As the ball floated across the other boy's hands, Paul's eyes followed it almost hypnotically. He was slightly comforted by Jareth's reassuring words and took a small step closer.
"I'm sorry," he apologised. "But I don't understand. Mind over magic? You mean, you're convincing me it's magic rather than actually using magic?"
Magic didn't exist, as Paul had been told many times, but that didn't mean he couldn't think about it. If he saw something that looked magic, he had to know why it looked magic, because he really wanted to believe it and struggled to control that urge.