What does The Withering Wind represent?

The Withering Wind symbolizes the principle that education can come in handy even when you least expect it, and though a person may be young and inexperienced, they can still defeat older and more powerful people. When Anya leaves on her Quest, Nix mentions how the Withering Wind is one of the only spells she knows, “which sounded like it would be truly fearsome but actually just caused a lot of shrieking wind noises in the ears of whoever it was cast on” (60). Anya later says this spell when they come upon Smoothie in Chapter 12, but stops herself in time. Finally, the spell saves them from the most powerful sorcerer - the Grey Mist in chapter 28.