since 2005
Fairy Oak: The Characters
The Periwinkle Family
The Periwinkle Family live in a very pretty, comfortable house.
The ceilings, floors and wooden furniture make for a warm and welcoming atmosphere, especially of an evening,
when the lights are lit and the fire is crackling in the large fireplace.
By day, instead, the white and rosy stone walls welcome the light that comes in through the big windows to fill the house with gold.
There are nine rooms, but they seem like a hundred!
They are all interconnected by a complex system of doors, stairs and corridors, and none is on the same floor.
Looking at it from the outside, you would say it was a house on three floors,
but inside it is all ups and downs of steps and creaky stairs.
A real maze!
The house also has the good smell of wood, but a rather more attentive sniff reveals that each room has a particular aroma:
the kitchen, for example, has the tang of apples and maple wood;
the girls’ room, instead, smells of sharpened pencils and strawberry cocoa butter;
Cicero’s study smells nicely of books and the living room has a whiff of cognac,
while Tomelilla’s room has the fragrance of fresh laundry.
It is easy for Telli to find her way around, as she says herself “All you have to do is trust your nose instead of your eyes!”
The Twins
The Main Characters
Lavender and Vanilla Periwinkle were born on the same day, but twelve hours apart from each other.
This is an exceptional event even in a magical place such as Fairy Oak
and for the first ten years the twins are a source of worry for Tomelilla: the Code of the Witchlike Family states that
twins cannot inherit magical powers from uncles or aunts, as is the case with other children.
But perhaps twelve hours represent an exception…
Tomelilla and Telli count on this for many years and Tellli is asked to keep an eye on the girls every hour of the day
and then give an account of what she has seen during the Fairy Report.
The years go by, without the girls showing signs of any magical abilities, until, at the eleventh hour, Tomelilla is rewarded.
But in highly particular circumstances!
On the same day that Vanilla and Lavender reveal their powers, an old enemy falls on Greenvale.
In defending themselves, the girls act like witches, but with a “slight” difference:
Vanilla shows that she is an exceptional Witch of the Light, like all her ancestors. And Lavender?
Lavender emerges as the first Witch of the Dark in the Periwinkle family.
Two Sides of the Same Coin
In Greenvale two kinds of magic are to be found:
The Magicals of the Light, with creative powers, and life, and the Magicals of the Dark, restless and mysterious,
who possess the absolute power of destruction and death.
The two factions are not in opposition to each other so much as complementary and indivisible, like day and night.
But it’s a fact that Magicals of the Dark are to some extent more inclined by nature towards dark powers and even evil.
La and Baboo, as their aunt has nicknamed them, have a mission to carry out. This is why they were born.
First of all they must understand why two such opposite powers exist, then they have to learn to know them in depth in order to face the enemy and save their people. Since the girls are very young, at first lots of things go wrong. Some are frightening.
In short, it’s not going to be easy at all! But someone and something will help them. Aunt Tomelilla just for a start.
The Twins’ Day
Vanilla's alarm goes off at 7 in the morning, and she gets up almost on time, dresses,
washes and puts her things in order before going to school.
For her part, Lavender likes to lie in and laze under the blankets; she is untidy and always late.
At school she regularly argues with Cherry Spleenwort (take a fairy’s word for it, it’s impossible not to!).
They both love to chat before going to sleep, study together with their noses deep in their books,
have an afternoon snack with tea, toast, butter and sugar, follow magic lessons in the Spell Chamber with Tomelilla,
snooze in the armchair beside the fire in Cicero’s study, play with his meteorologist’s instruments,
and have fun with Flox and Shirley.
Vanilla Periwinkle
Daughter of the Day
Vanilla, nicknamed Boo, was born at noon on the 31st October, exactly twelve hours after her sister Lavender,
even though she is the first to fly.
In her, a Witch of the Light, we find all the traits typical of an open, sunny, joyous, and reasonable personality.
She is sweet, gentle, romantic, polite, sensible, welcoming, and a dreamer.
She loves flowers and animals, especially soft, pretty ones.
But she is also deeply fascinated by ants: their complex organization and their incessant toil in and around the ant hill
both move and relax her.
