Characters / Wizarding School Mysteries

The Meddlesome Youths

The main eight students of the series.

In General

And the bad guys would have gotten away with it if it weren't for...well, you know the rest.

James and his friends, whom he met during his first semester at the AAAM.

• Commonality Connection: They mostly bond over not being able to find their place in the grand scheme of things.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Almost all of them are outliers in society.
• True Companions: The first mystery and just the general feeling of outsider kinship brought them together, and they're showing no signs of ever falling apart.
• You Meddling Kids: They aren't called the meddlesome youths for nothing.

James Chaucer

Yes, he looks a lot like that one kid with the scar, but at least he believes in more than just the status quo!

"What good you do comes back to you times three."

A Breton-born trans boy who ran away from home to get away from his domineering parents, who could never accept him as he chose to be. Guided by fate, he attends the AAAM to find acceptance and fulfillment. What he ends up finding there is just that...and unparalleled danger.

---

• All-Loving Hero: Is nothing but kind and patient with almost every person and creature he encounters. Needless to say, it serves him well.
• Amazon Chaser: Is very clearly infatuated with Margot. The feeling is mutual.
• Beware the Nice Ones: James doesn't see himself as the kind of person to get angry. He's definitely cunning and does NOT take kindly to injustice, though.
• Expy: Of the Boy Who Lived himself, being The Hero and a dark-haired young magic practitioner destined for greatness.
• Glamour: His Highly Refined Transformation Spell enabled him to transition from girl to boy with little to no fuss. His deal with the Summer Prince makes it permanent.
• The Hero
• Heroic BSoD: Polybeus nearly getting killed by the sabateur in Tournament of Death nearly ends his desire to see the mystery to the end until his friends object.
• Huge Girl, Tiny Guy: The Tiny Guy to Margot's Huge Girl.
• It's All My Fault: Says this much when Polybeus gets horribly injured by the sabateur in Tournament of Death.
• Jack of All Stats: The sorting ceremony has all four houses choose him, with Dermbeder hurriedly putting him in the Phlegmatic dorm first. It's clear that he's capable of mastering all four.
• Making a Splash: Many of the spells James uses in the first book consist of water magic, though as the sorting ceremony demonstrates, he has the potential to use a lot more.
• Meaningful Name: James is named after both Harry Potter's dad, but mostly off of King James VI, who is famous for having written Daemonologie, one of the most important books about magic in Britain. His last name comes from Geoffrey Chauncer, author of The Canterbury Tales.
  • His deadname is derived from Queen Elizabeth the First (the royal predecessor to King James) and Christopher Marlowe, a famous Elizabethan playwright who was overshadowed by William Shakespeare.
• Omniglot: Thanks to magical pills he carries, he can understand the languages of others, as well as become translatable to them.
• Ship Tease: With Margot, full stop. Naturally, it isn't long before they become an item.
• Sleep Deprivation: Runs himself ragged trying to figure out the disappearances of the students in The Meddlesome Youths. It makes him a target for kidnapping himself, and everyone makes sure he doesn't pull that again.
• Tarot Motifs: The Fool. James is a very open-minded and sharp-minded sort who has much ahead of his life. As Helseng puts it, "Where idiots scream at the world to fit their view, a fool opens their heart in hopes of understanding."
• Trans Tribulations: His parents clearly did not care about his discomfort being born a girl. From what little info we have, they were adamant that he was their daughter and nothing else. Near the end of the first book, he practically erases his old identity as Elizabeth forever, lifting the burden off his shoulders instantly.

Ivan Muromets

No, he has not slayed any three-headed dragons recently.

"Sometimes people can be pretty awful, but they have good hearts deep down!"

A apprentice of a town wizard in a Ruslovakian village, Ivan was sent (perhaps too eagerly) to the AAAM to hone his conjuration abilities. While not particularly bright, he is nonetheless an extremely loyal friend out to prove his worth to everyone and especially himself.

---

• The Apprentice: Was one to Odolpho the Great, a famed town wizard who tragically died before his protege got anywhere.
• Character Development: Tournament of Death has Ivan finally find a source of confidence not in grand wizardry, but by conjuring amazing illusions that are practically magical cartoons called Sillylusions. Also, he gets together with Rodrigo, emboldening him further.
• Expy: Of Ron Weasley, as the hero's sidekick and best friend. Though Ivan lacks the former's Green-Eyed Monster tendencies.
• Heroic BSoD: Has a major one after his humiliating Curb-Stomp Battle with Miguel.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: During the preparations for the Samhein Festival, he's one of the most enthused about dressing up. Much to James' bafflement, he picks a pair of Midgaheim's equivalent to hot pants for the occasion, and is a surprisingly good dancer.
• Kind Hearted Simpleton: Downplayed. Ivan is certainly kind, but he isn't THAT stupid. He's just a little short on book learning.
• Love at First Sight: Is instantly starstruck by the sight of Rodrigo, and spends the whole of the first book either teaming up with him or coming up with ways to impress him. They eventually hook up in the next story.
• Meaningful Name: His last name is based off of Ilya Muromets, one of the most famous heroes of Russian folklore.
• Tarot Motifs: The Magician. This card often represents confidence and self-worth, which seems to be the character arc Ivan is going through. While he's not quite there yet, it's more than likely that he will. That said, he fully embodies the loyalty that Helseng applies to the card.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Openly wonders why a good person can't just be crowned king instead of there being a line of stagnating and nasty dynasties ruling everything.

Gretchen Pappenheimer

Remember kids, if you ever want to get really curious with magic, this could be you!

"Great wizards court death and disaster, and are welcomed by few as a result."

Once a resident of Germanor, Gretchen was cast out by her ungrateful neighbors after they abused her magical remedies. All things considered, she doesn't mind the isolation. This witch's idea of fun is figuring out all sorts of ways to improve on her knowledge, litchrot be damned. That being said, she's not completely against having friends, and as such likes the company of her fellow meddlesome youths.

---

• Creepy Long Arms: The most prevalent showing her her lichrot is her gnarled green-spotted talons for arms.
• Expy: Of Hermione Granger. Both are intelligent witches persecuted for their backgrounds, but Gretchen is far more anti-social yet loyal to her friends.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Despite her extreme litchrot and anti-social behavior, she's a very good friend.
• Irrational Hatred: Initially, she cannot stand Serena, but struggles to find any real reason to detest her other than being her complete opposite in disposition. She admits internally that it's easier to come up with good things about her than bad ones. And eventually, she drops her animosity completely.
• Meaningful Name: Her last name is derived from the Bavarian Pappenheimer family, whom were infamously executed and tortured alongside those they knew in 1600 after being tried as witches. She shares a similar past of being tried as an ill omen, and on top of that, is an actual witch.
  • Her first name, according to Word of God, was based on Gretchen from Recess, also a nerdy character.
• Meganekko: Sports a pair of huge glasses. In fact, they are the only parts of her face we see.
• Nervous Wreck: Turns into this when she's forced to be Serena's date for the Samhain ball.
• Never Bare Headed: Always seen with her hat and scarf obscuring most of her face.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Is absolutely delighted to be meeting a highly dangerous nuckelavee during Fair Folk Studies class.
• No Social Skills: Positively LOATHES being in social gatherings, especially if she has to talk to anyone.
• Opposites Attract: Despite her anti-social and sharp demeanor, she can't help but be a bit attracted to her bubbly and highly social roommate, Serena.
• Ship Tease: With Serena, complete with denial and a fake date in the first book.
• Tarot Motifs: The Hermit. She chooses to be very anti-social most of the time, and is a huge genius too.
• Wicked Witch: Has the look natch, but certainly not the disposition.

Margot d'Francane

A powerful would-be engine of magical/physical destruction...but mostly just a good friend.

A very tall young lady from Francane, Margot was orphaned by the last Goblin War, and was raised by a kindly blacksmith. Unfortunately for her, her latent fire magic abilities were so unstable that she requires a large metal gauntlet in order to keep its power at bay. She came to AAAM to learn how to better control her powers. Sadly, she's been met with disappointment from the lack of support...but not from the support some fellow students are willing to give her...

