Professor McGonagall

[Hermione]

Minerva, Professor McGonagall's first name, is the name of the Roman goddess of wisdom. This is an good name for her, as she is one of the wisest characters in the books. She can tranform herself into a cat. This is approprate as cats have long been linked to magic. It is also approprate for her to be a woman, as the goddess of fertility was said to travel by a carriage drawn by cats.

So many interesting cat referances. Can anyone else think of any?

[Tinkerbell]

I'm not sure about mythological type references to cats, but the Septology thus far is full of references to cats; we have Mrs Norris, Crookshanks, and all of Figgy's cats. Indeed, the little snippet we have been given from HBP refers to the character being "lion like" which is a big cat!!

[Hermione]

The Gryffindor lion is a cat, perhaps significant in how the story is being told, from the view point of Harry.

[Boing]

Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, is also associated with arts and war. War not so much in the Ares sense of aggression, but rather in the sense of defensive war - protection.

In terms of arts, she was associated with practical as well as ornamental arts.