"I think you can convince yourself of a lot of things, when it comes to the magical, the supernatural. I think the non-magical do it all the time, and they're right, without ever really having the proof or without realizing just how right they are. Right for the wrong reasons," he considered, thinking about all the ghost-hunting shows, the fortune tellers, aliens, conspiracy theories. Sometimes, people just stumbled into the truth. "But when you know those things are real, I think it makes them more frightening at times."
Theodore smiled a little, turning his ring around his left ring finger with this thumb for a moment. "If you don't mind the whole story," he went on. "Well, the abridged version, that is. He killed my mother in a drunken rage, when I was a boy. I saw the whole thing." He hummed softly, let that sink in for a moment. "To cover his crime, he attempted to use a memory charm. Drunken and panicked and still raging, he didn't do a very good job of it. Now you can see why I was somewhat hesitant, at first, when you started talking about potions to influence the mind." An apologetic smile. "I came out of it with a stutter, and a learning disability, for lack of a better term. Short-term memory was a problem for me. My magical power was muted. When he hit me with that curse, the one that should've killed me, or Jamie, it undid that botched charm. I remembered everything in that moment and...well, I can say I did it to save us, but there's no denying that it was at least partially motivated by revenge. I won't ask if you think that makes me an awful person but...it's a hell of a choice for a seventeen-year-old boy to have to make." He drank down the rest of his wine. "That's the big piece under the surface, for me. You've been indulgent of me so far but I can't blame you if you adjust your opinion of me, going forward."