Molly Carpenter

Margaret Katherine Amanda Carpenter, generally called Molly, and on occasion Molls, is the daughter of Michael and Charity Carpenter. She is a human witch and first appears in Death Masks. At the end of Cold Days, she assumes the Mantle of Winter Lady.

Biography
Molly is the first child of Michael and Charity Carpenter.

In Death Masks, Molly is fourteen years old. By this time she developes a rather Goth scene look in clothes, piercings, and make-up when not at home, but changed back to conservative clothes in the treehouse before going home.

Molly first manifested her magical power about two years before the events of Proven Guilty, when she instinctively created a veil. After coming home from school she had entered the house while still wearing her Goth clothes, confident her mother was out. When Charity, who had stayed home sick, happened onto her in the living room, Molly, in a panic, unconsciously veiled herself. Shocked to discover her mother did not acknowledge her, she went to her room to change her clothes, now aware that she might have magical talent.

Molly was arrested for possession of marijuana and ecstasy, which she was caught holding during a police raid at a party, and sentenced to community service. Her father thought her apparent repentance was enough, but her mother insisted on further actions and restrictions. In the spring before Proven Guilty, the familial situation escalated, resulting in Molly leaving home and dropping out of school.

Personality
"You’re one hell of a woman, Molly"

- Harry Dresden, numerously

Molly is a lot like her mother. She is selfless and brave, but sometimes unable to see other points of view. However, unlike Charity, Molly seems to be outgrowing this trait. She is a loving daughter and big sister, and a hard-working, well-organized apprentice to Dresden. When Harry Dresden Soulgazes her, he sees many different possibilities in her future. It may be that the black magic she used will either affect her for the worse, or teach her better control.

Dresden likes to address her as Grasshopper  and Padawan, both references to her promising apprentice status. After coming under the Doom of Damocles, she has seemingly grown to understand that mental manipulation is off limits. She volunteers to come to Chichén Itzá, despite her unsuitability for combat, and Dresden agrees to take her along, seeing that she has matured to the point where she can help. As Dresden realizes, he himself gets into plenty of dangerous situations he only gets out of with the help of friends, and realizes that Molly is no different.

Molly has a serious crush on Dresden and has unsuccessfully hit on him a number of times. She has also Soulgazed Thomas Raith, expressing a great deal of empathy for his inner pain.

Molly is severely hurt by Dresden's rather callous decision to have her help him with his suicide, which lasts until the Leanansidhe tells her that Dresden is not dead. She thinks of herself as much less capable than Dresden, but this is actually untrue. She suceeds in keeping the Svartalves and the Fomor from signing a non-aggression pact, which would have led to other nations of the Unseelie Accords to do the same, and to allow the Fomor to become a major supernatural power. Because force magic is not her strength she often uses quick, tricky thinking and illusion to get through dangerous situations. In this way she is exactly like Dresden. Although she thinks that she is not ready to face dangerous situations, she handles them no worse than her mentor.

Abilities
Compared to those of her mentor Harry Dresden, Molly's magical abilities are more sensitive, finely tuned and delicate, though less powerful, allowing her to easily perform many fine magical tasks, such as illusions and veils, while making much more difficult for her to perform combat magic, due to her lesser brute magical strength and greater sensitivity to magical (and emotional) energies.

In Small Favor, it is mentioned that Molly is extraordinarily sensitive when it comes to various magical energies. It's what makes her so good at psychomancy and neuromancy.

Unlike her mother Charity, Molly has been noted to possess very poor cooking skills; though she is very good at making coffee.

After training under the Leanansidhe, she has become capable of shielding, adept at using illusions, and tricking enemies into killing each other. Molly also has a sleeping spell that can safely incapacitate several people at once.

After she put a dozen or so Big Hoods to sleep way too easily—with Neru—Dresden thought that what she had done was hard and something to be expected only from a White Council wizard.

She is adept at veils, verisimilomancy, psychomancy, verisimilomancy, neuromancy.

As of Changes, Molly Carpenter has at least one named spell, Hireki, which is used to reveal anyone under a veil. She is able to cast a "one woman rave", a display of dazzling light and sound. In Ghost Story and "Cold Case", a few more are mentioned.

Death Masks
In Death Masks, Molly answers the phone when Harry Dresden calls the Carpenter home. When Dresden visits the house, Molly runs into him at the top of the tree house. She helps him out of some hand-cuffs and changes out of her "goth-scene" clothes and they discuss Dresden's relationship with Susan Rodriguez before leaving the tree house to help Charity Carpenter unload the minivan. After the Order of the Blackened Denarius is defeated, at Sanya's farewell cookout, Molly plays a practical joke on Sanya, having him call businesses looking for "Prince Albert in a can". They all hang up, thinking that he is prank-calling them.

Proven Guilty
In Proven Guilty, Molly calls Harry Dresden for help from a police precinct. Her boyfriend, Nelson Lenhardt, has been arrested for reckless endangerment and aggravated assault. After Dresden bails him out, Nelson and Molly explain that there was an attack at SplatterCon!!! that Nelson witnessed, but no other suspects were found at the scene.

Dresden takes Molly back to her parents house, and she gets into an argument with her mother. According to Michael Carpenter, Molly had been arrested for possession of marijuana and ecstasy and following community service, dropped out of school and left home. Dresden and Molly head back to Splattercon!!! where there is another Phobophage attack, and Molly's other friend, Rosanna Marcella is injured. Molly explains that Rosie is pregnant and goes with her to the hospital.

After she returns to the convention, Molly is taken into questioning by Richard Boughton until Dresden rescues her. She gets cleaned up and changed in Dresden's hotel room and is shortly marched out of it after Charity comes knocking.

After being attacked by the Scarecrow, Dresden traces the phages to the Carpenter house and realizes that he sent them after Molly. Daniel Carpenter explains that the phages kidnapped Molly and Dresden eventually discovers they took her to Arctis Tor. He also learns that in an attempt to help cure her friends, Rosanna and Nelson, of their addiction to drugs, Molly used Black magic to scare them into sobriety.

After Molly is rescued from Arctis Tor, Dresden discusses her use of black magic, the consequences and her options moving forward. She states that her first use of magic was quite a decent Veil, which impresses him. He explains that she could become a member of the White Council if she desired, but first she must own up to her mistakes. They decide to admit to the council that she used black magic.

Although she is found guilty of breaking one of the Laws of Magic by the White Council, Dresden spoke in her defense and pleaded her case to the Merlin and the Gatekeeper. Before a final decision is made however, Michael appears with some other members of the Senior Council, having helped them during a Red Court attack. The Merlin has no choice but to sentence both Molly and Dresden to the Doom of Damocles. Dresden takes her as his apprentice and as such, is held responsible for her future actions.

White Night
In White Night, Molly uses a veil to follow Harry Dresden to the scene of a crime. Karrin Murphy notices and puts her down. Dresden tells Waldo Butters that she is not as strong as him, but she has a gift for the more subtle magic, especially mental and emotional stuff. She then assists them in the case by getting an emotional reading on one of the victims. This results in a sensual, ecstatic reaction as the victim was killed by a White Court vampire.

When the Little Chicago spell backfires on Dresden, Molly visits his house and she helps him recover. Afterwards, they are discussing what happened, and Molly asks why he is keeping secrets from the Wardens (about Elaine Mallory) because she is under the Doom of Damocles with him and could be hurt by any backlash. Dresden responds by telling her his backstory with Elaine and they agree that the Wardens are assholes, but have a hard job.

She again attempts to follow Dresden by using a veil in the backseat of the Blue Beetle. When she is discovered, Dresden gets angry, blows up a trashcan and attempts to "teach her a lesson" by sending a burning hot ball at her, telling her to stop it if she can. When she fails and starts crying, he makes it vanish and tells her that she isn't listening to him. When they realize that Elaine is in Danger, he has Molly take the wheel while he makes a spell. She is sickened after watching Mouse dispatches the Skavis agent outside Elaine's apartment.

Molly inserts herself into the case a third time when she appears at Dresden's apartment while he and Carlos Ramirez are preparing for the duel. As they discuss her motivations for getting involved, the training bracelet Dresden had her using to focus her power snaps as a result of her admitting that she was scared and was willing to fight anyway. She is then invited along to the duel as their driver, though she and Mouse are instructed to wait outside the estate. After Dresden escapes the Deeps and Mouse rushes to his aid, Molly helps him into the car and drives him home.

Dresden offers to tell her about everything that is going on, but says it may be dangerous for her. She asks him to tell her just what he thinks is best. He brings her up to speed on the events of the duel, leaving out mentions of Cowl and the Black Council. When Murphy shows up, Molly takes his car and Dresden suspects that she has gone to visit Ramirez in hospital.

"It's My Birthday, Too"
In "It's My Birthday, Too", Molly helps Harry Dresden deal with some slime Golems, then she and Dresden set out to give Thomas Raith a birthday present. He's at Woodfield Mall, playing Evernight as a favor to Sarah, one of his employees, but the game is disrupted by the arrival of Constance Bushnell, a Black Court vampire.

Molly senses the death of Raymond the security guard, which sends her into a brief 'psychic shock' and she later veils Dresden and Sarah against the vampire.

Small Favor
In Small Favor, Molly is practicing her shields by way of a snowball fight when her family and Harry Dresden come under attack by a number of Gruffs. Molly veils her siblings and they all manage to retreat inside the house. She is left at the Carpenter home while Dresden goes to investigate.

