‘Yes,’ said Hermione at length. ‘It is curious. The little things seem to be more subtle to her — ’

‘But they aren’t, are they? A mouse isn’t any more subtle than a lion, is it?’

Again Hermione looked down at Ursula with that long scrutiny, as if she were following some train of thought of her own, and barely attending to the other’s speech.

‘I don’t know,’ she replied.

‘Rupert, Rupert,’ she sang mildly, calling him to her. He approached in silence.

‘Are little things more subtle than big things?’ she asked, with the odd grunt of laughter in her voice, as if she were making game of him in the question.