Fern had been sitting at one of the cast iron tables for quite some time. She had been trying to complete her Arithmancy homework, but she was stuck on adding two thousand million billion gazillion to her current sum. She wasn't sure how many zeros were in a million, let alone a gazillion. Was gazillion even a number?

Letting out a groan, the 11-year-old smacked her fist against the table, accidentally tipping her bottle of ink in the process (and startling a couple of birds into flying away from the branches they had been perching on). The black liquid spread across the white table and dripped between the iron curlicues onto the stone pavement below.

"NOOOOoooo!" Fern cried, desperately swabbing the table with the sleeve of her robes before squatting to soak up what had spilled below.