It is impossible to count all the rooms in Chrestomanci Castle. There are hundreds and hundreds, and even the resident Chrestomanci is unlikely to know exactly how many or to have visited them all! There are the sorts of rooms you would expect to find in a castle, such a huge dining room, and Large and Small Drawing Rooms, both nearly the size of a football pitch. There are more unusual rooms too, such as the magician’s workshop. There’s an enormous library, which boasts a copy of every book in the world – and many more from other worlds as well.
If guests come to stay, there are plenty of bedrooms to choose from, each with its own bathroom. Some of the more interesting bedrooms are in the older, turreted part of the castle. Here, the rooms are round and the walls are nearly three feet thick. If you kneel on one of the deep window-seats and look out you will see a breathtaking view of the castle grounds, with its smooth green lawns, immaculate flower gardens and splendid orchards. If you look carefully, you might even get a glimpse of Chrestomanci’s private, walled garden. But don’t try and go there without his permission – you will probably find yourself somewhere else altogether!
Chrestomanci himself tends to influence the atomosphere of the building. In Gabriel De Witt’s day, Chrestomanci Castle was very businesslike and efficient – definitely the headquarters of a powerful magic task-force! Then later, when Gabriel realised the value of identifying and harnessing talent at an early age, it was opened up as an academy for children with magical abilities.
When Chrisopher Chant became Chrestomanci, the everyday business of policing magic carried on, with the invaluable help of his wife Millie (also a powerful enchantress). But the arrival of two magical children of their own (Roger and Julia) and the adoption of two more (Cat and Janet) meant that part of the castle transformed into a family home.
The thing that everyone notices when they go to Chrestomanci Castle is the calm, quiet atmosphere everywhere, as if it is cloaked in a blanket of cotton wool. This is, of course, magic, for the whole building is suffused in it. Visitors who are up to no good feel very uncomfortable as the castle works on them, but if you live there for a while you gradually absorb what you need to help you deal with your sort of magic.
When it’s time to leave Chrestomanci Castle, you’ll probably be quite sad to go. But a word of warning – don’t try to take any souvenirs with you unless they have been specifically given to you as gifts as they tend to protest in VERY LOUD VOICES!
Have you ever wondered?
Cat got his nickname because he has nine lives. Do you have any nicknames?
Joe Pinhoe uses his magic to design and invent a flying machine. What type of travelling machine would you invent?
Janet and Julia’s dream of owning a pony didn’t turn out well. Have you ever looked forward to something that went wrong? Or dreaded something that had a happy outcome?
What magical things do you think Nutcase saw when he went on his secret journeys through Ulverscote and the surrounding countryside?
Design a dressing gown for Cat to wear when he becomes the next Chrestomanci.
Eggs of Note
Note from the Author
This book started for three reasons. The first one was that for years and years people had been asking me to write what happened next to Cat Chant. I wanted to know too, but I simply couldn’t think what direction Cat’s gifts were leading him in. All I knew was that it was not the same direction as Chrestomanci’s. I didn’t find out until I ran into the second reason that this book got written, which was that I wanted to know much, much more about the countryside around Chrestomanci Castle – who lived in the villages there and what they did. Then it all came together. I discovered that the villages were full of Pinhoes, Farleighs and Cleeves, all of whom were powerful families of hereditary witches, all busily trying to keep Chrestomanci from learning of their existence. They knew he would interfere with them if he did find out about them, you see, because they were all, in different ways, misusing magic. As soon as I knew that, I realised that the clues about where Cat was going with his particular magic were all in Charmed Life and Stealer of Souls, but I just hadn’t noticed them until then.
Finally I thought of the egg itself. This was because of a promise I made to my sister some years ago, that I would write more about such things. It was a great surprise to me when I discovered that the egg kept my promise for me.
Diana Wynne Jones
Other titles by Diana Wynne Jones
Chrestomanci Series
Charmed Life
The Magicians of Caprona
Witch Week
Mixed Magics
Conrad’s Fate
Archer’s Goon
Black Maria
Castle in the Air
Dogsbody
Eight Days of Luke
The Homeward Bounders
Howl’s Moving Castle
The Merlin Conspiracy
Power of Three
Stopping for a Spell
A Tale of Time City
Wilkins’ Tooth
For older readers
Fire and Hemlock
Hexwood
The Time of the Ghost
For younger readers
Wild Robert
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First published in hardback in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2006
First published in paperback in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2007
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Copyright © Diana Wynne Jones 2006
Diana Wynne Jones asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of the work.
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EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2009 ISBN: 9780007349951
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