harry vs barreras

"Oh, come on," I said. "It doesn't have to be flashing." The elevator doors
opened and I took the lead down the hall to Anna Ash's apartment—and
stepped into a tingling curtain of delicate energy four or five feet shy of the
door. I drew up sharply, and Murphy had to put a hand against my back to
keep from bumping into me.
"What is it?" she asked.
I held up my left hand. Though my maimed hand was still mostly numb to
conventional stimuli, it had never had any trouble sensing the subtle
patterns of organized magical energy. I spread out my fingers as much as I
could, trying to touch the largest possible area as I closed my eyes and
focused on my wizard's senses.
"It's a ward," I said quietly.
"Like on your apartment?" she asked.
"It's not as strong," I said, waving my hand slowly over it. "And it's a little
cruder. I've got bricks and razor wire. This is more like aluminum siding
and chicken wire. But it has a decent kick. Fire, I think." I squinted up and
down the hall. "Huh. I don't think there's enough there to kill outright, but it
would hurt like hell."
"And a fire would set off the building's alarms," Murphy added. "Make
people start running out. Summon the authorities."
"Uh-huh," I said. "Discouraging your average prowler, supernatural or not.
It's not meant to kill." I stepped back and nodded to Murphy. "Go ahead and
knock." She gave me an arch look. "That's a joke, right?"
"If this ward isn't done right, it could react with my aura and go off."
"Can't you just take it apart?"
"Whoever did this was worried enough to invest a lot of time and effort to
make this home safer," I said. "Kinda rude to tear it up." Murphy tilted her
head for a second, and then she got it. "And you'll scare them if you just
walk through it like it wasn't there."
"Yeah," I said quietly. "They're frightened, Murph. I've got to be gentle, or
they won't give me anything that can help them."