As she is very pretty, many have courted her, but her heart has been won by a young Nonmagical come from afar:
the inventor Jim Burium.
The Witch of the Light
Vanilla is a Witch of the Light.
Witches of the Light have the power to create. They can make things appear out of nothing, but they can’t make them disappear. They can transform the ugly into the beautiful, and the beautiful into the marvellous. But never vice-versa.
They can make wood bud and burst into blossom, make melodies with pebbles,
heal wounds but never injure on their own account and, unlike the Witches and Wizards of the Dark,
they can fly only when the sun is above the horizon, at least until they learn to know their powers better.
Lavender Periwinkle
Daughter of the Night
Lavender, nicknamed Lalla, was born at midnight on the 31st of October
and owes her name to a little lavender-coloured birthmark on her tummy that her mother notices immediately.
Being a Witch of the Dark, she has all the characteristics of a prickly, rebellious, turbulent and impulsive personality.
She loves the night and animals that most people tend to avoid or fear: spiders, snakes, owls…
She has a huge pet spider, Rex, who lives among the shelves of her bookcase.
La has been in love with Grisam since she was six and young Burdock returns her love. From that day on they have been inseparable.
The Witch of the Dark
Lavender is the first Witch of the Dark in the Periwinkle family
and she is a Witch of the Dark par excellence: determined, courageous, untidy.
Witches of the Dark are powerful, most beautiful creatures who can perform rituals and spells unknown to Witches of the Light. They can see in the dark, inside things, and inside people. They can arrive where others cannot see, and go where others cannot go. Their powers are great, and unpredictable. Stimulated by anger and fear, these emerge when all seems lost.
With their power, they can wound, make things deteriorate, rot, and even kill.
Agile in flight, as long as they are young and inexpert they can fly only after sunset.
Unlike her sister Vanilla, Lavender can fly only between sunset and dawn.
Dahlia Periwinkle
She is Tomelilla’s sister and Lavender’s Vanilla’s mother.
She too was once a witch,
but gave up magic to live a Nonmagical life with Cicero.
She spends most of her life at home,
from which she goes out only to do the shopping
or to visit Rosie Pollimon and the Burdocks.
She is always busy cleaning, washing, ironing, cooking
and making sure that no one lacks anything.
And she seems happy that way.
Cicero Periwinkle
He is Lavender’s and Vanilla’s father.
He is a Nonmagical who can be a bit grumpy,
but he’s very polite and a good person.
He is an expert meteorologist, knows the clouds by name
and can tell by their shape if they will bring sunshine or storm,
a warm or a cold wind, rain or hail.
He can read the waves and the colour of the sea,
the flight of seagulls, the scent of the air, the currents,
the form of the rain, and the trembling of leaves.
Aunt Tomelilla
The Guide
Tomelilla is the most famous and the wisest witch in all known magical realms.
She has won numerous prizes for her research in the field of magic and knows lots of things, lots and lots.
Above all she knows the troubled history of the people of Fairy Oak and their powers,
and she knows how important it is to know the past in order to face the future.
She is the “Merlin”, the “Gandalf” of the story, the wise and expert guide, the upright and sage teacher,
a reassuring presence and a good example. Her true name is Lillà of the Ways.
Lillà of the Ways
With hair as white as the roses in her garden, Tomelilla has tapering fingers and a queenly bearing.
There are thousands of legends about her: it is said that she has ridden a winged dragon,
and that she can calm the ocean waves with a look.
What is certain is that she can read in the hearts of her nieces and children in general.
She has no love for gossip and even less for gossips. Instead, she likes to look after the plants in her garden and greenhouse.
Telli
The Narrative Voice
Telli is the young fairy who tells the story. A magical creature, a foreigner and different,
her role is to give us an impartial description of the village of Fairy Oak and what happens there.
Hers is the responsibility and the honour of protecting the principal characters of the story, the twins Vanilla and Lavender,
living symbols of the delicate balance that ensures harmony and serenity in their world.
Telli tells us their story and that of their village.
