"Father insisted, once he realized I wasn't going to work with mechanisms. He said I needed 'to have at least

"Father insisted, once he realized I wasn't going to work with mechanisms. He said I needed 'to have at least some practical skill', and arranged my apprenticeship with his old client – an grumpy old professor of transmutation. I pouted for a long time, but now I'm grateful – that knowledge has actually come in quite useful."