“What's the biggest thing you've zapped with a fireball?' I asked.'That would be a tiger,'said Nightingale.'Well don't tell Greenpeace,' I said. 'They're an endagered species.''Not that sort of tiger,' said Nightingale. 'A Panzer-kampfwagen sechs Ausf E.'I stared at him. 'You knocked out a Tiger tank with a fireball?''Actually I knocked out two,' said Nightingale. 'I have to admit that the first one took three shots, one to disable the tracks, one through the driver's eye slot and one down the commander's hatch - brewed up rather nicely.”

“You put a spell on the dog," I said as we left the house."Just a small one," said Nightingale."So magic is real," I said. "Which makes you a...what?""A wizard.""Like Harry Potter?"Nightingale sighed. "No," he said. "Not like Harry Potter.""In what way?""I'm not a fictional character," said Nightingale.”

“Conflict resolution,' said Nightingale. 'Is this what they teach at Hendon these days?''Yes, sir,' I said. 'But don't worry, they also teach us how to beat people with phone books and the ten best ways to plant evidence.”

“Are they really gods?""I never worry about theological questions," said Nightingale. "They exist, they have power and they can breach the Queen's peace - that makes them a police matter.”

“Holy paranormal activity, Nightingale - to the Jag mobile.”

“Actually I'd always thought he sat in the library with a slim volume of metaphysical poetry until the commissioner called him on the bat phone and summoned him into action. Holy paranormal activity, Nightingale - to the Jag mobile.”

“I gave the prescribed Metropolitan Police "first greeting"."Oi!" I said "What do you think you're doing?”