Chapter 64: Borrowing and Citations
Chapter 64: Borrowing and Citations
After returning to the Gryffindor common room, Albert made himself a cup of milk tea. He asked his roommates once again if they wanted to go to the library to work on their Charms homework together, but upon being rejected again, he packed up his bag and bid them farewell before heading to the library.
During class time, the library wasn't very crowded. As Albert entered, he immediately spotted Sana flipping through books in search of information. He walked over to her, gently pulled out a chair, and sat down. "Hope I'm not late?" he asked softly.
Albert had arrived right on time; it was exactly 2 o'clock.
"No, the Charms homework is a bit challenging, and I haven't found much useful information," Sana replied, with a few books stacked next to her. She had come early by half an hour, but still hadn't found what she needed.
Albert flipped through the thick books on the table and shook his head. He then motioned for Sana to follow him to Section C to search for the necessary books on the fifth row of bookshelves.
By the way, the book I borrowed last time, 'A Collection of 19th-Century Charms', hasn't been returned yet.
However, I'm almost done reading 'A Collection of 19th-Century Charms'. I should probably finish it soon and return it, especially since the due date is approaching.
Albert found the book 'Achievements in Charms' on the bookshelf and pulled it out, handing it to Sana. The young witch looked at him in surprise, taken aback by his offering.
Soon after, Albert found the book he was looking for, 'A Collection of 18th-Century Charms', and they returned to their table.
"How did you know this book would have what we need?" Sana asked in astonishment as she realized that the two books Albert had chosen contained the information they were seeking. She then felt a bit dejected, wondering what her previous efforts in searching for information had amounted to.
"The book 'Achievements in Charms' is actually quite useful, especially for written exams," Albert explained. "The Lumos spell was invented in the 18th century, so we should be able to find related information in 'A Collection of 18th-Century Charms'."
"With such a sharp mind, why didn't you go to Ravenclaw?" Sana asked, perplexed.
"Who knows?" Albert shrugged. "Maybe the Sorting Hat thought I'd be better off in Gryffindor."
With the necessary information found, the rest was simple—they just had to copy down the appropriate sentences. For example, the Lumos spell was invented in the 18th century (1772) by a witch named Levina Monkstanley, who used to be an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic.
The discovery of the Lumos spell: One day, while searching for a lost quill in a dusty corner, Levina illuminated the tip of her wand, surprising her colleagues. They all thought the spell was useful and recorded it...
And so on, just copying down the text.
For some reason, Albert suddenly missed the copy and paste function on computers. He wondered if magic could achieve something similar.
If so, writing essays in the future would be much easier.
"Ah!"
Albert sighed softly, realizing he had made a mistake while writing. He had accidentally written the wrong word, which bothered him a little.
He crossed out the wrong word, dipped his quill into the ink bottle, and continued writing. The content of the essay was simple: copying passages from 'Achievements in Charms' and 'A Collection of 18th-Century Charms', along with describing some of the problems he had encountered while practicing the Lumos spell and how he had solved them.
Albert realized that he had already filled a large portion of the parchment, and Sana, who was still flipping through her books, looked utterly astonished.
"What's wrong?" Albert asked, confused.
"You..." Sana pointed to the parchment.
"You want to see?" Albert didn't mind and handed the parchment to Sana. He then flipped through the pages, looking for information on the Nox spell, which wasn't included in 'A Collection of 18th-Century Charms'. However, Albert found a reference to it in 'Achievements in Charms' and located the relevant book on the bookshelf to continue copying.
Sana looked at her own sparsely written article and then at Albert's neatly organized essay. She suddenly felt a strong sense of defeat.
So, this is how essays can be written! Sana knew that most of the content in Albert's essay was copied from books, but what of it?
Albert called it 'borrowing' and 'citing'.
If she had tried on her own, she probably wouldn't have been able to squeeze out a three-inch essay.
It only took Albert an hour and a half to finish this essay on the Lumos and Nox spells.
Although half of the essay was copied, there was also a lot of original content based on Albert's personal experiences learning the charms, the challenges he faced, and his insights. His conclusion included ideas like detaching the light from the tip of the wand and storing the Lumos spell's light, or using the Nox spell to control the surrounding lights.
And then... combining the two to create a...
Peh, it was just an idea for a magical lamp that could produce the effect of a Muggle light bulb by using the Lumos and Nox spells. If wizards could create such a lamp, they wouldn't need to use oil lamps anymore! These were the final thoughts he included, still just ideas. Albert wrote them down in the hope that Professor Flitwick would help him bring them to fruition.
After all, Professor Flitwick was an expert in Charms, and these innovative ideas might spark his interest.
The task of creating a magical lamp remained unfinished! "How about..." After the ink on the parchment had dried, Albert used the Copying Charm to make a copy for Sana. He pointed out certain sections and told her to write according to her own experiences. As for the information that anyone could find, she could insert it into the essay as she saw fit to make it more impressive.
"I thought it would take much longer!" Sana exclaimed as she looked at her own parchment.
Now, she understood why Albert had said that writing this essay would help deepen their understanding of the Lumos and Nox spells.
Indeed, that was the case.
From finding the information, to copying passages from the books, to completing the essay—at the very least, she now knew when and by whom the spells were invented, the impact they had, who improved upon them, the challenges she faced when practicing them, how to solve those challenges, and her own prospects and expectations for the Lumos spell...
With all that, she would easily surpass the three-inch requirement without worrying about falling short.
Moreover, the most important thing was that without a solid understanding of the Lumos and Nox spells, she wouldn't have been able to write any of it.
(End of Chapter)
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