I think with an analog meter your pointer will try to go negative
It will. Depending upon the range selected and the applied reverse voltage it will do anything from moving slightly to the left of the zero mark to slamming hard into the left-hand stop (and possibly causing damage).
You can get center-zero movements intended to allow either polarity to be applied (the ammeter in your car is a good example).
The VTVM (vacuum tube voltmeter) or its modern transistor equivalent often has a polarity reversing switch so that negative values can be read with the cable shield left connected to a grounding point.