The Fairy Report
Telli, whose true name is Ifjoyfulyoushallbeyoushallwishtotellitme
has been summoned to Fairy Oak by the wisest and most honourable Witch of the Light who ever lived,
the renowned Lilac Tomelilla.
For the fairy this is a dream come true: she will be the babysitter to Tomelilla’s nieces, the daughters of her sister Dahlia.
And every night at midnight, as has been the tradition for very many years, during the Fairy Report
she must bring her witch up to date on the events of the day.
Telli’s Kingdom
Fuli leaves the Kingdom of the Silvery Dews and reaches Fairy Oak when the girls are about to be born.
After a long journey that involves crossing many magical realms, she arrives at the village of the Enchanted Oak.
Her hair is made of dewdrops and her little dress is a cloud of light.
In Fairy Oak she lives in a blackberry jam jar, a present from aunt Tomelilla.
She loves orange sandwiches and her favourite flowers are hydrangeas. She likes to look at atlases of the magical kingdoms
while Tomelilla is studying and to watch the witch as she works among her plants
in the large greenhouse built up against the wall of the family home.
The Burdock Family
Vic and Martha Burdock live with their only son Grisam in a simple, strong and robust house.
As it stands on the west side of the village, its walls are often exposed to ice-cold, strong winds
and that’s why the Burdock’s forefathers made them so thick and the windows so small.
Inside, however, Mrs. Burdock has made it really special: thick carpets, soft and warm, wood on the walls
and pretty white curtains, some in red checks and others in green.
The cleanliness, perfect order and the good smell of freshly baked bread that follows the family everywhere
gives any visitor a most pleasant feeling of home.
The back door gives onto the vegetable patch and the garden of medicinal herbs and essences,
the undisputed realm of Wizard Duff Burdock, Vic’s brother and Grisam’s uncle,
who sows and gathers ingredients for his potions there, including the vegetables for the soups that Martha cooks so well.
Uncle Duff lives on the top floor of the family home, but no has ever been in there, except Martha who goes in to clean,
and Grisam who sneaks in unauthorized.
Grisam Burdock
The Captain of the Band
The young wizard with the grey eyes who Lavender likes so much,
Grisam Burdock is a very handsome Wizard of the Dark, courageous and tenacious.
The children have elected him their captain, because of his wisdom and innate leadership qualities.
In his turn he loves Lavender deeply and is attracted by everything about her, even her terrible character,
and he intends to marry her, as soon as they’re old enough.
His favourite sweets are chocolate fritters.
Grisam’s Secret
Grisam gathers and collects, in a secret cave, all the objects that don’t burn in the bonfire lit
during the festivities held to celebrate the end of the year.
In fact, Grisam can talk to and communicate with objects
and he knows that if they didn’t burn it was because they still have a story to tell.
And he is always very curious to hear it.
Vic Burdock
The Master of the Accounts
Vic is Grisam’s father,
brother to Duff Burdock and husband to Martha.
Unlike his brother Duff, Vic did not inherit magical powers
and is an easy-going, good-natured Nonmagical.
He is the owner of the sweet shop,
where he sees to balancing the books.
Martha Burdock
The Pastry Cook
Martha is Grisam’s mother.
With her husband, she owns and runs one
of the village’s best loved shops:
Ye Olde Sweet Shop.
She is a good-looking Nonmagical woman,
very tall and slim..
Duff Burdock
Uncle Duff
Duff is Grisam’s uncle, the one who handed down the power of darkness to his nephew.
He is a fine person, a wise and powerful Wizard of the Dark, held in high esteem and respected by all in the village.
He has always been secretly in love with Lilac Tomelilla. In reality, she knows and returns his love, but never declares herself.
Duff is an expert in botany and herbalism. He tends the scented garden behind the family business, Ye Olde Sweet Shop.
Duff Burdock is a close friend of Cicero Periwinkle and is a glutton for Cicero’s crepes.
The Pollimon Family & The House of Colours
The Pollimons are a happy, relaxed and likeable family.
Proof of this is the fact that they let Flox paint the walls of her room in the colours she wants.