---

• A Day in the Limelight: Tournament of Death is mostly focused on her and her ascention in the tournament.
• Anger Born of Worry: Chides James as being idiotic for landing himself into a kidnapping situation after tons of sleep deprivation.
• Big Damn Heroes: Rescues James and incinerates his goblin captors during the first half of the first book.
• Body Horror: Her left arm is positively malformed from lichrot, complete with charred green/purple/grey skin, warts, and muscles that seem to want to burst out at any moment.
• Brawn Hilda: She's certainly not ugly, but her huge frame and musculature makes her stand out significantly.
• Combo Platter Powers: Can manipulate fire and lightning at the same time, often taking the form of fiery tendrils of pure energy that she can direct at foes on a whim. And they do SO much more in Tournament of Death.
• Cool Car: Cool chariot, actually. Nothing's pulling it except Margot herself, it seems, and it's emblazoned with the painting of a rage-filled face. It was apparently an heirloom.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Her unstable magic and need for a gauntlet to calm it down, according to Word of God, is a metaphor for having a disability, though without any reference to a specific one. Her abuse at Evelina's words reminds one of how disabled people are often seen as targets by those with power.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: By the end of Tournament of Death, Margot has put Alys in her place, won the praise and admiration of just about everyone in the school, and is crowned the new champion of the UWB tournament. And to top it all off, she and James become an item and decide to spend the summer together.
• Emotional Bruiser: Although she can put on a very strong face (and back it up too), she can get distressed rather easily at times.
• Fighting from the Inside: Is constantly trying to keep her magic from blowing up, to the point where she talks to it like it were a living entity. And given the evidence, it might be just that.
• Happily Adopted: She clearly adores her blacksmith guardian, seeing as how they crafted her gauntlet together.
• Meaningful Name: Her last name translates to "of Francane". As pointed out in the book, this signifies her status as an orphan.
  • On the subject of real-life inspirations though, her first name comes from Margot de la Barre, a French woman burned at the stake for witchcraft accusations. Her last name is based on Marie de France, a masterful ballad writer. The "d" in the middle of her name harkens to Joan d'Arc, a common spelling of the name of one of the most famous women in history.
• Playing with Fire: She's very strong with fire magic... too strong for her own good, that is.
• Power Fist: That gauntlet of hers gives her a mean Megaton Punch when she needs it.
• Red Right Hand: Her left arm is thoroughly charred and mutated from her wild fire magic and lichrot, and is concealed by her gauntlet.
• Restraining Bolt: Her thunderbolt iron gauntlet is the one thing keeping her fire magic from spiraling out of control.
• Ship Tease: With James. Almost every interaction seen thus far hints at blossoming romance, particularly the borderline Rescue Romance in the first book. Then the second book drops all pretenses and hooks them up by the end.
• Sphere of Destruction: Her Doomstar attack, in which she summons a small orb of concentrated fire/lightning magic that grows and grows until it's big as a building. Then, with a flick of her finger, it comes crashing down.
• Super-Power Meltdown: During the orc battle near the end of the first book, the stress of the fight causes her magic to explode into a maelstrom of fire and lightning. She's able to get it back under control, but it leaves her exhausted. Thankfully, the orcs are impressed by her resolve.
• Tarot Motifs: The Chariot. Aside from her custom chariot whom she uses to get around, she embodies more of the self-assertion part of the card. That being said, the dominance part comes with her supreme ability as a magical warrior.
• Team Mom: Constantly tries to make sure no one gets hurt, and often admonishes the others for putting themselves into harmful situations.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Absolutely adores ballads, especially those of the romantic variety.
• Tricked-Out Gloves: Her gauntlet, made of thunderbolt iron, is a Restraining Bolt for her magic.

Rodrigo Cervantes

Man and beast can both agree - positively dashing chap, this one!

"A Life full of simple pleasures is a life worth living."

The son of high-ranking nobles from Castalan, Rodrigo is a master of illusion spells with a VERY big eye for all things fashion and taste. Despite his rich upbringing, he does not care for anything resembling elitism, and seems to truly seek actual friendship. Suffice to say, he is a very loyal friend to anyone who's willing to be around him.

---

• The Beastmaster: If his tarot pic is any indication, he has great affinity with magical creatures.
• The Fashionista: Takes to designing the gang's festival outfits like a duck to water. Indeed, beauty is one of Rodrigo's greatest passions.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Despite his family's high status, no amount of titles or gifts seems to make up for his feelings of isolation.
• Pretty Boy: A very attractive young man. Ivan certainly thinks so.
• Magical Seventh Son: He is the seventh son of his royal family. Despite this, he is not in line for a lot of inheritance compared to his past siblings.
• Meaningful Name: His last name comes from Miguel Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote.
• Ship Tease: With Ivan, though it's more from Ivan's POV so far. Tournament of Death sees to it that HE makes the first move as they make it official to the delight of everyone.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Drawn with dark skin, a tall frame, and the narrative explicitly calling his looks a cut above the rest.
• Tarot Motifs: The Lover. While he doesn't seem to be at an important crossroads as the card's meaning often dictates (unless you count his straying from his high-class roots), he is deeply rooted in finding the beauty in the world, and is truly passionate in his craft. And if his Ship Tease with Ivan is any indication, romance is going to be a factor in this.
• Token Rich Student: He's the only student with ties to affluence.

Serena Takeuchi

Fighting evil by moonlight, Winning love by daylight, Never running from a real fight, She is the one named...oh wait.

"Fiends of villainy, quake in fear! I am the lady of justice, the soldier of beauty, and the high priestess of virtue! I am Serena Takeuchi, and for the honor of this school, I shall sunder you!"

The child of a woman from Celpict and a man from the far-off land of Yamatsuna, Serena is as cheerful and happy to make friends as they come. But don't let her bubbly exterior fool you. This is by far one of the more powerful of the youths, having researched earth magic to the point where she can summon crystals with her own personal scepter. Of course, she's learned how to make a big show of it as well, so expect tons of theatrics as shards are rained down on those who harm her friends.

---

• The Ace: Quickly proves to be this in Tournament of Death, bringing down all of her opponents with nary a scratch, to the point where she gets annoyed by it all until the last few matches.
• Beware the Nice Ones: One of the most blithe of the youths...and one of their most potent powerhouses.
• Calling Your Attacks: The greater the attack, the more likely it's going to have some kind of grand title. For example, "Prism shard barrage".
• Combination Attack: Leads a spectacular one with Polybeus, using his lightning magic and her own crystal magic to send bursts of power at the entire army of flying fairies coming at them. She later does it again thanks to the unintentional assistance of her opponent Miguel in the UWB tournament.
• Crystal Prison: Many of her foes end up being entrapped in crystal.
• Cuddle Bug: Admits to being one from a whole family of them.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Technically, her magic is mainly based on earth magic, but she's taken it to the next level with crystal.
• Expy: Of Sailor Moon, being a Magical Girl and everything that comes with it. Her costume is explicitly based a lot on Lina Inverse.
• Gemstone Assault: Almost all of her attacks revolve around crystals, be it a hailstorm of shards or even encasing foes in it.
• Genki Girl: Is almost always giddy about something.
• Hidden Depths: Aside from her surprising magical prowess, she is remarkably introspective and intelligent when she wants to be, being able to figure out and deduce a lot of things from scant clues, such as the gang's entire scheme to find the kidnapper in the first book.
• Magical Girl: Complete with flashy transformation, skirt, and Calling Your Attacks.
• Meaningful Name: Serena's first name is Usagi's in the English dub of Sailor Moon. Takeuchi comes from that show's very own creator, Naoko Takeuchi.
• Opposites Attract: Definitely has a thing for Gretchen, despite her restrained anti-social lifestyle being completely at odds with her sunny disposition.
• Ship Tease: With Gretchen. It's hinted that she's especially excited at the prospect of their friendship evolving.
• Shout-Out: To the entire Magical Girl genre. Vibrant outfit with a skirt? Check. Calling Your Attacks? Check. Flashy Transformation Sequence? Check. Bubbly disposition? Check. Immense magical power? Oh, yes. Literally named after figures whom are the cornerstone of the genre? Is there any doubt at this point?
  • Her ability to get lots of information from seemingly innocent questions is based on Columbo.
• Tarot Motifs: The High Priestess. She has the look and ability of a high-ranking wizard, and is a person of great hidden wisdom.

Charlotte Bolshe

If you're still somehow scared of spiders after meeting her, you might want to get your head checked.

"The threads grow tighter as the web takes shape."

An ettercap from Fairyland, Charlotte has yet to swear fealty to one of the major courts among The Fair Folk. As she tries to understand her place amongst her fellow fairies, she has taken a huge interest in humanity, especially with how free they are from the confines of fate. She and her kind believe that the world and its destinies are all connected by the threads of a web, and as far as her threads go, her fate is intertwined with James and his friends.

