The Theory of Magic

"You intrigue me, Mr. Dawson."

Caspian mulled over those words as he entered his Principles of Magic class.

I intrigue her. She's noticed the ravens, but I wonder if she's figured out that they report to me?

No, that's not possible. Interspecies telepathy is not a known application of magic.

As advanced as magic had become in the Kingdom of Britannia, under the peerless tutelage of the Ravensleigh Grimoire, telepathy had yet to be cracked by anyone except Caspian. Most magicians still considered the human mind a mystery, a cypher, an enigma which magic alone could not be solved.

Among all magicians, Caspian Dawson alone knew the reason for this confusion: most couldn't see the shadow realm where consciousness lived, the realm of shades and spirits. The psychics were known to have this extrasensory perception, but their power differed greatly from Caspian's third eye and they could not manipulate anything they saw.

"So, where'd we leave off last week?" the professor asked rhetorically. "Ah, yes. Magic as a metaphysical force of nature. I assume everyone has completed the assigned reading?"

The class gave no response.

"I'll take your silence as confirmation, then. So, would anyone care to summarize the reading for the class?"

"I'll do it," said a man sitting behind Caspian. He didn't seem to be that interested in magic theory, Caspian noted, but was making an effort to understand it anyway.

A soldier, perhaps? Aware that the key to his victory is his understanding of the tools at his disposal?

"This chapter explains how we know that magic is a consequence of the laws of nature," he began. "Magic effects appears to follow some of the established physical laws while disregarding others. The element of 'magic' is in deciding which laws are disregarded. It therefore can't be completely independent of nature, and must be some misunderstood aspect of the things we already know."

"That's a good start, Mr. Johnson, but not quite correct," said the professor. "Does anyone know what Mr. Johnson got wrong?"

Again, a reluctance to volunteer.

"I can," said Caspian.

"Please, go ahead."

"Magic does not disregard physical laws at random. Rather, it is one specific law which is transformed, which is the communication between particles."

"Oh? Explain."

Caspian rose to his professor's challenge.

"According to current Magic Field Theory, all elementary particles communicate information about their metaconfiguration to nearby particles. The example used in the text is a copper wire: when electricity is applied to the wire, it does not 'flow' through it in the traditional sense, but rather creates an electric field between the endpoints of the wire. Electricity is delivered to the target location through this field. Because that energy transfer takes place faster than sending energy along the wire, it means the destination of the electricity is already known before the electric current is applied. This implies the existence of some 'hidden variable' attached to the atoms in the copper wire, which stores this information until it is able to be used. Current Magic Field Theory hypothesizes that the manipulation of this hidden variable is how magic is possible."

"Excellent answer, Mr. Dawson," said the professor, before addressing the entire class. "He is correct. This is why we say that magic is a metaphysical force of nature: in respect to the transformation of energy, it is no different than any other physical or chemical reaction. Yet there is no corresponding physical phenomenon, and so we say that magic is metaphysical."

It was unremarkable that most of the freshmen had no idea what Caspian and the professor were talking about due to the Kingdom's strict embargo on magic theory education. What was remarkable, in the mind of the professor, was that Caspian had such a grasp of the theory already.

Though, if he's bright, he might've been able to put that much together through a rudimentary study of magic itself, thought the professor. Let's test his knowledge.

"Does anyone care to explain the extended implications of Magic Field Theory as it relates to consciousness?" he asked.

A hand was raised, almost immediately; it was not Caspian, rather a bright-eyed young woman whom the professor could tell was struggling to force her personality to fit into a more professional manner of conduct.

"Ms. Rivierra?"

"Thank you, sir," she began. "The basis of Magic Field Theory is Particle Field Theory, specifically the possibility that elementary particles are in constant communication with the particles around them about their structure. Thus, one endpoint of a wire 'knows' where the other endpoint is, correct?"

"That's an appropriate summary, Ms. Rivierra. Good job recognizing the connection to Particle Field Theory."

"Thank you, sir," she said again, this time with a hint of a blush. "If we examine the human brain through that lens, it might present an answer to the 'bootstrap paradox' of consciousness. If each neuron in the brain can be imagined as one of these 'wires', then the different neurons are already calculating where energy should go when it's applied, even without any sort of neuron activation. Because neurons can also act as calculation thresholds, the result of this energy pre-calculation should reflect the actual activity of the brain before it occurs. But because the brain is such a complex organ, there's no way for this calculation to be one-hundred-percent accurate, meaning it has to be updated constantly. With a sufficiently complex structure, this interplay between physical and metaphysical prediction may result in what we define as 'consciousness.'"

