Aunty

Aunty was the aunt of Amina and the original owner of the cauldron.

## Description

Aunty was described as "an energetic and wild-haired woman who always brought the strangest gifts when she visited" by Amina from her childhood memories. She was an elderly woman with wild hair who was found wearing a patchwork dress when stuffed in the cauldron.

Aunty's voice is also deep and boisterous.

While Aunty is only shown throughout a small period of the story, she is shown to be kind. She readily invites Amina into her house despite not having seen her for years, taking Amina in as an apprentice, and being held in high regard by other witches and her coven. After her death, her coven donates her cauldron to spark inspiration in women which, if it did so, would "be enough to make Aunty smile, wherever she is now."

## History

Sometime during Amina's childhood or earlier, Aunty had a falling out with Amina's Mother. This resulted in her now seeing Amina during her teen and adult life. This is theorised by Amina to be because of the clashes in their lifestyle, with her mum being a straight-and-narrow type of woman while Aunty was wilder. This is never confirmed.

At some point in her life, Aunty became a well-respected witch and joined a coven of similarly aged and wild women. It is never said if she discloses this with the rest of her family, although it seems unlikely as Amina had no idea.

During her elder years, Amina sends a letter asking to stay with her and Aunty agrees. However, when Amina arrives, Aunty had been caught by a wolf creature who wanted to eat her and take her power. Thankfully, Amina comes in just in time and saves her. As Amina was able to see through the creature's disguise, Aunty explains everything to her and takes her in as an apprentice.

Amina joins to coven as well, eventually graduating as an apprentice and becomes a witch.

Aunty eventually dies in her sleep from old age. Her cauldron, passed down to her coven and Amina, is then donated to the Mistholme Museum to keep her spirit alive.

## Home

Aunty's home is in the middle of the woods and is a tiny shack all by itself. There are no vehicles or modern technology in the area and the house has a wooden fence with an overgrown herb garden. It is completely made of wood and Amina worries if it is even waterproof. There are also several amateur repair jobs done to the outside and it has a chimney.

On the inside, it is suggested the house is only one room large as Amina can see the cauldron and the bed at the same time. It is cramped, damp, and covered in cobwebs. The bed is in the corner of the room and has a mouldy blanket. Later, when Amina is trying to find something to protect herself with, she shuffles through multiple jars of unknown liquids, herbs, satchels, and other objects.

Later, when Aunty is freed, she waves her hand to reveal a different interior. It is warm, homey, and surprisingly large for the outside of the hut.

## Trivia

* Aunty's real name is not known, as even Amina just knew her as "Aunty"
* Aunty's Coven is only full of other women who are similar to herself.
* She was likely inspired by a mixture of the Cool Old Lady, Witch, and the Cool Aunt tropes.
* Aunty's Coven may potentially be inspired by Dianic Wicca, but hopefully less transphobic.
* The story is likely inspired by Little Red Riding Hood.