Far be it for him to even care, Clue had long accepted that he'd never be a gentleman. He'd never doff his hat at a lady, he'd never make small-talk with some peer at a ball. He'd never marry, never father children, never grumble about finances to a weary wife. But maybe — just maybe — he could be a man. Certainly this boy looked more like a girl, with his elfin features and delicate physique, incapable of ever growing a beard or towering over so much as a post box; but he could still be a man. Someone with responsibilities, someone with expectations placed upon him. Someone with a calling.

This was how Clue felt as the carriage pulled up to the enormous Valenduris home in leafy Wellingtonshire. He exited the carriage gracefully, still staring up at the vast Georgian exterior, mildly alarmed to have the carriage door opened for him — just as he'd been to be offered such transport at all. It had all happened so quickly... his last OWL exam, a few final days left in the sunshot grounds with Narcissus Laurent, then an end-of-term feast at which Clue managed a third course of dark chocolate pudding. Vague packing, a sudden sleep, a bright morning, a final silent glance at Narcissus — and then here he was, Clue Leverett, the orphan, the foundling, the nobody, here to begin a prestigious apprenticeship that allowed him to escape his old foster home entirely.

It was all too much to properly think about. He merely had to take things as they came; even something as surreal as an entire family, tall and stately, lined up magnificently like a flock of watchful swans. As for Clue, he was wearing the only new piece of clothing he owned (black robes with a spidery black-and-white collar), but beneath it his white shirt was too big, the knees of his trousers were well-faded, and his shoes were peeling from their soles. Clue felt almost like he was a purposeful display of poverty. But mainly he felt completely astonished. And as Professor Valenduris himself swept towards him with a regal greeting, Clue could only blink. "Erm..."