---

• Cute Monster Girl: Just look at her.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Despite being a darkly-colored spider person, she is one of the nicest characters.
• Expy: Design-wise, to Miss Muffet, both being mostly pleasant purple spider-people.
• Friendly Neighborhood Spider: An ettercap, and one of the nicest of the main characters.
• Glamour: When traveling far from the AAAM, she has to use a potion that turns her human in order to survive, though prolonged exposure to the human world risks either killing her or making her a human permenantly. Though at this point, being out for too long puts her in a comically drunken state.
• Humanity Ensues: If she's away from Fairyland for too long, she becomes human in order to avert the other option (death). If she strays for too long, she gets insanely tipsy, and has to return lest she be trapped as a human forever.
• Intrigued by Humanity: Is positively fascinated by humanity in a way that Cope has described as being akin to Ariel's. This is mainly due to how we get to choose our fates most of the time while she has to swear an oath to either the Seelie or Unseelie fairy courts.
• Martial Pacifist: Hates fighting, but will gladly assist her friends in other ways.
• Meaningful Name: Aside from the obvious literary reference her first name is, her last name means "defiance" in British. Just like her friends, she is a rebel.
• Nice Girl: An extremely helpful and forgiving sort, even to reluctant bad guys.
• Seers: She and her kind act under "the web", which is said to contain the threads of destiny for everyone. Only ettercaps can see it, and most of the time, the predictions are very accurate. While never quite exact, it is these threads that allow Charlotte to help the others immensely.
• Ship Tease: With Polybeus.
• Shout-Out: Her first name is a direct reference to Charlotte's Web. Meanwhile, her last name is an anagram for Shelob, the terrifying demonic Giant Spider from The Lord of the Rings.
• Spider People: She's an ettercap, a humanoid arachnid.
• Tarot Motifs: The Star. She has great faith in the web, and is an immensely generous and kind individual.

Polybeus Antony

No one pursues petty and ridiculous rivalries like Polybeus!

"This is the start of a grand tale, James Chaucer! Poets will write songs about us!"

An extremely pompous and boastful young man from Mediterra. Polybeus dreams of greatness and songs written in his name like the heroes of old, and instantly recognizes James as a figure chosen by fate to achieve greatness. To this end, he desires to become his rival, and take the glory of facing him for himself. Thing is, James couldn't care less...

---

• A Day in the Limelight: Like Margot, Polybeus gets a lot of development in Tournament of Death, though it can be argued that he changes a lot more as a person.
• Ambition Is Evil: Well, more short-sighted, actually. He views Ivan's humble goals as weak for a while compared to his own dreams of heroism.
• The Bully: Not exactly. For a time, he isn't very nice to others, but he doesn't go out of his way to harm anyone, and only seems to have any beef with James.
• Bully Turned Buddy: After the incident with the kidnapped students, Polybeus goes from a pompous a-hole to a good pal of James and the others, though he still wants that duel.
• Character Development: Out of all the characters in Tournament of Death, none quite change like he does. After he gets dressed down by James for his Jerkass to One behavior towards Ivan and witnesses the death of Gabriev, someone who wanted to help him on a more heroic path, he almost entirely abandons any selfish desire he ever had, now wanting to be a hero for the sake of doing the right thing instead of just meaningless glory.
• Combination Attack: Pulls one off with Serena during the ork battle. It's clear that the girl is the one calling the shots while he's just trying to roll with it.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: At first he may seem like a less than intelligent blowhard, but then it's revealed that he's proficient in lightning magic, as well as swordsmanship.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of The Rival. Like many of these characters, he has enmity with the main character...just because he's the main characters (or in Polybeus' case, just someone destined for great things). However, it is rightly seen as pointless and pathetic by everyone, James included, and is more than likely a smokescreen to hide his unrelenting insecurity. Ultimately, he's just a pompous pest more than anything else. Not only that, but "hate" is a bit of a strong word, as Polybeus is perfectly okay with the possibility of losing to James, so long as their duel is a spectacle. And by the end of the first book, they're perfectly friendly with one another.
• Expy: Of Draco Malfoy, being The Rival and The Bully to James. However, his role goes in a completely different direction by the first book's end.
• Foe Romance Subtext: Discussed by Margot, who claims that his obsession with dueling James comes from a hidden source of affection. James shoots this down instantly, mainly because he just isn't his type.
• Glory Seeker: Wants a place next to his culture's heroes more than anything, to the point of giving him a crippling pressure to find greatness sooner than later. Gabriev convinces him to take a more genuinely heroic path.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: His weapon is a sword, because according to him, they're the most heroic weapon.
• Hidden Depths: Even before his Character Development in Tournament of Death, he demonstrates a rather philisophical approach to the point of the tournament, seeing it as a non-lethal way to overcome the fear of conflict and danger, and to discover the value of life through facing peril.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Ultimately, his goal of achieving heroic greatness stems from a deep desire to have some sort of point in the grand scheme of things. The thought of having achieved nothing grand at all is enough to drive him to tears. Thankfully for him, once he actually starts helping the others and is convinced to value justice over glory, his dream starts to become real.
• Jerkass Realization: Has one after James ferociously dresses him down for pushing around Ivan.
• Meaningful Name: His first name is based on the infamous legend of the arcade game Polybius, possibly because of how it sounds and how the game was said to incite an unhealthy addiction to win, which is Polybeus' major flaw. His last name comes from Mark Antony.
• Pet the Dog: Leads a walkout from Evelina's class when James and Margot leave. While it was mostly out of desire to look good in James' eyes, there are hints that his disgust at Margot's treatment was genuine.
• The Rival: Or at least, he THINKS he's this to James.
• Shock and Awe: Extremely proficient with lightning magic, to the point of powering his sword with it.
• Sixth Ranger: The last of the youths to join the gang, and it's right near the end of the first book.
• Snipe Hunt: Gets sent on one repeatedly by James in order to get him off his back.
• Survivor Guilt: Spends a good portion of the second story wondering why he wasn't killed instead of the far more noble and innocent Gabriev. He gets over it when the boy's mother talks with him in private.
• Tarot Motifs: The Tower. Aside from his obsession with dueling James on a tower, he embodies a great deal of pride and arrogance that mostly just makes him look like a pitiful laughingstock in the eyes of the reader.
• Tragic Keepsake: Is given the salvaged helmet of Gabriev by the boy's mother.
• Trauma Conga Line: Poor, poor Polybeus. Tournament of Death has him get humilated by falling in the mud mid-fight with Gabriev, being helpless to watch the boy die right after he just helped him see a better way, almost the entire school thinking he's the sabateur and shunning him, Miguel soundly rubbing salt in the wound during their fight, and then nearly getting killed himself by the sabateur, hospitalizing him and causing him to miss his classes. Ow.
• Unknown Rival: To James. The boy just wants to get through the semester, but Polybeus just cannot leave him alone about their supposed destined duel.

AAAM Faculty

The staff of the Academy of Applied Arcana and Magic

Gernderf Dermberder

Oh, he's the greatest wizard, but in no way that actually matters.

"With the AAAM, all wizards will have access to the most modern understanding of magic, and together we will reach new heights!"

One of the most powerful wizards in all of Midgaheim, and the founder/dean of the AAAM. Despite his near-limitless magical ability, or perhaps because of it, he's a bit on the loony side of things, and doesn't seem to want to acknoledge the numerous problems his school has. He'd much rather be trying to foil the plans of his nemesis Lord Dherengirr more than anything else. Nevertheless, the rest of the faculty knows to respect him at all times, lest they feel his potent wrath.

