Sunday 6 September 1942
I've been meaning and meaning to write to Lavinia all week to thank her for sending her arithmancy texts up to school with Fia. And I would normally write to Mummy and Daddy before this, and Susie too. But I've been too busy working through them, in every spare moment I have.
Anyway, I have to write to Lavinia and thank her, and maybe also show her my nice proof of commutivity in the third sphere, although I'm a little embarrassed. Once I had the Fonti lemma from the books, it came out really nicely, and I'm so pleased, because the proof we learned last year seemed so clunky. I know it held, because I checked it, and I couldn't come up with any elegant shortcuts either and I tried for a fortnight and rechecked over summer when I was working in Mum's lab.
I'm just a little worried that this is a really obvious result and I'll look silly for being so pleased with it. I don't understand why Professor Scalara didn't show it to us: the Fonti lemma isn't so hard to understand on its own and the proof is so much nicer and really quite illuminating about the third sphere in general. But still, it's so pretty, I have to tell someone about it, and I can't let Professor Scalara know that I have Lavinia's books. Besides, if she's forgotten this proof, she'll be really angry with me for pointing it out; I've never understood that. But I'll write to Lavinia, perhaps tomorrow or Tuesday, I have to find some time to fix this up and check that I haven't missed anything obvious; and if not write up some of the implications, because I don't think I have the tools to prove them and Lavinia will surely be able to point them out, or perhaps there's another text where they're worked out in full.
I haven't had an awful lot of time for it yet, because so many other important things are happening.. Endymion is a Legilmens, or something like it and someone in the Department of Mysteries is already investigating it, with bad motives. Or I trust that they are bad, Endymion seems very sure. And we hexed Jeremy Wood and he didn't find out about it even though I think Bruno and Gallinaro (and Mario Vincenti, but he's never been friendly with Wood) worked it out. Apparently this is because I'm Fia's sister. I don't know how I like that. I mean, I am Fia's sister. But if I wasn't, everything Wood said and did to me last year would still be all right?
Although, actually, I'm thinking that it still might not be all right, at least with Katya. That's something.
Also, Fia got in trouble, partly because of a misunderstanding where someone thought she was going to duel another firstie, but mostly because the Oldman boy got hold of someone's purse on the boat trip and Fia struck a deal with him because she's got some really silly notion about needing to practice being a thief of all things. I told her that I wouldn't write to Daddy or Lavinia about it, and I won't, because after all I played at some odd things when I was younger, but I thought she was a little more grown up than that. Sometimes I forget she's only twelve. I probably lectured her a little too much about it (considering that Annie will talk to her too) but I really was surprised that she didn't realise how silly she was being. And it was Wood who caught her, and he thinks it makes him king of the world. Still, now that I've been to church and written this all out I think I can get it out of my head long enough to write out a good copy of this proof.
Anyway, I have to write to Lavinia and thank her, and maybe also show her my nice proof of commutivity in the third sphere, although I'm a little embarrassed. Once I had the Fonti lemma from the books, it came out really nicely, and I'm so pleased, because the proof we learned last year seemed so clunky. I know it held, because I checked it, and I couldn't come up with any elegant shortcuts either and I tried for a fortnight and rechecked over summer when I was working in Mum's lab.
I'm just a little worried that this is a really obvious result and I'll look silly for being so pleased with it. I don't understand why Professor Scalara didn't show it to us: the Fonti lemma isn't so hard to understand on its own and the proof is so much nicer and really quite illuminating about the third sphere in general. But still, it's so pretty, I have to tell someone about it, and I can't let Professor Scalara know that I have Lavinia's books. Besides, if she's forgotten this proof, she'll be really angry with me for pointing it out; I've never understood that. But I'll write to Lavinia, perhaps tomorrow or Tuesday, I have to find some time to fix this up and check that I haven't missed anything obvious; and if not write up some of the implications, because I don't think I have the tools to prove them and Lavinia will surely be able to point them out, or perhaps there's another text where they're worked out in full.
I haven't had an awful lot of time for it yet, because so many other important things are happening.. Endymion is a Legilmens, or something like it and someone in the Department of Mysteries is already investigating it, with bad motives. Or I trust that they are bad, Endymion seems very sure. And we hexed Jeremy Wood and he didn't find out about it even though I think Bruno and Gallinaro (and Mario Vincenti, but he's never been friendly with Wood) worked it out. Apparently this is because I'm Fia's sister. I don't know how I like that. I mean, I am Fia's sister. But if I wasn't, everything Wood said and did to me last year would still be all right?
Although, actually, I'm thinking that it still might not be all right, at least with Katya. That's something.
Also, Fia got in trouble, partly because of a misunderstanding where someone thought she was going to duel another firstie, but mostly because the Oldman boy got hold of someone's purse on the boat trip and Fia struck a deal with him because she's got some really silly notion about needing to practice being a thief of all things. I told her that I wouldn't write to Daddy or Lavinia about it, and I won't, because after all I played at some odd things when I was younger, but I thought she was a little more grown up than that. Sometimes I forget she's only twelve. I probably lectured her a little too much about it (considering that Annie will talk to her too) but I really was surprised that she didn't realise how silly she was being. And it was Wood who caught her, and he thinks it makes him king of the world. Still, now that I've been to church and written this all out I think I can get it out of my head long enough to write out a good copy of this proof.