The Professor Peregrine Papers

The following Thursday, while the members of the academy were busy discussing dictionaries, Daniel Brereton experienced a powerful sense of familiarity as he walked through the fire garden.  Low-flying birds watched him with suspicion.

The Professor is very much the archetype of a rational man (he denies this) but, the other day, I did venture to ask him if he had any experience of the paranormal. His answer sent a chill down my spine. “Some years ago, while taking an afternoon constitutional in the walled garden of Lord Parvanimity of Foddington's estate, I came across the ghostly figure of a cowled monk. He pointed directly at me and declared in a portentous voice that I should repent before it was too late.... or something like that. Anyway, we got chatting and it turned out that his name was Brian and that he was doomed to walk poorly-attended gardens and deliver vague messages of impending doom.  We went off to the local pub (The Trombone and Gooseberry, I believe it was called) and, after a few pints of fine local ale, parted on good terms. As he drifted off into a cloud of diaphanous mist he gave me a tip on a horse called Elozable Mineshaft in the 3:30 at Chepstow the following day. I'm not normally a...

The Professor's reputation as a connoisseur of fine food is entirely justified and recently it was my privilege to accompany this refined gourmet to a delightful lunch at one of his favourite restaurants - Starvin' Stu's Snack Bar, located on the edge of the Wilmot's Pool Academicals' training ground. We feasted on a panoply of unfamiliar and enticing dishes as the waiter played selections from the works of Erik Satie on a xylophone.  The Professor graciously insisted that I should pay the grossly inflated bill. Truly, a red letter day.