HAZEL
The crash comes from the fire place. The matronly woman throws another round of ashy substance into the fire and the flames rise.
A male form appears on the carpet, coughing and writhing. Half of his face is covered in blood. The other half is mangled by whatever spell he’d been hit with.
He wasn’t here a moment ago. He must have been hiding in the room, through a concealing spell.
I watch with bated breath as he’s lifted up in the air and transformed into a cockcroach. The cockroach is placed inside a glass jar.
“Mother!” The girl, Helaena gasps in amusement. “I must say. That’s your best work yet.”
“This room is off limits,” the matron handled the intruder without getting up from her seat or letting go of her deck of cards. “He’s lucky I didn’t thrust him into the fire.” Ev
