The Worst Witch
Encyclopedia
The Worst Witch is a series of children's novels written and illustrated by Jill Murphy
and published by Puffin Books
. The first book was published in 1974. They have become some of the most outstandingly successful titles on the Young Puffin paperback list and have sold more than 4 million copies. In 1986, the first book in the series was made into a Halloween telefilm. A TV series based on the books aired from 1998 to 2001, and has inspired two spin-offs, Weirdsister College (2001) and The New Worst Witch (2005).
is the worst student at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches. She is well-meaning but does things without thinking. The benevolent headmistress, Miss Cackle, is generally understanding, whereas Mildred's form teacher, the virago Miss Hardbroom thinks she just isn't trying hard enough.
Other characters in the books include Ethel Hallow and Mildred's friends, Maud Moonshine
and Enid Nightshade
. Maud is a rotund girl and more sensible than Mildred, although usually finds herself caught up in her friend's problems. Enid (introduced in the second book) is a practical joker who is more likely than Mildred to get them all into trouble. The three of them have a strong rivalry with Ethel Hallow, their high-born, snobbish and vindictive classmate.
Murphy (who began writing The Worst Witch at the age of 15) based the Worst Witch books on her own experiences of school at Ursuline Convent in Wimbledon, England with Singing becoming Chanting, Chemistry becoming Potions and so on.
starring Fairuza Balk
, Tim Curry
and Diana Rigg
. Though a British film, it also aired in the USA on HBO. The film followed the plot of the first book of the series, portraying the incidents of Mildred turning herself invisible and turning Ethel into a pig, Miss Cackle's evil twin sister Agatha plotting to take over the school, and the Grand Wizard viewing the Halloween Broomstick formation (sabotaged by Ethel's faulty broom she lent to Mildred). It was shot at St. Michael's College
in Tenbury Wells
. This holiday special later aired on The Disney Channel
every year for Halloween
until the late 1990s. Its opening song, titled "Growing Up Isn't Easy", was sung by Bonnie Langford
; its music was composed by Charles Strouse
and its lyrics were written by Don Black. Their other musical number was "Anything Can Happen On Halloween", sung by Tim Curry. Denis King
composed its incidental music score. He also wrote the song "My Little School".
, a TV series based on the books which starred Georgina Sherrington
and Felicity Jones
as Mildred Hubble and Ethel Hallow respectively, was broadcast from 1998 to 2001. It was shot in Montreal
.
When it was no longer realistic that Mildred would still be at school, the series relocated her to a magical university in Cambridge and was retitled Weirdsister College
: The Further Adventures of the Worst Witch, and saw the return of Felicity Jones
as a reinvented Ethel Hallow.
In 2004, a new series based on the 1998 series was made, entitled The New Worst Witch
. It centred on the adventures of Mildred's equally bungling cousin, Henrietta "Hettie" Hubble, played by Alice Connor
, also set at Cackle's Academy.
(March–July) with a month's holiday between terms. As of the end of The Worst Witch to the Rescue, Mildred, Maud, Enid and Ethel are in the second (Summer) term of their third year at the Academy.
Mildred Hubble
Mildred Hubble, the heroine of the Worst Witch book series, is a good-hearted, but bungling young witch-in-training at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, who never seems to get anything right. She is tall, with long dark plait
s, and, according to the illustrations, frequently fails to tie her bootlaces. Some have alleged that her wanton clumsiness is a sign of dyspraxia.
Mildred does not come from a witch family like most of the other girls, but earns a scholarship
at Cackle's Academy for a first-class piece of creative writing which greatly impresses the headmistress, Miss Cackle, and her curious cousin, Diana Grisanti. Although her mathematics
and science
skills leave much to be desired, Mildred is tenacious and channels her creative energy into her quest to become an accomplished witch. She means well and tries very hard, but she is adventurous and impulsive, meaning she often gets into trouble with her teachers - most notably with Miss Hardbroom.
In the TV series, after several years at Miss Cackle's Academy Mildred continues on to University
, training at Weirdsister College in Cambridge
where she seems to improve in her skills as well as meet up with Ethel again. She is briefly seen in the first episode of the New Worst Witch series as an accomplished and successful witch escorting her younger cousin Hettie on her first day at the Academy.
Family:
In the first book of the series, it is revealed without explanation that Ethel and Mildred were enemies prior to the story. Ethel takes pleasure in taunting Mildred about her inability to train her cat into riding a broomstick and Mildred responds by turning her into a pig. From then on Mildred and Ethel resent each other and Ethel vows to get Mildred expelled. So far she has been unsuccessful. In the first five books she appears to have no friends, although her young sister, Sybil, makes an appearance in A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch. A friend of Ethel's, Drusilla, makes a brief appearance in The Worst Witch All at Sea and later plays a bigger part in The Worst Witch to the Rescue where she hides Mildred's tortoise up a tree. In the TV series Drusilla is Ethel's bumbling sidekick. They are shown to be allies rather than true friends, sticking with each other because nobody else likes them. However, in the episode "The Unfairground" they cease to be friends because Drusilla agrees with what Mildred and the gang are doing. Drusilla is not seen again after the following episode, suggesting that they never make up. Ethel is Mildred's arch-enemy.
Family:
Maud Moonshine
Maud is Mildred's best friend at Miss Cackle's Academy. She is a short, plump girl with wide glasses who always wears her hair in bunches. She is fiercely loyal to Mildred and assists her on most of her adventures, often against her better judgment. In The Worst Witch Strikes Again Maud grows jealous of Mildred and Enid's budding friendship and turns on Mildred, siding with the friendless and vindictive Ethel. However, she tires of Ethel's constant degrading of Mildred and ends their "friendship", siding with Mildred and becoming friends with Enid. For American audiences, Maud's surname was changed to Spellbody in the books and Warlock in the 80s film.
Later in the series, Maud grows her hair longer and loses a lot of her weight, as her mother makes her go on a strict diet
. Not much is known about her family, but it is most likely she comes from a prominent family of witches, much like the other girls at the school. Maud is a decent and considerate person, but grows weary of Mildred's incessant clumsiness and often lectures her on how to improve herself. Ironically, Maud is not a perfect angel, as she is also responsible for a laughing potion going wrong, as she along with Mildred had no idea how to make one.
Enid Nightshade
Another of Mildred's closest friends. She makes her debut in The Worst Witch Strikes Again after she is transferred to Miss Cackle's Academy and Mildred is assigned to look after her, to the irritation of Miss Hardbroom. At first Mildred thinks Enid will simply be a nuisance and a pain, but she turns out to be a wild practical joker. Her attempts to make Mildred like her only result in Mildred getting into trouble, for example, turning her cat into a monkey and enchanting a vaulting pole which catapults Mildred into the air and into Miss Hardbroom's study.
Enid is tall, well-built and rather muscular for a girl. She has large limbs and fair hair, usually in one long plait. In the TV series she is small and waiflike with dark hair. She takes an instant liking to Mildred and hopes to become her friend, implying that she is not a judgmental girl. Overall she is friendly and kind-hearten, but sometimes oversteps the mark in her attempt to befriend and help people and being nice.
Family:
. She is Mildred's form mistress in first form and through various combinations of events continues to be her form mistress throughout the series. Tall, bony and sour-faced, she strikes fear into the pupils' hearts. "HB", as the girls refer to her, seems to have a particular resentment of Mildred. Miss Hardbroom frequently praises and rewards Ethel Hallow, and frequently rebukes Mildred in front of the other students. It is Miss Hardbroom who gives Mildred the title of "the worst witch in the school".
In the later books Miss Hardbroom's humanity comes through on occasion, in incidents such as her accident in The Worst Witch All at Sea, the restoring of Mildred's hair to its rightful length in The Worst Witch Saves the Day, and her admitting of her error of judgment at the end of The Worst Witch to the Rescue.
