Forty-five minutes later, the three girls had gotten nowhere. Brook and Jenica had had Molly repeat her story five times, and Jenica was now speaking slowly, calmly, and not very brightly, So let's assume all the stuff you said really happened, and you were in Norgog--
Molly interrupted, impatiently.
Whatever. You were really there and the mirror took you there and all. What happened to Allyson just now? Molly dropped her hands in a defeated gesture, got to her feet and said,
Let's just go find Allyson. She's the only one who knows. Brook clambered to her feet as well, but Jenica hesitated,
You don't know Darcy, she will still be fuming. Molly rolled her eyes,
Fine. Stay here. Go to bed. Leave us alone. Whatever. We're going to find them. Jenica made regal face and tossed her hair, turning back toward her bed.
She shouted. Molly rolled her eyes again,
She walked to the door and waved at Brook to follow.


They stepped into the hallway and walked straight into two large objects, which turned out to be Darcy and Allyson. Darcy's face contorted,
What are you doing? Off to play tricks on someone else? She snapped. Molly sighed and tried to shake her head no in denial, but she was distracted by Allyson. Her face was red and splotchy, but looking and Darcy and silently pleading for her to stop.
I told you, Darse, there's no way Molly could've done that. She's only had one day of lessons in her whole life!Darcy snarled,
You don't even know what hit you, do you? She's more powerful than I thought! Allyson shook her head back and forth again, pleading,
I think you've got it all wrong, Darcy... I just can't believe-- Darcy cut her off, fuming,
Fine! Stay here with them. But don't come crying to me when they hurt you again. You'll see, you're wrong! Darcy stormed into the dormitory and shut the door with a loud crack. Allyson turned to Molly and Brook, looking helpless,
I'm really sorry, I've been trying to get her to let me come talk to you all night. The thing with Darcy is that once she's got an idea in her head, no matter how dumb, she'll never admit she's wrong. She knows going off at you like that was stupid, but she's kind of a git sometimes. Brook let out a loud grunt,
Molly ignored her.
Allyson, we need to talk, she said, biting her lip as Allyson glanced at her watch, which must have showed her that it was nearing four in the morning. She already had dark circles under her splotchy eyes, and tension was showing in every line of her face. Molly sighed, Do you want to put it off until tomorrow? Allyson shut her eyes and let out a deep breath,
No, let's get it over with now. I don't want to tell the story again. She gave a brave sort of half smile and sat down, right in the hallway. Okay, where should I start? She wondered aloud and Molly quickly answered her,
What did you see in the mirror? Allyson winced,
All of it?
All of it. Molly repeated, assuming the position of authority momentarily.
She took one last steadying breath and plunged head first into her story, When you handed me the mirror, three things happened at once: I saw it as an old mirror, antique, pretty, but just a mirror, then my breath got really short for no reason, and then a white sort of mist started spinning around in the glass. That's when I said it was beautiful. The all the sudden, the spinning stopped and three faces appeared. They were are really beautiful women, blond, blue eyes, kinda regal looking, ya know? But all of the sudden they sort of looked angry and their faces scrunched all up and they turned into snakes and they started killing things, I don't even remember what, I just remember blood and screaming. But out of nowhere a white horse came flying in and it trampled on one of the snakes. It all looked like it was going to be okay, but then it ran off before it killed the other two. And they twisted together and turned into a dagger and stabbed the dead snake and started to drink it's blood and apparated to Hogwarts. It was all dark and stormy and Dumbledore was there protecting all the students from something really big. For a minute it looked like the two snakes, but then it changed. It turned into a man with red snake eyes and slits for a nose. He came up behind Dumbledore and almost stabbed him in the back with that same dagger, but a beautiful lady appeared and saved him with some sort of blue light. Then the Snake Man turned on her and sucked all of her powers out of her and he turned bright green and she fell to the ground, dead. All of the students screamed and Hogwarts crumbled down to the ground and dark shadows rose up and everything went all dark... and I think that's when I passed out.

