A/N: This is all a bit new for me, but I've always thought a Molly Weasley diary would be a fun project. So after debating whether the diary should be kept while she was at Hogwarts or at home raising children, I ultimately decided that Hogwarts would be a little more fun to write about. Please review!
this diary is property of
Molly Prewett
Sixth Year, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
If found, please return to Gryffindor Common Room (please!)
August 31st
9:00 pm
I'm really hoping we learn some Unforgivable Curses in Defence Against the Dark Arts this year, because I am just about ready to kill Fabian and Gid. I've only just gotten my books from Flourish and Blotts, but already, they've managed to put a spell on them that translates the whole lot of them into runes. Runes! Mum's in the kitchen trying to fix them, muttering some curses under her breath (both the magical kind and the expletives, I'm sure).
Sixth year is supposed to be the best year at Hogwarts. N.E.W.T.s are still a year away, and there's supposed to be loads of extra free time. But I can already tell, the twins are going to ruin it. Don't ask me how, but they'll find a way. Mum's no help either. Since the summer before first year, I've been complaining that they find some way to torture me endlessly during the school year. And this time, she's said the same bloody thing she always says. "Fabian and Gideon are going to be in their nth year, they'll be too busy to harass you, Molly,"
I've heard it all before. I had hoped my evening would be better because of our traditional back-to-Hogwarts family dinner. Unfortunately, Aunt Muriel stopped by as well. She particularly enjoyed the treacle tart, making disparaging remarks about my hair, and commenting on the lack of men interested in me. She also proceeded to fawn over the twins and gave a very passionate, sermonic speech about how they would carry on the Prewett family name. It very quickly morphed into a history lesson on the Sacred-Twenty Eight pureblood families in Britain, which she concluded with, "Anyway Molly, your hair…"
Uncle Ignatius was also there, and we all had a rather awkward conversation about future plans while Mum and Dad were washing the dishes in the kitchen. I can't recall it exactly, but it went something like this:
Ignatius: Fabian, Gideon, what are you thinking about doing in regards to career selection?
Fabian: Aurors, we're thinking. We've talked to Professor McGonagall, that's the new Head of Gryffindor, and we just need five N.E.W.T.s with Es, so I reckon—
Muriel: Glorified profession, if you ask me. Here's my advice, boys. Get yourself a nice, quiet job at the Ministry. I've got an old friend at the Department of International Magical Cooperation and he says—
Gideon: Right, well—
Muriel: What about you, Molly?
Me: Well, I was thinking of being a Healer, but—
Muriel: (laughs) Merlin, Molly, do you have the marks to be a Healer? I don't think St. Mungo's would be very impressed with a failing student, would they?
Me: I—
Muriel: Your mother told me you didn't get a single O or E on any of your O.W.L.s. Is that—
Me: No, that's not—
Muriel: Molly, hasn't anyone told you that it is most impolite to interrupt?
Gideon: We keep trying to tell her, but she never seems to understand.
At some point, I couldn't take it any longer and I excused myself from the dinner table and stormed upstairs. As I'm writing this, I suppose I shouldn't have taken it all so personally. It's Muriel, after all. We got our O.W.L.s a few days before, and they were hardly failing.
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS
Pass Grades
OUTSTANDING (O)
EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS (E)
ACCEPTABLE (A)
Fail Grades
POOR (P)
DREADFUL (D)
TROLL (T)
Molly Callidora Prewett
has achieved
ANCIENT RUNES: O
ARITHMANCY: A
ASTRONOMY: A
CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES: A
CHARMS: O
DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: E
DIVINATION: A
HERBOLOGY: E
HISTORY OF MAGIC: P
POTIONS: E
TRANSFIGURATION: E
Of course, they were nothing compared to the twins' O.W.L.s last year. "One Es and nine Os both! Oh, my wonderful, wonderful boys!" my mother had said, ruffling their hair and kissing them and choosing to deny my existence. But my marks weren't that terrible. And after all, I did once hear a rumour from a cousin about Aunt Muriel getting a T in History of Magic. Then again, I've also heard rumours that she's part banshee.
Mum just came in and yelled at me for being rude and not saying goodbye to Muriel. She also dropped off my schoolbooks. Most of them are in English, but I'm afraid my Care of Magical Creatures book is beyond repair.
I can't believe that school starts up again tomorrow and that I only have two years left at Hogwarts. I'm awfully tired of all the questions I've been getting lately. It seems that every time some friend of a cousin of a friend comes around and finds out I'm a sixth year they ask the same questions over and over. "Molly, what NEWTs are you taking?" "Molly, what do you want to pursue?" "Molly, are you going steady with anyone?" "Molly, what are you going to do after you leave school?"
I really just wish I knew some of the answers.
September 1st
12:00 pm
Merlin forbid we have one normal—one seamless—September 1st. It seems like every time term starts, there's some small crisis, usually related to or caused by the twins.