---

• Arch-Enemy: To Lord Dhenregirr. They hate each other's guts, though exactly why is unclear.
• Badass Teacher: Crazy he may be, he's still one of the most powerful wizards. One of the reasons he doesn't want to trigger a war with the fair folk is because he'd get bored from winning.
• Berserk Button: Even implying that he makes mistakes sets him off.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He's shown to be one of the most powerful magic-wielders around, but he mostly chooses to use his power to pursue stupid rivalries and potentially punish people who rock the boat a little too much.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Somehow manages to be all two at once. On one hand, he's an exceptionally powerful wizard, and has been successfully running the place for almost half a decade. On the other, he's rather scatterbrained and kooky, preferring to rant about resident Big Bad Wannabe Lord Dhenregirr, as well as actively ignore the issues in the school (some of which were unintentionally caused by himself).
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He cannot seem to get through an interaction with his students without saying some weird or zany stuff, often justifying it as wizardly quirks. His Basics of Magic classes mainly consist of insanely long talks about his own life, to the chagrin of everyone attending.
• Corrupted Character Copy: Of Albus Dumbledore. Aside from his last name being a parody of the old Hogwarts headmaster's, he takes that wizard's leniency towards his school's problems and dials it up. He is actively unhelpful and, despite propping James up as a young man destined for greatness, he seems more interested in grooming James to become an opponent to Lord Dhenregirr, whom only he seems to take seriously. He couldn't even care less about James' actual friends, for one thing.
  • Word of God has actually gone on record stating that he despises the original Dumbledore, seeing him as a Manipulative Bastard who groomed a boy into killing Voldemort for him, and just in general ran Hogwarts very poorly (especially on the subject of handling the teachers). And yet somehow, he never gets a whole lot of flak for it. Dermberder is just all of those undertones being made into overtones.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: In spite of his seeming lunacy, he is STILL one of the most powerful wizards of his time, and will happily remind you of such should you piss him off.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the "wise magical mentor". He's not really all that helpful despite his power, and mostly just gets in the way with his eccentricities and stubbornness.
• Expy: As if the name didn't give it away, he's one to the best wizard in Middle-Earth and the headmaster of Hogwarts.
• Extra Eyes: Not really, but the eyes on his hat move on their own accord.
• Large Ham: According to him, it's essential to be like this if you're a wizard. All it really does is highlight his (admittedly justified) arrogance.
• Malicious Misnaming: He never once gets the names of James' friends right. According to him, they aren't important like James is.
• Meaningful Name: His full name sounds like the names of two of the most famous bearded wizards in literature...if they were being said by a drunken idiot. Fittingly, he's not all there most of the time.
• Never My Fault: As far as he's concerned, the things that go wrong in the AAAM are someone else's problem, and if they raise a fuss about it, that just means he hired the wrong people to handle it.
• Shout-Out: While he's meant to be a massive Take That! at the original Albus, he's based on a lot of the characterization given to the parody version from A Very Potter Musical.
  • Also, according to Word of God, his speech patterns are based on Matt Berry.
• Skewed Priorities: Instead of focusing on the well-being of his student body, he's always thinking about either himself or Lord Dhenregirr.
• Stupid Neutral: Believes that meeting every problem in the middle is the best because it means that everyone gets a fraction of what they wanted, regardless as to whether it's the right thing to do.
• Rambling Old Man Monologue: Almost everything he says during his Basics of Magic classes turn into this. Even worse, he's over a century-and-a-half old, meaning that he'll never run out of things about himself to describe. The effect is downright torturous for everyone forced to listen (though those who do get tons of extra credit on the final exam).
• Tarot Motifs: Judgement. He's a wizard of exceptional high-ranking, and serves as the dean, AKA greatest judge, of the AAAM. However, the deeper meaning of the card, that being about revealed truths and the possibility of redemption, runs counter to how he operates at the moment.

Oomlowt Schwaa

Didn't I see this guy come out of a pokeball at some point?

"Only together can we find the truth, and I am so delighted to have you all here, because we have much to discuss."

The teacher of the fair folk studies class, Oomlowt is an aitvaras, a type of fairy dragon. Out of all the faculty, he is by far one of the most competant and compassionate to the students, always willing to help them out in any way he can. Although his nature dictates that he must be 100% loyal to Dermberder, he can find loopholes in order to help our heroes, especially James.

---

• Cool Teacher: The only teacher anyone seems to have a whole lot of respect for, mainly due to his non-condescending attitude and willingness to listen. This is best seen when he takes both Evelina and even the dean himself to task for their mishandling of their jobs.
• Expy: His design is almost identical to that of a Charmander. Meanwhile, his role is similar to Remus Lupin, one of the few competant and well-liked Dark Arts teachers in the Harry Potter franchise.
• Interspecies Adoption: Was raised by a clan of fairies mostly comprised of gnomes. After he proved his intellect, he was given to high elves. In his words, that technically makes him an aitvaras, a gnome, and an elf.
• Loophole Abuse: Although he's sworn fealty to Dermberder as a part of their deal, he will not hesitate to find holes in it if it means helping his students.
• Meaningful Name: His name is a combination of mispelled linguistic terms. Namely umlaut and schwa.
• Offscreen Teleportation: As a house spirit, he can teleport to any part of the AAAM, as well as transport others by taking their hand.
• Only Sane Man: Amongst the teachers, he's the only one with his head on straight, as the rest are more interested in doing things their own way instead of taking their students into consideration.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Described as a distant relative of the more traditional dragons in Midgaheim, being shorter than a person but far more humanoid.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The only teacher in the first book who seems to be genuinely invested in his student's well-being, as well as the odd phenomenon occurring.
• Sadly Mythtaken: In Lithuanian mythology, an aitvartas is described as looking like a sort of draconic rooster. That being said, it too has a tail on fire like Oomlowt.
• Tarot Motifs: The Hierophant. He is the most shining example in the AAAM of how one approaches flexible and informative mentoring/education, and has a very important relationship with a higher authority. He even describes himself as such.
• Token Non-Human: He's the only fairy teacher in the AAAM.

Alys Evelina

Don't lie, you've had a teacher like this in your life.

"If you are a sorcerer, then you're in the right place! If you're a conjurer, get out, because we want absolutely nothing to do with you!"

The Sorcery Studies teacher. Although she puts on a happy face most of the time for her students, she makes exceptions. Said exceptions are anyone who dares to implement anything that comes close to conjuring-type magic. Then she'll become the bane of your existence.

---

• Arc Villain: Serves as the primary antagonistic force in the first halves of The Meddlesome Youths and Tournament of Death.
• Beauty Is Bad: She's described as a very good-looking young woman, but it does little to hide her Sadist Teacher tendencies.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Acts sweet and encouraging to her fellow sorcerers, but turns on a dime into a shrewd Sadist Teacher if anything related to conduits or conjuring enter the picture.
• Break the Haughty: Margot curb-stomping her in their duel in Tournament of Death destroys her smugness and mean attitude, reducing her to constantly apologizing and trying (very poorly) to endear herself to everyone again.
• Corrupted Character Copy: Of Severus Snape. While she's nowhere near as universally mean to all of her students, she lacks the more sympathetic aspects of that wizard, and her reasoning for hating a major character (Margot) boils down to "she's different from my way of thinking, I don't like different". There's no tragic backstory in sight, and her abuse is in fact a major plot point instead of background noise.
• Expy: To Hogwart's own sweet-except-not-really Sadist Teacher Dolores Umbridge. However, Word of God compares her more to Snape.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: In the span of two books, Alys goes from smug Sadist Teacher to simpering Nervous Wreck thanks to Margot outclassing her in every way in front of everyone.
• Humiliation Conga: It starts when Margot utilizes her gauntlet despite Evelina's objections and flips her the bird with it. Then James walks out in protest, followed by everyone else doing the same thing. And then both Oomlowt and Dermberder shaming her for her behavior. Needless to say, she's perpetually bitter about it for the rest of the book.
  • It gets SO MUCH WORSE for her in Tournament of Death. After mocking both Polybeus and the recently deceased Gabriev, everyone reacts poorly, with Margot challenging her to a duel. Then the teacher loses completely, and pretty much the entire faculty and student body points out that she was totally in the wrong. After that, there's nothing left of her smugly arrogant demeanor.
• Irony: Her hated rival teacher Broomhilda Siegfred is right next door to her. Conflicts are inevitable.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Sort of. As horrible as her treatment of Margot is, Dermberder points out that she's right about Margot's reliance on a gauntlet not quite being true sorcery, and therefore being an unfair advantage over the other students. Then again, even this is debatable, as it's basically like shaming a handicapped person.
• Jerkass to One: She treats her students like they were her own children... and Margot like she was a scourge.
• Nervous Wreck: After Margot trounces her in their duel, she's become this, desperately trying to salvage whatever's left of her reputation.
• Kick the Dog: To Margot. Repeatedly. All because of her gauntlet, an affront to sorcery in her eyes.
  • A way more severe example is when she outright mocks poor Gabriev for being a conjuror not long after his untimely death in the tournament. It's enough to drive Margot to put her in her place.
• Sadist Teacher: To Margot, constantly badmouthing her for needing a gauntlet to control her fire magic.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: The last straw for anyone who opposes her is when she indicates that Gabriev deserved to die due to being a conjuror.

Mewcosa Glycocet

"I know first impressions are important — I've just been having a rough time of it!"

The teacher of Phlegmatic studies, with a major proficiency for water/healing magic. Just don't tell her that there might be other ways to teach such a thing...

