The urge to discuss the physics and math behind time travel itself was quite strong. Yet when the Scotsman mentioned that he was mostly interested in how it all pertained to Jack, the Professor nodded his head once more. Oh he loved to talk science and magic without a doubt. Almost loved lecturing and debating the subject material as much as Blackstone loved reading and studying up on all the fascinating subject matter. But this wasn't the time or place to get into a long winded, if not utterly engaging, chat over relativity and quantum physics.
"Magic is a mystery to us all, yet it is not an insurmountable challenge to pull back the curtain that cloaks the subject matter. In fact I've dedicated nearly ever waking moment to that very task...and while it has been over twenty years, I've managed to glean a few nuggets of genuine insight when it comes to the inherent nature of magic itself." The real challenge was finding a way to condense all that he had learned over the long years, and offer up a simplified yet educational summary.
For a minute or two the sorcerer sat there in his chair. Chewing on the end of his pipe in between taking little puffs. At last though it was the soft glow of the embers in his pipe that finally seemed to help something click there in the back of his mind. "Energy is the key, my boy. After all it is at the very center of everything. Be it man, plant, magic, or the universe itself." With a soft smile James slowed stood at last; taking a second to stretch his back since he had been sitting far longer than he had realized. But a few seconds later he slowly moved to fetch a brass tea kettle filled with water. Bringing it, and placing it down onto a small table beside Kieran.
"Let us say that this kettle represents Jack. And the water within it is his magic that the young lad uses to channel and manifest his abilities." Blackstone lifted the kettle up slightly, giving it a slight whirl so that Kieran could hear the liquid sloshing within. Then set it back down again. "For the sake of simplification, we shall say that Jack wished to cause the water to heat up and boil so the produced steam could be used to fill a hot air balloon. Because when that balloon was filled enough it could take us all from one place to another. However, in the case of what transpired before...well the young man knew he could not do cause that water to grow hot enough on his own. After all, more often than not he's used to simply causing the liquid to churn or spin but not bubble up."