How can I index a MATLAB array returned by a function without first assigning it to a local variable?

Question

For example, if I want to read the middle value from magic(5), I can do so like this:

M = magic(5);
value = M(3,3);

to get

Answer 1

At least in MATLAB 2013a you can use getfield like:

a=rand(5);
getfield(a,{1,2}) % etc

to get the element at (1,2)