Characters / Ms. Wiz

Dolores "Ms Wiz" Wisdom:

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted. She hits it off with a man dressed as Dracula at the PTA dance. Then when it's discovered he's just a school inspector...she's still very interested.
• All Witches Have Cats: She has a china cat she calls Hecate, but her main pet is a rat called Herbert.
• Babies Ever After: After the Time Skip in You're Kidding, Ms Wiz, she's the mother of a one-year-old called William.
• Blithe Spirit: She comes to liven things up whenever they're needed.
• Companion Cube: Hecate again, though the thing is actually sentient.
• Cool Teacher: In the first book only, as she's no longer a teacher after that. She does become principal briefly in Ms Wiz Banned.
• Happily Married: To Brian Andrews from Book 10 onwards.
• Hot Witch: She's young and pretty, in contrast to the older teachers at St Barnabus. She dresses up as a glamorous witch for the PTA Halloween dance.
• Magical Nanny: She turns up whenever one of the children has a problem their parents can't really help with. Sometimes just for fun.
• New-Age Retro Hippie: What some of the teachers and students first think of her.
• New Job as the Plot Demands: She's been - a teacher, a doctor's assistant, a librarian, a news reader, a door-to-door saleswoman, etc.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: The children call her 'Ms Wiz', but adults call her Dolores or 'Ms Wisdom'.
• Perky Goth: By way of wearing things like black nail varnish and dark lipstick, and being an overall very perky and upbeat person.
• Really 700 Years Old: She's apparently around 11,000 and can remember cavemen.

Jack Beddows:

• A Day in the Limelight: In Stitches With Ms Wiz - from his perspective as he goes into hospital to have his appendix taken out.
• Deadpan Snarker: Tries to be this, and it usually gets him in trouble.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his obnoxious nature, he's still a very loyal friend.
• Lovable Jock: Loves football and skateboarding, and deep down he's a decent guy.
• Motor Mouth: He's known for speaking without thinking.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When he says he's too ill to skateboard, his mother knows it's serious.
• Real Men Wear Pink: He loves football, skateboarding and everything boyish - and owns most of Beatrix Potter. He's near tears when Peter Rabbit (freed from his book) gets squashed by a bus.

Peter "Podge" Harris:

• Abusive Parents: His dad is very stern and mocks his son's weight.
• Big Eater: His defining trait.
• Big Fun: His own father describes him as "like a football on legs".
• A Day in the Limelight: Power Crazy Ms Wiz - where he has to worry about his father making him transfer schools. Also Ms Wiz Smells A Rat where he has to hide Herbert in his house.
• The Ditz: He's a little scatter-brained.
• Hidden Depths: After some encouragement from Ms Wiz, he becomes an avid reader.
• Odd Friendship: With Jack. Podge is a chubby nerdy reader, while Jack is an outgoing athletic type.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: So much so that Ms Wiz doesn't realise who his parents are at first, because she calls him by his nickname too.

Caroline Smith:

• Annoying Younger Sibling: A six-year-old terror known as 'Little Musha'.
• Characterisation Marches On: The first book describes her as the class dreamer. This trait never shows up again.
• A Day in the Limelight: Ms Wiz Goes Live - where Ms Wiz takes her and her sister to a TV studio.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Her parents have no problem arguing in front of their daughters. Caroline gets freaked out when the aftermath of a spell has them holding hands.
• I Am Very British: Pulls this voice off to imitate Fergie and fool the Chief Leisure Officer.
• Man of a Thousand Voices: Female example. In Control Ms Wiz reveals that she's very good at faking voices.
• Only Sane Woman: She's usually the voice of reason. Ms Wiz Goes Live has her getting annoyed with being expected to be mature all the time.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Deconstructed. She resents having to be the sensible one, feeling she never gets to cut loose or have fun as a result of everyone's expectations.

Katrina O'Brien:

• Beauty Contest: Her parents enter her in one in Ms Wiz Supermodel.
• A Day in the Limelight: Despite being introduced in Book 1, she doesn't get one until Ms Wiz Supermodel (the eleventh book) - where she enters a child fashion show.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She's frosty at the start but becomes nicer.
• Hufflepuff House: Frequently mentioned but rarely got any story relevance until Book 11.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Thanks to Ms Wiz's influence.
• Tsundere: Type A most of the time. Ms Wiz, Podge or Jack can bring out the deredere side.

Lizzie Thompson:

• Cute Kitten: Named Waif, whom she rescued from the streets.
• A Day in the Limelight: You're Nicked, Ms Wiz - where Ms Wiz helps her find her lost cat. She also has a big role in Ms Wiz Loves Dracula.
• Disappeared Dad: Her parents are divorced. Her mother hasn't remarried, saying her dad "cured me of men".
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: The plot of Book 3 has her even rescuing a whole litter of kidnapped cats.
• Remember the New Guy?: She's not introduced until Book 3, but is said to have been in Class 3 from the beginning.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Allows herself to be turned into a cat so she can sneak into a burglar's house.

Herbert the rat:

• A Day in the Limelight: He's relevant to the plot of Ms Wiz Smells A Rat when he has to hide out in Podge's house.
• Deadpan Snarker: He provides no shortage of sarcasm.
• Talking Animal: He's the only one of Ms Wiz's pets that talks.
• You Dirty Rat!: Played with. Other people have this perspective, but he's portrayed as harmless and lovable.