Molly has been allocated a desk in Dresden's basement and is slowly accumulating her own selection of notebooks and gear.

When Dresden returns to the Carpenter home following an encounter with the Order of the Blackened Denarius, Molly helps round up some food with Sanya. She then eavesdrops on a meeting in the workshop using a veil, but Dresden works out she is hiding in a corner and outs her. He does however allow her to join the group. She sits in on the War Council in Dresden's living room, and is tasked with making Thomas Raith look more like Dresden under a disguise, and veiling Dresden and Karrin Murphy as they leave the apartment in order to avoid the Gruffs.

When Dresden and Murphy notice they are being tailed, Molly looks back at the car behind them, inadvertently causing their pursuers to attack. When Murphy is shot in the arm during the encounter, Molly veils her and provides first aid. When the group convenes to plan their meeting with Nicodemus Archleone, Dresden forbids Molly from attending.

She greets them at the Carpenter home when they return from the unsuccessful meeting and attempts to make them some food, which worries Dresden as she had once burnt his egg. She can, however, make a mean cup of coffee. She is involved in a conversation over the passed out Dresden and is satisfied when Dresden, not knowing the contents of the conversation tells the others to listen to her.

During a discussion with Dresden, Michael Carpenter tells him that the conversation they were having was a result of Molly checking his mind as he was sleeping and discovering that someone had messed with it. Mab had stolen Dresden's blasting rod and removed his memories of it and of how to use fire magic.

When trying to track down the Denarians, who have now also kidnapped The Archive, Molly inquires about Anastasia Luccio's Ley line map and tells them that there are no islands at the intersection in Lake Michigan. When they head off to the island, Molly is left at home to man the phone and look after the wounded Jared Kincaid. Before they leave, she asks Dresden to keep an eye out for her dad.

Following the events on the island, Dresden meets Molly and Charity in the intensive care ward, where Molly gives him messages from everyone who wants to speak with him. He disregards them all and focuses instead on waiting with them for news of the badly injured Carpenter. Dresden takes Molly away when they find out that Carpenter will be coming out on a respirator as their magic could interfere with the equipment. Molly tells him that she has completed her homework and has traced her family roots back to Charlemange.

"Day Off"
In "Day Off", Molly severely damages Harry Dresden's laboratory in an attempt to work out some kinks in an invisibility potion she is having trouble with. Harry Dresden has to resuscitate her as she is knocked out by the fumes of her failed potion.

The Warrior
In The Warrior, after Father Douglas steals the fake Amoracchius, Molly explains to her mother that because his protection amulet burned up, it cannot be used to track him down. She is then assigned to watch over her father. She is alerted to danger when Kelly and the others are running back to inform Michael Carpenter that Father Douglas took Alicia Carpenter. Molly is then sent to take some of the girls home and inform Charity Carpenter about the incident. She assists in tracking down Father Douglas by attaching some of her hairs to the stolen swords, and uses a tracking spell to find them.

"Last Call"
In Last Call, Molly identifies the spells cast on McAnally's beer that have caused havoc in his pub: a contagion focus and a conduct that opens the target's mind to the caster's control.

Turn Coat
In Turn Coat, while Harry Dresden is out, Molly visits his apartment to work on potions only to discover the fugitive Donald Morgan. When she tries to attack him, Mouse intervenes and prevents both of them from attacking each other until Dresden returns. During their explanation, Morgan goads Molly into attacking him again, and Dresden stops her. She is then tasked with keeping Morgan safe while Dresden visits Edinburgh. Morgan offers to show her how to open passages to the Nevernever in case they need to escape.

When Binder discovers their hidden location, and traps Dresden and Karrin Murphy, Molly, behind a veil, draws a circle around him and cuts off his power. When they retreat through to the Nevernever, Molly assists Dresden with moving Morgan. During an argument between the other two, Molly points out that if they were tracked magically or had been sold out by Thomas Raith, Binder would have known their location more precisely, indicating that someone else was following them. Once Dresden confronts Vincent Graver, who refuses to sell out his employer, Molly uses her charms to illicit both a date and a location for said employer.

When Anastasia Luccio visits Dresden's apartment and finds Morgan, Molly blinds her and starts hitting her, until Morgan forces her off the Warden captain. Following this, Luccio, attempts to take out both Molly and Morgan, until she is interrupted by Mouse, who grabs her throat in his mouth to hold her hostage so Morgan doesn't hurt Molly. They remain like this until Dresden returns to another bizarre scene in his home. Once he leaves again, Molly attempts to enter Luccio's mind as she suspects tempering. Morgan tries to stop her by shooting her and again, Mouse interjects, taking the bullet and covering Molly until Dresden returns to a third standoff. When he does, he makes Molly remove the bullet and bandage up Mouse, before giving her the option of fleeing now that she has attempted to break the laws of magic again. She declines, choosing to see things through until the end.

