For example, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Snape was reluctant to fight McGonagall when the latter took him to a duel in front of Hogwarts students. Both characters had their strengths, but the last Harry Potter movie proved Snape was the strongest Hogwarts professor.
McGonagall then defeated Severus Snape and banished him from Hogwarts and began to defend the school.
Severus Snape
Also, Snape stands out as a truly uniquely powerful wizard and edges out Voldemort thanks to two things: his knack for the dark arts, and his incredible capacity for love. You have to remember that in the Wizarding World, like it or not, love is the most powerful kind of magic.
Minerva McGonagall
She's the Head of Gryffindor and the most powerful witch in Hogwarts.
Because Severus Snape wasn't fighting to win. He did not want to hurt Minerva McGonagall, and the other faculty, as evidence of his defense-only spells and cunning. Thus, he allowed himself to lose by fleeing, so he could continue the mission with the others being non-the-wiser.
Winner: Snape
The kind of versatility in magical abilities that Snape displayed was almost around the level of Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort, making him easily more powerful than the average wizard and even the members of the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters.
Outnumbered, Snape dashes into a deserted classroom where a loud crash is heard. Pursuing, McGonagall screams, "Coward!" Uncloaked, Harry and Luna rush inside, startling the other professors. Snape has leaped out the window.
He also divided his soul into seven Horcruxes to make himself immortal. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort ever feared and the only one who could have defeated him in a duel. Albus Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard in the Harry Potter.
Weaknesses. McGonagall is never portrayed as having any particular weaknesses. Her stern facade likely prevents anyone from getting close to her emotionally, with the possible exception of Dumbledore. We are led to believe that she prefers her solitude.
Bellatrix is (kind of) in her prime, while McGonagall is old. We should also know that although Bellatrix is evil, it doesn't mean she's stupid. But seeing that McGonagall is old, we can correctly assume that she's experienced. I'd say McGonagall wins the duel, no questions asked.
Dumbledore almost certainly. Snape is a good duelist in my opinion but definitely a cut below the three powerhouses of the series. Dumbledore's age doesn't have any of the comventional drawbacks from what we've seen in Half-Blood Prince.
All seven novels show Snape to be a very powerful wizard and to have been outstanding while a student. He specialises in potion making and has talent and passion for the Dark Arts. Sirius claimed that Snape knew more hexes and curses as a first-year student at Hogwarts than most seventh-years knew.
Originally Answered: How did Umbridge and other ministry members mange to get away with attacking Professor McGonagall in book 5? As Minister of Magic, Fudge was adamant to believe that Voldemort had returned.
20 More Powerful: Minerva McGonagall
As I said earlier, many Hogwarts professors are arguably more powerful than Voldemort. Minerva McGonagall is, without question, one of them.
Minerva McGonagall
McGonagall was among the oldest and most experienced teachers in Hogwarts, and she was a worthy successor to Dumbledore as the headmistress. In fact, she has proven her mettle against Voldemort and survived a duel against him.
Minerva had mastered the Patronus Charm, being able to create a powerful corporeal Patronus in the form of a cat — identical to her Animagus — , being the only person seen to cast three Patronuses at once. She also was able to use her Patronus as a means of communication, as taught to her by Dumbledore.
She accuses them of concocting the whole dragon story to lure Malfoy out of bed and get him into trouble. As punishment, McGonagall deducts fifty points from Gryffindor for each of the three wrongdoers. Harry is horrified that his house will lose 150 points.
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.
1. Albus Dumbledore. Image via Warner Bros.
Godrick Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts, and the owner of the legendary Sword of Gryffindor, was absolutely more powerful than Dumbledore— and it's a good thing he was, too, because Dumbledore wasn't around in Hogwarts' early days to keep Godrick's fellow founder Salazar Slytherin in check.
So Snape was cruel, biased towards his house, and downright rude to his students: this we can't deny. Calling poor Hermione an 'insufferable know-it-all', for example, was pretty terrible.
When McGonagall calls Snape a coward, she is not referring to his skills. She is in fact attacking his ethics and morals. From Harry and Co.'s perspective, Dumbledore was weak and alone and begging Snape to not kill him.
Sectumsempra is a curse invented by Professor Severus Snape, during his childhood, when he was known as "The Half-Blood Prince". He created it with the intention of using it against his enemies, and it soon became one of his specialties.