The Pollimons live in one of the biggest and oldest houses in Fairy Oak. It is on three floors, but it’s four times larger
than the Periwinkle’s home. The children call it “The Castle” because it has towers and walkways, protected by crenellated walls,
and a hint of something sedate and hostile that has absolutely no resemblance to the people who live in it…
Rosie Pollimon
Flox’s mother is a Nonmagical and a bit of a worrier,
but good and kind.
She is the younger sister of Flox’s aunt, witch Hortensia,
and Dahlia Periwinkle’s best friend.
Bernie Pollimon: The Painter
Bernie is Flox’s father, the one from whom Flox
has inherited her love of colours, especially those of nature,
and who has always encouraged her to express
her own creativity and imagination.
Hortensia Pollimon
Flox’s aunt, she is a likeable and expert Witch of the Dark.
She is Lalla Tomelilla’s best friend, but unlike her, she knows little about plants.
Her hobby is metalwork. But Hortensia Pollimon is much more than a blacksmith
“… she is an artist who can do things with iron that no one else can: table centrepieces that look like lacework,
flowering branches, birds in such fine detail that you would say that a gust of wind would ruffle their feathers.”
Flox Pollimon
The Rainbow Girl
Flox is Vanilla’s and Lavender’s best friend.
She loves colours, all of them, without distinction, and since she thinks they’re all beautiful,
she mixes them without worrying about matching them and the more colours she wears, the happier she is.
Flox is a slightly anomalous Witch of the Dark because while she possesses the power to destroy, she loves to create.
Moreover she has a sunny nature, sweet, naïve, and generous to a fault.
Her Fairy
Her first fairy babysitter, Twelvefluffypuffsofwind, known to all as Fluffypuff,
was Fuli’s best friend. She died during a battle against the old enemy.
Now, she has been replaced by a young fairy, Piffero
The Spleenwort Family: A Rather Unpopular Family
The Spleenwort family is one of the oldest in the region and Spleenwort men have succeeded one another
as Mayor from one generation to the next.
Minding other people’s business, therefore, has always been one of their principal tasks.
They have always lived in a big house that now looks austere and decidedly dilapidated.
Bad weather, the salt borne on the wind, a good deal of neglect and Adelaide Spleenwort’s poor taste have transformed
the old mansion into little more than a pretentious hovel.
Every day, bits of plaster crumble and fall away and, unfortunately, they take with them parts of the wonderful frescoes
that used to adorn the wealthiest house in the village.
By tradition, all the Spleenworts assemble to celebrate the Summer Solstice with a grand gala dinner
complete with actors and players. But none of the children ever want to take part because the house is a bit scary.
Pancrazio Spleenwort
The Mayor
Mayor Spleenwort is a Nonmagical, meek and rather funny,
and a slave to his horrible wife Adelaide,
from whom he struggles to free himself.
The citizens of Fairy Oak respect him because he is basically
a good person who tries his best.
Adelaide Spleenwort
The Ogress
She does nothing but yell from morning until night,
and with all those curlers in her hair and pheasant cream
on her face, she even scares her husband.
Perhaps this is why the Mayor is always in an ogrish mood. Lavender and Heather call her “Pheasant Face”.
Cherry Spleenwort
The Number One Pain in the Neck
Cherry is eleven, and she isn’t a witch. Luckily.
Her name came down to her from Cherry-Violet Pimpernel, her great-great-great-great aunt and a witch who,
one night, during a terrible storm, vanished into thin air taking with her the magic powers of the Spleenworts.
Everyone says that it’s a really good thing that Cherry isn’t a Magical: with her atrocious character,
she would be a danger to the entire community.
Only Tomelilla defends her: “With parents like that, it’s a wonder that girl doesn’t bite!” she often says.
Since Lavender and Vanilla were small, Cherry has been in the habit of calling them by two rather disrespectful names:
she calls the first one she meets Periwinkle One and the second Periwinkle Two.
Cherry and the Friends
Cherry often joins the other children in their play. None of the youngsters of Fairy Oak understand why.
For that girl has never deigned to treat anyone with so much as a crumb of courtesy.
Yet, despite this, the young shrew insists in seeking out their company, always and everywhere.
