Wystan might have managed to keep a straight face, had Ani not altogether failed to do so herself. He joined her in soft laughter before speaking again.

"You are, you know," he offered. "Cultured, that is—oh, you may not have read the latest three-volume novel and I don't know that you'll ever manage to paint a convincing likeness of me—" that he was far too fidgety to be a good subject did not merit mentioning "—but you are head and shoulders above your peers."

Not literally, of course. The Pomfreys had never been particularly tall.