small and angry but mostly small

So the myth of magic is that it came from the heavens to a 'silverwood maiden.'

This comes up a lot. And we see this gift seems to be an actual star. And what's interesting about that, is that stars have unknown lore. Shooting stars are called 'passage stars' in-universe and they herald the arrival of Silver Eve. But what's interesting about that... Passage stars have a physical effect on the world:

So sit on that for a second. And read these four pages:

Notice how strange Beldaruit's words are? He's saying they must always use magic to help others rather than help themselves, or else magic will be gone forever, and implies that magic WAS gone temporarily once.

And immediately after, it starts talking about passage stars.

And with that, I want you to think for a second about why it's called the Pact. A pact with whom? No one seems to know, other than the wises. And the pact doesn't seem to be with each other. In fact, the one who seems to be the highest authority in witch society, Beldaruit, does seem to say something else about the pact that may not necessarily be about witches vs kings:

Once again suggesting that magic will disappear if the pact falls.

And interestingly... There was a mention the other day of a lack of magic...

And that making things cold. Which... Seems to go pretty hand in hand with something....

And... That something, this sudden, bitter cold was probably the thing that was 'amiss':

So... Going with all this.

I really think that the heavens are honest to god individuals who fly through space on boats (like the boat Coco used to pass the first test) and appear as stars. And the pact was between them and the three wises, probably more Beldaruit than anyone else.

Potentially because the heavens were SO angered by magic being used to make people suffer, a complete antithesis to what the gift was originally for. They probably decided to take magic back, and Beldaruit stopped that from happening permanently with The Pact. Wiping minds and getting things under control so that magic could still be used.

Why?

Beldaruit loves magic. Earnestly, truly. So much. He doesn't like the pact; he loves magic enough to go through ultimate lengths to protect it. But still. To him, it's still putting a shackle on his love:

Beldaruit isn't lying in his love for magic, his care for Coco or Qifrey. He's not a villain in disguise. He just wants to protect his love. Even if it meant he has to lie and sneak around and do things he wishes he wouldn't in order to protect it. Even if it means he has to clip magic's wings.

And so, when witchcraft was used to bring suffering at an enormous scale once more, and fighting was not working and they risked losing magic, they jumped on even skirting the principles in order to quickly and nonviolently solve the problem before they risked the Pact falling apart.