Profile

Molly is the oldest of seven children born to Michael and Charity Carpenter in Chicago. Her childhood wasn’t the typical suburban one might think if you saw their house. It would be littered with toys and the sounds of children playing but the oddity would be that her father was Knight of the Cross and his best friend was a wizard named Harry Dresden.

She’d grown up with the knowledge that magic existed. It was a part of her everyday life. What she hadn’t expected to happen was to become a wizard. Molly hadn’t been prepared for it and when it manifested at the age of fifteen she freaked. Rather than go to Harry, Molly decided to figure it out on her own. She has a habit of doing that and it usually gets her into trouble. This was no exception. Molly had a very good friend who had a drug addiction to heroin. When Molly found out her friend was pregnant, she went into her mind and gave her a suggestion that every time she had a craving she would feel fear. Molly did it out of a desire to help but in reality, she’d done more damage than she’d meant to. Not just to her friend’s psyche but also she broke one of the rules of magic. Rules that she didn’t know existed.

Wizards have a Council and there are rules. Unfortunately ignorance of the rules isn’t a defense. As a result, Molly was placed under the Doom of Damocles rather than instantly executed which would be normal. She was saved through the efforts of Harry Dresden and because her father had helped the Wizarding Council many times. Being placed under the Doom wasn’t as much of a reprieve as someone would think. Harry is responsible for her and any time she breaks another law, she will be executed, along with Harry, her mentor. That is a heavy responsibility for a teenager and she’s worn it for six years. During that time, Molly has learned how to work her more defensive magic under Harry’s tutelage. She’s also helped him in many of his cases as a Private Investigator.

Harry Dresden is also a member of the Wardens for the White Council of Wizards. It was a position that he didn’t want, but with war with the Red Court Vampires and the death of so many, he was drafted. Molly being Molly wasn’t about to let him go into danger without her help, even if her magic had included the defensive kind.

War changes people and Molly is no exception. She’s learned a few offensive spells but they are illusions from her mind to trick the eye rather than the type of magic Harry wields. Her illusionary magic will overload the sights and sounds to confuse her opponents, a kind of sensory overload. It was powerful enough to send a group of attacking Red Court vampires into retreat. That along with the veil that is very strong and can include buildings as well as trick a vampire into not hearing heartbeats inside it has helped Molly to be more of a help than a hindrance for Harry.

The war with the Red Court Vampires came to a head when Harry learned he had a daughter, Maggie, with Susan. The daughter was kidnapped and really that was all that Molly needed to know beyond Harry needed her help. She went with Harry, Susan, Karrin Murphy and Harry’s brother Thomas to Mexico to retrieve Maggie. In the final battle, Molly is shot and it took a year to recuperate. When she’s tired, she will still limp and her leg pains her.