A Chronicle of September 1sts Gone Awry
First Year: My first year at Hogwarts I naturally expected that everything would go perfectly and so I was quite horrified when I did a final suitcase check in the King's Cross car park and discovered that instead of the "three sets of plain work robes (black)," which I had definitely packed, there were three small frogs. F&G never owned up to it, but we all know they did it. Anyway, I ended up sobbing really hard and Mum had to Apparate home and get them, which was probably really dangerous, considering the number of Muggles that frequent King's Cross. And then on the train ride, Fabian and Gid introduced me as "Sobby—I mean Molly Prewett."
Second Year: Mum joked after the last year that everyone has one start of term screwup and I was lucky that I had gotten mine out of the way. Well, Mum and Dad had to go to work that day and so they just dropped the three of us off at King's Cross, which really was a terrible idea in hindsight. We stopped at the barrier and Fabian and Gid told me to go first and I went hurtling towards the brick wall…between platforms ten and eleven. I was so furious and I had a huge red bump on my head that lasted for about a week.
Third Year: I carefully counted the platform numbers this year and hid my suitcase from Fabian and Gid, finally determined to make sure that nothing went horribly wrong this time. At this point, Fabian and Gid were actually becoming quite talented wizards and most of the professors no longer hated them. Unfortunately, they decided to test out their new charms prowess on me and did some ridiculous type of undetectable extension charm, which made my trunk heavier and heavier as I pushed my cart. Eventually it got to the point where I could no longer push it. So Mum, Dad and I probably looked ridiculous to the Muggles as the three of us together struggled to push the trolley.
Fourth Year: At this point, I really didn't care anymore. I knew Fabian and Gid were going to do something awful to me and so I prepared for the worst. What was surprising about this year's prank was that they didn't even use magic and yet, it was probably the meanest one ever. They set my clock forward to 11:45 AM and when I woke up (at 8:00) to find the house completely empty, I had a small heart attack and sobbed uncontrollably until Mum and Dad came inside from their walk and found me lying in a puddle of my own tears in my bedroom.
Fifth Year: I can't even talk about this one. It involved a Furnunculus curse on me and a really really handsome Hufflepuff 6th year, who never talked to me again after that incident.
Well, actually looking back, this year's prank was a bit milder. I'm on the train right now and it's really a miracle I managed to even get on it. Fabian and Gid thought it would be funny (I start so many sentences like that) to "accidentally" spill some coffee on me. I was so desperate to run and go change my clothes, so I asked Fabian if I had enough time to change. He looked at his gold watch thoughtfully and told me he reckoned I had about fifteen minutes. I was so panicked that I didn't even entertain the idea that he could be lying. In reality, I had four minutes. So after I dawdled stupidly in the bathroom, I casually strolled back to the platform to find the train beginning to pick up speed. My dear friend Amelia Bones managed to heave me onto the train, and I collapsed into my seat in the compartment she had saved us.
So here I am writing on the train. Amelia's asleep now, which is good, because she never gets enough sleep. We talked for about half an hour before she dozed off, and she mentioned to me that she'd been up all night reading. It's typical Amelia really. She's the cleverest witch in our year; all the professors are always saying she'll be doing great things one day. It's a bit difficult to believe that when she's flopped over onto my shoulder drooling all over my diary, but I really do think she's brilliant.
3:00 pm
Poor Amelia. Right after I put down my diary, Barnabas Cuffe, a Ravenclaw in my year came into our compartment. Now, every girl at Hogwarts has been obsessed with Barnabas since the Sorting hat touched his head. He is so incredibly handsome and so smart. As smart as Amelia. Everything that comes out of his mouth is just about the wittiest, cleverest, most sophisticated thing I ever heard. Anyway, he walked in and instantly I got all flustered and fixed my hair.
"Hello Molly, you've had a good summer?" he said to me politely.
"Oh, it was charming! You?" I replied. Charming? Charming? Bloody hell why would I say that? Word choice, Molly!
"I had a lovely summer, thanks. Spent it with my parents in the south of France. Well they call it le Midi over there. You know, Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, the like. We got to do a bit of wine tasting and there were a few art gallery visits I quite enjoyed. Happy with your O.W.L. results and everything?" he said. This was obviously some sort of maneuver to get me to divulge my O.W.L. scores.
"Yes. Very. A bunch of Os. A bunch of Es." And a P and four As, I thought to myself. "How about you?"
"That's good. Mine weren't bad. I got one E in History of Magic and the rest Os, so I'm a bit pissed about that, but I shall overcome I suppose." Barnabas stared off thoughtfully (he does this a lot).
"Anyway, is that Amelia?" he asked, snapping back into reality as he gesturing to the tall, tight-jawed girl who was resting on my shoulder. I nodded carefully.
"I do hate to wake her up, but the Head Boy and Head Girl have been waiting for her. There's a prefects' meeting in the front compartment and we've been waiting for a while. I suppose it just slipped her mind," he said.
