" Hold it, " said Harry warningly, unfolding the piece of parchment at the top of the last staircase, tapping it with his wand and muttering, " I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The road to greater confidence begins with a ritual of telling oneself solemnly every morning before heading out for the day, that one is a muttonhead, a cretin, a dumbbell and an imbecile.
We'll solemnly declare that life not worth living long before it occurs to us that we may just urgently need to have a nap or reach for an orange juice.
But there were always at least a few who would opt for a high five, some slapping hard enough to make my hand sting a little, or a handshake, at times delivered so solemnly I felt like we were going into business together.
And, instead of pelting these babbling idiots with their own freshly toasted marshmallows, everyone else sitting around the fire is often nodding and smiling and looking solemnly thoughtful.
Scarlett and her father each assured the other solemnly that to bring such matters to the ears of Ellen would only hurt her, and nothing would induce them to wound her gentleness.
" I will jump—mathematically" ." You are joking" ." A true Englishman doesn't joke when he is talking about so serious a thing as a wager, " replied Phileas Fogg, solemnly.
On the evening of 22 March they chimed solemnly for two minutes as people stood silently at windows or on balconies – a tradition repeated every Monday over the following weeks.