Molly's mouth had gone dry, and beside her Brook's voice shook as she spoke,
What does it mean? Allyson shook her head dazedly, her eyes were filled with tears again, and the dark circles were more apparent than ever. You don't think, Brook said quietly, voicing their worst fear, it could. . that it could show the future, do you? I mean, that's impossible, right? Molly bit her lip, wishing that she could start the day over again and never find the mirror,
I don't know... She looked at her watch and back up at Allyson's face, It's almost 4:30, why don't we get a few hours sleep and talk about it in the morning? The other two nodded in silent assent.

As they climbed into bed, Allyson hesitated, Do you reckon we should tell Professor Dumbledore?
I don't know, Molly said again. She felt like she didn't know anything anymore. I don't want to bother him unless we know it's important... Let's talk about it tomorrow.
Molly sank into bed and felt a sudden exhaustion sweep over her. She closed her eyes and fell to sleep instantly; it had been a really long day.

Molly opened her eyes as the first rays of daylight flashed into the room. She checked her watch. It was 6 AM. She'd only slept for and hour and a half, and she was more tired than she could remember being in her life. She yawned widely and sat up in bed. Might as well get up, she thought sadly and dragged herself out of bed. None of the other girls were awake yet and she saw no reason to ruin their sleep too, so she pulled on a light blue sleeveless dress, grabbed her robes, and headed to the down the stairs.
The common room was completely empty except for a crackling fire that someone had lit sometime before dawn. She decided that it was still too early to go to breakfast so she grabbed a Witch Weekly magazine off the coffee table and made to curl up in a large armchair. She didn't however, as she realized, with a loud gasp, that it was already occupied. Arthur Weasley, who had been enjoying the early morning silence to read up on Quidditch, flew out of his chair at the noise beside him. He turned and saw Molly and his ears turned a surprising shade of pink,
Sorry. . I,er, didn't see you come up. Molly smiled as much as her tired features would let her,
I noticed. Arthur's ears turned even pinker. Molly held back a giggle and stuck out her hand,
Molly Camden. You're Arthur Weasley, right?
he took her hand with a slightly baffled look on his face. This time Molly laughed out loud,
I talked to you're brother Phil yesterday and he, er, told me the entire family history, I think. Arthur rolled his eyes,
I should've known. That git couldn't shut up if his life depended on it. Molly laughed again,
Want to go down and get breakfast? I don't really want to be down there alone, but if I go to late Darcy and Jenica will be there and... well. . we had a bit of a row last night. Arthur's ears regained their pinkish tone, but he nodded and led the way to the Great Hall.

Molly and Arthur were the first to arrive in the Hall, it being only the second day of school and all normal students tired. Why are you up so early? Arthur had asked Molly as they sat down. She'd simply spoken the truth,
Couldn't sleep.
Me neither, he answered on a sigh. They'd discussed their lessons the day before, particularly Transfiguration. Arthur seemed completely baffled at the fact that Amos was only in his third year and had completed all of his Transfiguration Credits already. I mean, it's really hard, he said. They both went suddenly pink at the ears, Arthur, remembering had been the last to finish match-switching, and Molly, remembering Amos. They changed topics rather awkwardly.
The breakfast, however, was one of the more enjoyable Molly could remember having. Being introduced to numerous friends of Arthur's as they came to eat, and introducing her own friends as they came in as well (apart from Jenica and Darcy, who had seated themselves firmly away from the group), was surprisingly entertaining. They only realized that they had classes to get to when an extra-greasy looking Professor Naphtha came and reminded them that if they were late to her class they would sorely regret it. They'd all groaned and filed regretfully down the stairs that led to the Potions Hall.