I could almost detect a hint of a smirk on his face; they both like it when the other screws up. I guess it boosts their own self-esteems. I shook my shoulder to wake her up.
"Oof Molly, bug off, I was having a good dream. And guess who was in it? Bar—" she muttered, not bothering to open her eyes.
"Amelia, Barnabas Cuffe is here for you," I began loudly. "I guess there's a prefects' meeting you're missing right now."
She bolted upright "Bugger!" she shrieked. I laughed and Barnabas gave her a sort of half smile and nod and they both left the compartment. As they walked through the car, I saw Amelia turn around and give me a sort of death glare.
After all of this, Emmeline Vance walked into my car and we got to chatting. She's a lovely girl really, one of my best friends. Finally, Amelia returned to our car, looking quite tired and grumpy.
"Amelia, are you ok—" Emmeline began. I had relayed to her the story.
"Shut up both of you," she sighed, smiling. "Well this is just perfect. Barnabas Cuffe thinks I'm a slob and the Head Boy and Head Girl already hate me. And we haven't even had the feast yet. This is so unfortunate."
"Amelia, what did you get on your O.W.L.s?" I asked.
"All Os," she replied glumly.
"Well, you beat Barnabas Cuffe. He got an E in History of Magic. He told me before I woke you."
Amelia definitely cheered up a little bit after that.
September 1st
10:00 pm
Amelia is going to hate me if I keep the light on for too long, so I'll be quick:
We got to Hogwarts as the sun was setting, earlier than we usually do. The castle looked so beautiful at sunset as a horseless carriage drove me, Emmeline and a slightly less grumpy Amelia. Also in our carriage were my lovely relative (I'm really not sure how we're related) Andromeda Black, a second year Slytherin (and probably the only Slytherin I actually like), and this dreadful fifth-year Ravenclaw, Rita Skeeter, who ended up in our carriage most likely because nobody else wanted her in their carriages.
Emmeline, Amelia and I said goodbye to Andromeda when we entered the Great Hall as she went to join her sister Bella at the Slytherin table, and I nodded curtly at Rita Skeeter, who rolled her eyes at me and sat down at the Ravenclaw table. The Gryffindor table was filled with the warm, familiar faces I'd missed over the summer. I saw the twins out of the corner of my eye. Emmeline sat at the other end of the table with Mafalda Hopkirk and so Amelia and I took our seats next to a fifth year called John Dawlish.
Professor Dumbledore gave his opening remarks and then announced a new Herbology teacher, Professor Sprout. Professor Sprout was a plump, very young woman, who looked no older than thirty-five or so. Anyway, I'm a little bit nervous to be taking a N.E.W.T. class with her. I have to get an E in Herbology to be a Healer and really it's a miracle I managed to get an E on my O.W.L.
And then of course there was the Sorting and Amelia grumbled the entire way through. Her younger brother Edgar was sorted into Hufflepuff, which Amelia said was normal for the Bones family, as she was one of only three Boneses who hadn't been sorted into Hufflepuff. Also sorted was my distant cousin Narcissa Black, who's Andromeda and Bella's sister. She was sorted into Slytherin, which was no surprise because there's never been a Black who wasn't in Slytherin. Somewhere between Malfoy, Lucius and Runcorn, Albert, Amelia and I lost interest and instead of paying attention to the Sorting, like everyone else seemed to be doing, we played a game of rock, paper, scissors and moaned about how hungry we were until the last first-year was sorted and finally—FINALLY—we could eat.
Afterwards, Amelia and the other Gryffindor prefect in our year, Tiberius McLaggen, left to go escort a group of first years to the common room and Emmeline and I walked up the staircases together and through the portrait hole. The Gryffindor common room was exactly as I had left it just a few a months ago, and I instantly plopped myself down in a squashy armchair. There are already three notices on the bulletin board, which surprises me until I realize that two of them are joke flyers (Fabian and Gid) and the other one was left from last year.
Everyone usually goes to bed pretty early at the start of term, so there were very few people in the Gryffindor common room. I recently learned how to knit, and so I've been trying my very best to knit myself a sweater, but Arthur Weasley told me that my "scarf looked very good so far", so I may rethink the whole sweater concept. Anyway, it was just Arthur, Tiberius McLaggen and me in the common room. Arthur was reading a book called The Wizard's Guide to Electricity and Tiberius was eating some éclairs and playing a game of wizard's chess against himself. Tiberius really is a bit annoying, but Emmeline actually agreed to go to Hogsmeade with him one weekend last year and said he was an absolute gentleman.
Amelia's just yelled at me to turn off the lights, and I'd rather she not be grumpy again tomorrow so that's all for now. She really really needs her sleep.
A/N: So that's the first chapter. A bit all over the place, I know, but some things needed to be covered. I'm really trying to show those qualities of Molly Weasley in Molly Prewett. You may notice how she tends to put the needs of other people above her own and she has already occupies a mothering role among her friends. Review Review Review!