That's okay, Hulk. Magician is a kind of a dirty word to Ned, too. Even though there is no conceivable scientific explanation for being able to give life to the dead, he's always worked his way around using that word. Because 'magician' makes Ned think of stage shows and sleight of hand and rabbits coming out of top hats, makes him think about his father and the shows he used to put on before his last great vanishing act.

"That depends," Ned says, "Am I magician if I can only do one trick, and it isn't even really a trick since I have no control over it one way or another?"

He moves his hands away from the soil, knitting them together in his lap - though that doesn't stop the patches of alyssum around his bare feet from continuing to bud.