"Aren't they?" Gladys agreed, smiling her approval. "I have very attractive grandchildren. And children, come to that." She tapped against Terence's shoulder in the image and, as if in response, he straightened up into a more military posture. "He's a hitwizard." She could have gone on to list her other grandchildren, but she doubted the topic would be as fascinating to Caitlin as it was to herself. "He said he might come and stay with me for a while soon." Gladys assumed that, being a modern young person, Caitlin wouldn't object to sharing a large house with a young man. It wasn't as if they'd be unchaperoned. "I wanted a sister too," Gladys confided. "My brothers were able to share a tutor for some things, but there weren't any other girls to keep me company. Fortunately, my governess was quite chatty."
Gladys had never really wondered why some animals lived longer than others. "Magical creatures can live a very long time," she observed. "Dragons and phoenixes, in particular. I suppose whatever makes wizards and witches live longer also works for them." She had no idea what that was. "My parents are 113 and 118, so I've no intention of dying anytime soon."