Library

"Then why are you slower than me?" Ron turned and asked.

Seamus grinned and stretched. "I was thinking about how to write less."

"Write less?" Ron folded his arms.

"If I write it shorter, I can finish sooner," Seamus said with a smile.

"Then you might as well look up a few more books," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"If I look up more, I'll have to write more. There's really no need," Seamus said.

Neville did not join their discussion. He was still flipping through that Reference Book. At the end of the second section, he stopped as though he had encountered something he was unsure about. He folded down the corner of the page, wrote a line on his Parchment, crossed it out, then wrote another. This time, he did not cross it out, but drew a question mark beside it.

"Neville, what essay are you writing?" Seamus asked.

"Herbology, for Professor Sprout," Neville said. "It's about comparing several methods of winter Greenhouse management.

"The topic isn't too difficult, but I need to consult at least three different books. I've finished two already, and I'm still going through the third. The problem is that one passage in the third book doesn't quite match what I read before. I don't know whether there's an issue with the book itself or whether I've misunderstood it. I want to write the sentence down and ask Professor Sprout about it when I see her."

"How many inches have you written?"

"A little over two inches," Neville said. "But most of it is quoted notes. I haven't started on my own analysis yet. I plan to go through all the Reference Books first, then start writing the main text. That way, my thoughts should be more coherent when I write."

"Wouldn't it be