Volume 2: Beneath the Magical Veil
...
The morning room smelled of toasted sesame and fried eggs, a clear sign that Tilly had truly outdone himself. The table was covered with a lavish spread: bowls of steaming rice, grilled fish with crispy skin, pickled vegetables in a delicate dish, and thin slices of beef simmering in a dark, savoury sauce. A generous pile of dumplings sat beside a pot of miso soup that released curls of steam into the air.
Morwenna had already finished three dumplings before Jane joined her at the table. She polished off a fourth and worked her way through half of her fish and a second bowl of rice before finally setting her chopsticks down.
Viviane picked up a dumpling, examined it for a moment, and ate it in a single bite. "You are spoiled beyond reason, petite." she said with a faint smile.
"Yes," Morwenna agreed simply.
Elara said nothing, eating her rice with methodical precision. Her expression remained its usual careful neutral, but the fact that she took a second helping of the fish suggested she approved of the meal.
Aldric sat at the head of the table with the morning paper, though his attention was fixed on Morwenna. Seraphina sat beside him, her hands wrapped around a hot cup of tea, while Jack occupied the other end of the table, busy buttering a piece of toast.
Morwenna looked between Viviane and Elara. "After breakfast, you must change into mundane clothes."
Viviane paused, a piece of fish halfway to her mouth. "And why exactly is that?"
"I want to play. I found something interesting."
Jane glanced at Jack. He kept his expression neutral, though his eyebrow twitched upward a fraction. Jane turned back to her daughter. "And where exactly do you want to play?"
"It's a secret."
Jack set his toast down. "Playing at secrets now, are we?"
"Yes." Morwenna lifted her chin, her expression defiant. "A secret. I will give you a big surprise."
Aldric let out a laugh. "A surprise? You are already playing at secrets and surprises?"
Morwenna pouted, her chest puffing out with self-importance. "I'm already seven."
Seraphina shook her head, though she couldn't hide her smile. "Just be careful out there."
Morwenna nodded and finished the last of her rice. Cinder was tucked under the table, his chin resting on her foot, and she nudged him gently. The fox thumped his tail once against the floor in response.
Once breakfast ended and the plates vanished, Morwenna sat on the rug in the sitting room. She scratched Cinder behind his ears while she waited, the fox stretching his neck into her hand with his eyes half-closed. Upstairs, the sound of footsteps moved through the guest wing as doors opened and closed.
Viviane came down first, dressed in dark trousers and a grey wool jumper. Her hair hung loose and she had removed all her jewellery, looking like someone prepared for a long walk.
Elara followed a minute later in black trousers and a fitted charcoal coat, her hair pinned back as usual. She looked at Morwenna and asked, "Ready?"
Morwenna stood up and patted Cinder's head. "Stay. I will be back." The fox flattened his ears but stayed put.
.
The Floo took them to the Leaky Cauldron. The pub was quiet, occupied only by a few early drinkers hunched over their mugs. They stepped out into the street where the air felt cold and damp, and the pavement was slick from a recent rain.
Morwenna pulled her coat tighter and walked to the kerb. Jack had given her a handful of pound notes before they left, and she used them to wave down a black cab.
The driver rolled down his window. "Where to, then?"
Morwenna gave the address clearly. "Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey."
Beside her, Viviane frowned. "Where?"
Morwenna looked at her. "I said it."
"I heard you speak, but I didn't hear what you said," Viviane insisted.
Elara's eyes sharpened. She watched Morwenna's mouth closely. "Say it again."
Morwenna repeated the address, but Elara shook her head. "The words leave your mouth, but zey don't reach my ears. You are saying something, and I'm hearing absolutely nothing."
"I can read lips," Viviane said. "Try once more."
Morwenna said it a third time, forming each syllable with deliberate care.
Viviane stared at her mouth, her frown deepening. "Nothing. Your lips move, and I see nothing zat I can name."
The cab driver cleared his throat, sounding impatient. "You lot getting in or not?"
Morwenna climbed into the cab, and Elara and Viviane exchanged a wary glance before following her.
The drive took forty minutes. Morwenna watched as the city began to thin, the buildings shrinking as the streets widened into the suburbs. Houses appeared with private driveways and small front gardens.
Eventually, the cab turned onto a road lined with identical houses, their walls built from the same pale brick and their windows all the same size.
The cab dropped them at the end of the street. Morwenna paid the driver, and he drove off without a second look.
The neighbourhood was unsettlingly quiet. The houses were perfect and identical, featuring neat lawns and washed cars, yet there were no children in the gardens and no movement behind the curtains. The buildings sat still and watchful, their windows dark like unblinking eyes.
Morwenna walked to the corner and turned onto Privet Drive with Elara and Viviane close behind. She had never been here in this life, but she knew the address from her memories of books and films. The street felt real now, from the damp air to the smell of bacon cooking behind an open window.
Elara stopped to look at a signpost, her head tilted. "I can't read it," she whispered. "I know there are words there, but I can't see them."
Viviane scanned the surroundings. "I look at ze street name, and zen I can't remember what it said." She turned to Morwenna. "What is zis place?"