---

• Character Development: Slightly. She's insanely against anything that counters her notions about her magic, but finds herself opening up to the idea of disease-based magic being another form of healing. As James notes, even teachers can learn once in a while.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Her lichrot has given her fangs that would make an angler fish blush. It's shocking to her students that she can still talk.
• Heal It with Water: Her specialty is water magic, a major form of healing magic in this universe.
• Nervous Wreck: Turns into this if her teaching is challenged in any way. Upon hearing Rodrigo bring up the potential destructive powers of water magic, she freaks out completely.
• Wicked Witch: She nails the look, but doesn't even come close to the personality.

Childe

"I can cook so many things, you must try them all!"

A massive oven-like homunculus that doesn't so much run the feasting hall of the AAAM as she is the feasting hall. Her whole body makes up the place's kitchen, and she's always finding ways to fill her beloved students' stomachs.

---

• Let's Get Dangerous!: She assaults the army of elves chasing the youths with boiling water and kitchenwares.
• Living Structure Monster: She's a homunculus made to look like an oven that can run the entire kitchen by herself.
• Mama Bear: As the elven army learned the hard way, you don't attack students in her presence.
• Supreme Chef: She's capable of prepping some positively mouth-watering meals for the students.
• Multiple Head Case: She has four faces, each for a different dorm, on her body.
• Our Homunculi Are Different: She's a huge sapient oven that operates the entire kitchen.
• Tarot Motifs: The Wheel of Fortune, or simply the Fortune. Her four faces are an obvious nod to how there are four sides to the wheel on the card, each serving a different purpose. Her serving a singular function as the cafeteria chef refers to the fatalistic nature of the card.

Fafgander

Flight of groundskeepers soar in the purple light, in the sky or in my mind...

"The castle may belong to you humans, but here in the wild, I am the emperor."

A huge great dragon, and the AAAM's groundskeeper. Despite his immense power, Dermberder made a deal with him to build the school in his turf, and he complied. Despite being stripped of his once high authority, he bears no ill will towards the students, and will even help them on occasion.

---

• Almighty Janitor: The local groundskeeper... who is also a dragon capable of burning entire armies to the ground.
• Big Damn Heroes: He sends the elf general and his army of kelpies packing when they menace our heroes.
• Gentle Giant: Despite his gruff exterior, he's more than willing to give James and his friends shelter from the Summer Prince's forces.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Once he was the master of these lands... now, he's just a groundskeeper tending to the forests. He doesn't seem too bitter about it, though.
• Meaningful Name: His name is a combination of the infamous dragon of Norse mythology Fafnir and its own World Serpent, Jormangandr.
• Shout-Out: His design is explicitly based off of the dragon designs from The Flight of Dragons.
• Tarot Motifs: The Emperor. He uses this title to describe his former status as ruling creature in the AAAM's area, and he's also as powerful and quick to react as the card dictates. And like the card, he's willing to lend a hand if need be.

Juno Panopte

There's certainly no dis-illusionment in this class.

"A mind will run itself ragged trying to figure out something that cannot be yet, apparently, is, and in doing so ignore the solution that was hidden in plain sight beneath it."

The professor of Legerdemain class, who teaches mastery of illusions. With an interesting sense of humor and a surprising knack for encouraging the best in her students, she quickly endears herself to the youths.

• Cool Teacher: Not only keeps her class interesting, but also makes sure to recognize talent when she sees it.
• Foil: To Alys Evelina. They have a few physical similarities, and are very good at their craft, but while Alys is a vindictive Sadist Teacher who balks at anything out of the ordinary while putting up an affable facade, Juno is much more casual and playful, and never wastes an opportunity to encourage experimentation and uniqueness.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Teaches her class well and proves to be very reliable for whatever James and his friends need.
• Red Baron: Refers to herself as the Master of Marvels, the Minister of Magic, and, as James is quick to note, the Empress of Illusions.
• Riches to Rags: Sort of. She was the court magician for a Mediterran emperor before his death, and was presumably replaced after his nephew took over.
• Stealth Mentor: She has James deliver a book to a student of hers seemingly just because she can't be bothered. It enables the boy to meet Geoffrey Travers, another gifted illusionist willing to share his knowledge. More than likely, this is just what Juno planned.
• Tarot Motifs: The Empress. Not only does she hold a scepter, but she's also a benevolent authority figure who fosters growth and understanding amongst her students.
• Troll: To an extent. She delights in tricking first-timers that a dragon is attacking the class with her illusions.

Lacey Spidergrin

The professor of Evocation class, able to telepathically communicate and help her students master the art of teleportation.

• Cool Teacher: She's a very engaging person to listen to, and does her job better than most.
• Creepy Good: Despite being an overly tall lanky stringy-haired being with Creepy Long Arms and only has a Slasher Smile visible on her face, she's one of the nicer and more efficient teachers.
• Creepy Long Arms: Described as being longer than usual.
• Teleportation: What evocation is all about. And she does it almost all the time instead of walking.
• The Voiceless: She is mute, and therefore communicates by reaching out to people's minds.

Maxeral

Once you're done processing a very familiar sight here, you'll find he's the one in the center.

"With all that is within my power, I will make sure that justice shall be carried out, swift and absolute."

A tall and imposing gargoyle, First Sentinel of the AAAM, and the head of school security. As befitting the duty literally carved into his head, he is devoted entirely to justice, though even he admits that his oath gets in the way of solving anything. Thus, he has put his faith in the Meddlesome Youths.

• The Commissioner Gordon: Puts almost all of his faith in the Youths to stop crimes while he tries to help in any way his purpose allows him to.
• Just a Machine: In a sense. Maxeral laments that because the carving on his head restricts him so much in terms of justice (think of it as a robot's programming), he can't do nearly as much as he'd like to help.
• Our Gargoyles Rock: Resembles the clasical interpretation, with the added detail of having something engraved on his head to guide him like a golem.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Instantly recognizes James and friends as being better at handling justice than even he, and allies with them instantly.
• Tarot Motifs: Justice. A fairly straightforward correlation, as he is eternally bound to serve it thanks to the carving on his head.

Prospera Bubos

"Look, you seem like a good kid. If you come to your senses and realize this kind of thing isn't for you, apply to my class."

The professor of medicinal magic, and the main school nurse. As befitting her profession, she does not have the most patience for the more violent parts of wizardry.

• Knight in Sour Armor: She's clearly at the end of her rope with how out of hand things keep getting with wizards getting hurt, especially where the UWB tournament is concerned, but she does all she can to mitigate the damage nonetheless.
• Only Sane Man: She seems to be the only teacher who sees the UWB tournament as incredibly dangerous, especially when people actually start dying.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Tries to be of help to the youths, and has a firm grip on what ends up crossing the line around her.

Heka Tlancheb

Don't worry, she isn't anywhere near as battle-crazed as this face would tell you.

"Ah, yes! The age of magic, the age of wizardry, an era to defy the will of Gods! The great wizards of old, champions all, broke the rules of heaven and bent the world to their will!"

The professor of combat casting, and superviser of the Ultimate Wizard Battle tournament, and a veritable fighter in her own right.

• Et Tu, Brute?: Expresses nothing but disappointment in Richard, as he was one of her top students.
• Meaningful Name: Her name is an anagram of Cate Blanchett, whom Cope admits to finding very attractive.
• Lady of War: She's the arcane general of the united Germanorean army, and she's got the reputation to match.
• Large Ham: When announcing for the UWB, she puts her all into it.
• Only Sane Man: As more death and injury occurs in the UWB tournament, she desperately tries to mitigate it, only for Dermberder to shut down her efforts.

AAAM Students

Other students who attend the AAAM alongside our heroes.

Lornwig Kayjay

A very curmudgeonly wizard who almost always has something to say in regards to how not normal things are.

• Black-and-White Insanity: Demands that the faeries fall into neat little categories with no overlap in terms of morality.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Even Oomlowt only has so much patience for her constant arguing and lack of understanding of how undefined some things are.
• Straw Character: She has little in the way of characterization other than her rampant bigotry and contrarian attitude.
• Take That!: Lornwig is very much a jab at what her name translates to as an anagram. Namely, J. K. Rowling. From her insistance that different people/beings be neatly separated from each other and the way she tries to dress it up as perfectly natural while sounding utterly condescending, it's safe to say that Cope doesn't have the highest opinion on an author who's entire modern identity has been defined by transphobia and bigotry.

Gabriev Zelgad

You wouldn't know it, but this might be one of the most important people in Polybeus' entire life.

A humble young wizard who fancies himself as a knight.

