Fablehaven The Supernatural Quotes

Kendra's first time seeing fairies is pretty amazing and confusing—she's never encountered supernatural creatures before, and we see no indication that she already believes in fairies, witches, ghosts, or whatever. But her eyes are definitely showing her something that's hard to deny. What's she supposed to do with this visual evidence?

And now we get to put a name to this place, this refuge for mystical creatures that Seth and Kendra have stumbled upon. We also learn that Fablehaven always has human caretakers, and they pass on responsibility for it over the years—their Grandpa is the current caretaker. Which, you know, explains a lot.

According to Grandpa, the majority of the world doesn't have anything to do with magic anymore—humans are the dominant force, and they've pretty much taken over with all their technology and science. This means that magic creatures need extra protection, the kind that they can get on preserves.

Once we begin to learn about magic creatures, we see that there's a whole subculture there. Fairy connoisseurs are apparently their own little branch of tourism (because jeez, Tibet is a pretty far-off destination)—and then there are fairy brokers like Maddox, who make a living by trapping and trading fairies (his presence is what prompts this conversation).

Here Lena explains to Kendra why brownies have access to the house: they'll fix things for the humans, and they're less dangerous than the rest of the magic critters in the forest. But Lena is careful to make sure that Kendra knows that it's not because they want to be helpful, and they're not necessarily "good" either—it's just in their natures to fix things. It seems like a lot of magic works this way, where magic creatures act according to their nature, which doesn't fit into tidy boxes like human ideas of morality.

After Seth has been transformed into a mutant-walrus thing by the fairies in an act of revenge, Kendra sees the dark side of the world of magic. If she strays from the path, violating the boundaries set to keep humans safe, anything could happen to her. Needless to say, it's not a nice thing to realize.

Muriel is bound by magic, which most humans view as a good thing because she's kinda evil. But when people need a favor that can only be accomplished by magic—such as transforming Seth back to human after the fairies take revenge on him—they need to go to Muriel. Sounds like a dangerous trade.

Grandpa again gives the kids an explanation of how magic works and why it matters to them. On Midsummer Eve, the humans who reside on Fablehaven stay in the house, in part because it's their job to, and in part because their presence is part of the magic that keeps the home's boundaries intact. If the kids can learn to deal with magic, the nasty side as well as the beautiful side, maybe they'll have a place at Fablehaven someday too.

Seth is curious about the details of how Grandma was magically changed into a chicken, but she doesn't give 'em up here. We know that keeping Seth curious isn't necessarily a great idea, but maybe Grandma has her reasons—it's not like she's thrilled to admit that pride made her careless around dangerous magic.

On the island shrine of the Fairy Queen, Kendra experiences some of the most powerful, and most mysterious, magic that we see in all of Fablehaven. The Fairy Queen is somehow invisibly present when Kendra makes her plea for help rescuing her family—it's not a physical presence, but it speaks to Kendra and gifts her with knowledge and the ingredients for an elixir. If that ain't magic, we don't know what is.