Chapter 9 - The Letters of Molly Iphigenia Weasley

September 2018 ~ First Year

Dear Lottie,

Thanks for saying you'll be my penpal. I'm really happy to have someone to write to who isn't just my family. I have a big family and half of them are at school with me, so it's not that easy to get away from them. Not that I really want to get away from them, at least not all of them. One of my cousins, Roxy, is in the same year as me, and we're good friends. I've got a little sister called Lucy. She's eight, and she's nice sometimes but also really annoying. Do you have any brothers and sisters or cousins?

Anyway, my name's Molly Iphigenia Weasley. I hate my middle name, because nobody ever knows how to say it or spell it, but I can't ever tell mum that, because it was her sister's name, and her sister died in the war. I'm eleven, nearly twelve, and I live in a part of England called East Anglia, but I've just started school in Scotland. Our school is called Hogwarts.

What is your school in Australia like? Do you have houses? Here we have four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. All of my dad's family were in Gryffindor, and all my mum's were in Hufflepuff. I'm in Gryffindor, and Roxy is in Ravenclaw, but most of my cousins are in Gryffindor like me.

My best friends are my cousin Roxy, and two other girls called Ruth and Angharad. Angharad's mum was a Quidditch player for the same team as my Aunt Ginny, so she's really good at Quidditch. Ruth's a Muggle-born, so she's only just learning about our world. She says she doesn't really want to be a witch, but she doesn't have any choice. She wants to leave after her OWLs though and go to Muggle Art College. Her and Roxy are both into arty stuff, so they draw stuff and make things all the time. I can't do anything like that, but I wish I could. All I can do is get good marks in school. What do you like doing?

Write back soon,

Molly

October 2019 ~ Second Year

Dear Lottie,

I hope you're okay. We're getting ready for Halloween. Do you have Halloween in Australia? I can't remember if I asked you last year. We have a big feast for it here, it's really fun, and they decorate the great hall and everything. My cousin Fred (Roxy's brother), who's in 6th year, is planning a party in the common room after the feast with his friends, but I'm not so sure about that. People always get drunk at parties and then they get caught. And the older ones say anyone younger than 4th year has to go to bed early, which I don't think is fair, just because they want to drink alcohol and we're too young for that. My cousin Rose says she's going to bed later than usual, just to annoy them.

My friend Angharad's on the Quidditch team this year. She's Seeker, but she really wanted to be Chaser. They already had all the Chasers though, so if she wanted to be on the team, she had to go for Seeker. Now she's worried she'll be stuck there though, because she says the only other people who tried out for Seeker were rubbish, so they'll want to keep her. I don't really understand Quidditch very well, but I know you like it, so I thought you'd be interested. Fred and my other cousin James are on the team too, but my cousin Dominique is the captain of the Ravenclaw team, and they've won the cup the last two years, so they're all being very competitive. I support Gryffindor of course.

I hope your mum and dad do decide to come to England some time – it would be really great to actually meet you. I asked my mum and dad, and they said if you come when I'm on holiday from school, you can all come and stay with us if you want. There's not that much room, but we have a spare bedroom for your mum and dad, and you could sleep in mine. You'd have to put up with Lucy – she's a bit mad, but she's all right really. She makes loads of mess though.

Write back,

Love Molly

May 2021 ~ Third Year

Dear Lottie,

Everyone's talking about Quidditch here at the moment. It's the final game of the season tomorrow, and if Gryffindor win it, they've won the cup, but if they don't then it'll be Slytherin who win. You know how I told you about my cousin James being captain this year? Well, he went and ate some exploding chewing gum that my Uncle George makes, because my other cousin Louis dared him to do it. He's such an idiot – what does he think warnings like 'DO NOT SWALLOW' mean? But anyway, obviously he's not playing tomorrow – he's in hospital. He's going to be okay though.

Angharad's worried because she says she's a rubbish Seeker, and she thinks if Gryffindor lose it'll all be her fault. She asked if she could play Chaser to replace James, but they told her there was nobody else to play Seeker, and they got this 6th year girl to play Chaser instead. I told her if Gryffindor lose, it wouldn't be her fault, it would be James's because he ate the stupid chewing gum.

This boy called Michael Dalrymple, from Hufflepuff, asked me out yesterday. It was really embarrassing – I've never been asked out before, and I never thought anyone would fancy me. I'm not like my cousins – they're all really pretty, but I'm just boring old Molly.

I said no, obviously, but it was kind of nice to be asked. My friends think I'm crazy, because Dalrymple's nice and intelligent and quite good-looking, but you can't go out with someone if you don't like them that way, can you? Have you ever had a boyfriend at all?

Love Molly.

June 2022 ~ Fourth Year

Dear Lottie,

I can't believe I've been writing to you for nearly four years, and in a few weeks, I'm finally going to meet you. I can't wait! You are going to come and stay in my house, aren't you, even if your parents stay somewhere else? If they're not coming too, you can have the spare room if you want, or you can sleep in my room, like I said.

You might get to meet some of my cousins too, some of them are usually hanging around. I want you to meet Roxy, I think you'll like her. Just don't go and start fancying one of the boys – they get enough girls after them as it is! No need to make their heads any bigger.

Rose and Albus are doing OWLs this year. They're really stressed, even Rose, who normally acts like she doesn't care (even though I know she does really), and it's making me worried for next year. Did I tell you that Al's a prefect this year? He's the first prefect in the family since Victoire, and that makes me worried too. I haven't told anyone how much I really want to be a prefect, because they'd think I was stupid and laugh at me.

