"Please," William said fervently. He disliked being out on his own, considering the current dangers all around them. "I thought we could see what there is lying around, maybe..."
He cut off when they reached the door, coming to a halt. Pulling out his wand, he cast a very light inquiry spell and felt the ripple of active wards pulse back through him. Lowering his wand for a moment, he tried the easiest approach, banging on the door. "It's William and Jon," he called through the heavy wooden door. "Is anyone in there?"
Nothing. He was going to have to do this the hard way, then. "There are wards," he told Jon. "I think they'll recognize me; Gabe wouldn't put anything in place that would seriously harm a student, but you might want to stand back for a minute."
The first step was easy. William could disable or redirect most simple wards, and he was through the first three obvious layers of security before he felt the slick, insidious slide of Dark magic. It wasn't much, just a trace, like something that had been and gone. It wasn't any Spanish spell that William knew, although there were plenty he didn't. Still. It didn't smack of Gabe.
He was just about to go questing after it when a spirit - a djinn, he thought, possibly an ifrit - popped up right under his nose, with enough power behind it that he made sure to hold very, very still while it magically looked him over. ?? the djinn demanded wordlessly. ??
I mean no harm, he thought distinctly, frozen in place. I need to get in, I would not intrude without cause. I'm a friend.
The djinn gave another little sputter of !! in warning before vanishing, and William let out a shaky breath and opened the door to Gabe's workroom. No Gabe, which he had expected by now. It was still disappointing, but better than the alternative; finding someone in here no longer able to answer the door.
"I think we're okay now," William called over his shoulder to Jon. "But you may want to walk through the door slowly just in case."