Top ten fictional headmistresses

Esme Kerr went to ten schools and studied History at Oxford and Cambridge. The Glass Bird Girl and Mischief at Midnight are the first two boarding school mysteries in her Knight’s Haddon series.

One of her ten top fictional headmistresses, as shared at the Guardian:

Miss Cackle in The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy

The most powerful headmistresses, of course, have no need of threats or tirades, but can quell the unruliest classroom with the slightest frown. Miss Cackle, the kindly headmistress of Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches, located in an old castle on top of a mountain, is an exemplar of the genre. In contrast to the Academy’s “horrifically strict” Potions Teacher Miss Hardbroom, Miss Cackle’s power lies in her popularity, which inspires every child with a dread of displeasing her. Her mild rebukes - “You must be the worst witch in the entire school … It’s just not good enough, my dear” – are always delivered with a patient sigh, but leave the squirming Mildred Hubble feeling “about an inch high”.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue