They kept at it for a month.
Every morning after breakfast, Elara checked her supply of invisibility potion. There was always enough for all of them.
Morwenna wondered if the older woman was brewing it herself in the dead of night, but she never asked. Some questions didn't need answers, and she didn't want to disrupt the routine.
Elara and Viviane changed into mundane clothes that allowed them to blend into the scenery of suburban England. Morwenna waited for them in the entrance hall with Cinder curled at her feet, her hand already reaching for the Floo powder.
The pattern never varied: the green flames of the Floo, the crowded warmth of the Leaky Cauldron, and finally the cab ride to a quiet neighbourhood where the houses all looked the same.
They drank the invisibility potion, the liquid sliding down their throats with a bitter, herbal tang. Then, they walked the perimeter. Elara traced the wards with her fingers, her hand hovering barely a centimetre from the invisible barrier. Viviane asked questions while Elara provided measured answers, and Morwenna simply listened.
She learned what a ward felt like. It wasn't the magic itself, which she still couldn't touch, but the space around it, the way the air changed near the boundary. It felt dense and oppressive, like walking into a room where someone had closed all the windows and trapped the stale air inside.
The edges were sharp, biting into her senses with a cold precision. Elara showed her how to find them by the way her skin prickled when she got too close.
She learned the difference between a repellent ward and a detection ward. The outer layer acted as a repellent to push intruders away, while the middle layer watched for anyone who managed to linger.
Finally, the inner layer remembered those who had passed through. This particular ward did all three, and the layers were woven so tightly together that it was impossible to trigger one without alerting the others.
She learned what a weak point looked like. It wasn't a gap or a hole, but rather a place where the magic thinned and the pressure didn't feel as heavy against her skin. Elara marked these spots in her notebook while Morwenna memorised their positions with a burning focus.
The first week was interesting.
The second week was educational.
By the third week, Morwenna was bored.
It wasn't that she didn't care. She cared more than anyone else in that quiet, identical street. The house at number four held Harry, and Harry was hers. She would have torn the wards down with her bare hands if she believed it would work, but she didn't know enough yet.
Standing behind Elara for hours while the woman traced invisible lines through the air wasn't teaching her fast enough.
She understood the concepts and could feel the edge of the ward now, tracing it with her hand exactly as she had been shown. But she couldn't see the structure the way Elara could, and she couldn't read the layers or predict where the weak points would be. She was a beginner, and this wasn't beginner work.
"I'm bored," she said one morning.
They were standing at the corner of the property near the hedge that separated number four from number six. Elara had her hand raised, her fingers moving through the air as if she were reading braille. Viviane stood just behind her, watching the process with a clinical eye.
Morwenna leaned against the hedge, ignoring the way the branches poked through her jumper.
"You could wait at the manor," Viviane suggested without looking back. "Elara and I can continue without you."
"No."
"Then don't complain."
"I'm not complaining," Morwenna replied. "I'm stating a fact."
Viviane looked at her then, her gaze level and unyielding. Morwenna looked back, her heterochromatic eyes fixed on the older woman. Neither of them blinked.
Elara lowered her hand, breaking the tension. "The weak point near the front gate has shifted. Come look."
Morwenna pushed off the hedge and walked over. She practised feeling the ward edges herself, pressing her palm against the invisible barrier until the cold seeped through her skin. She wasn't good at it yet, but Elara said she would improve with time.
Morwenna wasn't sure she had that much time, but she stayed. She stood behind Elara, watched the woman's hands move through the air, and listened to her low explanations. She didn't argue again when Viviane suggested she wait at the manor. She just kept showing up every morning, because the house at number four held Harry, and Harry was hers. She would learn whatever it took to reach him.
One afternoon, the exhaustion finally caught up with her. The potion left a faint, crawling sensation across her skin, and the late spring light hung pale and hazy in the air. She had been on her feet for hours, the warmth of the day turning heavy and close around them.
She drifted closer to Viviane, her shoulder brushing against the woman's arm before she let her weight settle there, resting her head lightly against her shoulder.
Viviane didn't push her away. She kept working, her hand raised and her fingers tracing the ward boundary with steady focus.
"Interesting. The work is moving faster today." Viviane remarked.
Elara looked up from her own notes. "Yes. I noticed."
Morwenna didn't think anything of it. They had been doing this for weeks, so it only made sense that they were getting faster.
But the next day, Morwenna was restless. She paced behind Elara instead of standing still, her feet crunching on the frost-hardened grass. She didn't lean on anyone that day, and the progress slowed significantly.
The day after, she was tired again and leaned on Viviane. The progress immediately sped up.
Viviane noticed first. She said nothing at the time, keeping her hand steady and her focus on the ward. But when they got back to the manor, she pulled Elara aside.
The experiment took three days.
On day one, Viviane worked alone while Morwenna sat on the grass and watched. Viviane timed herself carefully, and the ward near the back garden took forty-five minutes to map.
On day two, Morwenna held her hand the entire time. Viviane worked much faster, mapping the same section in only twenty-eight minutes.
On day three, Morwenna didn't touch her at all. Viviane worked at her normal pace, and the section took forty-seven minutes.
Viviane looked at her notes before turning her gaze to Morwenna. "Tomorrow, you do the same for Elara."
