The character of Christopher Chant (the Chrestomanci in this novel) appears as a young boy in
The Lives of Christopher Chant and as a teenager in ''
Conrad's Fate''. ;Eric Emelius "Cat" Chant: The
protagonist of the novel, Cat is a young boy who is sent to live at Chrestomanci Castle after a steamboat accident causes his parents (Francis and Caroline Chant) to drown. He originally appears to have no magic and indeed holds this notion himself. As
Charmed Life progresses it is revealed that Cat is actually an immensely powerful enchanter with nine lives. Unbeknownst to Cat, his sister Gwendolen constantly uses and abuses Cat's magic. He only has three lives remaining, having lost his first life when he only just survived being born, his second when Gwendolen had put his lives into a book of matches (to make them easier for her to use), the third when he drowned in the boating accident that killed his parents, the fourth when Gwendolen used it to turn his fiddle into a cat (which he kept as a pet and named Fiddle), the fifth when Gwendolen used it to take her into her new world where she reigned as queen, and the sixth when he burned a match from his 'life book' of matches in an attempt to prove that he didn't have nine lives and the matches weren't connected to him. This matchbox is his main weakness. ;Gwendolen Chant: The main
antagonist of the novel, and like Cat, she survived the boating accident which killed their parents. Cat believed that Gwendolen could not drown because she was a witch, and that he had only survived by clinging to her (he did not realise that he had in fact drowned). She appears to be a gifted witch, although one who uses magic for selfish and dark purposes. It is eventually revealed that she did not have powerful witchcraft of her own, but borrowed substantial amounts of
magic from Cat. Although she was very motherly to Cat in the past, she becomes nastier and bossier to him as the story progresses. Gwendolen is extremely ambitious and has master plans to be Queen or to rule the world. Gwendolen greatly dislikes the current Chrestomanci, because he refused to acknowledge her powers and also denied her further witchcraft education. ;Janet Chant: Gwendolen's counterpart from another world. Before being pulled into World Twelve A, she had lived in a nice, ordinary home in a world similar to ours. While Gwendolen was bossy and bold, Janet was quite shy and jolly. No one was to know that Gwendolen had spirited away to another world, so Cat and Janet had to pretend Janet was Gwendolen. When they were trying to keep it a secret, it is later revealed that Chrestomanci had known about it all along. She later decides to stay in Cat's world and becomes Chrestomanci's
ward. ;Chrestomanci – Christopher Chant: Chrestomanci is very unpredictable and random. He is a nine-lifed enchanter like Cat, but only has two lives left after a series of accidents took place when he was younger. Chrestomanci has a strong magic and must appear whenever summoned; he works for the government, controlling magic and keeping hold on wayward witches and wizards. ;Millie Chant: Millie is Christopher's wife and an extremely powerful enchantress. She is described as plump, jolly and cheerful. She takes a disliking to Gwendolen when she insults her and is the only one in the castle to take action against her after Gwendolen's first offence. She seems to like Cat a lot, but he tends to try to avoid everyone in the castle. Her backstory of being from another world is explored in
The Lives Of Christopher Chant. ;Julia Chant: Julia is one of Chrestomanci's two children. She is quite fat and normally nice, but proves to have a vengeful streak when Gwendolen provokes her. Julia's magic seems to centre on a handkerchief, but her magic is lesser than Cat's, and she often finds her attempts at revenge disrupted by him. ;Roger Chant: Roger is Julia's brother and the other child of Chrestomanci. He tends to be laid back and not as hot-tempered as his sister. Roger is more inclined to co-operate with Cat and to entertain him. He usually ignores Gwendolen, unless things get too out of hand. ==Awards==