Minerva had a somewhat… unusual childhood. She was born in Scotland to a muggle who was a *Minister*, and his wife… a witch. That is just a recipe that begged for trouble. Her mother Isobel had given up magic in order to be with her husband Robert, and obviously never told him of her abilities. When Minerva was born though she had little choice, as the precocious baby used magic right from the cradle to summon toys, give marching orders to the cat, and play the bagpipes! She eventually gained two brothers who also had magical abilities. In a word? Awkward.
It was at age 11 that Minerva received the invitation to attend Hogwarts, to the pride and envy of her mother. She would be a pupil there for 8 years, during which time she met Pomona Sprout, Tom Riddle, and Hagrid! And her very first surprise was to be a hatstall, and confound the sorting hat between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw houses until it finally placed her in Gryffindor.
She did very well as a student, getting top grades and showing her talent for transfiguration under the tutelage of Albus Dumbledore, to the point where she was able to manifest an animagus form. She would eventually become Prefect and then Headgirl of her House, and play for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It was during her final year that she was injured due to a foul by House Slytherin, which cause them to lose the game and the Cup – and cement her longstanding desire to always see House Gryffindor beat House Slytherin at the game.
After graduating, she would be offered a job at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Though, during the months before she would start her job she fell in love with Dougal McGregor. Who, unfortunately, was a muggle. Knowing that she would be breaking the laws she vowed to enforce if she were to share her secret, and also knowing she would never truly be happy without her magic…. She had to reject his offer of marriage in heartbreaking manner. Something she didn’t ever really recover from until after his death many years later.
She would work for the Department for a couple of years, but because she missed Scotland so much she turned down an eventual offer of promotion. And, instead chose to teach at Hogwarts as a Transfiguration teacher, eventually become head of the department, and then even the Deputy Headmistress! It was during that time that Elphinstone made his first proposal to her, at Madame Puddlefoot’s teahouse. But, she was still in love with Dougal then, and turned him down.
She would go on to play an important role as a member of the Order of the Phoenix during the first wizarding war, using her exemplary skills to fight in the resistance against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Though, it actually wound up being a baby Harry Potter who defeated Voldemort, due to the love of his parents who were slain protecting him. Minerva would go with Dumbledore and Hagrid to see Harry to the doorstep of his new home, but with reluctance.
Something changed in her, after the war. For this next time when Elphinstone proposed to her, she gladly accepted. And, moved in to a cottage with him at the nearby village of Hogsmeade. They were both quite happy for the three years they were together, but a longer future together was apparently not in the cards for them as he died from a Venemous Tentacula bite. After which, Minerva moved into a room attached to her office at the school where she continues to teach.
It seems when Harry Potter finally came to Hogwarts to learn wizardry, adventure would once again appear for Minerva. It was around this time that Nicholas Flamel gave the Philosopher’s Stone to Dumbledore for safekeeping. And for her part, Minerva constructed a giant game of Wizard Chess, which could cause fatal harm to anyone who played the game if they weren’t clever enough to beat it. She was certainly happy to see Potter, and watch him become friends with Hermione who reminded her so much of herself, along with Ron Weasely; member of a family she had some affection for. In a show of how she *could* break rules under the right circumstances, when she saw Potter flying on his broom without supervision… rather then expel him, she was astounded by his skill and brought him to the Quidditch Team Captain to be their Seeker; even gifting him with a Nimbus 2000 to help his game.
The following school year, when Harry and Ron crashed the Weasely family car into the Whomping Willow outside of school and caused much uproar in the muggle world.. she was able to ensure they only served detention and home-letters, as Harry pointed out a clever technicality that saved them from expulsion. She was also there when the Chamber of Secrets was re-opened, and for a few weeks wound up having to serve as the school’s Headmistress when Lucius Malfoy used his influence to have Dumbledore suspended because he had presumably been unable to protect the students from attack. Fortunately, for the fate of Ginny Weasely who was kidnapped and taken to the chamber, the monster of the Chamber of Secrets was destroyed. After which, Dumbledore was able to return and resume his duties.
Sirius Black wound up the trouble in the next school year, and Minerva helped ameliorate the affects the Dementors were having on her students. This was the year she allowed Hermione to use the Time Turner to keep up with her classes as well. She would wind up having to send a letter to Longbottoms grandmother because he made the mistake of writing down passwords, which Crookshanks managed to get ahold of and pass to Sirius. It explained how Sirius was able to continue getting past the defense of the school that she was helping with –which caused her much distress at being unable to protect her students. And, she would have to have Harry’s Firebolt temporarily confiscated fearing a fatal curse on the broom when Hermione brought to her attention that the item may have been a gift from Sirius. The good note of the year was that much to her delight during the year, Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup – but much to her dismay, the team’s captain Oliver Wood was serving his last year with the team.
It was perhaps fortunate for her conscience that the following school year saw Sirius Black exonerated for his crimes, but Peter Pittigrew condemned instead. But what was worse… so much worse then the year before… was confirmation that Voldemort really had returned, and this tume turned his Death Eaters loose on Beaxbaxton’s Academy, forcing all of the students out and had them seeking refuge at Hogwarts. Shortly after, Harry Potter was attacked and kidnapped by Death Eaters, and a Hufflepuff student was murdered by them. Being unable to have protected her students again was quite devastating for Minerva, compounded by Snape leaving with the Death Eaters for what she could only presume was nefarious purpose. When the Death Eaters attacked a muggle village near Hogwarts itself, killing most and kidnapping the rest. This all culminated on an attack at on the school, where one of the dead villagers was left there for all to see, and another student (presumably) killed. This has made her more determined than ever to find a way to fortify the school’s defenses and finish off what was started during the first wizarding war.