The next time you watch the 1939 film, and Glinda floats down in her bubble to ask, “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” remember: that was Locasta’s line. That was Locasta’s kiss. And somewhere in the Gillikin Country, an old woman in a ruby-tipped hat is smiling, knowing that the road she set Dorothy upon led not just to Oz, but to a home worth fighting for.

Baum describes her as a “little old woman” with snow-white hair, dressed in a beautiful white silk gown. She wears a pointed hat set with rubies and carries a wand. Her demeanor is not the saccharine benevolence of the film; it is pragmatic, weary, and deeply concerned with protocol. To understand Locasta, one must understand the Gillikin Country. Unlike the cheerful, agrarian Munchkin Country (East) or the pastoral Quadling Country (South), the North is a land of rugged forests, purple mountains, and, most importantly, magic. It is home to the Magic Isle of Yew, the underground realms of the Nomes, and the mysterious forests where inanimate objects speak. Ruling this region is no small feat.

Unlike Glinda, who is beautiful, young-seeming, and aloof, Locasta is grandmotherly, wrinkled, and deeply engaged in the daily governance of her people. She knows the name of every Gillikin farmer. She adjudicates disputes between the talking animals of the northern forests. She once personally marched into the Nome King’s tunnels to negotiate a mining treaty. She is not a fairy-tale princess; she is a bureaucrat with a wand .