Homework and Citations

(Seras POV)

As soon as I stepped out of the fireplace back at the manor, I was greeted by the familiar, comforting surroundings of our home. The manor was just as I had left it this morning, but returning felt like a welcome respite. My mother was waiting for me in the family room, her eyes lighting up as she saw me. Draco was currently getting his first taste of drawing; he was clearly trying to lick the wizarding world's version of a crayon. His scribbly drawings had vague shapes to them, and I think my brother actually did have a talent for drawing. Usually, these sorts of details only emerged at the age of 2, my brother continues to shock me in new ways.

"How was your first lesson, darling?" my mother asked, her voice filled with genuine curiosity and a hint of apprehension. If I said anything that could be taken negatively, she would instantly swoop me back into more mother-daughter time.

"It was... enlightening," I replied, carefully choosing my words. "Professor Snape is very thorough. He even gave me homework. I am to read and correct some of his students' papers."

"Homework already?" Narcissa's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Well, I suppose it's never too early to start learning." She gave me a warm hug and then sent me off to the library with a gentle pat on the back. "Go on, then. You have work to do." She probably thought this was hilarious. I think she believed she had a way to get me to hate my lessons if I was to do simple busy work. Little did she know that I loved calling people wrong just like any other engineer. Draco gave a smile as I left the room, he even said "mine" while looking at mother.

The library was my sanctuary, a place where I could delve into the vast wealth of knowledge stored within its walls. I sat down at my usual spot, took out the papers Snape had given me, and began to read through the first one. The first-year student had made several glaring mistakes, from incorrect measurements to improper stirring techniques. I meticulously noted each error and compared them to what I had learned earlier. As I worked through the papers, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. Snape had cooked me alive with his glaring review earlier, so these students wouldn't be safe either. This must be how TAs are born.

I ended up spending much longer on this project than I had initially thought. I realized that I had one textbook that I was using to correct from, one that, though it was the primary source for these students as well, probably wasn't the only source they used. This led me to go through all the different books that were in the Malfoy library on this subject. I truly miss Google Scholar and CORE. This led me down rabbit holes of information on various similar subjects. For example, if I had used wiggentree roots and added another half a drop of dittany, I could have created a potion like this that is faster-acting but weaker. If I had done two clockwise turns instead of one, I would have created a potion that is more localized but goes away quickly. If I had used a piece of batwing and mashed the wiggentree bark, I would have had a similar potion that can be used topically to heal the skin only. Potion-making is such a powerful subject due to the shocking variety you can achieve if you understand even the basics. It's no wonder Snape treats potions the way he does.

While I continued to grade the homework I had been given, leaving comments about the issues and how they could have been fixed, I realized that I didn't know how I could cite my sources. This may seem somewhat minor right now when doing simple homework, but the entire scientific community relies on a citation system for a reason. There is a lot of hearsay in the magical community. A good example of this is The Quibbler, a magazine published by the Lovegoods, known for its eccentric and often fantastical articles. There is simply no vetting of stories, and this is one of the only few newspapers that makes its way around magical Britain. The Daily Prophet has this problem as well. Stories published in the paper are vetted ahead of time, but advertisers don't need to show any proof as long as they have the cash. Just recently, my mother bought a carved runic calendar that was supposed to magically increase the happiness of the owner through one of these ads. There are runes for happiness that actually increase the feeling; they release a magical signal into the air which boosts the amount of dopamine and serotonin released by your body. This calendar contained none; they were simply chosen to look good.

I had initially wondered why sometimes in my books I had read previously why certain runes didn't seem to emit any form of magical stimulus. I thought maybe they had been transferred wrong to the page or something of the like, but in reality, it may be something much worse. These runes may not exist at all and were simply added to a compendium book because a fraudster 200 years back had stated that it would work. There was literal magic, so who's to say the reason why you can't make a rune work like the scam-artist is because you used the wrong magic. If you could cite where information comes from, it could help with rooting out these issues of the past. So I simply cited my sources at the bottom of each document. I used a system similar to my old world with a few differences to not arouse suspicion. If I ever wrote a book in the future, I would put a magical identifier that could be used at the end so that people wouldn't misquote it. I wrote out my citations onto the back of each report I graded:

Ravenclaw, Rowena. Advancements in Potion Making and Its Effects on Charms. 2nd ed., Malfoy Library, 1234, p. 45. Magical Seal: [blank].

After sorting out a system of citation mostly for my sanity, I finished grading the papers. The final one was the most egregious and must have been from around 10 years ago. Snape most likely fished it out of some form of storage within the castle. It was from "James Potter," the father of the most powerful child in history. I had high hopes for the father of a prodigy, but those were completely dashed with the first sentence: "The Wiggenweld potion combines the ideas of Wiggen and Weld to create a wondrous creation." This was, of course, one of the first papers Father Potter had ever written, but it was clear that he hadn't done a modicum of the reading or put any effort into his paper. Maybe his wife was the one who had the esoteric knowledge that had allowed such a young child to kill a powerful dark lord.