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Cam's in the library, waiting for Renée. "Waiting" here means "browsing until a quarter hour after ostensible meeting time". Renée is supposed to meet him here - on the way home for both of them, him from high school and her from elementary where she teaches kindergarten - but she is rarely punctual. Her co-workers or stray parents or the principal keep her after and Cam does notebooking, does homework, looks at the contents of shelves. It's a fine arrangement.
Today the contents of shelves don't seem so pleased with the setup, and one attacks him when he stumbles into a stack. Specifically, it tumbles onto his head. That's gonna hurt for a while. He picks it up to tuck it away again.
It says, So You Want To Be A Wizard.
Heh. Mis-shelved. This is a nonfiction row. Or maybe it's about stage magic or something? Cam's not going to find any use in that either, he can just about eat dinner without impaling himself on a fork and certainly shouldn't be handling delicate props, but it could be diverting while he waits for Renée and he wasn't finding anything else. He flips it open.
It's more interesting still than that; it's presenting itself like an actual guide to wizardry. This'll kill a whole afternoon with pleasant escapism. Cam checks it out, then turns around and spots Renée coming down the sidewalk. He bags the book and goes out to meet her.
At home, he takes it out of his backpack. The plastic film on it - it did have some, right? Just like every other library book? - is gone. Maybe it didn't have any. He didn't write it down; he's not sure. It doesn't look like a library book now. But it still says So You Want To Be A Wizard and he still wants to pretend to be a wizard for a bit, kill some time, put off U.S. History homework. He flips it open. He reads.
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lifes_sake
lifes_sake
Cam can read faster than it can talk; he says "thanks" and flips through its pages.
There are several spells for enchanting books; the first one listed is for his exact purpose, combining multiple volumes into a single book with a manageable physical size that nevertheless contains all the preexisting information. There is a note that it's a variant on one of the spells used to enchant wizards' manuals themselves.
The required technical vocabulary is provided. There are no obscure special materials, like there are for some of the more difficult spells in later chapters. All Cam needs is a pile of books, enough paper to wrap them in, a writing utensil, and his voice.
The required technical vocabulary is provided. There are no obscure special materials, like there are for some of the more difficult spells in later chapters. All Cam needs is a pile of books, enough paper to wrap them in, a writing utensil, and his voice.
lifes_sake
Cool.
Can he combine the notebooks with the manual, make the manual look like a spiral notebook...?
Can he combine the notebooks with the manual, make the manual look like a spiral notebook...?
This particular spell advises beginners not to try combining pre-enchanted books.
(The manual, if asked, will tell him it can look like a spiral notebook if it wants to. There is a reason not just anybody picks these up.)
(The manual, if asked, will tell him it can look like a spiral notebook if it wants to. There is a reason not just anybody picks these up.)
lifes_sake
Cam does ask. He is pleased with the response! Now his manual looks like a spiral notebook.
He goes and gets some Christmas wrapping paper to wrap all his notebooks up, and then reads the details of the spell.
He goes and gets some Christmas wrapping paper to wrap all his notebooks up, and then reads the details of the spell.
It's a simple enough procedure: assemble, using the provided vocabulary and structure, a spell description that names each of the books and asserts that they will be collected into a single volume with the desired properties. Write the spell on the paper. Wrap the books in the paper. Speak the spell out loud.
lifes_sake
Cam goes through a couple drafts - on looseleaf, since he needs to put his current notebook in the group - before he and his chorus of notebooks are satisfied with the designed end result. He copies it onto the silver-snowflake Christmas paper, stacks the notebooks, wraps the Christmas paper around and cuts it off the roll, and then, carefully and rhythmically, reads through his spell.
The result isn't flashy: abruptly, the Christmas paper contains a significantly reduced amount of book. Or rather, the same amount of book, compressed into significntly less space.
"Ooh," says the newly unified voice of Notebook. "I feel all sleek and stuff."
"Ooh," says the newly unified voice of Notebook. "I feel all sleek and stuff."
lifes_sake
"You are all sleek and stuff," Cam says, scooping it up. "I feel like I should name you or something. Do you have, I dunno, a gender?"
"No," says the notebook. "Or, rather, yes if it's convenient."
"Gracenote," suggests Cam idly. "Grace for short. I'll probably wind up she-ing you."
"That's fine by me," says Grace contently.
"Awesome." And he flips to the "end", where are all his magic notes quite intact, and resumes studying magic.
"No," says the notebook. "Or, rather, yes if it's convenient."
"Gracenote," suggests Cam idly. "Grace for short. I'll probably wind up she-ing you."
"That's fine by me," says Grace contently.
"Awesome." And he flips to the "end", where are all his magic notes quite intact, and resumes studying magic.
