How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The magician turned. "Rest will mend her. Just leave her to sleep until tomorrow and she will be fine."
"She won't lift a finger for weeks," Micah called back. (3.42-43)
This magician is a master manipulator: she plays on the fears of Micah and his father, reassures them that everything is fine, and instructs them to leave Micah's mom and baby sister alone for a while. This is so that she can make her getaway before anyone discovers that she let Micah's mom die while she ransacked the room for valuables. No wonder their family doesn't trust magicians after that.
Quote #2
"What are you doing?" Fishboy demanded in the sudden, complete darkness. "Open the door."
"I didn't close it," I told him, searching for the handle behind me. I couldn't find it for a moment, and when I did, it wouldn't move. "It won't work."
"Then this is some kind of test," Fishboy said. He sounded matter-of-fact. (12.8-10)
Gerrard (a.k.a. Fishboy) is the first to assume that the wizards have some kind of agenda and are testing the boys. It doesn't even occur to Hahp that this sort of thing could happen, since it's never happened at any of the other schools he's attended. That boy is sure in for a surprise when the wizards reveal how nasty they actually are.
Quote #3
I felt my eyes ache. I could not cry. I would not cry. This crap couldn't last more than a few days. The wizards just wanted to scare the piss out of us to start with, to make sure we were afraid of them, that we wouldn't cause trouble. I exhaled and felt a little better. That had to be right. What other reason could there be? (14.5)
Oh, Hahp—still so innocent to the ways of the wizarding world. They want to scare you senseless, because it's all part of their grand plan to manipulate you into becoming just like them: totally heartless.
Quote #4
He didn't say another word, and my starving, unfocused mind finally figured it out a few moments later. He had realized, midsentence, that he might be helping me. (24.20)
Gerrard is once again a step or three ahead of Hahp at the academy. He figures out that the wizards are trying to mold the boys into mini-versions of themselves, which includes not being helpful or giving anything away for free. So even when Gerrard and Hahp are in the middle of a conversation, Gerrard will clam up if he realizes that something he's saying might be helpful for Hahp in getting ahead.
Quote #5
"My father suspects something. So my mother told him I had gone off, maybe to Yamark or Thereistine, she wasn't sure. I can only hope he believed her… She says she can't risk helping me anymore, not after today. He will have a dozen people watching her." (25.18)
Coming from a family like that, no wonder Somiss is paranoid and manipulative. His father has people watching his mother so that she doesn't secretly slip her son money; his mother lies to his father about his whereabouts… none of this is good news.
Quote #6
"Fools!" Somiss rasped. "Do you think he means to help you? Or keep you weak?" (28.37)
Somiss, why you gotta be such a kill-joy? Hahp's all proud of himself because he just magically manifested a crate full of apples. He's happy to share them with the other students, and of course it hasn't even occurred to him to use this act to secretly manipulate them into a weak position or whatever. But then Somiss has to show up and accuse him of doing just that in order to sow mistrust among the boys. Seriously, Somiss is no fun at all.
Quote #7
Sadima heard Somiss's door open, and Franklin set her down. He stepped away from her as they both turned. She glanced at him. He reached to push his hair off his brow, then wiped his lips on the back of his hand, and she realized how afraid he was of Somiss finding out that they cared for each other. (31.32)
Sadima hasn't realized yet how twisted Somiss is, but Franklin knows it. And he fears (rightfully so) Somiss finding out that Franklin and Sadima care for each other. Heck, even if Somiss finds out that their connection goes one way, this could still be bad news. Somiss will definitely use that sort of information to his advantage.
Quote #8
Maybe if I could talk them into helping, if we all hid food everywhere, we could get away with it. I could talk to them and… When? Where? The food hall wasn't safe, and I had no idea where their rooms were. I felt a clammy sweat rise on my forehead. Was that why the wizards separated us? Was that why there was always one to walk us to class—and never the same one? S***. The academy was old. They had gotten very good at this. (38.10)
Hahp finally realizes just how manipulative the wizards are. In related news, he also realizes how screwed he is. How do you fight a system that's been in place for decades or centuries, and has been designed to turn boys into heartless magic machines? Where would you even begin?
Quote #9
"Please, Franklin?"
He looked into her eyes. "If I tell you, he will hurt you."
She leaned closer. "And he told me that if I left, you would be sorry, that he would see to it. Can't you see what he's doing?" (55.17-19)
Sadima and Franklin realize that they're stuck: if one of them doesn't follow Somiss's orders, Somiss will hurt the other one. That's a really shady way of manipulating someone. Franklin's used to putting up with it, though, while Sadima isn't. Sure her dad was borderline abusive, but it's not like he forced her to do morally repellant things. Somiss is a whole new type of coercive.
Quote #10
And would it really be three days? Or there hours? Or ten days? None of us had any way to know anything but this: The wizards had done this many times. It had become routine to them, watching boys die. I hated them so deeply, so completely, that it scared me. (64.5)
Here Hahp grasps one of the ways that the wizards manage to so totally manipulate the boys: the wizards control time. Not literally like in the sense of time travel (though maybe they can do that too), but rather by keeping the boys underground and not letting them adjust to any normal schedule. The wizards are the only ones who know how much time passes between classes and other encounters, leaving the boys clueless and dependent.
In contrast to the type of emotional blackmail that Somiss pulls on Franklin and Sadima, this sort of manipulation is physical but has a mental result, confusing and making the target(s) vulnerable. Hahp's right: the wizards have this down to a science.