Chapter Five ‘What will you have?’ asked Miss Honey impatiently. ‘Candied nuts, sweet seeds? Come along, girl, there’s a queue behind you!’ Hovering at the tuck shop counter, Twink glanced over her shoulder at the queue of first-year students. ‘Well – I don’t want to buy anything,’ she confessed. ‘I just wondered if you need any help.’ ‘Help?’ Miss Honey stared at her in amazement. ‘Why should I need help selling sweets to you lot?’ ‘You just . . . look really busy,’ faltered Twink. She was certain that Miss Honey – a thin, bad-tempered fairy with drooping gold wings – would tell her to flap off if she started talking about decades-old lost rings. But she had to get into that tuck shop – it was where Gran had first noticed that her ring was missing! ‘I am busy,’ snapped Miss Honey. ‘Which is why you need to move along, if you’re not buying anything! Next!’ A First Year with purple hair sped up to the counter. ‘I’ll have –’ ‘No, wait!’ burst out Twink, thinking fast.
