself. So here’s a direct quote from Pottermore: “It was the first and only time in Minerva McGonagall’s life that she might have been said to lose her head. Dougal McGregor was the handsome, clever and funny son of a local farmer. Though less beautiful than Isobel, Minerva was clever and witty. Dougal and Minerva shared a sense of humour, argued fiercely, and suspected mysterious depths in each other. Before either of them knew it, Dougal was on one knee in a ploughed field, proposing, and Minerva was accepting him.”

have another.

So beautiful! Except not really. Minerva ran home, in a flurry of excitement to tell her parents of her engagement…but then didn’t. Her parent’s home, cage of own mother’s near magic-less existence and ruined ambitions, presented a clear picture of the talented witch’s future should she marry Dougal.  The next day she broke off her engagement to Dougal with no explanation, due to her unwillingness to lie to the man she loved and the International Statute of Secrecy strict guidelines of revealing magic to non-muggles. However, she stayed true to Dougal until his death, turning down the repeated propositions of her determined suitor, Elphinstone Urquart (though she may have been turned off by the name).

Here’s to the short and ill-fated love affair between the smartest witch of her age and her sexy Scottish farmer. Check below for ways to support this ship that was over long before we could sport “Team Dougal” swag.

Etsy Ship Swag:

Minerva sassy quote necklace can be found here for $14.00

Win your very own Dougal in this inspired McGonagall cape. found here for $45.00

On Deviant 

Few Realized How Much She Suffered by Tetra-Zelda

The Farmer and the Witch by DDLL

Ghosts by LadyMothwing (yeah, I weaseled in some SnapeXLily. I regret nothing)

On Fanfiction(Not easy to find!)
Black and White Photograph by Renzhie- nice one-shot and fleshing out of the Pottermore entry. Not great though, unfortunately. Dear fiction writers, please go on Pottermore and ship this ship so I can read some amazing stories.