Potions was, Molly thought, extremely stupid. The only thing that appeared remotely interesting, she had mused as she flipped through her text book, was the chapter at the end on Love, Beauty, and Body Potions, however, the first thing that Naphtha had informed them was that the last chapter was a waste of time, and they would be skipping it entirely. Molly had moaned and sunk glumly into her seat.
Potions passed slowly, but uneventfully. On emerging from the room, the sleepy Gryffindors had taken out their schedules only to see that their next class was Herbology with Slytherins. Brook had said beside Molly, now we get to go spend an hour watching plants grow with a bunch of half-brains. I think I'm going to die. She had proceeded to fake death and fall onto Molly's shoulder, giving Molly what seemed like the only comedy relief she was likely to get for the rest of the day.

Herbology itself didn't turn out quite as bad as Brook had described. In fact, Molly kind of liked it. I'm going to have a great garden when I grow up, she whispered to Allyson during the lecture. Full of beautiful plants and wild rabbits and things. Professor Phelps, a small man with white tufts of hair and beady, but benign eyes had overheard her.
Miss. . ah, Camden, is it? Molly had nodded, hoping that she wouldn't lose points for Gryffindor on her second day, It would be careless, as your Herbology teacher, to let you run around for your whole young life with such misconceptions in your head. Beautiful plants, I'm afraid, are rarely practical or present in a proper wizard or witch's garden. In fact, most beautiful plants,' as you will come to see this year, are poisonous, cursed, or not real. As far as wild rabbits, my dear, the most you will see of wildlife in a garden in this part of the world will be garden gnomes. A few around the room snickered simply at the prospect of gnomes, Which brings us to our first chapter, Professor Phelps went on, Gnomes, gnats, and the like: Destroyers of precious plants. Now if you'll turn to page eleven of your text, it clearly states that the Prefundicus Flower of Southern London is the favorite home of Garden Gnomes. . . Phelps' voice droned on, and Molly soon regretted ever thinking that Herbology might be fun.
By the end of the hour, Gryffindors and Slytherins alike had fallen into a kind of stupor that only an incredibly boring lecture could create. They slumped out of the greenhouse like zombies, their eyes glazed over. . . all except two. Two Slytherins seeming especially cheery, considering the state that everyone else was in, crept up behind Molly and Brook.
Molly screamed. Something cold and extremely slimy had just spilled onto her hair and was dribbling down. Beside her Brook was gasping furiously. Molly wheeled around to see Lucius Malfoy and a tall brown haired Slytherin named Nott snorting with laughter. She tried to wipe the blue goop that was sliding through her hair off with her hand, which stuck to her hair painfully and only caused Malfoy and Nott to double up in their laughter,
That's for you, Andrews. Don't mess with a Malfoy. Arthur Weasley stepped out from the crowd that had formed around them. His ears were bright red again, but this time his expression was far from embarrassed, it was ferocious. He drew out his wand, daring Malfoy to speak. But Nott moved quickly. He flicked Arthur's wand out of his hand and Malfoy choked out more laughter. What Weasley? Did you think they would pay you if you saved them? Nott guffawed and the two ran off, dropping Arthur's wand on the way.
Molly stood, blue slime dripping down her back hand one hand stuck to her hair, watching Malfoy and Nott disappear in the distance. Oh my gosh! Much more goop had hit Brook than Molly, and she as now in tears that looked very likely to turn to anger soon. The crowd around the girls starred on, either sympathetically, if they were Gryffindors, or humorously, if they were Slytherins. A few exceptionally stupid Slytherins in the back broke out into loud chortles of laughter, and Arthur blew up,
GET OUT OF HERE! He shouted, and everyone froze. The Slytherins backed away a little. Arthur rolled up his sleeves, I don't need my wand to make you sorry. The Slytherins snorted cynically, but seemed to get the point and followed the direction that Malfoy and Nott had taken. The crowd, possibly a bit frightened of Arthur, broke up rather quickly, and left only Brook, Molly, Arthur, and Allyson. Arthur turned to the girls who had both turned a violent violet in their goopiness. Are you guys okay? Molly smiled weekly,
Well, we're. . . a little sticky. This was an understatement, as, in her rage Brook had attempted to chase Malfoy and now, not only her hands were stuck together, but her elbow was connected to her knee, her left ear to her shoulder, and her shoe had somehow become cemented to her thigh. She whimpered.
Come on, let's get you to the nurse, then, he gave a meaningful look to Allyson and they grabbed Brook by the armpits and helped her hop along to the Hospital Wing with Molly following behind, one hand eternally on the back of her head.

