How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The cat was no cat, but a Free Magic creature of ancient power. "Abhorsen," mewed the cat, its little pink tongue darting. "About time you got here." (7.45)
Yep, a talking cat isn't normal. Something supernatural is definitely at work here.
Quote #5
"So," she said, addressing the figurehead like a lawyer before the court. "You are the victim of some Free Magic spell and necromantic trickery. Your spirit lies neither in Life nor Death, but somewhere in between." (13.40)
When Sabriel first finds Touchstone frozen as a wooden figure on the prow of a ship, he's so extremely lifelike that she suspects he's not a carved statue at all. It's an illustration of how she's adapting to the supernatural world of the Old Kingdom that she even considers this to be a possibility.
Quote #6
"There is a spell… a binding on us. But someone who is not a Charter Mage, or otherwise closely bound to the Charter, might be able to speak. A child, perhaps, baptized with the Charter mark, but not grown into power." (15.57)
In the Old Kingdom, magic is so pervasive that a single spell affects the entire population's ability to speak about Charter Magic.