Miss Hardbroom always has her hair tied up in a tight bun which makes her face look really long.
Miss Cackle has an evil twin sister named Agatha Cackle, who is bitterly jealous of her position of authority at the Academy. In the first of the series, Agatha and her coven
of rebellious witches plotted to overthrow Miss Cackle and turn her, the staff, and students into frogs as they slept. Mildred caught them as they brewed their invisibility potion, by turning them into snails and taking them to the school to show Miss Cackle. Ashamed that her own sister would break the Witches' Code, she ordered Agatha to accept defeat and live the code like all decent witches. Agatha reluctantly co-operated. She tries to take over again at the end of series 1, by pretending to be Miss Cackle and dragging Mildred out of the classroom by her ear.
and hides it in a tree. In the TV series, she and Ethel end their friendship after Drusilla sides with Mildred. They never make up and cut all ties with each other.
Family:
Jill Murphy
Jill Murphy is a London-born English children's author, best known for The Worst Witch series and the Large Family picture books...
and published by Puffin Books
Puffin Books
Puffin Books is the children's imprint of British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s it has been the largest publisher of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world.-Early history:...
. The first book was published in 1974. They have become some of the most outstandingly successful titles on the Young Puffin paperback list and have sold more than 4 million copies. In 1986, the first book in the series was made into a Halloween telefilm. A TV series based on the books aired from 1998 to 2001, and has inspired two spin-offs, Weirdsister College (2001) and The New Worst Witch (2005).
Series overview
Mildred HubbleMildred Hubble (The Worst Witch)
Mildred Hubble is a major character in The Worst Witch children's book series by Jill Murphy. She is the main protagonist in all the books. She is friends with Maud Moonshine and Enid Nightshade and has a strong rivalry with Ethel Hallow and Drusilla Paddock....
is the worst student at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches. She is well-meaning but does things without thinking. The benevolent headmistress, Miss Cackle, is generally understanding, whereas Mildred's form teacher, the virago Miss Hardbroom thinks she just isn't trying hard enough.
Other characters in the books include Ethel Hallow and Mildred's friends, Maud Moonshine
Maud Moonshine
Maud Moonshine is a fictional character in The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy. She is best friends with Mildred Hubble and Enid Nightshade and has a strong rivalry with Ethel Hallow and Drusilla Paddock.- In the books :...
and Enid Nightshade
Enid Nightshade
Enid Nightshade is a fictional character from The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy. She is best known for being a wild practical joker and is best friends with Mildred Hubble and Maud Moonshine and, like Mildred and Maud, has a strong rivalry with Ethel Hallow and Drusilla Paddock.- Enid Nightshade...
. Maud is a rotund girl and more sensible than Mildred, although usually finds herself caught up in her friend's problems. Enid (introduced in the second book) is a practical joker who is more likely than Mildred to get them all into trouble. The three of them have a strong rivalry with Ethel Hallow, their high-born, snobbish and vindictive classmate.
Murphy (who began writing The Worst Witch at the age of 15) based the Worst Witch books on her own experiences of school at Ursuline Convent in Wimbledon, England with Singing becoming Chanting, Chemistry becoming Potions and so on.
Works
- The Worst WitchThe Worst Witch (book)The Worst Witch is the first novel in The Worst Witch children's book series by Jill Murphy. It features Mildred Hubble in her first year at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches...
(1974) ISBN 9780850311426 - The Worst Witch Strikes AgainThe Worst Witch Strikes AgainThe Worst Witch Strikes Again is the second novel in The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy. The book was published in 1980 and features a new character, Enid Nightshade...
(1980) ISBN 9780850312515 - A Bad Spell for the Worst WitchA Bad Spell for the Worst WitchA Bad Spell for the Worst Witch is the third novel in The Worst Witch children's book series by Jill Murphy. It was preceded by The Worst Witch Strikes Again and was succeeded by The Worst Witch All at Sea...
