The Magicians (The Magicians, #1)

by Lev Grossman

Quentin did a magic trick. Nobody noticed.

The real problem with being around James was that he was always the hero. And what did that make you? Either the sidekick or the villain.

Of course he was going to sign. This was everything he’d always wanted, the break he’d given up on years ago. It was right in front of him. He was finally on the other side, down the rabbit hole, through the looking glass. He was going to sign the papers and he was going to be a motherfucking magician.

“Use magic in anger, and you will harm yourself much more quickly than you will harm your adversary. There are certain spells . . . if you lose control of them, they will change you. Consume you. Transform you into something not human, a niffin, a spirit of raw, uncontrolled magical energy.”

“Hang on,” he said. “Gotta get my quidditch costume. I mean uniform. I mean welters.”