HP2 REDRAFT: Cast

𝖛. 𝕸𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗

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Portrayal(s): Hannah Waddingham
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Full Name: Margaret

Sobriquet (Nickname/Nicknames): "Mother", "Mummy"

Gender: Female

Age: 40 (at the time of her death)
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Parent(s): N/A

Sibling(s): Wilmot (twin-older sister), Samuel (younger half-brother), Alice (youngest sister)

Child(ren): Winifred Sanderson (adopted daughter), Mary Sanderson (adopted daughter), Sarah Sanderson (adopted daughter)

Relative(s): Unnamed great-grandmother †

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Date of Birth: 1615

Date of Death: 1655

Cause: Blood loss (from the stab wound and later hanged)

Homeplace: Her coven (formerly); Salem, Massachusetts
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Occupation: Witch

Affiliation(s): The Sanderson Sisters (former leader/mother figure)
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Like(s): Youth, sucking children's soul(s), witchcraft, potions, the Spellbook, cooking/baking food, her younger siblings, torture, Satan, the Sanderson Sisters

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Dislike(s): Reverend Traske, past Reverends, Wilmot, the Sanderson Sisters getting hurt, Winifred's disobedience, recklessness, being referred to as "witch lady", her real name

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Ability/Abilities: Dark magic, potion brewing, spell casting, enhanced smell, hypnotic singing (limited), truth inducement, tapetum lucidum/glowing eyes

Paraphernalia(s): Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy ("Spellbook")

Status: Deceased
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Background: Mother was the Sandersons' mentor and parental figure during the time they went into the woods after being banished from Salem. Mother does have a real name but, refers to herself as "Mother" when she stumbled across the Sandersons.

Despite her anonymous and having a mysterious background, right before Mother became a witch, she had three siblings: Wilmot, her twin older sister, Samuel, her half-brother, and Alice, her youngest sister. Wilmot and Mother does not get along well since she describes Wilmot as "strict" and is like "everyone else" by forcing Mother to marry a random man. 

She would then one day run away from home and never look back. It was not until she went through the woods and stumble across the Devil's Spellbook . That would be then she met him.  Mother would work with the Devil as his only close companion by doing his witchery deeds for about two years. She will be the first one to become a witch with the Devil's approval. 

She does eventually receives the Spellbook from him. Although right before her death, Mother would give the Spellbook to Winifred in order for her and the sisters to protect it. Winifred  would then do everything in her power to not only do what's right for herself but, what Mother would've wanted to accomplish.

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Trivia:

- Although she's referred to as "The Witch Mother" in the sequel, she'll be referred to as "Mother" in this redraft.

- Her real name is Margaret, who is named based on one of the victims from the Salem witch trials, Margaret Scott. She got executed by hanging at the age of 77.

- Her siblings, Wilmot, Samuel, and Alice, are also named based on the victims of the Salem witch trials. Mother's eldest sister, Wilmot, was named off from Wilmot Redd. Mother's younger half-brother, Samuel, was named off from Samuel Wardwell Sr. And Mother's youngest sister, Alice, was named off from Alice Parker. All three were executed from hanging. 

- Although the first film claimed that Winifred is the heir of the Spellbook from the Devil, the sequel changes it to that Mother gifts the Sanderson sisters their spellbook, though the legend incorrectly states it was given to them by the Devil. This could be attributed only to the Sanderson sisters who were aware of Mother's existence and that they, particularly Winifred, refused to reveal her predecessor's existence, which was made easier by inhabitants of Salem's own bias toward them and witches in general.

- In this redraft (Act II), Mother's claimed to the first witch. When getting hands towards the Spellbook in the middle of Salem Woods (currently the Forbidden Forest), the Devil approached to her and worked with him through his deeds for a couple of years to obtain her knowledge as a witch. 

- Although the sequel implied that Mother lost her coven after performing the "Magicae Maxima" spell, the redraft version (Act III), her coven was set on fire right after her death. 

- Despite Mother being alive in the sequel, the redraft will have Mother killed off for a reason. Sacrificing Mother, this redraft will center on how the Sandersons cope from her loss differently and even how their respective character arcs are developed. For Sarah, she easily accepts the terms towards Mother's death and learns to look back at her childhood because of it, learn her mistakes and mature along the way. For Mary, she'll have a hard time accepting it (the term being 'bargaining') and while trying to uplift her sisters, she wishes that there are others like Mother that respects her. Mary then can learn to accept and appreciate herself without seeking the approval of others. Although for Winifred... this isn't fully easy for her. She's still in denial and seeks in the past. Because of this, Winifred would mainly use revenge onto others because that's what she thinks that others deserve to suffer just like the Reverend did to her. Although understandable, this unfortunately causes Winifred to turn into a villain in a tragic manner. She doesn't care about what others think anymore. (take Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2 as an main example) She doesn't care what she's doing is right or wrong. She doesn't care about her sisters, the only ones that really cared about her. Even after all of that, it's never enough. She still seeks misery and torment onto others, even from her sisters that she "loves" so much. She treats them more as her own guinea pigs or her tools than human beings. The problem: Winifred's narcissistic and she knows it. She's not aware on what kind of consequences she gets or haves. She doesn't want to change, she loves being evil, she loves being hated by those around her. So, when the sequel's third act tried to act like Winifred's all good on the inside, it's horrendous for a reason. The first is aware that Winifred's a character that we love to hate. She's ironically funny, smart yet clueless, vicious yet devilish. It comes across as manipulative and disgusting to me. Just because Winifred has trauma doesn't really excuse nor justify her actions. She chooses to not improve as a person and to not learn how her actions effect others. She chooses this and that's her consequence.