Preliminary Material For A ‘Magic Is Among Us’ Plot, Fiction

Words

 
Awareness of the outside world. Recent reads. *Fortune and Glory* by Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum #27 (Atria 2020); *Masquerade in Lodi* by Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona #9 (Kindle(?) 2020); *A Blessing of Unicorns: * by Elizabeth Bear, narrated by Zehra Jane Naqvi, Sub-Inspector Ferron #2, (Audible 2020). Clearly, I am in the mood for light. Also series, for some reason. Although, I found Ferron #2 before reading #1. That’s two ebooks/novellas and one audio book. I do read in codex. The last one I finished isn’t one I care to broadcast. A great premises that devolved into dragons. That’s trips the cliche meter almost as hard as vampires. But I digress.
Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott
~~~
I am not the magic police.

I am not Peter Grant, the debonair magician’s apprentice. I don’t study Latin. I don’t swan about London with sexy river gods. I can’t will a fireball into existence. I wish.

Magic is common. We all do it. A salesperson who can sell ice in the Antarctic? That’s Charm. A brilliant carpenter or a person good with animals? That’s Touch. We all manipulate the universe around us to some extent. It is not a special, exotic realm open only to the chosen few.

Occasionally, a person becomes conscious of that which is subconscious. They realize that they have direct access to the levers of the universe.

That’s when we go in to have a chat. We explain that those fascinatingly attractive levers are long and delicately balanced. Too much force on one end will cause said lever to swing around and whack one on the back of the head.

We have a Power Point. It’s not pretty.

That’s generally enough to scare people straight. We keep an eye on them anyway.

Occasionally a person finds a way to have the teeter-totter of the universe hit the back of someone else’s head.

That’s when I go in. Or someone like me.

I have no magic. None. Nada. I can’t do a spell consciously or subconsciously. Unlike squibs in the Potterverse, lack of magic is not a source of shame. You see, the flip side is that magic has no effect on me. None. Nada. Hit me with high-wattage Charm; I will just stand there and blink at you.

This makes me valuable when someone is misusing magic. There’s no point to sending a squad after an Evil Villain only to have them cave the first time E.V. smiles at them.

So I go in. I’m immune.

The sort of person who is willing to push the consequences of their actions onto others is also the sort of person who gets disconcerted when their big party trick suddenly stops working.

This gives me time to persuade them of the error of their ways, whether they want to be persuaded or not.

Of course, I’m human. I bleed. A person wishing me harm could simply shoot me. That’s why I wear a bulletproof vest to these little chats.

Okay, maybe I am the magic police.
~~~fin~~~