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[credere]

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[credere]

He shakes his head, his face falling under the weight of his guilt.

"Mr Scamander asked about them too. I - I threw them away."

[magician_king]

"Do you have anything that is broken?"

He asks, more gently, turning back to look at him. It always feels best when he is setting something right that needs setting.

[credere]

"Um - the window," Credence says, then frowns at the boarded-up frame. "But some of the glass is missing."

[magician_king]

"That's fine."

He says, moving towards it, and asking;

"So, tell me your news?" While he looks around for something to get the boards off with, then, pauses; "Want to try your first spell? Bujold's Sorcerous Nail Extraction is a classic."

[credere]

Credence looks, inevitably, rather startled.

"I - I don't have a wand."

[magician_king]

"Wands channel and clarify magic."

He explains;

"Powerful wizards- or in my world, extremely competent magicians- can do magic without using them. And since you're full to the brim, it makes way more sense to start you without one. If you used a wand to cast a lumos, for light, my current theory is you might start a small fire right now. If you use your hands and your mind to pull out the nails in this window- there's a small chance we'll get some weird side effects, but it's way less risky. Also- about nine billion times more work, though, fair warning."

[credere]

The words small fire and weird side effects and less risky make Credence shrink in on himself like he can hide from the mere possibility.

"I don't think I should."

[magician_king]

"Okay."

Says Quentin, remembering how little pressure it takes to twist Credence's arm.

"Let's go get a hammer, and I'll tell you enough about magical theory that you can make an educated decision about if you'd like to begin, where, and how. This is what I used to do. I taught first year students at my old school."

[credere]

It's this, strangely or not, which Credence finds reassuring. He knows he should have gone to a wizards' school, and he didn't, because by the age of eleven he was already harbouring an abomination against nature. If Quentin was a teacher, that gives him a level of authority above and beyond being merely a magician.

But for now they need to go to the equipment room and get a hammer, so he goes to get the door.

"What if I can't do your magic? Because we're from different places?"

[magician_king]

"That is a possibility."

He admits, readily.

"Magic isn't consistent from world to world, from body to body, not exactly. It's even possible you'll be able to do about half of the spells from my world, or every first, first, second, third, fifth one. But this is still a useful exercise, because what we're going to do together is spend a little time analyzing the system, and wherever you go after life on the barge, you'll be able to turn this way of thinking critically about power on your new environment, and find your way in your world."

[credere]

Credence understood the first half of that and then got lost, but admitting that he doesn't understand something has historically been a good way to get slapped. So he just nods.

"Yes, alright."

They move onto the stairwell, heading down.

[magician_king]

"So. When we start thinking about magic, we need to think about the world in general, first. Our reality exists around us with a kind of baseline. There are normal things, substances that behave consistently, and there are normal properties- rules that govern those behaviours."

He says, as they trot down the stairs.

"These are things like- the way clouds are made. Or how water boils, and then becomes steam. How a bird is able to fly. You remember that- the lift of air under a goose's wing."

[credere]

Credence hears this, and slows, and eventually just....stops, halfway down a staircase. One of his hands is gripping his other elbow, very tightly.

[magician_king]

"Woah."

Says Quentin, spinning on the landing down below, him, looking up at him.

"What did I say? Are you okay?"

[credere]

He picks at his jacket.

"I don't...know any of those things," he murmurs. "About clouds, or steam, or...birds."

It feels like something beautiful has just been snatched out of his reach and placed behind the impenetrable barrier of his own ignorance.

[magician_king]

"I know."

He promises;

"That's why I'm telling you. I'm not telling you what you don't know, Credence- I'm telling you how you're going learn."

He leans at the bannister, and looks up at him.

"You're taking your first step down a very long road, I'm not going to lie to you about that. But the point for today isn't the particulars about clouds or steam. It's just understanding one key distinction that we're going to get to. Come on-"

Reaching his hand up to him, inviting him down the stairs, and onwards, literally and metaphorically.

"-I'll explain everything."

[credere]

Credence sways on his feet for a moment, then lets his hands fall to his sides and continues descending the stairs.

"I'm sorry," he whispers.

Sorry he's so stupid, sorry he doesn't trust Quentin to do this right, just - sorry.

[magician_king]

"You don't have to be."

He says, and knowing him now, when he makes his way the rest of the way down, steps in close for one quick hug.

"I'm starting to notice- whenever we start any kind of teaching like this, you get- more like you're remembering something. Is that maybe a fair thing to say?"

[credere]

It might be, but he's not following Quentin's observation, and the way his brow furrows says it before he does.

"I don't understand."

[magician_king]

"You sometimes react like I'm going to be mad at you for not already knowing something. Or, like not having been exposed to an idea means you're stupid."

He says, with a frown.

"You know it doesn't, right?"

[credere]

He fidgets.

"Ma always said..."

And of course he isn't really cognisant of how abusive and brutal it is, to be accused of stupidity for lacking an education that his accuser didn't give him.

[magician_king]

"She was wrong."

He says, not good enough at leading an explanation to get him to this realization on his own, just blurting out with it.

"I don't know anything about the bible. Couldn't name the apostles. Does that make me stupid?"

[credere]

"No," Credence says, wide-eyed, "of course not," but he's struggling with attribution bias such that he doesn't really see his point.

[magician_king]

"Exactly."

Says Quentin, anyways.

"But even more so, in your case, because that's a book I should have read by now and haven't- and the things I'm talking about, some haven't been discovered by a single other human being, in your age; they're scientific principles from your future, yet to be discovered."

[credere]

"Oh."

He goes quiet as they bridge the final short distance to the equipment cupboard. One of the things that he's learned about Quentin is that he likes explaining things, and that there's no harm in just....letting him.