(1982) ISBN 9780722657638 - The Worst Witch All at SeaThe Worst Witch All at SeaThe Worst Witch All at Sea is the fourth book in the Worst Witch children's book series by Jill Murphy. It is notable as the only novel that isn't set in Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, but by the sea instead. This book was published in 1993.- Plot :...
(1993) ISBN 9780670832538 - The Worst Witch Saves the DayThe Worst Witch Saves the DayThe Worst Witch Saves the Day is the fifth novel in The Worst Witch children's boom series by Jill Murphy. The book was published in 2005 and features Agatha Cackle disguised as new teacher, Miss Granite.- Plot :...
(2005) ISBN 9780141382180 - The Worst Witch to the RescueThe Worst Witch to the RescueThe Worst Witch to the Rescue is the sixth book in The Worst Witch children's book series by Jill Murphy. The book was published in 2007 and features Ethel Hallow's only friend, Drusilla Paddock in a largely increased role since her brief cameo in The Worst Witch All at Sea.-Plot:Ethel Hallow is...
(2007) ISBN 9780141383019
Film version
In 1986, the first book in the series was converted to a made-for-television film on ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
starring Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Alejandra Balk is an American film actress. She made her theatrical film debut as Dorothy Gale in Disney's Return to Oz...
, Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
and Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
. Though a British film, it also aired in the USA on HBO. The film followed the plot of the first book of the series, portraying the incidents of Mildred turning herself invisible and turning Ethel into a pig, Miss Cackle's evil twin sister Agatha plotting to take over the school, and the Grand Wizard viewing the Halloween Broomstick formation (sabotaged by Ethel's faulty broom she lent to Mildred). It was shot at St. Michael's College
St. Michael's College, Tenbury
The College of St. Michael and All Angels, in Tenbury Wells Worcestershire was a boys school founded by Frederick Ouseley in 1856 to provide a model for the performance of Anglican church music. Choral services were performed daily in term time, and the college possessed a library that contained...
in Tenbury Wells
Tenbury Wells
Tenbury Wells is a market town and civil parish in the north-western extremity of the Malvern Hills District administrative area of Worcestershire, England. The 2001 census reported a population of 3,316.-Geography:...
. This holiday special later aired on The Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
every year for Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
until the late 1990s. Its opening song, titled "Growing Up Isn't Easy", was sung by Bonnie Langford
Bonnie Langford
Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford is an English actress, dancer and entertainer. She came to prominence as a child star in the early 1970s then she subsequently became a companion of Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who and has appeared on stage in various musicals such as Peter Pan:...
; its music was composed by Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...
and its lyrics were written by Don Black. Their other musical number was "Anything Can Happen On Halloween", sung by Tim Curry. Denis King
Denis King
Denis King is an English Ivor Novello award-winning composer, singer and actor.As a writer he composed music for the British television series The Adventures of Black Beauty, Within These Walls, Lovejoy and Worzel Gummidge amongst others. He also composed the theme to the 1992 series The New...
composed its incidental music score. He also wrote the song "My Little School".
TV series
The Worst WitchThe Worst Witch (TV series)
The Worst Witch is a British ITV television series about a group of young witches at a Magic Academy. The series stars Georgina Sherrington and Felicity Jones, and is based on The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy. It aired for a total of 3 series between 1998 and 2001 before being followed by...
, a TV series based on the books which starred Georgina Sherrington
Georgina Sherrington
Georgina Sherrington is an actress best known for her portrayal of the character of Mildred Hubble in the children's series The Worst Witch , as well as the spin-off series Weirdsister College- The further Adventures of The Worst Witch , a British/Canadian co-production between ITV and TV Ontario,...
and Felicity Jones
Felicity Jones
Felicity Jones is an English actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the first series of The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College...
as Mildred Hubble and Ethel Hallow respectively, was broadcast from 1998 to 2001. It was shot in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
When it was no longer realistic that Mildred would still be at school, the series relocated her to a magical university in Cambridge and was retitled Weirdsister College
Weirdsister College
Weirdsister College is the sequel to successful British children's television series The Worst Witch . Weirdsister College ran for only 13 episodes and there have been no publicised talks for a returning series....
: The Further Adventures of the Worst Witch, and saw the return of Felicity Jones
Felicity Jones
Felicity Jones is an English actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the first series of The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College...
as a reinvented Ethel Hallow.
In 2004, a new series based on the 1998 series was made, entitled The New Worst Witch
The New Worst Witch
The New Worst Witch is a British CITV television series about a group of young witches at a Witch Academy. It ran for 2 series from 2005-2006. The series was a spinoff from The Worst Witch which ran from 1998 to 2001....
. It centred on the adventures of Mildred's equally bungling cousin, Henrietta "Hettie" Hubble, played by Alice Connor
Alice Connor
Alice Rose Connor is a British actress, born in Buckinghamshire, England. She is best known for her roles in the television adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's novel The Illustrated Mum, in the children's television series The New Worst Witch , and in the film The Thief Lord as Hornet...
, also set at Cackle's Academy.
Setting
The stories mainly take place within the walls of Miss Cackle's Academy, a girls' boarding school in a stone castle atop a mountain, surrounded by forest. Each book covers one term at the Academy. There are two terms a year, the Winter term (September–January) and the Summer termSummer term
Summer term is the name of the summer academic term at many British schools and universities and elsewhere in the world.In the UK, 'Summer term' runs from the Easter holiday until the end of the academic year in June or July, and thus corresponds to the Easter term at Cambridge University, and...
(March–July) with a month's holiday between terms. As of the end of The Worst Witch to the Rescue, Mildred, Maud, Enid and Ethel are in the second (Summer) term of their third year at the Academy.
Mildred HubbleMildred Hubble (The Worst Witch)Mildred Hubble is a major character in The Worst Witch children's book series by Jill Murphy. She is the main protagonist in all the books. She is friends with Maud Moonshine and Enid Nightshade and has a strong rivalry with Ethel Hallow and Drusilla Paddock....
Mildred Hubble, the heroine of the Worst Witch book series, is a good-hearted, but bungling young witch-in-training at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, who never seems to get anything right. She is tall, with long dark plaitPlait
A plait may refer to:* Plait, also called a braid, intertwined strands of, for example, textile or hair* Plait, now called a pleat, a fold of fabric, used in clothing and upholstery* Plait , a fold in the columella of a gastropod mollusc...
s, and, according to the illustrations, frequently fails to tie her bootlaces. Some have alleged that her wanton clumsiness is a sign of dyspraxia.
Mildred does not come from a witch family like most of the other girls, but earns a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
at Cackle's Academy for a first-class piece of creative writing which greatly impresses the headmistress, Miss Cackle, and her curious cousin, Diana Grisanti. Although her mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
skills leave much to be desired, Mildred is tenacious and channels her creative energy into her quest to become an accomplished witch. She means well and tries very hard, but she is adventurous and impulsive, meaning she often gets into trouble with her teachers - most notably with Miss Hardbroom.
In the TV series, after several years at Miss Cackle's Academy Mildred continues on to University
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, training at Weirdsister College in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
where she seems to improve in her skills as well as meet up with Ethel again. She is briefly seen in the first episode of the New Worst Witch series as an accomplished and successful witch escorting her younger cousin Hettie on her first day at the Academy.
Family:
- Hettie Hubble (cousin)
Ethel Hallow
Ethel Hallow is Mildred Hubble's acid-tongued rival. She does very well in class, comes from a prominent witch family, and gives the impression of being a model student. However, she is spoiled, snobbish and vindictive although able to turn on the charm and act sweet and innocent when the teachers are near, playing the role of a victim with Mildred as the bully. Ethel is not given a physical description, but in the book illustrations she is a tall, skinny and sharp-faced young girl. In the television series she is shown as a rather attractive young girl who matures into a beautiful and popular teenager in Weirdsister College, where Mildred and Ethel overcome their hatred of each other and become friends, although in the episode where Enid visits, Ethel has no qualms about snitching on them.In the first book of the series, it is revealed without explanation that Ethel and Mildred were enemies prior to the story. Ethel takes pleasure in taunting Mildred about her inability to train her cat into riding a broomstick and Mildred responds by turning her into a pig. From then on Mildred and Ethel resent each other and Ethel vows to get Mildred expelled. So far she has been unsuccessful. In the first five books she appears to have no friends, although her young sister, Sybil, makes an appearance in A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch. A friend of Ethel's, Drusilla, makes a brief appearance in The Worst Witch All at Sea and later plays a bigger part in The Worst Witch to the Rescue where she hides Mildred's tortoise up a tree. In the TV series Drusilla is Ethel's bumbling sidekick. They are shown to be allies rather than true friends, sticking with each other because nobody else likes them. However, in the episode "The Unfairground" they cease to be friends because Drusilla agrees with what Mildred and the gang are doing. Drusilla is not seen again after the following episode, suggesting that they never make up. Ethel is Mildred's arch-enemy.
Family:
- Sybil Hallow (sister)
- Mona Hallow (sister) - She is shown in the series The New Worst WitchThe New Worst WitchThe New Worst Witch is a British CITV television series about a group of young witches at a Witch Academy. It ran for 2 series from 2005-2006. The series was a spinoff from The Worst Witch which ran from 1998 to 2001....
- Niall Hallow (half-brother)
Maud MoonshineMaud MoonshineMaud Moonshine is a fictional character in The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy. She is best friends with Mildred Hubble and Enid Nightshade and has a strong rivalry with Ethel Hallow and Drusilla Paddock.- In the books :...
Maud is Mildred's best friend at Miss Cackle's Academy. She is a short, plump girl with wide glasses who always wears her hair in bunches. She is fiercely loyal to Mildred and assists her on most of her adventures, often against her better judgment. In The Worst Witch Strikes Again Maud grows jealous of Mildred and Enid's budding friendship and turns on Mildred, siding with the friendless and vindictive Ethel. However, she tires of Ethel's constant degrading of Mildred and ends their "friendship", siding with Mildred and becoming friends with Enid. For American audiences, Maud's surname was changed to Spellbody in the books and Warlock in the 80s film.Later in the series, Maud grows her hair longer and loses a lot of her weight, as her mother makes her go on a strict diet
Dieting
Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes, however, follow a diet to gain weight...
. Not much is known about her family, but it is most likely she comes from a prominent family of witches, much like the other girls at the school. Maud is a decent and considerate person, but grows weary of Mildred's incessant clumsiness and often lectures her on how to improve herself. Ironically, Maud is not a perfect angel, as she is also responsible for a laughing potion going wrong, as she along with Mildred had no idea how to make one.
Enid NightshadeEnid NightshadeEnid Nightshade is a fictional character from The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy. She is best known for being a wild practical joker and is best friends with Mildred Hubble and Maud Moonshine and, like Mildred and Maud, has a strong rivalry with Ethel Hallow and Drusilla Paddock.- Enid Nightshade...
Another of Mildred's closest friends. She makes her debut in The Worst Witch Strikes Again after she is transferred to Miss Cackle's Academy and Mildred is assigned to look after her, to the irritation of Miss Hardbroom. At first Mildred thinks Enid will simply be a nuisance and a pain, but she turns out to be a wild practical joker. Her attempts to make Mildred like her only result in Mildred getting into trouble, for example, turning her cat into a monkey and enchanting a vaulting pole which catapults Mildred into the air and into Miss Hardbroom's study.Enid is tall, well-built and rather muscular for a girl. She has large limbs and fair hair, usually in one long plait. In the TV series she is small and waiflike with dark hair. She takes an instant liking to Mildred and hopes to become her friend, implying that she is not a judgmental girl. Overall she is friendly and kind-hearten, but sometimes oversteps the mark in her attempt to befriend and help people and being nice.