• A Death in the Limelight: After some brief appearences in the first book, he gets a time to shine in the tournament just before being killed.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: The sabateur's lightning curse fries Gabriev from inside his armor, causing most of it to fuse to his body minus his helmet.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Perishes in Polybeus' arms.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Presents himself as this in the tournament, right down to having the chivalrous personality and upholding an old code.
• Magic Knight: Embues his mace with magic, preferably that of the wind variety.
• Nice Guy: Even during a fight, his kind disposition gets in the way of actually fighting his opponent.
• Plot-Triggering Death: While the investigation into there being a sabateur in Tournament of Death was already underway before, it's his death before everyone's eyes that kickstarts it in earnest.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only has a brief scene all about him in Tournament of Death, yet his words of encouragement and untimely demise shake Polybeus to his core, solidifying his Character Development and giving the youths a bigger reason than ever to catch the sabateur.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: He is depicted as being nothing but good-natured and kind to all, especially Polybeus. It makes his sudden death all the more heartbreaking, especially for Polybeus.

Godfrey Lionhardt and Columbina Pagliacci

Meddlesome youths before there were any.

Two mischeivious students, a human and a clown respectively, who are well aquainted with Rodrigo.

• Balloon of Doom: Columbina can create balloons out of nowhere, and she uses them to play big pranks on the faculty.
• Monster Clown: Columbina is a clown, or a type of demon. She has pale skin, a high-pitched voice, and razor-sharp teeth.
• The Prankster: To the point where they'll even try and prank the Dean himself!
• Tarot Motifs: The Juggler and the Magus, both alternatives to the Magician. Like Ivan, they're friends to the Fool, James, and like to get into lots of schenanigans with him.
• Those Two Guys: They are never seen apart from each other, and provide levity wherever they go.

Geoffrey Travers

Sometimes there's a wizard - I won't say a hero, 'cause what's a hero? - but sometimes there's a wizard.

"The school's got all these stupid little mistakes built into it, and at first you think they're, like just things you gotta suffer through, right? But like, these problems, they're things for us to overcome, right?"

A mostly carefree, easygoing student who's been living at the AAAM for a long time. Like Juno, he's very proficient at illusion magic, and has a major reverence for the moon.

• Captain Ersatz: He is in pretty much, in every way, shape, and form, the Dude from The Big Lebowski, right down to his mannerisms, looks, and his name basically being Jeff Bridges except written in a different way. The cherry on top is him stating something almost identical to his catchphrase ("The moon abides").
• Master of Illusion: Like Juno, he knows a thing or two about legerdemain, though he mostly uses it just to make his room bigger. He lends his knowledge to James and Rodrigo.
• Mellow Fellow: Nothing gets under this man's skin, not even the perils that strike his school.
• Nice Guy: By far one of the most pleasant people in the AAAM.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: As mentioned above, Geoffrey looks and acts so much one of the most famous roles of Jeff Bridges.
• The Stoner: As befitting a magical version of The Dude, he's implied to be this, if Juno's delivery of the book Medicinal Herbs and Their Recreational Uses is any indication.
• Tarot Motifs: The Moon. It's the thing that he worships above all else, and he himself embodies the more positive aspects of the card, being a Master of Illusion not afraid at all of what the future may bring.

Richard Rainsford *Unmarked Book 2 spoilers ahead*

All accusations of any similarity to Erik Ahlberg will be shown the door.

"Sport should be fun, yes, and there is no need for men of honor like us to sink into barbarism, is there?"

One of the AAAM's first students, and the champion of the Ultimate Wizard Battle tournament. A charitable and chivalrous man, Richard seeks nothing more than to find a worthy opponent on the battlefield.

He is in fact the main sabateur of the tournament, seeking to eliminate as many wizards as possible until he finds that worthy opponent under the mad pretense that he'll be seen as a true warrior that way.

• The Ace: What else would you expect from the champion of the UWB tournament. However...
• Big Bad Duumvirate: The main antagonist of Tournament of Death alongside his lackey, Miguel.
• Blow You Away: His specialty is in wind magic.
• Broken Ace: His whole motivation for being in the tournament was to impress his father. When that failed, keeping his reputation became a chore, as he has not been able to find a single Worthy Opponent. Everything about his victories are completely hollow.
• Fate Worse than Death: He and Miguel are trapped in an amulet for all eternity by Dermberder.
• Faux Affably Evil: Acts gentlemanly and chivalrous most of the time, but it's all a front to hide how bitter and unhinged he really is.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: What he presents himself as, vouching for fairness and good sport at all times. It falls to pieces as he grows more and more impatient with finding a worthwhile adversary.
• Mask of Sanity: Presents himself as a rather ideal fighter, but beneath that is a crazed villain who's deluded themself into thinking that killing innocent wizards will somehow make him a legend.
• Meaningful Name: His first name comes from King Richard III, while his last name is from Sanger Rainsford from The Most Dangerous Game. He shares the former's insanity and daddy issues and the later's status as a hunter getting a karmic punishment.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: He found his Worthy Opponent in Margot, but is seen by all now as a crazy murderer. To top it all off, he's imprisoned in an amulet with Miguel.
• Shadow Archetype: Ultimately, he's one to Polybeus. Both are muscular youths who seek glory in order to satiate their egos. But unlike Polybeus, Richard doesn't have friends to support him nor much of a moral compass, and his idea of becoming a legend is far more twisted than anything the Mediterran youth could conceive.
• Tarot Motifs: The Centurion, an alternative to the Chariot. While Margot is all about the benefits of being a hard-working fighter, Richard embodies the ego and violent tendencies this can lead to.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Everything he ever did was to prove that he was a true warrior to his dragon-slaying father. Tragically, it never worked, and it certainly never will now.
• Worthy Opponent: He's desperate to find one in the tournament, citing it as his primary motivation for everything he's done. He almost finds one in James, and definately gets it with Margot, though by then the damage has long since been done.
• Villainous Breakdown: After losing to Margot and Serena, Richard declares that he's finally found his Worthy Opponent after murderously weeding out other wizards, laughing like a madman that he'll be hailed as a hero for being able to slay something greater than dragons (other wizards).

Miguel Esmerejon *Unmarked Book 2 spoilers ahead*

A shockingly massive lack of sportsmanship is the least of your problems with this one.

"Oh no, rookie, you're not ready for the UWB! This isn't amateur hour! Either you've got what it takes, or you don't."

A particularly cruel practicioner of lightning magic, and one of the Ultimate Wizard Battle tournament's most popular fighters, having always been second-best to Richard.

Alongside Richard, he's a sabateur of the tournament, using an imp to plant deadly curses on choice opponents.

• Big Bad Duumvirate: The lackey of Richard in Tournament of Death.
• Crippling Overspecialization: As Serena notes in the final battle, Miguel seems to only have lightning magic at his disposal. While he can do other spells, they're nowhere near as powerful. So when he's pitted against a wizard who can use that lightning to empower her own crystals, he's screwed.
• Curbstomp Battle: Delivers a quick and brutal one to Ivan at the beginning of the tournament. Later, Serena returns the favor.
• Dark Is Evil: Dressed entirely in black, and by far one of the nastiest wizards in the tournament.
• Enemy Mine: Teams up with his old rival Richard in order to have a shot at finally winning.
• Even Evil Has Standards: For all his cruelty, he's not the keenest on actually killing wizards as Richard is so comfortable with doing.
• Fate Worse than Death: Both he and Richard are trapped in an amulet by Dermberder, presumably for all eternity.
• It's All About Me: He's only in Richard's scheme because it means he'll be able to win the UWB tournament for once.
• Kick the Dog: Is nothing but cruel to those he faces off against. His treatement of Ivan in their fight is almost akin to torture both in the physical and verbal sense.
• Meaningful Name: He, a Castalanian, is named after Miguel Cervantes, author of Don Quixote.
• Second Place Is for Losers: He lost to Richard in the final match last year, and he's clearly intent on fixing that.
• Shock and Awe: His main specialty is lightning magic.
• Smug Snake: Acts all tall and mighty in his matches due to his unmatched lightning magic...but it slips easily when an actual good opponent fights back.
• Tarot Motifs: The Thunderbolt, and alternative to the Tower. Befitting the mostly negative card, he's all about creating disasters and disruptions that ends up hurting others.
• Villainous Breakdown: Miguel's cool exterior gradually falls to pieces as the tournament reaches its conclusion due to a combination of increasingly powerful opponents and the stress of maintaining Richard's scheme. He gets almost no hits in during the final match, and when Dermberder confronts him and Richard, he does everything to try and weasel out of punishment. It doesn't work.