But I'll feel like I've failed a bit if I'm not, because Mum and Dad both were. And it's the only hope I've got of actually achieving anything that most of my cousins haven't. I'm not the best at anything, I'm not the most popular, I'm not rebellious, I'm not funny, I'm not pretty, I'm not artistic, I'm not good at Quidditch. If I'm not a prefect, then I'll just be nothing.

I know, it's stupid. It's okay if you want to tell me that, I know it is really. Rose's mum and dad were both prefects too, and she's not and she doesn't care.

Anyway, you'll tell me in your next letter exactly when you're going to arrive in England, won't you, and when you're coming to ours?

Love Molly.

September 2022 ~ Fifth Year

Dear Lottie,

I wish you were still here. It was so much fun having you to stay, and I hate that you live on the other side of the world. I hope your mum and dad had a good time too (then they might come back some time).

I still feel really bad about all those time I asked you about boys. I just didn't know, but I shouldn't have assumed. I'm glad you told me, though, and I hope you feel okay enough to tell your mum and dad soon.

Anyway, I'm back at Hogwarts now, and guess what? I'm a prefect! I'm so relieved. The letter came near the end of the holidays. Mum and Dad are really pleased – Dad went boasting to the rest of the family. Uncle George said that Dad hadn't changed at all, and that if Roxy had been made prefect, he'd have disowned her. He was joking, obviously, but I don't think he'd have been as proud as Dad is.

A weird thing happened yesterday. Do you remember me telling you about Michael Dalrymple, who asked me out in Third Year? Well, yesterday, he came up to me in the library and started talking to me. It was kind of annoying because I was trying to work, but it would have been rude to ignore him, so I talked to him and he's actually really nice. Then we got thrown out of the library for talking. Hugo saw it happen, and went and told James, who won't let me live it down.

Anyway, Dalrymple walked me all the way back to the common room, and he's not even a Gryffindor. The others think he still fancies me, but I'm not sure. He seemed like he was just being friendly. I don't know what to do, because I don't want to encourage him, but I can't be unfriendly, in case he's just being nice. Ruth said I should ask him if he likes me, but how can I? It would be so embarrassing if the answer was no! And then she offered to ask him herself, and I said no, but I'm a bit worried she might do it anyway.

Anyway, this letter is turning into an essay.

Write back soon,

Love Molly.

September 2023 ~ Sixth Year

Dear Lottie,

No time for a long letter now. I've got prefect duties to go to. Part of my patrol's to go up to the owlery though, so if I can finish this letter before I have to go, I can post it at the same time. I've already managed to write one to Mum and Dad, and to Grandma and Grandad Weasley, so I can do the lot in one trip.

Lucy's got some mad scheme she's trying to start up – she wants to have a drama club. I'm not sure if she just means for Hufflepuff or for the whole school. Either way, it's crazy. I can't imagine Professor Clearwater agreeing to it at all, even given Lucy's powers of persuasion. And then, who would join? But she's mad about acting and plays, and she keeps going on about it. I've told her not to be ridiculous, but that sort of thing just bounces off Lucy.

She's also brought her pet duck to school this year. It's a duckling she found in the summer, with a hurt leg, and she brought it home with her. Mum and Dad didn't want to let her keep it, but they gave in, because people always do with Lucy. I wish she wouldn't be quite so mad, though.

I have to see Michael at prefect meetings, which is so awkward. I got my friend Gordon to swap a patrol with me the other day, so I wouldn't be on the same one as Michael, and then I just felt stupid because it's not like me and Michael had a massive argument or anything-we just agreed not to go out any more. Anyway, today my patrol is with Gordon, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about!

Anyway, I really have to go or I'm going to be late.

Love, Molly.

June 2025 ~ Seventh Year

Dear Lottie,

NEWTs are almost over! I only have two exam left and I'll be finished with Hogwarts forever.

I'm not actually looking forward to it very much. Everyone else seems really excited, even Roxy, but I just don't know what I'll do next. I'm really excited about coming to Australia, obviously, but that's only for three weeks, and then I have to think what to do for the rest of my life. I like school-I don't want to leave! And I don't know what I'll do. I don't have a niche somehow.

Roxy's known for ages that she wants to do fashion design. She'll be really good at it, you should see the things she makes! It's funny because she never wears any of the stuff she designs-she always wears really plain clothes, though she always looks nice, unlike me. I never have any idea what to wear.

Anyway, she's already got herself an interview at a new boutique in Diagon Alley, which she says is the first step to setting up her own business – she's more into making outifts that people'll actually wear, not the really top fashion stuff. And Angharad's got a trial period for a Quidditch team, and I heard from Ruth and she's got a place to study Fine Art at a Muggle university.

So everyone knows what they want to do apart from me. I'm not used to being the one who doesn't know what she's doing. Dad says he can get me a job at the Ministry, but I'm not sure if I want to work there. Aunt Hermione's trying to persuade me to join her department, because she thinks I'd be good at it, but I'm not sure I would. Mum's no help-she says to do what makes me happy. But that's the trouble. I don't know what'll make me happy! Hopefully, inspiration will hit between now and when I come back from Australia.

How are your exams going? Have you decided whether you're taking that internship, or going travelling?

I'm sitting in the library right now, taking a break from my Charms revision. Some of the others were here, but now it's just me and Gordon, and he's just said that as I'm not working any more, why don't we go for a walk by the lake to clear our heads, so I'm going to go now. Next time I write to you, I'll probably have finished!

Lots of love, and good luck with your exams,

Molly.

A/N: For the story of how Lucy Weasley set up an all-school drama club, see These Mortals.