NOVEL WEB Chapter 23: Chapter 23
Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 12– Perfect PR.
Edited: 30/03/2023
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Molly Weasley is not the prettiest woman in the world, but she certainly isn't the ugliest, though she is a little on the heavier side. She has a head full of bright red hair that pairs well with her pale white skin, but that is as far as I can go with the compliments. Other than that, Molly is a short, slightly wide mother of seven.
However, I am sure she must have been quite the beauty when she was younger, as most magical people are. That is unless they have had a little too much inbreeding, which usually either results in ugliness and deformities or crazy mental issues.
As I hand over the now signed new copy of Assault On The Abominable Snowman over to Molly, I look into her eyes and immediately apply my Leigilimency to read her mind. Except, I do not go full force straight away since I want to test her defences, if she even has any, because I highly doubt that someone who was in Dumbledore's little phoenix force would have an absolutely defenceless mind, as that would be a significant chink in the chainmail.
This was actually one of my worries when I started to learn about the mind arts because if I tried to invade the mind of someone with sufficiently robust Occlumency and they repelled my attack, then I would be pretty screwed, wouldn't I? Gilderoy only ever was proficient with the obliviation charm and interviewed his victims extensively to gain their stories before specifically obliviating those memories.
Thankfully it was pretty simple how to gauge someone's Occlumency level. It was by simply not trying to enter into their mind but by simply skirting along the edges of it and feeling it out, testing its rigidity. It is quite a difficult thing to learn to do correctly, knowing how far to go and when to stop, but I had plenty of practice where there were no consequences if I failed.
The direct eyesight also helps the issue, and as Molly Weasley's eyes meet mine, I dive straight in and touch upon the edge of her mind, completely ready to feel some form of resistance, yet, there is no such barrier. Not believing such a thing since she would come to be such a crucial person in the upcoming years, I continued to poke at her mind and test her defences, but there were none to be seen.
Finally satisfied that I wasn't being lured in or tricked, I dived into her mind, and her entire life became an open book to me, and I saw how incredibly boring it was. I really overestimated just how interesting this woman's life would be just because she would become someone of importance in a few years' time.
But right now, she is just an ordinary housewife and mother dealing with petty squabbles between her children and cleaning up her own weirdly shaped house, and there really is nothing interesting. Thankfully my expert skill in Legilimency and the mind arts, in general, allows me to act much quicker, meaning while I am doing all this, it has still been a split second outside since myself, and Molly made eye contact.
But while time is slower in here, my window will eventually end, so I quickly get to work to try and find something, anything, that could possibly help me. I start by going back to Molly's earliest memories and promptly starting to skim through them to see if there is anything of importance I could glean.
She grew up as Molly Prewett, and she had two older brothers that were ironically twins just like she has herself now, and they were named Gideon and Fabian, G and F, just like her sons George and Fred, so definitely some unresolved issues there.
She went to Hogwarts like every other magical child in Britain, and I was right when she grew up a bit. She was pretty good-looking. But she only ever had a relationship with Arthur Weasley and snuck out late at night to be with him, which I skipped right over since I didn't want to see that.
By this point, Voldemort had started his war, and as soon as she graduated, she married Arthur, moved to The Burrow, and started having a family. Her brothers Gideon and Fabian actually were members of the original Order of the Phoenix, but they were murdered when ambushed by five Death Easters, including Antonin Dolohov, which is where the unresolved issues came from.
She didn't have much of a relationship with James and Lily Potter or their friend group since she was busy raising her own children, but she was still quite distraught when she heard of their death on that Halloween night. Quickly skipping forward through the years and seven children later, her good looks had faded, and she had become worn, which is what giving birth to seven different children, including twins, will do to you.
Curious as to what her opinion is of me, I focus on that and try to uncover those memories, which I quickly regret. I determinedly ignore the memories of her masturbation sessions with me as the focus, what with her being an overworked housewife that doesn't often get to enjoy herself with all her kids running around and her husband always working, and a perfect heroic sexy character in her books. Turning away from that, I quickly focused on my objective and investigated her memories involving Dumbledore.
She has respect and admiration for Dumbledore, having been her headmaster and the headmaster of her children, as well as all the amazing feats he had performed in the war against Grindelwald and the recent civil war against Voldemort. However, there is not much of a personal relationship there, she has been to Hogwarts a few times when her twins had gone too far with a prank, but that was about it.
