Is it? [ Magnus sounds genuinely pensive. He definitely went away and came back carrying some new baggage, because that's not the question of an optimist, now is it?

Or maybe it's just a new brand of optimism, patent pending. ]

Another warlock, actually. A friend and an old flame, you could say. [ He smiles, both wry and fond. ] Also, I'll have you know I'm much less reclusive here.

[ He has a lot of friends.

He wouldn't want to discount that fact. ] Now, where were we? Oh, whiskey! How could I forget.