This is an amazing story, with newly single, grieving Arthur providing the humor and the improbable, almost laughable pairing of Aunt Muriel and Griphook providing the drama. I adored the way you showed so many well-developed points of view (cultures, identities, perspectives) here, from the imperious Muriel to the quirky, bicultural Arabella to Arthur, who's just bemused by a foreign culture he thought he knew and liked, to Griphook, who's as *other* as you're able to make him, and yet who gets the girl in the end. (God, the bejeweling was something else.) Kudos for some winning lines, too, like Arthur's comment about the wave oven being "almost like magic" and Muriel *almost* feeling embarrassed about her lupine gaffe with Bill. Brilliant all around! M.