The boys, above all, and Heather, are patient with her. By now they know her and they also know that it’s easier
to let her discourtesy slide off them like water off a duck’s back, rather than give her tit for that every time she deserves it.
Lavender, although she agrees, “arguing with Cherry is like sneezing against the wind”, sometimes loses patience.
She doesn’t say a word, but she raises a hand and whispers a spell that transforms the poor girl
into something that “slithers along and says nothing”.
Then it’s up to Baboo to turn her back into her original appearance…
The Poppy Family: Travelling Players
The Poppys were once travelling players. They roamed the world in a brightly coloured caravan with great creaky wheels.
Today, the Poppys’ home is at Woodsend in the Vale of Arandis.
It is brim full of the strangest objects: blown glass lamps, lacquered vases, pipes in the oddest shapes,
coats of arms and royal portraits, absurd teapots, fabrics that serve as pictures and baskets that are hats.
Not so much as a square inch is free of objects. And all around, curtains and cushions in iridescent colours,
some embellished with fine gold coins, others with gems and precious stones.
Most of these objects come from the Far East and are the gifts of Princes and Emperors.
Shirley Poppy Family: The Magical Girl
Shirley is a pretty girl, with a cloud of red hair framing her round face, completely covered with freckles.
Her eyes are big, gleaming and black as liquorice caramels. She smiles at everyone, even people she doesn’t know.
Her parents were travelling players who took comedies and tragedies around the world with their caravan.
But Shirley’s mother Aberdeen vanished on the same day Shirley was born.
Shirley is a girl very much alone, but she’s very capable.
She knows how to sew, look after the farm animals, cook (her culinary specialities are parsley omelettes and sorrel soufflé),
and keep the house in order. She isn’t afraid of anything except stormy seas.
She draws very well and guards a great secret...
Mr. Berry
Love, Courage, and Far-Sightedness
Mr. Berry is Shirley’s mouse, a gift from her mother before her disappearance.
Mr. Berry always stays with Shirley and looks after her day and night, like a babysitter.
He always sits on her shoulder and, strange but true, he never stops looking at his tongue.
He adores sugared blueberries and he eats whole boxes of them. Then he gives himself no peace because his tongue is always blue. But, watch out, when Mr. Berry’s tongue is blue it can also mean that the Enemy is near…
Along with the mouse, Shirley is also watched over by a very loveable, patient and courageous dog called Barolo,
and a stork, Antenna, who roosts on the roof of the house and never loses sight of her.
Luther Pendragon
Professor Vocabulawy
Luther is an enormous toad, weighed down by a mass of wrinkled skin, and he is also Shirley Poppy’s teacher.
He lives in the stream called Steepbankoverbrokenbrook, by the little waterfall.
Shirley calls him Professor Vocabulawy because the toad, who is a real know-all, speaks with a “w” instead of an “r”.
The Children of Fairy Oak: The Captain’s Band
There are lots of members, of all ages, some are Magicals, others not;
some are likeable, others less so, but all together they make up a super, united group.
Together, they are stronger and more efficient than the adults
and it’s fantastic to “see” themacting in unison to solve a member’s problems.
Jim Burium
The Young Inventor
Jim is not a citizen of Fairy Oak.
He is a Nonmagical from Arandiston,
a mysterious, faraway place, three houses and a beach,
the ocean in front and the mountains behind.
He arrives in Fairy Oak during a journey made
to discover the world, as he says.
In reality, he has another reason.
In Fairy Oak he falls head over heels in love
with Vanilla Periwinkle, who returns his feelings.
But the boy must set off again…
Robin Windflower
Titch
The smallest of the group, tiny as a little bird.
No part of him can ever be still.
If he can’t run, he hops from one foot to the other,
rubbing his nose, his gaze roaming around unceasingly.
He is a Wizard of the Dark who loves the sea more than life itself.
Billy, Francis, Tommy, Robert, Ryan, Evan and Bevis
The Rye Brothers
Seven boys, seven Wizards of the Light who, on their own, already make up a little gang of very lively scamps.
Francis and Tommy are the ones we know best
because they are the same age as the twins
and spend more time with them than the others.
Tommy, cheerful and kind, has a crush on Heather,
but he knows that the young witch’s heart belongs to another.
