It was kindly meant – she would have expected nothing less – but still, Morwenna couldn’t help but worry. The last thing she wanted was for the Ministry to think that anyone in her circle of friends or family had been complicit; there inevitably would, but there was no proof and the more they distanced themselves from her the better. She would turn Elinor away at the threshold if she had to, and she hoped that Kieran had the sense never to darken her doorstep again. She doubted it, but the hope was there.

But now she was tested and she immediately capitulated. For all her bravado Morwenna knew herself too well – she hated being alone.

“Alright, but on your own head be it,” she said grumpily as she hobbled back into the sitting room to wait. Why were these children so brave when it had taken her so long to tell the truth? Perhaps they ought to oust everyone at the Ministry over 50 and leave the next generation to it?

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MJ knows my soul rings to the rune of this iconic hat