They made it to the nurse's office after a lot of weird looks from students passing in the hallway and not a few snickers from malicious Slytherins. Madam Pomfrey asked no questions and went straight to her work. she muttered impressively to herself, Diluted Prefundicus Sap. Very tricky to untangle, requires a very simple and unclean remedy, I'm afraid. Very unmagical, in fact. But, what must be done... She scampered off to her back room containing supplies and Molly and Brook looked at each other nervously.
Brook asked, a note of distress playing in her voice. Molly tried to look undaunted,
Hey, don't worry, I mean, we can't get much messier, can we?

Molly was wrong. The turned out to be a large vat of very sticky, very smelly peanut butter. Molly groaned and felt Madam Pomfrey slap another wad of the butter onto her head. She felt like a giant, slimy, peanut butter cookie. She turned to look at Brook, who, she had to admit, was much worse off than she. Brook was covered head to toe in the brown muck and was staring back at Molly, eyes pleading. Madam Pomfrey caught the glance between the two girls,
Don't' worry, she said soothingly, it will only take one or two warm showers to get it all off, and you'll be good as new. I'd like you to stay here overnight, though, just to make sure you don't try to wash it off too soon. I'm sure you understand, Molly groaned again, flopping onto her white bed on her stomach.

It had taken four showers. And three days later, Molly still stunk of peanut butter. Apparently the Prefundicus Sap had been much stronger than Madam Pomfrey had originally thought. Brook had needed seven steaming showers to remove all of her butter, and realized as soon as it was all off, that the Sap was not. Madam Pomfrey had had to threaten her with a stunning spell before Brook would allow her to reapply the peanut butter and go back to bed. Molly couldn't help but giggle a little at the memory, even though she knew how disgusting it felt to have peanut butter between her toes (she'd accidentally stepped in a loose pile of it on her way to her first shower).
Molly headed down the Gryffindor Tower stairs and toward the corridor that lead to the Hospital Wing. Gray light was still just beginning to show through the windows, and she could hear the twittering early morning birds. Brook was supposed to be released today, and Molly was completely excited. Allyson was a sweet person, but she just didn't have the element of fun and excitement that Brook seemed to take with her everywhere. Plus, today Gryffindor first years not only had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, in which Professor Alcott was rumored to be amazing, but they had their second Transfiguration lesson. Molly hadn't seen Amos since their first lesson, as she'd been covered in peanut butter one night and preoccupied with Brook the next. She pushed open the white door of Madam Pomfrey's room and stopped in her tracks.
Brook was peanut butter free and laughing, sitting on her bed. Sitting in a group composed of Jenica Madley, Darcy Finnagin, Allyson Jordan, and Amos Diggory. They all burst out into laughter again. Can you believe her? Darcy was saying, Thinking we you actually like her?! Molly felt like she'd been awakened by a blast of ice water. She spun on her heel and ran out of the room, her green eyes filled with tears. As she rounded the corner that led to Gryffindor Tower, eyes blinded by her tears, she smashed into a very solid object.