Francis, sagacious and ironic, is the one with the cutting wit.
He protests as soon as something doesn’t go the way he wants and he is always ready to plunge into the most perilous adventures.
Acanti Bugle
The Boy who Wears “Specth”
Apparently timorous and delicate, certainly shy
and not exactly agile, Acanti nonetheless has the respect
of the entire village and, especially, of all his friends,
because he is honest as the day is long, extremely sensible, polite and, if need be, he doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself for others. Moreover, his sense of humour enables him to put up
with endless legpulling on the children’s part,
who laugh at him a bit because he can’t pronounce the letter “s”, which comes out “th”.
Acanti is a Wizard of the Light.
Celastro Buttercup
Greedy Guts
Celastro is the chubby one,
with a real sweet tooth.
Tranquil, likeable, good natured,
he follows and conforms, always placid
as a cat in the sunshine.
Nepeta Rose, Cecilia and Melissa Buttercup
The Friends in the Middle
They are first cousins.
Cecilia and Melissa are Celastro’s younger sisters, but while Melissa and Celastro are Magicals, Cecilia is not.
Although they are very young, they are not the youngest
of the group, but the ones… in the middle.
Nepetta is a Witch of the Light,
very nice, funny,
a scaredy-cat and a bit scatterbrained.
All three are part of the Captain’s Band.
The Citizens of Fairy Oak
Some of them are Magicals, or rather, it would be more correct to say that some are Nonmagicals,
since the community of Witches and Wizards is older and more numerous than that of the Nonmagicals,
even though it isn’t always the most eccentric one.
Captain William E. Talbot
The Visionary Seaman
Talbot is a gentleman and the best fisherman in the village.
In the village they consider him a visionary, because he says he was once the captain of a royal ship
who had hunted pirates all over the seven seas.
The children make good-natured fun of him for this and he pretends to get angry.
The smallest children are a bit scared of him, because he’s a mountain of a man with a bushy beard,
white with salt, an enormous toothless mouth and voice like a crow’s.
But the credit is his if the children of Fairy Oak are now a united, compact group,
because he was the one who brought them together, he was the one who taught them loyalty and trust and,
before dying, he left them an important legacy that none of them can ever forget.
The Santuomo is the name that the Captain gave to the old boat recovered from the sand and that,
after lengthy restoration, he gave back to the sea.
An expert, safe boat, it sometimes seems to understand human speech.
It certainly understands the human spirit.
Will Burdock Duckweed
A Wise Man Among Wise Men
He is a descendant of the author
of the Rules of Magic for Witches and Wizards
who was also the founder of the first school in the village.
The Bryony Duckweed School
still bears the name of his mother.
Primula Pull
The Best Dressmaker in the Village
Primula is very fat
and her weight makes every move a huge effort.
She looks… how to put it?...
more like a gigantic seal stranded on a rock than a dressmaker. What distinguishes the dressmaker from the finny mammal
are her big sky-blue eyes, and her strawberry-shaped mouth.
Her hands are so big that everyone wonders how she manages
to thread a needle. She has excellent taste in fabrics.
In her workshop, she is helped by six incredibly old fairies
whose work she coordinates with natural ease.
Margherita De Transvall
The Terror of the School
She is the maths and science teacher
and the most feared in all the school. A genuine nightmare. Intransigent, extremely strict and pitiless, she has only one strong point: she is horrible with everybody.
Miss De Transvall does nobody any favours.
Meum Spignel
Do Things My Way!
Meum is a learned Wizard of the Light
who is a little grumpy and, owing to his age, also a bit deaf.
All the citizens of Fairy Oak are fond of him,
because at bottom he’s a good man.
Various children come to him for private lessons in reading, writing and poetry and, despite his prickly character,
they end up loving him the way you would a grandfather.
Meum Spignel is married to Campanula,
his devoted, long-suffering wife who has been supporting
and putting up with him for over fifty years.
Lilium Martagon
The Village Blacksmith
His appearance and big belly make him look like an ogre, but his character is more like that of a young boy.
Lilium is very shy and blushes easily.