Molly keeps an eye on Morgan on board the Water Beetle while Dresden conducts his Sanctum invocation on Demonreach. Eventually, she is left with Morgan at the hilltop on the island and is given a white quartz shield crystal to use if needed while Dresden fights the White Council, the White Court, Shagnasty, and the traitor. She activates it after Shagnasty sends the starved hungry Thomas into the cottage, and refuses to lower it when instructed by Ancient Mai, as it is protecting herself and Morgan. Eventually, Morgan agrees to being arrested and Dresden shows Molly how to lower the shield.

She stays with Morgan while Joseph Listens-to-Wind heals him to learn some of his healing magic and travels with Dresden to Edinburgh for Morgan's trial, where she is the only apprentice in attendance. Following the traitor's attack, Morgan informs Dresden that he did not tell anyone about Molly's attempt to enter Luccio's mind.

Changes
In Changes,

Ghost Story
In Ghost Story, six months after the fall of the Red Court, Molly is in her mid-twenties and has become jaded and cynical, perhaps a touch insane as well. She is potentially an official warlock and is currently wanted by the Wardens since the Doom of Damocles has fallen after Harry Dresden's death and her death sentence is now executive. After Lea's training, she became the "Ragged Lady" occasionally switching places with her, in the hope of keeping Chicago safe by creating a reputation similar to the one that Dresden once had—to make the bad guys think there was a White Council wizard still in the City. The other members of the Chicago Alliance have tried to reach for her, but she used her illusions on them and most of them are now too frightened to even be in the same room as her. Molly used illusions to trick a Fomor servitor who had kidnapped a little girl and a corrupt cop paid off in gold to look the other way into killing each other.

Two child ghosts brought Molly to Dresden by the Big Hoods and Corpsetaker's hideout. He needed her to open a way for him and the ghost army. She reacted strongly when Dresden said: "You're one hell of a woman, Molly." Corpsetaker and Molly soulgaze and do mind battle; Molly's complex mental defenses resemble the the Enterprise star ship. Dresden followed Corpsetaker into Molly's mind. Just before the battle was about to end, Dresden sent out an SOS and then reclaimed his memory of who really ordered his murder and realized how that damaged Molly. Uriel showed Dresden how Mortimer helped free Molly of the Corpsetaker.

Bombshells
In Bombshells, the Leanansidhe enjoins her to rescue Thomas Raith from the Svartalves, which have taken him prisoner; she joins Justine and Andi Macklin in the infiltration of the Svartalf stronghold, during a party thrown to celebrate the signature of a pact with the Fomors. While looking for Thomas, Molly discover a bomb the Fomors have set up to explode at the signing, and disarms it. The Svartalves owe her a favor.

Cold Days
In Cold Days, Molly has begun to get her life back together; she's a full-fledged adult and, according to Harry Dresden, as capable as any White Council member. She has a house of her own, built by the Svartalves, and is very much in love with Dresden. She teams up with him in his mission to Demonreach, accompanying him to the meeting with Donar Vadderung and gathering the Za-Lord's Guard.

Following the death of Maeve, Molly becomes the new Winter Lady.

"Cold Case"
In Cold Case, she teams up with Carlos Ramirez in order to save a group of Miksani children from the Holy Ascension of Our Lord in Unalaska. When she tries to have sex with him, her Mantle hurts him badly. While waiting for Ramirez to be examined by Winter healers, Mab informs her that the children are the tribute the Miksani owe her, and that Molly is bound to collect them for the Winter army against the Outsiders.

Skin Game
By Skin Game, Molly hasn't yet told her parents about her new position. She talks to Dresden about her new life, and mentions that she has "about one hundred and fifty years of backlog" to catch up on because Maeve neglected her duties for so long. Later, Molly helps Dresden deliver his spirit of intellect child that was stuck in his head - the parasite. She also accompanies Dresden to visit John Marcone and Mab, and convinces Marcone to take a box of diamonds as retribution for the death of one of his employees.

After Nicodemus Archleone uses mortal servants to attack her family, Molly informs Dresden that she is using her new wealth as Winter Lady to buy a house near her parents and fill it with bodyguards for them.

At the end of the novel she pulls out a cell phone, frightening Dresden; like most technology, cell phones don't work around wizards, and only nonhuman spellcasters can use them properly. He thinks of everything that Molly is hiding from her parents, and wonders what she is hiding from him, resolving to watch her closely.

"Christmas Eve"
In "Christmas Eve", hot on Mab's heels, Molly Carpenter pays Harry Dresden a visit, bringing him a Christmas present, which hurts him deeply. She, however, reminds him that, by hurting, he shows himself to be still himself, and that his past actions helped create a better world, where Maggie could live a good life.