Arthur's worried voice came from somewhere above her head, what's wrong? Molly glanced up for a moment at the concerned look on his face and buried her own face in her hands, sobbing. Are you okay? Molly tried to answer, but a lump in her throat contracted and all she could manage was,
She pushed her chestnut hair off her wet cheeks and ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower. the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open before Molly could choke out the password. The bright red hair of Phil Weasley emerged, followed by two of his friends.
Molly? Has something happened? Molly couldn't look him in the eyes. More tears flooded over and she spun around, fleeing blindly to wherever her feet took her.
Three flights of stairs and countless corridors later, Molly found herself in the entrance to the Great Hall. She crashed through the enormous doors, flew out onto the grounds, and flung herself hopelessly under the branches of an enormous willow tree. She couldn't think. She couldn't move. How? How could they all hate her?Was everything just some sort of horrible joke? Brook and Molly and Amos? Had they all just been playing along with Jenica and Darcy, seeing how stupid she could be? What had she ever done to them?! Molly felt like she wept under the oak tree for hours. When she finally lifted her head the sky was a flamingo pink and she felt weak and shaky. She lifted her hands up to her cheeks and wiped them dry hastily, feeling ashamed for falling to pieces. Molly nearly cracked her head open, jumping up, when a voice spoke from above her.
There, now, you feel better now don't you? A good cry always helps. It can't have been that bad. Heart still beating furiously in her chest, Molly peered into the branches above her. A small dove was perched to her right, speaking as though it was the most normal thing in the world. Molly blinked in amazement,
You can talk. It was more of a startled statement than a question, but the bird replied, laughing,
So can you. For a brief moment, Molly forgot about all of her problems, simply in awe of the creature before her. The bird, however, did not forget,
Now. You've calmed down a bit. Mind telling me what could have made you so sad? Molly felt her cheeks, still damp, go pink. It had been bad enough without having someone know about her little tantrum, but this. . .
Go on, the dove persisted, I won't tell. I pride myself on being a rather good listener, too. Molly opened her mouth, a bit hesitant, but the bird cocked it's head curiously, and Molly told it everything. Everything from meeting Amos, to finding the mirror on the first day of classes, to going to Nogrog, and finally to the betrayal of her Through her whole story, the bird listened patiently, politely, and Molly went on. When she finished, Molly felt as though a ton of bricks she'd been carrying had been placed neatly on the ground. The dove sighed, a very human sound, and spoke to Molly, a note of distress in its voice, When I was a little girl, my very best friend in the world lied to me for three months. I was unhappy because she was dating a boy that I didn't approve of, a situation I didn't approve of really, and so she told me that she had ended the relationship. We carried on like we had before the boy for the three months, but it always seemed to me like there was something that she--and the rest of our group-- was keeping from me. Finally one day, when I had confided in her about a boy that I had a particular soft spot for, she told me that she was still dating the boy-- and that the rest of our friends had kept the secret from me as well. I was devastated. Not only because my best friend had lied to me, but because all of my other friends had let me believe the lie, even though they knew better. All I could see was that they valued their friendship with her more than their friendship with me. I stopped speaking to all of them. I had no friends to turn to, and so I became my own friend. When I finally spoke to them again, it wasn't the same. I forgave them, but I never felt that trust and confidence in them that I had before. It took me years to realize that my friends' faith to my best friend and their dishonesty to me did not mean they valued her friendship more than mine, but that they valued promises and truth. I was able to reconcile completely with all of them except for the one, because I would not change my opinion about the boy. I knew I was right, and I was in the end. Perhaps your friends do not hate you. Is it possible that they simply like this Darcy--she is the ringleader,' I presume-- as well? That their friendship to her is simply strong in a different way than it is to yours? Molly was still trying to digest the story. Was it possible that Brook and Allyson and Amos had only laughed at Darcy's comments because they wanted to be friends with her too?
Can you believe her? Thinking we actually like her? The voice echoed in her head and tears slowly began to leak down her cheeks again. She shouted, No. Friends can't laugh like that at their friends! Friends stand up for each other till the end! Friends are always friends! Molly began to sob again, burying her face in her hands once more. I want to go home! I never want to see them again! The dove sighed above her again,
That is the same conclusion I came to. But I went back to school just the same. Molly stifled her sobs for a moment,
You went to school? She had drawn her eyebrows together, not understanding at all. But you're a bird. For the third time, the bird let out a very unbird-like sigh.
No, my dear, I'm not.