The house itself only looks normal to Muggles; it has more than a few magical security devices like Sneakoscopes sitting in the garden which are only visible to those of a magical nature. This is particularly useful because Mordecai Hollingbury, Arcturus' father, is part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and has wizarding visitors over occasionally.

When anyone enters the house, they usually are seen entering normally by Muggles. There are, however, plenty of protective enchantments around the house. Disillusionment Charms cover the magical plants in the front garden and the entire back garden, and on the gate and fence is a charm that firmly locks down the house entrances and alerts people inside the house whenever something passes in. The charm only responds to the Hollingburys' wands.

That charm is usually referred to as the "gate charm", and is customised to have different sounds for different members of the family. When a stranger passes through, the charm makes a generic tinkling sound instead.



The house has fireplaces in every bedroom and the reception area, making it easy for any of the family to use the Floo network in the middle of the night without waking up anyone else. This is especially important to Arcturus; Mordecai also had use for this feature back in the 90s when he was part of the Administrative Registration Division.

The bedroom on the second floor used to be Arcturus'. It's now kept as it is, just in case he wants to stay in the house for a night or two. On the first floor, the bedroom at the back of the house is used as a spare. The largest bedroom belongs to Mordecai and Lydia, while the one next to it used to be Alethea's. No one is allowed to use that bedroom, but they're free to have a look around it without touching anything.



The backward features a small patio where in the summer the Hollingburys enjoy a few open-air dinners on occasion. If Muggles happen to look over their walls, they will only see the patio and nothing more if there are anything of a magical nature present. The garden can often have more than a few odd objects as Mordecai currently works in the Improper Use of Magic Office and brings home items to examine.





Metis, a female tawny owl, takes the place of Arcturus' now deceased pet barn owl Quill in serving as the family's messenger. She is affectionate and fluffy, almost like a very friendly cat with feathers, but likes to take shortcuts and can end up sometimes in the master bedroom because she doesn't feel like flying through the backdoor all the time (much to Mord's annoyance) carrying dead voles or mice.