Family:
- Nancy (sister)
- Mercedes (sister)
- Charles (father)
- Celia (mother)
Miss Hardbroom
The fearsome deputy headmistress of Miss Cackle's Academy and the clear power behind the thronePower behind the throne
The phrase power behind the throne refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of an office. In politics, it most commonly refers to a spouse, aide, or advisor of a political leader who serves as de facto leader, setting policy through influence or manipulation.The...
. She is Mildred's form mistress in first form and through various combinations of events continues to be her form mistress throughout the series. Tall, bony and sour-faced, she strikes fear into the pupils' hearts. "HB", as the girls refer to her, seems to have a particular resentment of Mildred. Miss Hardbroom frequently praises and rewards Ethel Hallow, and frequently rebukes Mildred in front of the other students. It is Miss Hardbroom who gives Mildred the title of "the worst witch in the school".
In the later books Miss Hardbroom's humanity comes through on occasion, in incidents such as her accident in The Worst Witch All at Sea, the restoring of Mildred's hair to its rightful length in The Worst Witch Saves the Day, and her admitting of her error of judgment at the end of The Worst Witch to the Rescue.
Miss Hardbroom always has her hair tied up in a tight bun which makes her face look really long.
Miss Cackle
Miss Cackle is the kind-hearted headmistress of the Academy. Plump and pleasant, Miss Cackle is more lenient towards Mildred when she is in trouble, and rather than intimidate the girl as Miss Hardbroom does, Miss Cackle gives long, sorrowful lectures which causes Mildred to feel guilty for the trouble she is in. Her birthday is celebrated at her beloved Academy, and her students believe it to be the most boring event of the year. Despite her kind heart, Miss Cackle can be intimidating when she wants to, and has occasionally broken into fits of rage at Mildred, most notably both when Mildred humiliated the reputation of the Academy by ruining a broomstick display to honour the Wizards' Council (Ethel had cursed Mildred to ensure she would make a fool of herself), and after she incorrectly believed Mildred was cheating at the school sport's day, after Enid cast an improper spell upon Mildred to make sure she won the pole vaulting competition. However, these moments of anger are few and short-lived.Miss Cackle has an evil twin sister named Agatha Cackle, who is bitterly jealous of her position of authority at the Academy. In the first of the series, Agatha and her coven
Coven
A coven or covan is a name used to describe a gathering of witches or in some cases vampires. Due to the word's association with witches, a gathering of Wiccans, followers of the witchcraft-based neopagan religion of Wicca, is also described as a coven....
of rebellious witches plotted to overthrow Miss Cackle and turn her, the staff, and students into frogs as they slept. Mildred caught them as they brewed their invisibility potion, by turning them into snails and taking them to the school to show Miss Cackle. Ashamed that her own sister would break the Witches' Code, she ordered Agatha to accept defeat and live the code like all decent witches. Agatha reluctantly co-operated. She tries to take over again at the end of series 1, by pretending to be Miss Cackle and dragging Mildred out of the classroom by her ear.
Drusilla Paddock
The "best friend" of Ethel Hallow, with whom she is is often paired up. Drusilla appears only briefly in The Worst Witch All at Sea, but her role in the TV series and in the later books increases greatly. Drusilla is a horrible, vindictive bully, but lacks the acid-tongued spite of Ethel, and seems to be in great awe of her. Their "friendship" seems to be more of an alliance or a form of servitude: Ethel and Drusilla are not true friends, they have stuck beside each other because nobody else can bear to be around them. Drusilla seems to have no will of her own: if Ethel said "Jump", she would ask, "How high?". Drusilla does everything Ethel orders her to, and in one book (The Worst Witch to the Rescue) she steals Mildred's beloved pet tortoiseTortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
and hides it in a tree. In the TV series, she and Ethel end their friendship after Drusilla sides with Mildred. They never make up and cut all ties with each other.
Family:
- Clarice Crow (half-sister)