One significant moment between them is when he consoles her regarding her brothers back during the war since they were his followers. He talked to her about it and helped with anything she needed, probably feeling guilt at her brothers' deaths since they were his followers. This brewed healthy emotions towards him in Molly, but that was about it, and I don't think this amount of goodwill would be enough for her to follow any manipulations or plans Dumbledore may possibly have.
Harry will be starting in a month or so, and If this is truly an evil/manipulative Dumbledore situation, then surely he would have already tried to talk her into it by this point, plus he would need a better relationship with her to request her to do such a thing. That is, if he isn't just straight up going to mess with her mind and use magic to make her follow his orders, I haven't found proof of Dumbledore, but I can't rule it out either. I haven't found evidence of him being good after all.
Finding nothing more of interest and having nothing more to do here, I quickly exit Molly's mind and return to the normal speed in the outside world, where Molly breaks eye contact with me while blushing, hurriedly grabbing the book. I quickly ignore that in favour of looking at the two children that she has brought with her, both of which will be very important in the future, and both in different ways.
"Now, Molly, who are these two little munchkins you have brought with you?" I ask Molly, who quickly looks behind her at her two children, who both look up like deers in headlights, surprised to be mentioned. Molly herself quickly goes to answer, eager to please, and she doesn't make any mention of me calling her by her first name.
"Ah, these are my two youngest. This is my darling daughter Ginny, and this here is Ronald, who actually starts Hogwarts this year. Ginny will be going next year. Say hello then, dears." Molly places her hands on each of their shoulders and brings them forward in front of her, showcasing them for me. And when their mother tells them to greet me, Ron awkwardly waves and mumbles out a hullo while Ginny stares down at the ground, unprepared for the focus to be on her, and she mutters a quiet hi.
"Haha, Hogwarts already, huh? You will be spending nearly an entire year there, and it is a big place, so here is a book to keep you company and entertained. And here is one for you, Ginny. you might get quite lonely without your brother home, so I hope you can find some enjoyment in this." Saying so, I hand Voyages With Werewolves to Ginny and Travelling With Trolls to Ron, which I suppress a snicker at since the boy will become face-to-face with an actual troll this year.
"Aren't you going to sign these ones?" Ron rudely blurts out just before I hand the books over, which makes my smile freeze and my hand stills. This little snot stain was getting free shit, and yet he was wanting even more.
"Ron!" Molly whisper shouts at Ron, who looks at her blankly like he doesn't know what he has done wrong, which he clearly doesn't, while Ginny continues to be shy. Acting fast, I hurriedly place both books on the desk and flip them both to the first page, after which I quickly scribble my autograph on both and then pass them back over to Ron and Ginny.
"Please, Mr Lockhart, we couldn't possibly accept these. So please take them back." While Ron and Ginny easily take the offered books, as children find no problem with accepting free things from a practical stranger, their mother quickly tries to return the books, which I obviously refuse since a couple of little books mean nothing to me. But, at the same time, they could give me some sort of positive image in the eyes of these two future vital people.
"Nonsense Molly, what are a few books compared to the enjoyment of children? Now young Ronald, have you done all of your school shopping yet? Have you gotten your wand from Ollivanders?" I question, quick to change the subject away from the books, as Molly would doggedly try to return them, finding it hard to accept a single free book, let alone three.
"Ah, actually, Mr Lockhart, sir, the school shopping doesn't really start till next week. it allows Madam Malkin to procure all the Acromantula silk and other things she needs for the first year's robes, along with all the other shops having all the other things the new students will need to be stocked up in bulk, ready to be bought." A Flourish and Blotts employee speaks up, the same one waiting to pack up the stage, and tells me about the school shop.
"Oh really, well, I don't remember that-" Again, I am rudely interrupted by Ron, who just can't seem to keep his mouth closed. It is like the boy has no filter, and he is also kind of dumb.
"I already have my wand. Here, look. It is from Ollivanders, but it first belonged to my brother Chalie before I got it. It is twelve inches, made of ash, and has a core of unicorn hair. Mum says Charlie was a fantastic wizard with this wand and that I will also be one using it." Ron says, pulling out a wand from his back pocket that is relatively light and straight, but there is a conspicuous hair sticking out of the end of the wand, clearly the unicorn hair.