Ms. Frizzle & 12 Other Beloved Books Characters Who Were DEFINITELY Witches

Known in P.L. Travers' books as "the Great Exception," magical nanny Mary Poppins did not lose the magic that all children in her world are born with, which is why she can talk to animals and perform all of her other amazing, magical feats. Clear to everyone else, however, is that Mary Poppins is a witch in a world full of muggles.

Everyone's favorite fourth grade science teacher, Ms. Frizzle took her class on loads of sweet adventures with the sentient Magic School Bus. The woman is obviously a witch, though, albeit one with an upgraded broom.

I personally think that Roald Dahl got it very, very wrong when he took away the title shero's powers at the end of Matilda. I mean, really? Matilda was Hermione before Hermione was Hermione, got it? 12/10, definitely a witch.

Renamed Moon Child by Bastian, the Childlike Empress is one of the few characters on this list who is actually a supernatural being. She has lived for countless millennia, and serves as the wise, benevolent ruler of Fantastica — called Fantasia in the 1984 film. Every witch has her shortcomings, however, and even though the Childlike Empress is a powerful, almost deific entity, she could not save her lands from the Nothing without help from outside its borders.

OK, OK, hear me out. I know that the four March sisters are pretty much untouchable, as far as beloved characters go, but you cannot deny that there's something incredibly strange about Amy. Like how she is obsessed with altering her appearance, enjoys pickled citrus — not really a witch thing, per se, but c'mon, that's weird — and burns Jo's manuscript in a moment that's part revenge, part ritual. Definitely a witch.

Unlike many of the secret witches on this list, Meggie has real, verifiable powers that she inherited at birth. Like her father Mo, Meggie can read characters out of books and into the real world, which makes her one of the baddest-ass witches you've ever read about.

Another bleak entry on this list, Stephen King's menstrual rager Carrie White might as well have been an Obscurus, considering how abusive her mother was. When her powers awoke within her, Carrie engaged in an all-out assault on her bullies, including Margaret White.

In this 1980 YA novel, Katie is one of several children born with silver eyes and telekinetic abilities, which makes her look like a witch in an all-Muggle world. And, like any witch in the U.S., she finds herself hunted by someone with a little too much interest in what she can do.

Every Southern Sapphic's fave, Imogen Louise "Idgie" Threadgoode is totally a witch of some kind. I mean, not only is virtually everyone in Whistle Stop totally in love with her, but Idgie also manages to charm bees and pull off a cannibalism scheme without ever getting caught. She's a witch if I've ever seen one.

In Welcome to Night Vale, the first novel based on the hit podcast of the same name, Jackie Fierro is perpetually 19 years old, runs a Needful Things-esque pawn shop in Night Vale, and takes strange item requests from the town's equally strange residents. She might not have magical powers, per se, but she definitely gives off a witchy vibe.

In George MacDonald's fairy tale, The Princess and the Goblin, Princess Irene gets some much-needed, magical help from her great-great-grandmother, also named Irene, who lives in a secret room in the castle. Perpetually young, apparition-like granny with a treasure trove of magical items? Witch.

Kitchen witch Tita de la Garza uses her cooking to bring irrevocable change to the lives of her family members, including her brother in law, who originally wanted to marry Tita instead of her sister.

The absolute evillest of witches on this list, Sadako — known as Samara in the Hollywood remake of The Ring — has the power to infect video tapes and kill the people who watch them if they don't help to spread her virus. Plague witch to the max, right here.