Molly Weasely (Character)

Molly Weasely is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter fantasy novel series.He is a member of the Weasley family, a pure blood family that resides in "The Burrow" outside Ottery St. Catchpole.

Character

The Weasely family

Molly Weasley is the wife of Arthur Weasley and the matriarch of the Weasley family. She is the mother of seven children, including Ron Weasley, who becomes Harry Potter's best friend. Molly is born into the pure-blood Prewett family, being the sister of Gideon and Fabian Prewett. The character is first introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, when she kindly tells Harry how to cross the barrier through to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, she is furious with Fred, George, and Ron after she discovers that they flew their parents' enchanted car to rescue Harry from his aunt and uncle who had imprisoned him in his room. At the beginning of the school year, Molly sends Ron a Howler, screaming at him in anger that he and Harry flew the family car again, this time to Hogwarts. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Weasleys win the Daily Prophet draw and use the gold on a trip to Egypt to visit Bill. They return to Britain and stay at the Leaky Cauldron with Harry and Hermione. Harry overhears Mr and Mrs Weasley arguing one night about telling Harry the truth about the supposed connection between Sirius Black and Harry; Arthur feels Harry should know the truth but Molly, feeling the truth would terrify him, assures him Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts with Dumbledore's protection, and orders Percy Weasley to keep an eye on Harry at the school.

When Harry arrives at the Burrow in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Molly finds out about Fred and George's experimentation with dangerous sweets they were manufacturing and tells them off before leaving for the Quidditch World Cup; however, after the Dark Mark appears over the sky at the World Cup campsite, Molly is upset for yelling at Fred and George, worried that something might have happened to them after she treated them so horribly. Towards the climax of that book, Molly and Bill arrive at Hogwarts to see the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, acting as family guests to Harry. After the return of Voldemort, Dumbledore asks Molly and Bill to join the Order and fight in the impending Second War. Molly comforts Harry and, for the first time in his life, he has someone to be there for him, like a mother.

Julia Walters plays Molly Weasely in the Harry Potter films

Molly and the Weasleys are staying at the Order headquarters, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where she and Sirius fight over how much to tell Harry about the Order's operations. Days later, Molly is found in the drawing room, with a boggart that transforms into her dead family members and Harry, and confesses her nightmares of losing more family members to Voldemort and the Death Eaters. At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Molly clashes with Bill's fiancée, Fleur Delacour; however, at the end of the novel, when Molly rushes to Hogwarts with her husband and Fleur to tend to her son Bill, who had been ferociously attacked by Fenrir Greyback, Fleur is greatly offended when Molly jumps to the conclusion she will break up with Bill due to his scarring, letting her know in no uncertain terms that his scars are a reminder of the courage that Bill displayed. Fleur and Molly unexpectedly hug and begin to see each other in a much more positive light.

At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Molly and Arthur offer the Burrow as Order headquarters when Grimmauld Place is no longer safe. She feels immensely uncomfortable with the trio's decision to drop out of Hogwarts and initially attempts to dissuade them from doing so. As the novel progresses, the family is forced to head for safety at Auntie Muriel's home. At the end of the book, Molly and her entire family fight in the Battle of Hogwarts. She is devastated by the death of her son Fred and is pushed to the edge when Bellatrix Lestrange almost strikes Ginny with the Killing Curse. Enraged, she engages Bellatrix in an intense duel, killing her with a curse that hits her in the chest. Rowling has stated that the reason she had Molly kill Bellatrix was to show Molly's great powers as a witch and to provide a contrast between Molly's consumption with "maternal love" and Bellatrix's with "obsessive love".

The Chicago Tribune's Courtney Crowder lists Molly Weasley as her favourite literary mother, describing her as the "original Mama Grizzly", citing her many touching moments with Harry as well as the final book in the series, where "her feelings jumped off the page" as testament to her strong personality. Crowder summarises Molly's character as "levelheaded, yet willing to fight, intelligent, welcoming, and above all, extremely loving". In a Mother's Day article Molly was also voted the third greatest celebrity mother by The Flowers and Plants association who see the character as "formidable, practical, creative and resourceful". Bob Smietana of Christianity Today links Molly's defence of Ginny in the final book into a wider theme in the series about the strength of parental love, which he feels to carry considerable emotional weight. Empire listed Molly Weasley 24th on their Top 30 Harry Potter characters. Novelist Stephen King notes that when Molly called Bellatrix a "bitch" after she sees the Death Eater trying to kill Ginny, it was "the most shocking bitch in recent fiction", and that it shows how adult the books had become.

Julie Walters portrays Molly Weasley in every film except Goblet of Fire, in which her role in the novel is cut out. In 2003, BBC voted her portrayal of Molly as the second-"best screen mother", behind Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich.