How come Professor McGonagall never noticed that Harry Potter's Hogsmeade permission form was signed by Sirius Black?

Question

The title is pretty straightforward.

Sirius Black was still believed by everybody in the wizarding world, save six, to be a crazed mass murderer. We can reasonably assume that Dumbledore never told McGonagall. That's just not how he operates. Besides, in book 4 Dumbledore sent McGonagall for Sirius while he was in his Animagus state and she didn't know it was him.

I know that Harry said Sirius's permission would be good enough for Dumbledore but McGonagall's the one that collects and verifies the forms.

Whose oversight is this? McGonagall's? JKR's? Mine?

Answer 1

MAJOR EDIT

Anthony Grist's answer completely answers this, I recommend you upvote his instead. I'd forgotten the exact way Sirius gives his permission (dummy David, how the hell would Sirius have gotten one of the forms anyway!?).

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(Original answer)

Good question! Since there isn't any canon explanation, all we can really do is speculate on the possible answers to this problem.

1) Oversight by JK.

Unlikely, considering both her track record and the fact that this isn't a minor detail that slipped by, it's an actual plot point.

2) McGonagall knew about Sirius.

I find this rather unlikely. Considering her confusion at the order to go fetch the large black dog at the end of the next book, she seems unaware of Sirius Animagus state. Without knowing this bit of info it's hard to imagine she figured anything out on her own at the end of POA. And it seems very unlikely Dumbledore could explain to her the situation in any satisfactory way without mentioning this fact, since it's crucial to the narrative of his innocence.

3) McGonagall doesn't check WHO signed, just that it's signed.

For any normal student I'd consider this the most likely option, since these forms are really just a liability thing. But in this specific case, it's not only Harry Potter, but the same Harry Potter who complained last year about not being able to get a signature for Hogsmeade during all that commotion with his murderous godfather. Seems quite likely she'd be curious who signed it this year. Maybe you could get round this by having the forms magically sealed so that anyone who signs MUST be a parent or guardian, so the teachers really wouldn't need to check?

4) Dumbledore intervened somehow

By far the most likely answer. Remember that Dumbledore is in contact with Sirius all summer, so he likely knows about the Hogsmeade permission. Perhaps he directly intercepted the permission form, or perhaps he told McGonagall that he himself got Sirius to sign it while he was talking with Sirius at the end of POA (as a kind of penitence thing or something). The most important thing here is that McGonagall trusts Dumbledore above all others, including the Ministry of Magic. If he acts shifty and tells her to overlook something, it's most likely she will.

These are the options I can see, maybe there are others. Of course, if anyone has any quotes from JK or anything that would certainly solve the problem!

Answer 2

I think the answer is that she simply wasn't involved in the process for Harry. Professor McGonagall was responsible for collecting permission slips from the third years in her House:

“One moment, please!” she [McGonagall] called as the class made to leave. “As you’re all in my House, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. No form, no visiting the village, so don’t forget!”
_{Chapter 8, Flight of the Fat Lady}

But not for checking who had permission to leave the castle when it actually came time to go to Hogsmeade:

He accompanied them to the entrance hall, where Filch, the caretaker, was standing inside the front doors, checking off names against a long list, peering suspiciously into every face, and making sure that no one was sneaking out who shouldn’t be going.
_{Chapter 8, Flight of the Fat Lady}

Sirius also didn't sign the official permission form, he just wrote a letter on a piece of parchment stating that he'd given his permission for Harry to visit Hogsmeade:

Harry looked eagerly inside the envelope. There was another piece of parchment in there. He read it through quickly and felt suddenly as warm and contented as though he’d swallowed a bottle of hot butterbeer in one gulp.

I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter’s godfather, hereby give him permission to visit Hogsmeade on weekends.

“That’ll be good enough for Dumbledore!” said Harry happily.

I suspect that as long as Harry made it on to the list - something that Dumbledore could easily make happen - there would be nothing to prevent him from visiting, without McGonagall ever needing to see his "permission slip" and know that Sirius gave permission rather than the Dursleys.

Answer 3

The form needed to be signed by a parent/parents or legal guardian. Sirius was made Harry's legal guardian by James and Lilly, he tells him so at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban.

Normally these rights do not change if someone is sent to prison(although not impossible i think, and not canon supported. I'm not a (magic) lawyer), so Sirius and Harry have every right to use Sirius' signature. It would be legal, and thus 'good enough' for McGonagall.

Besides that, my feeling is that McGonagall knew perfectly well who signed the form. But was aware of what happened at the end of the third year. Just because she didn't know he was an animagus does not mean she wasn't told he was innocent.

Answer 4

She probably did notice. Think about it this way- Harry's parents were allegedly betrayed by , Sirius. Harry hated him. Even if McGonagall didn't know his feelings, she could guess. If she did notice, her first thought (if she didn't already know he was innocent) would be "Why would Harry treat him like family?" The only answer, to me, is that he found out that Sirius was innocent.

But I suspect she knew he was innocent already. She's pretty smart. Either way, she'd let it slide because she knew he needed family. And as Dagon313 said, if she did have an objection she'd take it to Dumbledore and he would certainly let it slide.

Answer 5

I would say that she only checked that it was signed by Harry's legal guardian. Since it happened in a magical universe, it might have been more apparent than who actually signed it - for similar examples think of unbreakable vows.