Moreover, although he is twice as tall as a boy and is already well past playing games, he’s a playful type who loves to have fun
with the power that Mother Magic has given him: the Light. Lilium Martagon can make anything light up!
Of course, he can cast all the other spells that a Magical of the Light can: make wood bud and burst into blossom, create melodies
by mixing black and white stones, turn water into ice, raindrops into precious pearls, and a beetle into an evening dress.
He can also open closed things with the blink of an eye:
a box, a door, the lid of a jar; and he’s good at making things appear from nothing.
But these are the usual spells of those who have the power to create. Lilium’s speciality is “light” itself.
As we have said, he can light up anything, even a farrier’s nail. Calmly, he says to it: “Light up, please” – Lilium always says please – and the nail lights up, the way certain jellyfish do, from point to head, with increasing brightness.
Then, he sticks it in his workbench and uses it like a kind of candle, only prettier.
Sometimes, if he has to work at night, he lights up as many as a hundred, all together, and distributes them all round the smithy. The effect is fabulous.
Joe Shuanma
A Kind of Grandad
Joe is the school janitor,
a great guy and much loved by the children.
Despite his considerable age, he’s still in good shape.
His skin is dark as bronze and he still has perfectly white teeth, of which he is very proud.
Perhaps this is why he smiles so much.
Thin, with a ramrod- straight back, he is a bundle of muscles
and strength: no effort, toil or sacrifice holds any fears for him!
Joe is strong, good and generous with all children.
And all those who have attended or currently attend the school love him like a grandfather.
He is the symbol of the school
and he too attended it in his youth, where he distinguished himself not so much for his academic abilities,
because he had none, as for his generosity and the cheerful spirit with which he tried to help anyone who had need of him.
Joe’s nickname is “Joe Galloper” because his legs are so bandy that when he walks he looks as if he’s riding an invisible horse.
Matthew Fox
The Patient Judge
He is a notary, but if need be also a justice of the peace
and a lawyer.
If it were up to him, he would steer well clear of arguments
and disputes, but if – despite himself -he gets dragged
into things he is wise and just.
Brian Brewer
"The Duck and Dragon"
Brian is the owner of the pub "The Duck and Dragon"
and is a refined connoisseur of wines.
Like his father and his father’s father before him,
he has successfully safeguarded the reputation of his pub,
not just for its good wine and frothy beer, but also and above all for the atmosphere of the place,
which is a genuine attraction for everybody.
Men, women… whole families go there to eat at the old cedarwood tables and goodness only knows how many holes there are in the wall behind the green and blue dartboard
against which entire generations have thrown their darts.
Without "The Duck and Dragon",
Fairy Oak wouldn’t be the same.
Butomus Rush
The Conjuring Cobbler
Butomus is a cobbler, as well as a wizard of undoubted skills.
His given name is also that of a beautiful flower.
His workshop in is Oak Square, next to O’Cordless
the lute maker’s shop.
The two men are cousins and firm friends.
Soles and uppers hold no secrets for Butomus Rush, and anyone in Fairy Oak would tell you that he is without a doubt the finest cobbler one could wish for, and it’s no surprise if there’s always a queue outside his workshop. And not just because children’s feet grow quickly, soles wear out, laces snap, and heels get broken. Mr… erm, pardon… Wizard Rush
loves to entertain his customers with funny little spells,
such as making a boot talk
or making a pair of elegant slippers dance.
He also knows lots of hilarious anecdotes!
O’Cordless
The Old Musician
He is a lute maker, a widower wed to music.
He lives alone, with his dog Rosicchio, alias Nibbler,
because it is in the habit of going around nibbling at everything it finds, leaving behind a kind of sticky slime - a mix of drool, dust and scraps - on everything it gnaws on.
Dockleaf
The Woodcutter
As Dockleaf is a woodcutter, Oak is terrified of him
despite all the assurances of the citizens and fairies.
But Dockleaf would never harm a tree.
He knows them all, from east to west, north to south, and he has seen them born and grow. He loves and respects them. Nonetheless, he carries an axe hanging from his belt
and all it takes is a ray of sunlight to make it glitter for a moment and Oak feels like fainting.