Morwenna grinned at them. "Do you have an invisibility potion?"
Elara raised an eyebrow. "You came prepared."
"I came ready," Morwenna corrected her.
Elara reached into her coat and produced three small glass vials. "I have a stash. This batch lasts six to nine hours."
Morwenna beamed. "Perfect. This is a secret, so nobody can see us." She gave a playful wink.
They each drank their portion; it was cold and thin, tasting faintly of mushrooms and metal. Morwenna looked down at her hands and saw they were still there, but when she looked at Elara, the woman's outline had become soft and translucent.
"Hold my sleeve," Morwenna instructed. A hand found her wrist, and then another.
They walked deeper into the neighbourhood, where the houses became even more indistinguishable. Same curtains, same doors, same small cars. A dog barked behind a fence and then abruptly stopped. Suddenly, Elara stopped walking. Morwenna felt the shift through the hand on her sleeve.
"There's something here," Elara said, her voice low and focused.
Morwenna's grin widened. They had reached Number Four.
The house was exactly like its neighbours: white walls, a dark roof, and a small patch of grass. The curtains were drawn upstairs and a newspaper sat on the step, still in its plastic wrap. Morwenna stayed on the pavement across the street, careful not to step onto the lawn or approach the property line.
Elara stood beside her, her gaze going distant. "There's a ward here," she said quietly. "Something old and layered."
Viviane moved to her other side. "I feel it too. It's not just a protection charm. It's blocking perception."
Morwenna watched in silence. Elara raised her hand, palm flat toward the house but kept safely at her side. She didn't reach toward the invisible barrier. After a long moment, she lowered her arm.
"The structure is complex," Elara explained. "There's multiple layers, including standard blood wards and something designed to prevent the mind from holding information. There's also a recording function. Any magical signature that touches these wards will be logged."
She looked at Morwenna. "You knew this was here."
Morwenna nodded.
"How?"
Morwenna touched her chest, then her head, and finally her mouth.
Elara stared at her for a moment before turning back to the house. "We will study it from here. We do not approach."
They spent the next hour walking the perimeter of the property, always staying on the public path. Elara led the way, her fingers tracing the shape of the wards in the air without making contact. She explained the structure to Viviane and Morwenna, pointing out where the magic felt thicker or where it began to thin.
Morwenna listened intently, asking practical questions. She wanted to know how to feel the edge without touching it, and how to identify a recording ward from across the street.
"Repellent wards push you away," Elara explained as they reached the corner opposite the house. "You feel a pressure in your chest to turn back. It's weaker on the pavement, but it's there."
They continued their walk as the shadows lengthened. A cat crossed the street and looked in their direction before moving on, indifferent to their invisible presence. Elara found three weak points in the outer layer where the pressure of the repellent ward lessened, and she showed the others how to sense the difference.
"Wards settle over time," she concluded. "The original caster was skilled, but no ward is perfect. There are always gaps if you look for them from a safe distance."
Morwenna stood at the edge of the pavement and felt the wards for herself. She sensed a coldness that wasn't like her own magic—a spot where the protection didn't quite cover. It pressed at the edge of her awareness like a faint whisper.
"Can we get through?" she asked.
Elara was quiet for a moment. "The innermost layers are still intact, and we need more time to study the structure before we attempt to enter. We would also need to avoid the recording function entirely, which we can't do yet. The ward would log any magical signature that touched it, and yours would be recorded."
"And?"
"Entering," Elara clarified. "That's not a step we take lightly. The ward would log any magical signature that touched it. Yours would be recorded."
Morwenna looked at the house again. The curtains remained drawn and the car sat in the driveway, but nothing moved behind the glass. She filed the information away for later.
Elara checked her watch, "We should leave now." she said. "The effect will start fading soon."
They turned and walked back toward the main road without looking back.
The houses remained quiet and the street signs remained blank. Once they reached the main road, Morwenna hailed a cab.
The Leaky Cauldron felt much warmer than the damp street, and the Floo took them straight home.
Morwenna stepped out of the green flames and into the entrance hall. Cinder was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and she crouched down to let him press his nose to her cheek.
"I missed you too," she whispered.
Jane appeared in the doorway of the sitting room. "And how did your secret outing go?"
Morwenna stood up. "Good. We found something interesting."
Elara unbuttoned her coat as she entered. "There's a ward in a mundane neighbourhood with an unusual, layered perception block. I haven't seen anything like it in years."
Jane's expression didn't change, but her hands stilled on the doorframe. "What neighbourhood?"
Morwenna met her mother's eyes. "I will tell you. Soon. Not yet."
Jane looked at Elara, who shook her head once to indicate it wasn't the time. Jane nodded. "Dinner is in an hour. Wash up."
Morwenna climbed the stairs with Cinder at her heels. The portrait of the old woman with white hair watched her pass. "Did you find what you were looking for?" the painting asked.
Morwenna stopped and looked at the ancient green eyes. "Not yet. But I'm closer."
The old woman gave a small, subtle smile. "Good."