XXI. Magic
"Theo, do you ever wonder what life would be like if we hadn't been born with magic?"
Theodore and Blaise are lying in the shade of a willow tree by the banks of the Great Lake. They have been enjoying the silence for the past half hour or so, and Blaise's question comes completely out of the blue.
"Don't be stupid, Zabini. Of course I don't," Theodore replies. "And if you have been then all those Muggle Studies classes are really affecting your brain."
Blaise shrugs. "It's not Muggle Studies that's made me think that. It's just something I've always wondered. Maybe if I'd been a muggle I'd have a stable family."
Theodore knows what he's thinking. If Blaise's mother had been a muggle she would never have been able to get away with murdering so many of her husbands.
"What would you have been if you were a muggle?" Theodore asks, deciding to allow Blaise to talk about this most peculiar fantasy.
"I would have been an actor," Blaise replies. "And you would have been a politician."
Theodore raises an eyebrow. "But Blaise, that's what we're intending to do now anyway."
"I know," Blaise sighs. "I've always thought that life wouldn't be much different without magic. Just a bit more stable – and happier."
"Do you wish you'd been born a squib then?" Theodore asks.
Blaise shakes his head. "Of course not. If I'd been born without magic then I'd never have met you."