The manual has plenty more to tell him. And since he can talk to it now, it obeys direct requests for more information by expanding the sections that interest him or advising him on which page to turn to for a particular subject. Naturally, these page numbers are not going to remain constant, but they stay put long enough to be useful.
lifes_sake
"Will little post-it note flags stay put in you or should I just navigate by talking?" Cam asks the manual. "Also, should I name you too, or do you come with a name, or are you just named your title, or what?"
"I don't have a name, or an opinion about having one," says the manual. "I'll keep post-its attached to the right pages, and I won't get rid of pages with post-its on them."
lifes_sake
Cam gets himself some post-its. He doesn't feel nearly as urgent about naming the manual as he did about naming Gracenote.
He focuses on learning the language for now. Figuring out what to do with it will be more amenable to multitasking; he can do that while he half pays attention to English class.
He is irritated about having to leave off when Renée calls him down to dinner, and he takes Grace with him, though he doesn't try to write in it at the dinner table. He tells Renée that he found a really cool book at the library and that it is about wizards. She draws the obvious, incorrect conclusion. He lets her.
He brings the manual to school with him and manages not to break it out till lunchtime.
He focuses on learning the language for now. Figuring out what to do with it will be more amenable to multitasking; he can do that while he half pays attention to English class.
He is irritated about having to leave off when Renée calls him down to dinner, and he takes Grace with him, though he doesn't try to write in it at the dinner table. He tells Renée that he found a really cool book at the library and that it is about wizards. She draws the obvious, incorrect conclusion. He lets her.
He brings the manual to school with him and manages not to break it out till lunchtime.
It's reorganized itself slightly; the primer on the Speech is noticeably thicker, and includes a lot more specialized vocabulary for dealing with minds. Maybe it's been talking to Grace about Cam's needs, or maybe it just observed what he tends to focus on.
lifes_sake
Speaking of minds, can Cam improve his own? Maybe tack on a clause at the end of his ridiculous long "name" about how also, has a perfect memory and thinks ten times faster than the next candidate down?
He is strongly advised not to try it.
The only information the manual will give him about self-modification is that it's an advanced practice that can be dangerous to novices.
lifes_sake
Okay, that's one for later then. Cam makes a little mark in Grace next to that line. (He's sorted his wants into personal amusement, instrumental value, and repair work, and sooner, later, and research project.)
A lot of the personal amusement and some of the instrumental value involves attaching superpowers to himself, is that just generally going to fall into not-sooner?
A lot of the personal amusement and some of the instrumental value involves attaching superpowers to himself, is that just generally going to fall into not-sooner?
Yes. There are no preset spells for acquiring superpowers, although there are spells that let him mimic them in various ways - walk on air by making it solid under his feet, repel injury by warding his person against physical harm, breathe underwater by creating a magical air filter. Most of them are not meant for long-term use, even the ones that are focused on him instead of his environment; the personal wards are the most durable out of all of them.
lifes_sake
Well, that's something, at least, he feels very positive about being warded against harm, he's always sort of wary around stairs and the fact that he seems to be in the process of winding up almost as tall as Charlie and no longer fully knows where his limbs end doesn't help.
At least Speech seems amenable to creating magical tools. There's Grace, who's awesome - and, it occurs to him, manages to sound like a girl because she's speaking with the voice he had before it dropped; they don't actually match anymore but she still feels himself-y when she talks; he might have to rename her if hers decides to crack and fall too. Maybe he could offload his processing wants onto a computer, if he had his own computer. (He should have his own computer. Maybe if he asks for nothing else on his birthday. Or can he just talk a computer into existing from scratch?)
At least Speech seems amenable to creating magical tools. There's Grace, who's awesome - and, it occurs to him, manages to sound like a girl because she's speaking with the voice he had before it dropped; they don't actually match anymore but she still feels himself-y when she talks; he might have to rename her if hers decides to crack and fall too. Maybe he could offload his processing wants onto a computer, if he had his own computer. (He should have his own computer. Maybe if he asks for nothing else on his birthday. Or can he just talk a computer into existing from scratch?)
Talking objects into existing is also not something wizardry is equipped to handle. It's possible to talk a computer into being a much better computer, but he'll have to understand computers pretty well before it will have much chance of working out to his satisfaction.
lifes_sake
Well, hm. Will things other than books talk to him? Maybe he can buy an ambitious broken computer for cheap from somebody, have it tell him what it wants to be when it grows up, and Speechify it so.
He is theoretically capable of having a conversation with just about any object or creature he chooses, if he addresses it in the Speech.
lifes_sake
...Okay, wait just one second, does talking to things make them smarter, or does he need to start figuring out how to live on fruit and ethically farmed eggs and dairy?