Magrat Garlick is a character from
Terry Pratchett's
Discworld novels. She was at one point in her career a witch, filling the space of "maiden" in the traditional "
triple goddess"-type coven of "the
maiden, the
mother, and the
other one". Magrat is described as a bit of a wet hen, with hair like a haystack and a figure like a beanpole, and is quite definitely a hopeless romantic, who sings folk songs with her eyes closed like she actually believes in them. Well, maybe she's not entirely hopeless. She does marry King Verence II of
Lancre (who was formerly the court jester), and in
Carpe Jugulum, they have a baby girl who, due to a minor flub by the priest performing the christening, is named "Esmerelda Margaret (Note Spelling)".
Magrat was not a particularly good witch, since she depended more heavily on "traditional" (read: cliched) witchcraft tools such as cauldrons, fancy ceremonial knives, and tarot (or Caroc, since this is the Discworld) cards than her fellow witches Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. However, she does possess a great knowledge of herbology. And while she does appear mousy, like any witch she will fight viciously when cornered.
Magrat was trained in witchcraft by Goodie Whemper, a research witch who died in a most unfortunate accident during an experiment. The experiment involved seeing whether a broomstick could survive having its straws being plucked out one by one in mid-flight. Unfortunately for Goodie Whemper, the answer was "no".
In case you haven't noticed, Magrat was originally described as an obvious parody of stereotypical neopagans. You know, the sort of people who believe in the power of flowers and crystals and cute fuzzy widdle animals and those sorts of witchcraft cliches.