A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking

by T. Kingfisher

It seemed like once you agreed that the government could put you on a list because of something you were born with, you were asking for trouble.

You expect heroes to survive terrible things. If you give them a medal, then you don’t ever have to ask why the terrible thing happened in the first place. Or try to fix it.”

“My dear, I am certain that you can go on about how unworthy and incapable you are for hours yet, but we have very little time. Let us pretend that we have done all that and that I have nodded correctly and made the proper noises, and skip to the point where you say, “I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll try.”

In magic, creativity is as important as knowledge. The greatest wizard I have ever known would have been considered a minor talent by our standards, but he was relentless in finding ways to make things work with what he had.

After a minute, I said, “I never wanted to be a hero.” His face was solemn. “Nobody ever does.”