For the first time, Cormac McLaggen appeared in the 6th franchise book about Britain’s wizarding world, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He, like other heroes created by Joan Rowling, has a story and a purpose in the plot.
Appearance, origin and place in the plot
Cormac McLagen from "Harry Potter" - a supporting character, presented to readers only in the penultimate part of the franchise. The young magician is in his last year at Hogwarts and, in the story, is at least a year older than the main characters. The sixth book does not talk about his biography and appearance, so readers have to collect bit by bit the necessary information about him.
At the first appearance, the young man is described as "tall and strong" - literally a bull. But, it seems, he is such only from the position of a short and feeble Potter. So it is very likely that Cormac McLuggen is a muscular young man with broad shoulders and a height of 1.8 to 1.9 m. Given that at the time of the events described he was already 17-18 years old, this addition should not be surprising. Is Harry Potter jealous?
Another feature described is coarse hair. It is not clear what the author or translator meant by this, but this is the first thing that attention is drawn to. The most logical explanation for such an epithet is the hedgehog hairstyle (upright hair) that Cormac wears. The color of the eyes, hair and skin, the harmony of the features, the pleasantness of the smile are unknown - all these points readers have to think out on their own. But it is clear that McLuggen is quite handsome and is popular with the opposite sex.
Cormac is the son or even the heir of a purebred family that occupies a high position in society. This is confirmed in the chapter "Club of Slugs", which mentions a certain influential employee of the Department of Secrets Tiberius MacLaggen, as well as magic hunting with the participation of the Minister of Magic.
Character features of the "book" Cormac
McLaggen is a bright representative of the "golden youth" with the corresponding requests and behavior. Among the features of his character are especially noticeable:
- Self-confidence, sometimes without a reason. Cormac McLuggen is confident in his own "high quality" in love, sport and ordinary life.
- Boasting and complacency bordering on narcissism. The Gryffindor wants an absolute recognition of his success and authority, so he is very offended when he is dismissed.
- Gambling. Cormac "to argue" is able to create real madness. For example, swallow a dozen eggs of a poisonous magic parasite (doxy) and get into the infirmary with serious poisoning.
- The power and desire for leadership. McLaggen is confident that he is suitable for the role of the head of the group and seeks to prove himself "from the best side", leading others.
Rowling positioned Cormac as an annoying character with excessively high demands and defiant behavior. In the film, the latter was especially emphasized with the help of the scene with "flirting" at a dinner at the Club of Slugs performed by actor Freddy Strom.
The story of the creation and the meaning of the character
Many of the characters created by Joan Rowling are written off from real people - a school chemistry teacher, daughter of a writer, and former colleague. But Cormac McLuggen is completely original. There is no need to bring various explanatory theories under the character who will exist within the same book.
However, fans are able to find a special meaning even in a simple pretext. The result is the following:
- The name "Cormac" comes from the Gaelic corbmac and means "charioteer son." Sometimes there is another translation - funnel.
- Judging by the structure of the surname (McLaggen), the young wizard is Scot or has corresponding roots. After all, "Mack" literally means the "son" of someone. That's just the name "Lagen" among the Scots is not. In a similar way, at the beginning of the 10th century the Scandinavians settled in Northern Ireland were called. So the Gryffindor receives neither a glorious history, nor a colorful tartan.
The character Cormac McLuggen ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince") was introduced by the author with the aim of overshadowing the strength and tension of the romantic relationship between Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.
Frederick Stroma aka McLuggen
Harry Potter movie directors and casting directors have repeatedly received complaints from fans who were indignant over the differences between the characters of the book characters and actors. Snape is too old, Hermione is too beautiful, Potter is well-fed ...
One of the few heroes who escaped remarks is the background character Cormack McLuggen. The actor, who played him in the films "GP and the Half-Blood Prince", "GP and the Deathly Hallows," reassured the sense of beauty of many critics. Freddie Stroma, outwardly successfully balancing between the “sweet boy” and the “courageous young warrior”, ideally suited the role of the self-confident major wizard. In this case, the behavior of Cormac did not cause irritation in the audience.
During the filming, the British actor was only 22 years old, which allowed him to play a teenager without any makeup. In reality, Freddy has brown eyes and straight blond hair. For the sake of the image of McLuggen, his hair was lightened and before each episode, curls were curled and laid with gel curls.
The filmmakers made a derogation by including Cormac on both sides of the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (search on the train, the aftermath of the battle), despite the fact that according to the book "canon" the young man had already finished Hogwarts.
McLaggen's Place in the Fan Universe
Despite his small role, Cormack McLuggen left his mark on the fan-like Harry Potter universe. Thanks to the appearance of Freddy Strom, the attitude to the book is consistently good. Moreover, proponents of alternative endings tend to argue that “Hermione was wrong” with the choice of spouse. Often there is an opinion that instead of the mediocre Weasley she should have preferred McLuggen - a more beautiful and promising magician. On Russian-language resources, fanfics periodically appear with the Cormac / Hermione paring.
In general, the self-confident Gryffindor enjoys the steady attention of fans of the Harry Potter saga. More than 7 years have passed since the last book was released, and fans are tired of coming up with an “alternative” life for the main characters, gradually switching to secondary ones.