Elara was harder to read. Her face didn't change and her hands didn't hesitate, but she agreed to the experiment. They followed the same three-day cycle. On the second day, when Morwenna held her hand, the work was visibly more fluid.
The results were the same. Faster with contact. Slower without.
Elara closed her notebook and walked back to where Viviane was waiting.
That evening, they sat down for dinner. The table was full with Elara, Viviane, Jack, Jane, Aldric, and Seraphina. Morwenna wasn't there. She had fallen asleep in the nursery, exhausted from the weeks of early mornings and long days. Jane had checked on her before coming down, finding Cinder curled at her feet and Vert pressed against her side.
Elara waited until the first course was served before she spoke. "There's been a breakthrough."
Jack set his fork down, and Jane's hand stopped mid-reach for her water glass.
"The wards we have been studying are more complex than I initially estimated," Elara explained. "They are layered and interlinked, with multiple functions woven into the same structure. Whoever designed them knew exactly what they were doing."
She paused to let the weight of her words sink in.
"There's also a physical contact effect. When Morwenna touches one of us while we're studying the wards, our perception sharpens. The effect is significant. Without contact, the progress is slow. With contact, it accelerates."
Jane looked at Jack, who then looked at Elara.
"What does that mean?" Jane asked.
"I have a hypothesis, but I need more data. Tomorrow, you and Jack will come with us."
Jane nodded, her hand finding Jack's under the table. Dinner resumed, though the atmosphere had shifted.
The next morning, the five of them stood at the edge of the ward boundary in the colourless morning light. Jack and Jane had taken the invisibility potion and stood behind Elara, their faces blank with the strange, distant look of people trying to see something that wasn't there.
"I can't read the street sign," Jack said.
"The words blur," Jane added, her accent thinning slightly as her frustration grew. "I know zey are there, but I can't focus on zem."
Elara nodded. "That's the ward. It affects perception and memory. You won't remember the route we took to get here, and you won't remember the address."
Jane's jaw tightened at the thought.
They began the experiments in earnest. First, Jane held Elara's arm while she worked. The progress was faster than the baseline, just like when Morwenna held her. Then Jack held Elara's arm, but there was no difference at all.
Then Morwenna and Jane held Elara together. The progress was faster than either of them alone.
However, when Morwenna and Jack held Elara together, the progress was actually slower than when Morwenna worked alone. It was worse. When Jack and Jane held Elara together, it was worse still.
They repeated the sequence with Viviane, and the results remained the same.
After three weeks of experiments, the patterns held firm. Morwenna and Jane were the key, but Jack alone did nothing. Any combination involving Jack only served to muddle the magic.
Morwenna was too tired to care about the implications. She went through the motions, held the arms she was told to hold, and stood where she was told to stand. By the end of the third week, she was finished.
She ate dinner in a fog, spoke only in monosyllables, and went upstairs before the meal was finished. Bitsy drew her bath, and Morwenna sat in the hot water until her fingers were pruned. She dried off, pulled on her nightgown, and climbed into bed.
Vert was cold, so she pressed it against her chest and closed her eyes while Cinder jumped up to curl at her feet. She was asleep before Jane could even come to check on her.
The adults stayed at the table long after she had gone. The candles had burned low, and the plates had been cleared. A pot of tea sat in the middle of the table, untouched.
Elara was the one to break the silence. "The wards are the most complex I have ever encountered. Multiple layers, interlinked functions, and redundant protections. Whoever designed them spent a significant amount of time on the planning. This wasn't a spontaneous construction. It was prepared."
She paused, her expression grave.
"There are blood wards at the foundation. Bloodline wards, specifically. The magic recognises family connections. That's why Morwenna and Jane can affect it. They share blood with whoever is inside."
Jane's hand tightened on her teacup until the porcelain creaked.
"C'est dégoûtant," Jane said, her voice low and rough. "He wanted to isolate him completely from everyone who could help him. Ze way he has trapped him there..."
She set the cup down, her hands shaking.
Aldric took a slow sip of his own tea. "We don't know what Dumbledore's scheme is, but I have heard things."
Seraphina set her knitting aside. She had been working on a scarf of dark green wool.
"The Noctua branch is part of the Black family," she said. "We hear whispers. There are rumours that Voldemort is still alive."
The table went still at the mention of the name.
Jane's face drained of colour before her expression shifted, her green eyes darkening as her jaw tightened. The candles on the table flickered wildly, their flames bending toward her as a plate rattled against the wood and her teacup began to tremble. Her magic was pressing against the walls, angry and barely contained.
Jack reached across and took her hand. He didn't say a word, just pressed his palm against hers and wrapped his fingers around her knuckles. Slowly, the candles steadied and the plate stopped its frantic rattling. Jane's breathing slowed.
Jack looked at Elara. "You said the wards are complicated."
"Very complicated. Whoever set them up had time to mix and match different traditions and different sources. This was not the work of a few days."
Jane took a steadying breath. "We have to get him." Her voice broke on the last word, and she swallowed hard before pressing her lips together.
Viviane reached across the table and took her other hand. "Don't worry. We will get him. We survived Morwenna, after all. We can survive this too."
Jane nodded, not letting go of either hand.