She snorts, shakes her head, and picks the word out of the sentence that seems to have been "mage." She points to herself "Wizard." She points to the headmaster's office. "Wizard." She gestures elsewhere. "Atennesi Cohen. Wizard!" and when she says wizard that time she spreads her hands to indicate bigness.

"Wizards everywhere. I begin to feel left out."

She shrugs, pinches herself viciously, and spreads her hands in a "what can you do?" gesture.

"Eh?"

Pantomime is an even worse form of communication than regular language, who'd have thought?

She forms one hand into a mouth shape and pinches the wrist. The hand wobbles in a way as to indicate the pinching doesn't matter. She points to that hand and says, "Wizard." She makes the other hand into a mouth, pinches it, mimes it squawking in pain, and shakes her head.

"...Seriously? The major local restriction on magical aptitude is pain tolerance?"

She looks at him like she can't imagine how he could possibly have not known that.

"Magic doesn't hurt where I'm from. At least not usually."

"What!?" The word is unfamiliar, but the tone of shock comes through fine.

"You didn't think I was crazy when I said I was from another plane, but that's what gets you?"

She nods firmly.

"What a curious look into local metaphysical assumptions... help, I am being tempted by the siren lure of thaumatology."

She gives him a quizzical look.

"Which part of that needs explaining?"

"...Thaumatology?" She guesses, hesitantly.

"Thaumatology, the study of the underlying nature and function of magic. Best practiced by the quick of mind and humble of heart. I fulfill the first criterion but fail catastrophically at the second."

Something about this is puzzling her but she can't seem to articulate what.

"Yes?"

"of mind and humble of heart I?" she guesses.

"...I am very smart, and very arrogant, and only one of these things is a virtue?"

She raises an eyebrow. She holds out a fist. "Of mind and humble of heart I," she says. She holds out her other fist. "Wizard." Her fists zoom away from each other as though they were magnetically repelled.

"...'Quick of mind and humble of heart' and 'wizard' don't go together? What, your wizards are all arrogant idiots? That sounds unfortunate."

Oh.

"Humble of heart," she corrects. She holds her fists out again. "Wizard," she labels her right fist. "Humble of heart," she labels her left fist, and they zoom apart. She holds up her left fist, relabels it "quick of mind," and this time the two stick together.

"Aha. Well, that's much better for local prosperity, I imagine."

She nods and smiles.