"I don't think my mum will approve of us going to an, if it's there, abandoned home that is probably filled with dangerous creatures."
"What if she doesn't know we'll go?" said Lyra suggestively. They, again looked at her in bewilderment. "Look, let's say we want to go to Eddie's and one of us has to make sure she uses magic so the Ministry would think your mum's the one casting spells."
"And who is that going to be?" quizzed Natalie.
"I will," Zayna volunteered, "with me being muggleborn going into a house that was owned by Pureblood maniacs. . . They could've had some muggleborn detector or something."
Wait, Zayna's muggleborn? I thought she was a half blood for three years. "You're muggleborn?"
"Yes, our mums are sisters. Aunt Sydney is also muggleborn while mine's a muggle," she clarified.
"Is that why you live in the muggle world?" Lyra concluded, as she was always confused as to why they did.
"That's why Zayna does. It was encouraged by my grandmother on dad's side that we had to live in the muggle world. I never knew why actually, I think it has to do with her sister who died during the war."
The three made their plan. Natalie would tell her mother they wanted to visit the neighbour who had a son, Eddie Clarke (a muggle boy with an attraction to Natalie's mum) who they knew. Then, Lyra would pretend to have forgotten something she wanted to show them and she together with Natalie would leave to go and find out if number twelve existed. It was a solid plan, the only problem was that Mrs Soots would never use magic in front of a muggle.
"I could just accidentally let some glass fall, she will definitely fix that with her wand," whispered Zayna as they went downstairs.
"You gotta do it when Mrs Clarke doesn't see her. And also quick, because we'll definitely be there in about a minute."
"Wait, how are we going to be sure aunt Sydney brings her wand?" asked Zayna.
Didn't think about that. "Mum always brings her wand with her, for safety reasons. She has always been a bit paranoid. Lyra." Natalie snapped her fingers. "You did it again, the zoning out."
"Yeah sorry, okay, as we practiced."
Natalie opened the living room door where Mr and Mrs Soots seemed to be arguing about the doll Mr Soots was holding. "Come on Syd, it's from my mother she's going to be heartbroken if we throw it away. They were her favourites."
"Arius, sooner or not it'll break. She isn't going to be upset when you tell her this," Mrs Soots argued vexatiously.
"Natalie, you like grandmother's porcelain dolls, right?" asked Mr Soots, who saw them walking in.
Natalie grimaced. "Yes, of course. . ." The way Nat could not lie was sad to see. The doll her father was holding had some cracks and its clothes were shabby.
"See! Natalie likes them," he objected.
Mrs Soots, who was almost seething with anger said rather calmly, "Arius, honey we are throwing them away."
