Jean evaluates Peter for telepathy.
For a while it had been pleasant. Monthly visits from his ‘aunt’ Jean helped socialize the boy. She would sit and talk to him for 10 to 15 minutes. But over time his aunt Jean became more demanding. She kept testing his ability to think and Peter started to find it offensive. According to his foster parents ‘aunt’ Jean Grey was a special person. Peter had demonstrated at an early age that he could tell what people were thinking; he had been somewhat rude about it several times. Eventually professor X heard about the boys ability and became concerned that Peter might just be a telepath. Nobody was sure exactly what Peter’s lineage was, but he had been confirmed as a relative of Wolverine, most likely his nephew. The professor asked Jean to interview the boy for telepathic ability. It was unusual for a small child to have such telepathic ability, and the professor and Jean were worried about the phoenix syndrome. If a child was a powerful telepath, what would they be like as they got older? After a number of visits Jean came to the conclusion that the boy didn’t have any telepathic ability. He seemed to be exceptionally intelligent, and perhaps as a result an excellent guesser as to what people were thinking.
Jean’s last visit with Peter didn’t go well. She’d decided to tell him a little bit about telepathy and then asked if she could read his mind. At first he agreed to it. So then Jean placed her hands close around Peter’s head and began concentrating on reading his mind. Peter could feel Jean’s presence in his mind then asked her to stop. She said ‘I only need a moment more, I know it feels a bit funny, but I’m not going to hurt you.’ Then Peter popped Jean one on the nose and said “stop right now.” He didn’t like the sensation of someone reading his thoughts at all. After that aunt Jean didn’t visit anymore. She and the professor both concluded Peter didn’t have any telepathic ability; They thought Peter might be a little feral and he seemed to have a short attention span.