Winter folded his arms and glared icily at them all. ‘The infirmary has to deal with the aftermath of these kinds of things far too often,’ he muttered. ‘And affecting the ground in this area can weaken the foundations of the buildings. It’s completely irresponsible.’

‘Spoilsport. No one was hurt.’ I paused. ‘Not permanently. The environment is back to normal. It’s a waste of energy, sure, but don’t witches have to practise?’

‘In safe warded places. Not here.’

‘It’s harmless,’ I told him.

‘It’s foolhardy.’

Winter was still in snort mode when Anthea finally spotted me and jogged over. Her eyes were shining. ‘Ivy! Isn’t this great?’

‘It seems like a good way to burn off excess energy,’ I agreed. Not that that was a problem I suffered from.

She arched an eyebrow in my direction. ‘It’d be fun to see a match between you two. Two partners, squaring off against each other, one on one…’

Winter snorted impatiently. ‘We don’t have time for this.’

‘We had time for your detour,’ I pointed out. ‘What’s another five minutes?’ I knew this was a safe bet: Winter was never going to agree. Unfortunately, it appeared that Anthea was well aware of that too.

‘Well,’ she said, ‘in that case you and I should take a turn, Ivy. For old times’ sake. I’d love to show you what I’ve learned. You can show off as well. I’m sure you’ve been doing some magic over the years.’

The tone of her voice suggested that I’d been out in a barren wilderness instead of suburban Oxford. ‘Adeptus Exemptus Winter is probably right,’ I said, using his formal title to remind her that he was supposed to be the one in charge. ‘We really should get going.’

‘What’s another five minutes?’ she asked, throwing my words back at me. Darn it. ‘You should let Ivy off the leash, Adeptus Winter.’

I felt his sudden tension. ‘She is her own person,’ he said stiffly.

Anthea clapped her hands in delight. ‘Brilliant. I’ll take the right.’ She skipped away.

‘Bloody hell, Winter,’ I muttered. ‘You were supposed to put your foot down and refuse her.’

He gave me a blank look. ‘How on earth was I supposed to know that?’ His jaw tightened. ‘And for the record, you’re not on a leash.’

‘Apart from the magical binding one.’

He growled, ‘That one’s not my fault. It doesn’t count.’

‘Come on, Ivy!’ Anthea called.

I sighed. I should have made up more excuses and wriggled away but it was probably faster to do as she wanted.

I shuffled over to the left-hand side. The witches who’d already competed had formed a half circle round us and more were wandering over out of curiosity. As a non-Order witch, I was an object of some fascination.

‘The goal is to bring the other person to the ground.’ Anthea bopped around, still brimming with enthusiasm. ‘Only runes are allowed and there’s to be no physical contact.’ Humour flashed across her face and she wagged her index finger at me. ‘And no sudden death spells or serious dismemberment. Whatever you do has to be immediately reversible when the combat ends.’