"You got to pick then?"

"Going to a boarding school in the first place was our idea--mine and Jaromira's. We selected one before making our case."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Father is--not emotionally available, but he is open to reasonable arguments."

"Better than the alternative."

"Yes. I don't love him the way I wish I could, but he is objectionable only in relation to the standards I believe it is reasonable to hold a parent to; in absolute terms he is entirely inoffensive to interact with. I believe if he were a coworker or classmate instead of my father I would like him."

"I guess that could be worse. My parents are both cool people."

"I'm glad."

"You'll probably meet Renée at some point but Charlie lives all the way in Washington."

"There are probably magical girls with interesting powers in Washington."

"It's a tiny town near nothing at all with like fifteen girls in it but maybe some of them have interesting powers."

"Fair enough."

"I haven't met them, I'm guessing based on the population."

"That makes sense. Since genes influence likelihood of acquiring magic it seems that small towns where the gene pool has stayed relatively consistent over time would be more likely to be demographically unusual than large cities, but in the absence of specific information using general demographics is most likely the best option."

"Also I think Charlie would have mentioned it if there were any magical dynasties in Forks."

"The local genes could also be unusually low on magic instead of unusually high."

"True. I've seen girls there but they coulda been tourists or Paladins there 'cause it's coastal."

"It actually seems possible that areas that are in general less desirable to live in would have lower quantities of magic genes in general, if people tended to leave whenever they got magic."

"Some people like it. Charlie wouldn't leave for the world. It's just very small town and very remote and wildernessy."

"Yes, I'd more expect that kind of magical bleedoff from, say, a former coal mining town with no more viable mines."

"It's not a strong genetic relationship, so one girl who wanted lots of kids could correct it pretty fast."

"True. I probably shouldn't worry about it."

"I think China kinda tries to breed for more magic."

"China is...the kind of problem I don't know how to solve."

"I'm not positive it's all bad."