Grand High Witch

Eva Ernst the Grand High Witch is the chief antagonist of The Witches and is one of the most influential witches in the world, carefully and cleverly disguised as an attractive and imposing aristocratic-looking woman named Eva Ernst. Since being one of the most infuential and powerful sorceresses on Earth, she leads a secret society of like-minded witches in their neverending quest to kill and torture children: depiction of witches in this story was considerably dark for a children's book and they were all guilty of child-abuse and murder. The Grand High Witch especially had a plan that would climax in turning all the children of the world into mice, to be disposed of either by the witches themselves, or by their unsuspecting parents.

In the end however the Grand High Witch suffered a somewhat fitting demise when her own magic was used against her and she was transformed (along with many of her followers) into a mouse and killed.