Grammy Crumblebuttons

If the thought of what she was like in her younger days doesn't unnerve you then something's wrong.

"You might not teach an old dog new tricks, but this old wizard wants to keep her mind sharp!"

A very elderly student, and a huge fan of the Ultimate Wizard Battle tournament. While she's mostly sweet, she turns on a dime watching the UWB, living for the brutality of it all.

• Granny Classic: Is for the most part a kindly and humble old lady...who just so happens to live for the violence of the UWB.
• Needlework Is for Old People: One of the things she does when not demanding more bloodshed from the tournament is knit.
• Red Herring: While her violent pleasures are unsettling, as are her choice words while calculating who's going to win, she's not the sabateur of the tournament. She's just like that.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: While watching the tournament, she wastes not time demanding that the students tear each other apart.

Titania Caterfree and Tinea Lunae

God forbid someone summon a lamp in the middle of the arena. From left to right: Titania and Tinea

The two fairy commentators of the UWB tournament, having done so for two years.

• Combat Commentator: Both serve as this for the tournament.
• Intrepid Reporter: They are writers for What's the Buzz?, the school newspartchment.
• Opposites Attract: Titania, a pretty and upbeat butterfly sylph, is utterly in love with her girlfriend, the brutish hornet-like Sadie, to the point of having a very clear bias in her favor.
• Team Switzerland: As befitting those of their profession, they tend not to take side with any of the contestants...unless your name is Sadie, in which case Titania will swear up and down that you deserve to win.

Zebul Blaa

You do realize being a maggot like this is a figure of speech, right?

A meek maggot-like Dökkálfar (dark elf) who Charlotte knows.

• Easily Forgiven: Definitely not with most of the student body, but the youths and especially Charlotte are more than willing to give him a second chance.
• Foil: To Charlotte, something she seems to recognize with sympathy. Both are faeries trying to find their place amongst the courts of the Seelies and Unseelies, but unlike the ettercap, he caved under the pressure and resorted to being The Mole under flimsy promises.
• Loners Are Freaks: He didn't have much of a social life even before he became an outcast thanks to helping the Summer Prince.
• The Mole: He assisted the Summer Prince in kidnapping students at the Samhaim Ball under the pretense that he'd be able to get out of having to be a permenant part of any faerie court.
• Reluctant Monster: He didn't really want to be a part of the kidnapping plot, but if it meant not having to swear fealty to the unseelie court, he did.
• Rule of Symbolism: His appearence is like that of a maggot, which is often used as a derogatory term to describe people who are weak/spineless.
• Welcome Back, Traitor: Almost all of the AAAM isn't going to forgive him for his role in the student kidnappings.

The Claw Gang

Whole gang's here, give em' a hand (or claw)! From left to right: Bartholomew Crawson, Shere Statchel, and Mugre Repellus

A trio of wizards often seen together, and all with unusual claw-like limbs. There's Shere Statchel with the mechanical scorpion-like claw, Bartholomew Crawson with his crab-like body/claw, and Mugre Repellus with his lichrot claw.

• A Day in the Limelight: A small part of the fourth chapter of Tournament of Death gives Shere her name and a chance to fight after her brief appearences in the last book.
• Animal Motifs: Scorpions for Shere. Her mechanical claw is shaped like a pincer, she's proficient in poison magic, she has a monocle like an arthropod's eye, and her long hair forms in the shape of the arachnid's stinger. Bartholowmew is more obvious with his connection to crabs.
• Artificial Limbs: Shere's left arm resembles a scorpion's pincer.
• Body Horror: As one might guess, lichrot has not been kind to Mugre.
• Graceful Loser: Shere acepts Margot's victory over her with gusto.
• Prehensile Hair: Shere's long blue hair takes the shape of a scorpion's stinger, and can be used as a poisonous whip.
• Recurring Extra: Almost never seen too far from each other.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Shere planned on doing this to Fairyland during the first book's kidnapping conflict after Mugre was taken.
• Speech Impediment: The one line Mugre gets in The Meddlesome Youths is noticeably slurred from his cleft lip.
• Zodiac Motifs: Shere's explicitly based on Scorpio, with both her scorpion motif and her passionate personality.

Reese Crogallach

What's the matter, ran out of codfish?

A rather unpleasant student, also a were-crocodile.

• Body Horror: His face is described as looking like someone stretched human features over a crocodile skull.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: Transforms into a massive crocodile, and happens to be a Jerkass.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: On both ends, as he seemingly defeated his previous opponent quite easily, but loses to Serena in less than a minute after he insults her.

Chungo Maximo

A frightening but amiable half-ogre student.

• The Grotesque: Despite his enormous size and ghastly appearance, he proves himself a noble soul. Margot even declares him a gentleman by the end of their match.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Is part ogre, which has given a difficult life.
• Shapeshifting: His main tactic in a fight is to counter his opponent by taking on different animal forms, be it a tiny mouse or a massive crocodile.

Aldonza Dulcinea

The Youths aren't the only meddling kids in town.

An extremely plucky young wizard.

• Beware the Silly Ones: Absolutely trounces Miguel Esmerejon during their fight in the tournament until the sabotage runes kick in.
• Hero of Another Story: Her debut in Tournament of Death reveals she somehow managed to stop a manticore rampaging in school grounds during the Samhain Ball, something James was unaware of and is completely flabbergasted by.
• Meaningful Name: Her name is a combination of the aliases (the real one and the fake one, respectively) given to the love interest of Don Quixote.
• The Polly Anna: Acts cheerful and full of energy at all times. Even getting gruesomely maimed doesn't change her one bit.

Sarkani Charmil

Is she nothing but ambition?

A haughty, theatrical student, definitely not a vampire

• Animal Motifs: Dragons. She wears red armor with a draconic emblem on her chest and curled horns on her helm, can make herself breathe fire, and claims to be "part dragon" during her introduction.
• Ambiguously Human: Tells Margot she has dragon ancestry, and according to the author she's "definitely not a vampire"
• Card-Carrying Villain: Makes herself out a big, terrifying deal, but nobody seems to take her seriously.
• Turns Red: Goes ballistic after Margot accidentally severs her left arm. Not that it helps her win anyway.

Joan Tatou

Next time, Pappenheimer, next time!

A bookish student and bitter rival of Gretchen.

• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Gretchen
• Mega Nekko: Like Gretchen, she has enormous glasses, which the narration notes makes her resemble an owl.
• Mirror Character: Both her and Gretchen are really short, bespectacled, studious and cantankerous wizards with a small social circle.

Antagonists

The foes that menace the AAAM.

Lord Dhenregirr

Be afraid, be... slightly afraid.

"Let me give you a hanged man's wisdom: life is fleeting, but hatred is forever. And by the power of my hatred, I will crush this pathetic institution into dust!"

A nasty villain that frequently haunts the AAAM, and the arch-enemy of Dean Dermberder. Afflicted with an advanced form of litchrot known as shadowrot, he seems to seek the absolute ruin of the school and its students. However, while he can put on an impressive show, his actual evil-doings leave...a lot to be desired.