She's quick, thought Caspian, though she's a little off the mark as well. But her intuition is a force to be reckoned with.

"But, Ms. Rivierra," said Caspian, cutting the professor off before he could speak, "there are a variety of 'conscious' creatures on this planet with brains both far less or far more complex than our own, yet none display the same level of consciousness as us. Does that not serve as a counterpoint to your argument?"

Let's see how you respond.

"Ms. Rivierra?" asked the professor, "Do you have an answer to Mr. Dawson?"

"Not at this moment, sir," she replied, with barely a moment's hesitation.

"Very well, then," he said. "Mr. Dawson's critique is, once again, accurate: the origin of consciousness posed by Ms. Rivierra has been hotly debated among magic theoreticians for several decades, now, and the most common counterpoint is the presence of many conscious species which do not have complex neural structures."

"Professor, I have a question regarding those debates," said Caspian, his tone suggesting genuine curiosity.

"Yes, Mr. Dawson?"

"Has the distinction between sapience and sentience ever been proposed as an answer to that counterargument?"

The professor's eyes twinkled.

"Why, yes, it has, Mr. Dawson," he said, barely able to contain his excitement. "That idea first appeared in the early 2000s, but it came up again just last year in a paper authored by the Magi. Their discussion of the idea is considered the first legitimate consideration it's ever had, and they drew some pretty revolutionary inferences from it."

The mention of the Magi at last aroused the interest of the students in the room.

"You mean, the Magi?" asked one, a small, timid man who didn't look as if he had just graduated university.

"Indeed, Mr. Williams," said the professor. "The three Ultimate-rank magicians in His Majesty's Service, whose names have never been publicly released, and who have dictated the course of magical research in this Academy and this country for the better part of twenty years. They are of the same mind as young Mr. Dawson here."

Caspian now had the attention of every student in the room, no matter how much they cared about magic theory. A comparison to the Magi, no matter how slight, was an impressive feat.

"Thank you for your compliments, sir," said Caspian, "but I worry you give me too much credit. I've read the Magi's paper on the subject and wanted to know how much the broader magical community has considered the idea."

The professor raised an eyebrow.

"That paper was never made available to the public, Mr. Dawson," he said. "I'm impressed that you were able to find a copy."

"One of my university professors shared it with me as we were discussing the intersection of magic and consciousness," replied Caspian. "He technically broke the law by doing that, so please forgive me for refusing to name him."

That ought to have made an impression.

***

After the class, a silver-haired young woman with a petite build approached Caspian in the hall. While she appeared to be yet another first-year graduate student at the University, Caspian could immediately tell from the quality of her shade that she was special.

Natasha Angeloff. A first-year with no known Blessed Houses associations.

She's a psychic. A pretty good one, at that.

I'll have to be careful using my Third Eye around her.

I've been lucky so far, but I can't rely on luck alone.

"Mr. Dawson, do you have a moment to spare?"

"Of course."

He had no reason to refuse her, and also wanted to take this opportunity to observe this potential adversary before she became a threat. The pair moved into an empty classroom nearby and waited for traffic in the hallway to die down before beginning their conversation.

"How can I help you, Ms. Angeloff?"

The silver-haired psychic smiled.

"I wanted to tell you that I find your knowledge of magic theory most impressive," she said, "and I also wish to know if you have much experience with psychics and extrasensory perception."

"Thank you," replied Caspian with a slight, courteous bow. "I'm afraid I don't have any experience worth talking about, aside from one time I got scammed in university."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"You don't believe me?"

"I'm just surprised, Mr. Dawson," the girl replied. "You see, I'm a psychic myself."

When the girl didn't continue, Caspian decided to play dumb.

"...I'm sorry, was I supposed to understand what that meant?" he asked. "Psychics are cool, I guess, but I don't know what that has to do with anything."

"I can see your mind, you know," she said. "I can't read your thoughts, but your brain shines like that of a psychic... except I've never seen a psychic's brain shine as brightly as yours."

"Are you saying I'm a psychic?"

Natasha narrowed her eyes, staring—it seemed—into his soul.

"Are you pretending you're not one?"

"I don't think so," he lied. "Maybe I should take some sort of test to find out if I'm a psychic."

She obviously didn't believe him, but Caspian didn't care.

"Well, Mr. Dawson, I suppose it's none of my business. However, you should know that you've piqued my curiosity, and my hunger for knowledge isn't easily sated. I'll find out what you are whether you like it or not."

"When you do, please let me know," Caspian replied. "I want to know just as much as you do."

Yes, I'll have to be careful around her.

But if she starts getting too close to me...

...I can blind her third eye with a thought.

She won't be an issue as long as I keep my guard up.