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in general was a terrible one. Fortunately, there was no-one an Ogg would rather fight than another Ogg. It was family .
    Odd things, families, when you came to think of it . . .
    â€˜Esme? You all right?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜You’ve got them cups rattling like nobody’s business! And tea all over the tray.’
    Granny looked down blankly at the mess, and rallied as best she could.
    â€˜Not my damn fault if the damn cups are too small,’ she muttered.
    The door opened.
    â€˜Morning, Magrat,’ she added, without looking around. ‘What’re you doing here?’
    It was something about the way the hinges creaked. Magrat could even open a door apologetically.
    The younger witch sidled speechlessly into the room, face beetroot red, arms held behind her back.
    â€˜We’d just popped in to sort out Desiderata’s things, as our duty to a sister witch,’ said Granny loudly.
    â€˜And not to look for her magic wand,’ said Nanny.
    â€˜Gytha Ogg!’
    Nanny Ogg looked momentarily guilty, and then hung her head.
    â€˜Sorry, Esme.’
    Magrat brought her arms around in front of her.
    â€˜Er,’ she said, and blushed further.
    â€˜You found it!’ said Nanny.
    â€˜Uh, no,’ said Magrat, not daring to look Granny in the eyes. ‘Desiderata gave it to . . . me.’
    The silence crackled and hummed.
    â€˜ She gave it to you ?’ said Granny Weatherwax.
    â€˜Uh. Yes.’
    Nanny and Granny looked at one another.
    â€˜Well!’ said Nanny.
    â€˜She does know you, doesn’t she?’ demanded Granny, turning back to Magrat.
    â€˜I used to come over here quite often to look at her books,’ Magrat confessed. ‘And . . . and she liked to cook foreign food and no-one else round here would eat it, so I’d come up to keep her company.’
    â€˜Ah- ha ! Curryin’ favour!’ snapped Granny.
    â€˜But I never thought she’d leave me the wand,’ said Magrat. ‘Really I didn’t!’
    â€˜There’s probably some mistake,’ said Nanny Ogg kindly. ‘She probably wanted you to give it to one of us.’
    â€˜That’ll be it, right enough,’ said Granny. ‘She knew you were good at running errands and so on. Let’s have a look at it.’
    She held out her hand.
    Magrat’s knuckles tightened on the wand.
    â€˜. . . she gave it me . . .’ she said, in a tiny voice.
    â€˜Her mind was definitely wandering towards the end,’ said Granny.
    â€˜. . . she gave it me . . .’
    â€˜Fairy godmotherin’s a terrible responsibility,’ said Nanny. ‘You got to be resourceful and flexible and tactful and able to deal with complicated affairs of the heart and stuff. Desiderata would have known that.’
    â€˜. . . yes, but she gave it me . . .’
    â€˜Magrat Garlick, as senior witch I command you to give me the wand,’ said Granny. ‘They cause nothing but trouble!’
    â€˜Hold on, hold on,’ said Nanny. ‘That’s going a bit far –’
    â€˜. . . no . . .’ said Magrat.
    â€˜Anyway, you ain’t senior witch,’ said Nanny. ‘Old Mother Dismass is older’n you.’
    â€˜Shut up. Anyway, she’s non compost mental,’ said Granny.
    â€˜. . . you can’t order me. Witches are non-hierarchical . . .’ said Magrat.
    â€˜That is wanton behaviour, Magrat Garlick!’
    â€˜No it’s not,’ said Nanny Ogg, trying to keep the peace. ‘Wanton behaviour is where you go around without wearing any—’
    She stopped. Both of the older witches watched a small piece of paper fall out of Magrat’s sleeve and zigzag down to the floor. Granny darted forward and snatched it up.
    â€˜Aha!’ she said triumphantly. ‘Let’s see what Desiderata really