Mafalda

Mafalda (born c. 1984) was a female witch who attended Hogwarts School in the 1990s. She was the daughter of Molly Weasley's second cousin (most likely a Squib) and a Muggle mother.

Biography
Mafalda was born in around 1984 to an accountant father and a Muggle mother. Although her father, who was most likely a Squib, was an estranged second cousin of Molly Weasley (née Prewett), he did not expect to become the parent of a witch.

Mafalda started at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 1 September, 1994, and was Sorted into Slytherin house.

Personality
All in all, Mafalda was a rather unpleasant individual, even to her own parents. She liked to impress and hence showed off as much as possible (this may have also been the root of her academic drive). She was also very nosy, eavesdropping often (even if this included breaking the rules) and was very loud-mouthed too, prone to gossip. There are noted parallels between the nature of Mafalda and those of Hermione Granger (in their academic prowess) and Rita Skeeter (in their morbid curiosities).

Magical skills and abilities
Whilst explicit details about Mafalda's magical talent are not known, it is known that she was generally a very gifted witch, rivalling even the overachieving Hermione Granger. Knowing this (and given the fact that she was in Slytherin) it is likely that she would have achieved high marks particularly in potions (and may also have been especially skilled in dark magic too, for her age).

Behind the scenes

 * Mafalda was a planned character for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but was not included in the final version of the book. J. K. Rowling stated on her website that she was very fond of Mafalda's character, who she called a "match for Hermione", and that she did not want to have cut her from the story. However, Rowling found that Mafalda "wasn't doing the job she was supposed to do", as there were severe limitations to how much information an eleven-year-old girl stuck at Hogwarts could gather, and consequently developed Rita Skeeter further to fill her role.
 * Given that Mafalda was to be a nosy, loose-tongued girl, her canon role was to have listened in on the conversations held between the children of Death Eaters in her House. She then would have repeated this information to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, hoping to wow them. Hermione would have discovered that, much to her own horror, Mafalda was her equal in many ways, and would have been caught between hating Mafalda's disregard for rules and longing to try to outdo her.

Etymology
Mafalda is an Italian form of Matilda, a Germanic name meaning, "strength in battle." Her name coincides with that of Mafalda Hopkirk, a Ministry of Magic employee, first introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Mafalda also is a very popular comic strip character by Argentinian writer Quino. Besides her being greatly concerned about humanity, Mafalda's main characteristics are her constant asking about mature or complex topics to the extent she constantly has grown-ups baffled. According to her, no matter how pessimistic she may be, it is never reason enough to stop discussing a topic.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire