Enchantress

The Enchantress is the minor character from Disney's 1991 film Beauty and the Beast and its sequel. She is voiced by Kath Soucie in only the sequel.

Personality
The Enchantress is the one who placed the spell on the Prince and everyone inside the castle for the Prince's cruel ways. She is cunning, taking on the guise of an old, helpless woman seeking shelter to test the Prince's heart. How kind or good she actually is, however, is up for debate, particularly because of the debate over the Beast's age when he was cursed, and how she cursed everyone in the castle rather than just the guilty party.

Role in the film
Disguised as an elderly beggar woman, the Enchantress went to the castle of Prince Adam on a cold and snowy Christmas Eve night, and she asked if she could stay overnight to be protected from the cold in exchange for a beautiful rose she was carrying. The Prince, unimpressed by the beautiful gift and repulsed by her appearance, refused and shut the door in her face cruelly. Then she knocked on the door again and this time she revealed her true form to the Prince. Seeing how powerful she was, Prince Adam sought her forgiveness, but the Enchantress put a curse on him: for being so selfish, mean and cold-hearted, he would become a Beast until finding a true love who loved him in return. She also cursed all the servants turning them into anthropomorphic objects, the castle became dark and lonely and the woods became infested with wolves. Years later, her spell was broken by Belle, and Prince Adam learned of his errors thanks to the actions of the Enchantress.

Her methods may seem harsh but the punishments are meant to teach the offenders a lesson and to realize their own faults, ultimately making them into better people.

Powers and abilities
The Enchantress is a most powerful and wise being: She has the power of shapeshifting, or at least glamouring (an illusry disguise) to hide her true form, she can cast powerful spells or curses, and transform anything into almost anything - the prince into a beast to match his cruel, unfeeling heart, his servants into objects, an entire castle into a bleak fortress, etc.

Furthermore, she has the ability to enchant objects with magical abilities of their own: The rose she offered was enchanted to bloom and serve as a reminder to the Beast of both how much time he had to break the spell and as a reminder of what got him into his predicament to begin with, she presumably gave the Beast the Enchanted Mirror as his only window to the outside world, and she can enchant things to come to life and move with a will of their own.