NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 5: Thesis competition
Some days after her discussion with Dumbledore, Evelyn finally got out of the hospital. Augusta had come to fetch her with Neville, who was glad to see his sister again, and the feeling was mutual.
Before leaving, Evelyn went to say goodbye to her parents and promised that she would be back soon. Her mother came to her and gave her a candy wrapper as a gift. She immediately thanked her mother, understanding that the parent-child relationship would be a little reversed and that it will be up to her to take care of her parents.
"What are you going to do with that piece of paper?"
"No idea. Normally, I would throw it away, but since it comes from my mother, I can't be ungrateful. Maybe I'll turn it into a lucky charm."
"Do what you want, but I don't want you collecting them."
Evelyn was confused because it was a gift from her mother, given with kindness, even if the value of the gift was insignificant.
Once home with her grandmother, Evelyn went to play with Neville while her grandmother prepared a feast to celebrate her recovery.
The feast went smoothly, and she was able to have a wonderful time with her family. Her grandparents gave her some informative books about the different ways of approaching magic around the world as a recovery gift.
"Thank you! I promise I'll gather as much information as I can from these books."
Time passed, and a routine set in, but at one point, Evelyn realized that she couldn't just spend money on books, so she tried to find a way to earn some money.
She found an article in the newspaper about a thesis competition. After looking into it, she thought it might be interesting to participate. In addition, the reward was 100 Galleons.
She decided to choose as her topic the way magic is used in Asian countries.
The principles of spells and their effects might be the same, but the methods to achieve them and how spells are channeled were completely different.
She went to a library to research and tried to correspond with some experts.
When the thesis competition finally arrived, Evelyn was already happy with her work, even if she didn't win first place, because she had learned so much.
She listened to the presentations of the other participants, who were adults with probable experience in these competitions.
When it was her turn, the jury and participants were shocked to see a 10-year-old girl entering the competition. Their surprise grew even more as they listened to her speak.
Her presentation was far too comprehensive for a child like her to have completed the thesis. After her presentation, the jury wondered if she had cheated, but her registration form included information about her condition, so she was no longer accused of cheating. However, they were still shocked because, initially, this child was supposed to be only 5 years old.
After all the presentations were made, the jury withdrew to discuss the winner, and the result was that Evelyn secured second place.
She received a prize for her incredible performance, which was a trip to Asia to learn more. She could invite her family. After consulting with her grandmother, it was decided that she would be accompanied by an old acquaintance of her grandmother.
Her journey was so instructive that she spent half a year there, only scratching the surface of what this continent had to offer in terms of knowledge.
With her new knowledge, she rewrites a thesis on the same subject, changing it completely according to everything she had learned, and this time she wins first place.
Some journalists asked her for an interview because she was the youngest winner of this competition.
She went straight to the hospital to tell her parents, even though they didn't understand what she was saying.
Neville understood enough to know that his sister was incredible and admired her greatly because she took the time to care for him, even though she could have continued her research.
Two more years passed, and she still participated in thesis competitions in different countries, some of which had imposed topics. She didn't win first place but managed to make a name for herself in the magical world.