"I tried that once," you say. "It gave me a nasty resonance headache, and my aunt told me not to do that again. So thanks, but no."
"You're wrong," Desmond says. "It does work and it will work." He turns to Manish. "Like I said. Look at the pattern when you're done with the spell."
A TA finally comes over and says, "Back to your partner, Desmond." He leads Desmond away, who tries to explain how much help he was giving the two of you.
Geez, That Guy
Manish stares at his paper, then at the ball. It rises shakily until it's a few inches above your fingers.
You silently count to five. Manish lets the ball fall and mouths his speech.
"Working off that backlash, huh?" It's Desmond. Again. "Did you look at the pattern when you were done?"
"No, I didn't." Manish's voice is quiet, but his hands tremble at his sides, he's so upset. "Bomomsay Clestenrogo's right, it would have caused a resonance headache."
"I'm trying to help." Red colors Desmond's face and ears. "Even if you're too stupid to take advice."
"I'm not stupid." Manish's lip trembles, but he forces out, "I don't need your help—"
"That's clearly not true!"