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"Stop." Vayne says. My hand leaves the vial. I breathe once. Twice.

Rhyven is already looking at me. "What."

"Not drained." Nyra's quill stops.

Professor Neris steps closer. "Explain."

"The blood still carries magic." I say.

"Less?"

"Not exactly."

"Then?"

I point toward my own arm. "The pathways are wrong."

Cassian frowns. "Pathways?"

"I don't know how else to say it." I look toward Neris. "Magic normally moves through the blood evenly. In him, it still exists. It just doesn't know how to get through the affected limb." Silence.

Professor Vayne writes. "Disrupted conduction."

"Maybe."

"Not depletion?"

"No."

"Certain?"

I hesitate. "Certain enough to say it isn't the same thing as losing magic volume." Good. No overclaiming. Nyra nods.

Cassian looks toward the residue case. "So the Hollowborn didn't take his magic."

"They interrupted his access." I say.

"Like Aelindra." Rhyven adds. Yes. But different duration. Different scale.

Professor Neris pulls the second vial closer without touching it directly. "If that's true, then physical contact with an active disappearance can damage magical pathways without removing total magical capacity."

Cassian makes a face. "That's somehow worse."

"Or better." I say. Everyone looks at me. I continue.

"If the magic is still there, maybe the pathway can recover."

Vayne looks toward the medical report. "Oren regained minimal sensation in the affected arm this morning."

My pulse jumps. "Magical sensation?"

"Yes." Good. Actually good.

Nyra starts writing faster. "Temporary disruption."

"Potentially." Neris corrects.

"Still." I say. "That's something."