Semper Fidelis

Chapter 14.2

Nova stood straight from her crouched position by the doorframe. "Captain," she said in greeting with a small bow of her head. "The door was warded with very strong locking spells," Nova immediately jumped to an explanation of what she had discovered. "The dark wizards came through here, but they had a very tough time. Notice these marks," her fingers traced through the lines maring the white door frame. It was as if someone had taken a crowbar and tried to pry open the door from all angles. "And the door itself." She pointed at the door laying on the ground, clean off of its hinges, scorch marks and scratches and soot evident on the side which faced outwards. "I reckon it's the same type of dark magic from the Met which nullified these wards."

Harry looked at the broken piece of wood and the splinters which laid around it. He was almost certain Nova was correct in her assessment that it was the same dark magic as before. But he also wondered why the door was warded in the first place, especially since Ms. Watson was living amongst Muggles. Did she know that she would be need to be protected? Harry filed it as another question he wanted answered in his growing list of questions about James' mum. 

Carefully Harry and Remus walked past Nova and into the entryway. Immediately Harry could tell that this was where a lot of action took place. The coat rack was turned over. A table which must have been propped against the wall and once held a vase filled with flowers was on its side on the ground, the vase smashed and the flowers scattered in disarray. A mirror which hung on top of this table had a gigantic crack in the middle and Harry glimpsed two of himself when he walked past it. The landing was painted a welcoming robin egg blue but there were scratches and more scorch marks on its walls. Harry traced his finger over one such mark and recognized it as coming from an offensive spell which could have only originated from deeper inside the house.

Ms. Watson had fought back.

Or tried to, at least.

The soles of his boots clacked against the hardwood floors as he walked deeper inside the home. He reached the living room with its walls painted light grey. There was a large area rug of varying shades of blues and greens on top of which a well worn and very comfortable cream sofa sat. There was a blanket strewn on the sofa and between its seat and the coffee table, Harry spied an overturned tea cup which stained the carpet. He knew that Ms. Watson had dropped it after the intruders came into her home. He spied broken glass on top of the coffee table and surmised it was the other end of the two-way mirror which had been destroyed. 

There were floor-to-ceiling windows on the wall next to the couch looking out into the garden at the back of the house. A low cabinet no more than two feet high lined the bottom of the windows creating a cozy reading nook and tall shelves filled with heavy books stood resolutely on either side of the glass. A large TV was propped on top of a white cabinet opposite the seat and Harry could see the latest gaming console peeking out from one of the shelves. The entertainment was in front of a large gallery wall which had dozens and dozens of picture frames. Wooden boxes of varying sizes and colours and holding different subjects were arranged artistically on its surface. There were paintings, posters, typography, and photographs. Plants, big and small, in brightly coloured pots breathed life into the room.

It would have been a wonderful place to come home to if not for it being in total chaos. There were scuff marks on the hardwood floors. The couch was slashed, its fluff and padding strewn around. There were punctures on the large window and books laid discarded on the floor, some of them with their pages ripped out. Plant pots were broken creating a mess of soil and dirt on the ground. The TV was cracked and barely standing on top of the cabinet and the wall behind it was a mess. Frames were crooked, some of them with their glass cracked, some of them had fallen on the floor, and many of them were burned.