Over at the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog I talk about my picks for the Most Misunderstood Witches in Fantasy.
Molly Weasley, in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series
Don’t, whatever you do, be fooled by Molly Weasley’s exterior. Sure, the cardigans (oh dear, the cardigans), the shapeless dresses, the temper, the hair that looks as though it hasn’t seen a brush since Methuselah was a boy, the complete lack of any acquaintance with colour co-ordination, are all things to make you think she’s harmless. Plus she behaves like someone’s potty mother. But that’s just camouflage: Molly’s blending in, sneaking under the radar. Everyone judges her on those surface elements and that means she’s perfectly placed to wrong foot folk at important moments. Failing to take her seriously is a very bad mistake: just ask Bellatrix Lestrange. Oh, that’s right. You can’t.
The rest is here!