Clue had coerced Mrs Spragg into letting him visit Hogsmeade for a top-up of parchments, potions and other such notions. He could not finish his summer homework without these things. Thus he found himself quietly roaming the greens of Padmore Park, off the manicured track and around patches of wildflowers, far from the shops where he was supposed to be procuring homework supplies.

It was not long before Clue sat cross-legged beneath an oak tree, watching with hushed affection as an incy wincy spider climbed the arm of his oversized white jumper. As the orphan befriended the arachnid, the afternoon sun blinked above them and gave way to a light drizzle. But some like the gloom.

Sloane Bixby (@"ELSIE BEAUREGARD")