"Well," says Kitty, her tone sharper than it should be, "your magic's not like mine, then." Which - the words aren't unkind, but her voice is. Which is pathetic, that she's so rattled by that stupid illusion of her execution. Spirits play tricks like this all the time; she ought to be better than that.

So she takes a moment to regain her comportment. Then, with a voice more level - "You need books to do magic in my world. There's no other way to go about it. It doesn't come to anyone naturally. The problem, I assure you, is not that we're not trying hard enough."