And:

Hello! Welcome to Nenassa, I'm sorry it's so horrible here! Please don't tell anyone I'm a halfblood, I will die.

I won't. Not that I can. It wasn't obvious if you were going to magically teach me the language or just talk like this, so I allowed both, but I'd rather not leave gaps I don't need -?

Oh, I'm going to magically teach you the language too, but I've never actually done it before and I don't make a habit of being hasty about trying new magic especially when it's mind stuff. So it might take a few minutes. I can talk to you in the meantime, I'm a good multitasker.

Okay. It probably just won't work if you accidentally try to do something else but I don't think I can stop you from accidentally confusing the words for tea and elephant while you're handing them over, so, do watch out.

Your magic's very weird. Well, I guess all magic is weird from the point of view of people with different magic.

Mine's weird at home too.

Huh. What's your home even like?

I can't do illusions. Does this let me send pictures?

It should!

Here is May's memory of the image of the Earth from space, turning, its dark half sparkling with cities.

Here is downtown Toronto, full of humans and human artifacts as far as the eye can see.

Here is the view from an airplane taking off, peeking past the wing to watch the ground fall away.

Wow.

It has its moments. Magic isn't common knowledge, and neither are species other than humans; approximately the same subset of people - mostly the non-humans - know about both.

...How do you even do all that without magic?

Imagine showing someone who hadn't invented the bow and arrow how you could kill an animal from fifty yards.

...huh. Nice analogy.

Thanks, I stole it from Star Trek.

What's that?

It is a series of stories about someone's speculation on what it will be like when we have invented even more things.

...he giggles.

It's a whole genre!

That's a pretty good genre to have!

I like it.

Anyway, it's customary for nonhumans to masquerade as humans with magic, sometimes so effectively that a few generations later they don't remember they aren't.

Thaaat sounds like it might get awkward!

It can be a little when they find out! But the masquerading is very effective, so it isn't if they don't.

I suppose. Go on.