---

• Arch-Enemy: To Gernderf Dermberder. Exactly what started this is unknown, as they are the only two who take their rivalry seriously.
• Benevolent Boss: Surprisingly, he's this to his skeleton army, panicking every time they get hurt and fussing over them like a concerned parent. James wins the fight against him in Tournament of Death after figuring this out.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Despite looking and sounding like the AAAM's greatest threat, and the dean hyping him up as such, this is an evil wizard who, while very powerful, can be fended off by a literal broom thrashing.
• Butt-Monkey: Every time he appears, something goes wrong for him, and he ends up getting hurt. The end of The Meddlesome Youths is by far the most humiliating defeat he has had thus far (unless you count Gretchen smacking him around with a broom).
• Dem Bones: Can summon an army of living skeletons to do his bidding.
• Designated Villain: Dermberder goes at length about how awful he is...without actually telling James WHY he's such a threat aside from the cliched "take over the school" shtick.
• Dynamic Entry: Almost always shows up with a flashy burst of green mist and undead minions... followed almost immediately by a humiliating defeat.
• Expy: Of Lord Voldemort, though his design brings Dementors to mind. And his role in the first book, a Red Herring as the antagonist, is one of Snape.
• Face Framed in Shadow: The only visible parts of his face are his red eyes and sharp teeth.
• A Father to His Men: Regards his skeleton army with tremendous sympathy and care.
• Harmless Villain: Nobody (aside from the dean) is intimidated by him, if only because he can be easily thwarted, as well as how he acts more like a cartoon villain than anything else. However...
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: ...he is still a very old and powerful wizard, and as such can be lethal in a one-on-one fight. Throughout his battle with James in Tournament of Death, he and his skeleton army have the poor boy on the ropes until he exploits his Benevolent Boss tendencies.
• Karmic Butt-Monkey: What he seems to be, getting beaten up every time he attempts evil.
• Meaningful Name: His name is actually an anagram for his role in the story. It's Red Herring.
• Necromancer: He can summon an army of skeletons that seem to have minds of their own.
• Obviously Evil: Just look at him with his sickly skin, tattered bony robes, and face full of shadow and sharp teeth!
• Our Liches Are Different: Lichrot is the name given to deformities on wizards who have dabbled in too much experimental magic. Dhenregirr has shadowrot, which has turned him into a wraith-like monster.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Enters the arena in Tournament of Death as Herring Lordred while wearing Groucho Marx-style glasses. James calls out the laziness of his name in particular as a second-rate anagram of his own name.
• Poke the Poodle: Left to his own devices, one of his acts of villainy is painting "Lord Dhenregirr rules" on the school walls.
• Red Herring: Introduced as the potential main villain...only to show that he's more of a Harmless Villain more than anything else. Heck, his name is an anagram for the saying!
• Stealth Mentor: Surprisingly, Dhenregirr spends most of the first half of his fight with James in Tournament of Death actively encouraging him to experiment with magic beyond just the water element, taking the time to guide him though the rough basics.
• Tarot Motifs: The Hanged Man. For one thing, there's a noose around his neck, and the card often represents characters who have sacrificed a great deal in order to gain enlightenment. This is the foundation which lich/shadowrot deformities are built upon.
• Worthy Opponent: Sees James as this after their fight in Tournament of Death.

The Meddlesome Youths Mastermind *Unmarked Spoilers Ahead*

The Summer Prince

Next time, just settle for a box of chocolates or something.

"I've been working on this for four years now! Four years! That may not seem like a lot of time to me, given that my glorious self will live forever, but for one of you humans that's, what, a third of your lifespan, give or take?"

A high-ranking elven prince who serves under the Seelie court. Like his fellow high elves, he is romantically attracted to the Queen of Night, another elf royal. Due to her fascination with humans, he launched a scheme to kidnap as many AAAM students as possible in order to impress her.

---

• Agent Peacock: He dresses in incredibly gaudy multicolored regalia at all times.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: He's a very important figure amongst the fair folk, and also a slimy kidnapper.
• Bad Boss: Implied to not treat his fairy underlings very well, as evidenced by the hobgoblin gladly betraying him and the orks throwing in the towel in order to honor their warrior code.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Sort of but not really. He got away with kidnapping a ton of students, many of which are scattered across Fairyland now, but he can no longer due so because of James deal, the records of the kidnapped students have been found, and despite thinking that taking James' old name and identity is a win for himself, it really isn't.
• Big Bad: Of The Meddlesome Youths, being the one who instigated the mass kidnappings.
• Catchphrase: Wot wot! Oftentimes, to punctuate an insulting response.
• Deal with the Devil: Makes one with James on the latter's request. The boy gets to see the end of the prince's plan, but in exchange must offer something of his own. The prince gets James' old name, and seems to consider it a victory, when it fact James won out due to giving him something he never wanted.
• Evil Is Bigger: Like all elves, he is much taller than the average person.
• I Gave My Word: Vile as he is, he makes good on James' deal, ending his plans in exchange for the boy's former identity.
• Loophole Abuse: He and the rest of Fairyland allowed Dermberder to build the AAAM right next to their turf, but the prince got away with using the main archway as a portal in order to spirit students away for his own goals. Dermberder is eventually forced to confront that he let this happen so easily.
• Love Makes You Evil: He did everything to impress the Queen of Night.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: He is able to kidnap a lot of students, and he revels gleefully in taking away James old identity in exchange for halting his plans. However, James didn't even want to be Elizabeth Marlowe to begin with, and the records of all the stolen students have been found, ensuring that whatever he got out of everything will not last.
• Starter Villain: The first true bad guy the youths must foil the plans of. As many beginner villains are often, his plans are done in by their intervention.
• Tarot Motifs: The Apostle, an alternative to the Heirophant. He symbolizes the negative connotation of the card, being a condescending and pompous asshole who craves power.

Tournament of Death Mastermind *Unmarked Spoilers Ahead*

Richard Rainsford and Miguel Esmerejon

"They're all still looking for one saboteur. No one's stopped to think there might be two."

Not one, but two people are at fault for the deaths at the Ultimate Wizard Battle tournament. Richard leads the scheme, wanting to kill wizards and find a worthy adversary in order to prove his father wrong about his worth, while Miguel uses an imp to place deadly cursed runes on unsuspecting contestants.

See their folders for more information.

Other Characters

Characters unaffiliated with the AAAM or villainy.

Helseng

One shudders to imagine what inhuman thoughts lie behind that mask, what dreams of cryptic and precise foresight...

"The only thing that has ended is the beginning. I must warn you, the challenges will only get harder from here. But the bonds you've formed with your friends will strengthen, and you will rise together to face what obstacles are thrown in your way. Keep your heart open and loving, and the world will be yours."

A mysterious fortune teller that pops up every now and then. She seems to exist solely to guide James along a path that will lead to his own personal fulfillment, using the Major Arcana as a guide. Why does she help him and seemingly no one else? None can say. For what it's worth, she's quite supportive of him.

---

• Ambiguously Human: She looks like a person, but there's no telling who or what she actually is for now.
• Cool Mask: She wears a doll-like porcelain mask at all times.
• Creepy Good: Despite her tall frame and unsettling mask, she's a staunch ally of James.
• Enigmatic Empowering Entity: Whoever she is, whatever she is, she makes it her mission to help James on the path to "claiming the world". She claims that "the world" is a matter of the boy's interpretation, but it's still not known why she's zeroed in on him specifically.
• The Faceless: Whatever she looks like behind that mask, we may never know.
• Fortune Teller: Her profession and speciality.
• Meaningful Name: Her name is explicitly based off Van Helsing from Dracula.
• Mr. Exposition: Appears three times in the first book, and every time she tells James something he needs to know, usually how to get the right future.
• Shout-Out: To the many blue clothing-wearing enigmatic empowering entities from the Persona series. Seeing how they were all named after characters from Frankenstein, Cope switched gears and named her after one of the most famous characters from another famous gothic horror story.
• Tarot Motifs: Aside from being the one who kicks off the entire theme of tarot cards in the series, she herself represents Death. As she notes rightfully, this does not usually mean death in a literal sense, but instead moments of great change and/or enlightenment, which she symbolizes perfectly.

Mr. Mackers

"Disease is just another form of life, like birds and beasts, and we live with it as we do any other. I simply choose to tend to it, as others of my kind have sworn to do."

A resident of the swamps of Fairyland, Mr. Mackers is a nuckelavee, one of the most dangerous fairies out there. However, despite his kind's fearsome reputation, he is a good friend of Professor Schwaa, and welcomes his students with open arms.

---

• Adaptational Heroism: In the original myths, the nuckelavee is the absolute worst monster a person could ever encounter. Here, while his kind are certainly dangerous when they want to be, the only one seen is up for a good spot of tea with his friend's students.
• Beware the Nice Ones: A very charitable and patient monster he may be, he still doesn't hesitate to rip into the elven general when the latter menaces his turf and the youths.
• Creepily Long Arms: Desribed as having very large and lanky limbs.
• Creepy Good: By far one of the most horrible-looking beasts seen thus far, and yet one of the nicer characters around.
• Meaningful Name: His name is based on the name used to describe Macbeth without invoking The Scottish Trope.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: It wouldn't be a nuckelavee if it weren't a zombified humanoid torso growing out of an equally corpse-like horse. However, this interpretation also has fish-like fins befitting a water creature.
• Nuckelavee: And a very accurate depiction at that. The only real difference between most interpretations of this Scandinavian monster is that he's a good guy.
• Plaguemaster: Part of what makes his species so feared is how they can literally communicate and manipulate disease as if it were a living entity. As per the original legend, he can control the plague known as mortasheen. However, Mackers points out that such an ability can have special healing properties as well. He unleashes the nasty sort onto the elven army after killing their leader.
• Sizeshifter: Usually, he's absolutely huge, but he can shrink himself to slightly huge to interact with people.
• Tom the Dark Lord: An insanely awful-looking beast... named Mr. Mackers.

---