Howard curls one hand over the other and rests his chin on them, surveying the board. The king and rook keep telling him to do this 'castling' thing and he has no idea what they're talking about.

In a way what Harry's talking about makes perfect sense, and on the other hand it runs counter to everything Howard's been taught about race - the closest analog he can pull from his world. He still remembers his mother using the white-egg-brown-egg-but-they-still-got-yolk demonstration on him when he was little. Learning in the classroom that segregation was bad and then watching it happen naturally in the school cafeteria.

And how does it mesh with superpowers, the other comparison he can draw? He's not sure. His best friend back home was a mutant rock monster who could lift cars. His best friend here can throw dinosaurs one-handed. And yet he can't deny that there are feelings of resentment, being the weaker one, the one that needs protecting from enemies who inevitably have some sort of superpower. And he remembers how back home, unpowered kids feeling powerless formed lynch mobs to hang the 'freaks' they saw as threats.

"You said you were raised by people who can't stand magic. I thought the Muggles didn't know?" He ignores his king and moves a knight out instead. "Maybe you just needed a common enemy. Like Watchmen or something."