The thing is that I don’t remember that particular conversation taking place. Or even going to the Burrow for a family gathering. Or anything that had happened three weeks prior to the Crack heard around the world.

There was something oddly fulfilling in watching Lorcan Scamander clutch at his throat. He looked sideways at his girlfriend but was pointedly ignored. I’d have to give Lily a pat on the back once we stopped laughing.

As much as I loved Teddy (platonically, of course. He is my sister’s boyfriend, after all. Brave man, selling his soul to the devil) he wasn’t always the sharpest tool in the shed. At least not when it came to picking up on sarcasm. But he didn’t have to be, what with his devastatingly good looks and arresting charms. I hated people with easy smiles and infectious laughs.

In my defence, is anyone ever truly ready to go face-to-face with a room full of loonies and talk about their problems? Well, maybe Aunt Luna might and possibly Mum, but one believed in creatures like Snorkacks and Wrackspurts and the other fought for the freedom of a species who didn’t even want it.