The Wizard's Wand

'The Wizard's Wand' was written in 1908 and is tantalizingly dedicated to 'William Avery with his father's love', although Harold supposedly never married. It is chosen from his large output as being a typical school story but, it can be argued, it is the precursor of work by Enid Blyton and J K Rowling, dealing with school life, five children who go on an adventure and a mystical wizard who ends the story not with a wave of a wand but with kindness and consideration.