Ashley West

"You allowed four of the kids under your protection to go to Salem, and now, after you revealed it to the whole academy, you’re just going to run?"

- Ashley berating Hamilton Ashley West is the Vice-Principal at Hamilton's Academy for Witches and Wizards after Hamilton himself. She is an Earth mage.

Pre-ASFS
In 1997, Ashley was hired by Hamilton to help run his new academy. Though it is not stated, her job was presumably as a teacher, or as the Vice-Principle position she has at the beginning of the novel.

ASFS
Ashley is first introduced showing Mary around the academy. She also helps her determine her power by showing her the bowl. When Mary escapes, she volunteers to help bring her back with Ash, Reg, Callum, and Florence. On the way back, however, a Lycan forces them to crash.

Later, Hamilton confides his plans to retire to Ashley shortly after The Salem Four leaves. While this is Hamilton's secret plan to help Cassandra come back from the dead, Ashley takes this as a sign of his cowardice and chastises him. When Callum, Damian, and Lee escape the Academy to go after the others, Ashley pursues them to the airport, where she is delayed by Lee so that Callum and Damian can get on the plane. She is then not seen until the end of the novel.

Moving the Earth
Being an Earth mage, Ashley has the ability to control the ground beneath her feet at will

Shorter Distances
Ashley can make distances on the ground shorter somehow.

Footsteps
Ashley can detect the footsteps of people touching the ground. This ability appears to extend for "miles".

Joshua Hamilton
Hamilton and Ashley have a strained relationship. Multiple times, their opinions differ and they are shown to argue in front of the main characters. However, it seems that the two ultimately respect each other despite their differences. This changes, however, when Hamilton announces his plan to retire shortly after revealing the Salem Four's quest, in which she calls him a "coward".

Ash
Though they don't interact much, Ashley appears to respect Ash and even sympathise with their cause. She is one of the only ones who doesn't want the group to go after Mary when she goes to Earl's Court when Mary escapes, as she fears for their safety.

Mary
When they first meet, Ashley seems to feel sorry for Mary. She treats her well and helps her discover her magical ability on her first night.

Appearances

 * Chapter 3: I Can't do This, can I?
 * Chapter 6: Escape
 * Chapter 7: Water
 * Chapter 8: Past and Present
 * Chapter 9: Monster
 * Chapter 19: The Salem Four

Trivia

 * Ashley is descended from the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz.