Zarathustra

Professor Zarathustra is a witch that teaches Mayhem at Cloud Tower and sister of Ediltrude. She is a strong believer in the dark arts and very loyal to Headmistress Griffin.

Appearance
She has dark teal hair, dark colored eyes with a purple mark under her left eye, and a hooked nose.

Civilian
Zarathustra wears dark purple eye shadow. Her outfit consists of a long turtleneck sweater with a light purple belt across her waist, pants and amethyst boots.

Personality
She is dedicated and knowledgeable in witchcraft and is devoted to Headmistress Griffin. Zarathustra is shown to have a bit of an angst against fairies and is rather cunning as she tried to cause them to be more prone to their dark energy and feelings. Interestingly, she seemed concerned for them when she thought Griffin had sent the Winx to personally distract the Trix while she goes to meditate.

Zarathustra also has a dark sense of honesty, shown when both her students and the Winx failed to protect Cloud Tower's codex, she simply commented that "[it is] a sad day for all who live."

Season 1
In "The Fall of Magix", Zarathurstra was in Cloud Tower's dining hall with everyone when the Trix trespassed into the school. After Griffin was hurled into a table. Zarathurstra came to her aid and angrily scolded the Trix for their behavior. Stormy found this amusing and mocks her authority. She then summoned a tornado which violently casted her and Ediltrude out the window.

She, Ediltrude, and Griffin are then captured by The Trix after they had seized Cloud Tower and later escaped with those loyal to Headmistress Griffin to Alfea.

Season 2
She and her sister were assigned to escort their guests, the Winx, into Cloud Tower. When the Winx arrived she and Ediltrude scoffed that they would be able to handle their stay at Cloud Tower. Zarathustra also corrected the fairies on their incorrect perception of the school being a typical building, when in fact, it is actually a living organism much like a tree.

When the Winx were in one of her classes of Mayhem she was trying to trick them into accessing their dark magic and making them prone to negative feelings and hostility. Until Mirta interrupted the lesson half way through because she knew of Zarathustra's intentions.

Zarathustra then goes to see Griffin in her office to find that she is busy preparing to go somewhere. She asks the headmistress about it and is told that she needs to meditate and regain control over the Tower. She quickly asks if Griffin had purposefully sent their guests to distract the Trix while she does so of which Griffin denies. That is when Zarathustra questions why Griffin had paired the girls up with their polar opposites which could make things worse. Griffin is aware of this and had accepted it, though she reasoned that it was also a lesson for all of them regardless of what will happen.

In the end, Zarathustra's hunches were correct. The fairies' inability to get along failed to protect Cloud Tower's codex and as Zarathustra, Ediltrude, and Griffin watch the Winx leave the school in defeated, Zarathustra comments that today is a sad day.

Season 3
When Valtor entered Cloud Tower, she was seen reacting negatively and also retorted the Trix upon their return. She then falls under his control and forced into her monster form.

She is then ordered to join her sister and their enchanted students to deal with the Winx and Mirta who had trespassed into their school in search of answers. She converges with Zarathustra against the Winx but their convergence is redirected towards them and hits Gerbera and Polly. Afterwards, Musa and Stella puts the rest of the witch students to sleep. Now outnumbered, Ediltrude and Zarathustra retreat with three of their slumbering students.

Her last appearance in this season was at Alfea, discussing about Faragonda's choice in accepting Valtor's challenge.

The Battle for Magix
In this special Zarathustra, along with her her sister, make their appearances once again as they witness Icy hurling a beam of ice at Griffin, both went to make sure she was alright and she angrily criticizes the Trix for their behavior. Unfortunately, when Stormy conjured up a tornado she and her sister were thrown through the window.

Season 1
Zarathustra makes her debut in Prisoner of the Dark but she only makes a cameo appearance in the issue.

Then in The Revelation she and the rest of the staff find the monster the Trix created had been loose in Cloud Tower. When she and her colleagues attack it only to learn the monster can absorb the energy. It then fires it back at Zarathustra and the rest of the staff. She is later seen watching the monster escape Cloud Tower.

Season 2
In Treason Zarathustra is seen at Cloud Tower with Griffin, who tries to conjure up some sort of creature but it quickly dissolves.

Season 3
In Infernal Concoction Zarathustra appears at the beginning of the issue teaching a class to senior witches. Zarathustra tells the girls how there's going to be an exam and an extra exam the next day. Later Lucrezia bumps into Zarathustra, and the professor advises her to to remember the materials since Zarathustra will be asking questions in class today. In class Lucrezia answers the questions correctly and Zarathustra praises her. She is not seen till later in the issue when she asks someone to check on the Trix.

Magical Abilities
Like all witches, her powers are derived from the negative aspects of magic. Zarathustra may know some basic, first-level spells that all witches can use, such as telekinesis, transmuting objects, fixing minor messes. Like all witches, she can fly. Her magic is light red in color. She can do convergence.

Trivia

 * Zarathustra is an Avestan word and the name of an ancient Iranian prophet and founder of the Zoroastrianism, which was the main religion of ancient Persia/Iran until the 6th century AD when it was supplanted by Islam. Zoroaster is the most common English version of the name. Zoroaster was widely viewed by ancient Greeks as being a sorcerer-astrologer and the inventor of both magic and astrology.
 * In the 4Kids version, it was stated that Faragonda and Griffin were in the same grade level when they attended Alfea and Cloud Tower respectively.
 * It is also mentioned that Ediltrude attended the Cloud Tower around the same time as Griffin. So Zarathustra is most likely around that age.
 * Her voice actress, Veronica Taylor, also voiced Diaspro and Alice.
 * Her Nickelodeon voice actress in the Specials, April Stewart, voiced Vanessa, Maia, Noemi, Aisha's Guardian of Sirenix, Eldora, a vampire from the Children of the Night, a Cloud Tower witch named Rukola (Season 6), Orange Ethereal Fairy, and a plant called Tendril.
 * Jennifer Hale who voiced her for Nick's Season 3 dub, also voiced Barbatea (also Season 3 only), Princess Galatea, Stella's fairy pet Ginger, and Mitzi's friend Sally.