It was the end of the third Charms class of the 1991-1992 school year and Professor Flitwick had just handed back the first piece of homework he'd assigned to the Gryffindor first years that year, an assignment he'd assigned at the end of their first class that they had turned in in their second class about the general theory of Charms.

Hermione Granger felt her heart sink as looked at the top of her essay and was stunned to see Professor Flitwick had graded her essay an A rather than the O she had expected to earn.

Noticing and not entirely surprised by Hermione's reaction to her grade, Professor Flitwick said, "Miss Granger, would please kindly meet me in my office at 7 P.M. tonight. I can explain why you didn't earn the grade you anticipated earning and what you need to do in the future to earn a better grade."

"Alright then, " said Hermione, feeling relieved Flitwick was going to tell her exactly what she had done wrong.

At 7 P.M. Hogwarts time, Hermione knocked on Flitwick's door and he let her in.

"I'll cut to the chase, " said Flitwick matter of factly, "From a content point of view, your essay was the best in the class."

"But then why didn't I earn an O?" asked Hermione in a confused voice.

"Miss Granger, your essay was literally more than three times the allowed length. I docked from your grade for that, " explained Flitwick.

"But, " said Hermione uncertainty, "Shouldn't I get extra credit for that?"

"Hell no!" said Flitwick firmly, "Turning in an essay over three times the allowed length shows a lack of following instructions. Furthermore, part of being of being a good essay writer is being able to condense your thoughts into a reasonable length essay without rambling on."

"I was trying to prove exactly how much I know about Charms!" protested Hermione, "I would've thought that you as a teacher would have appreciated that!"

"Wrong on every level!" said Flitwick seriously, "First of all, as a teacher, I have to grade essays for twenty eight classes. Four houses times seven years. I don't have time to read ridiculously long essays from students who can't follow instructions. And from a skill point of view, good essay writing means expressing your thoughts in a concise way rather than a wordy way. Even if I only had two or three students to grade, I would still set limits on essay length for this reason. Writing Lord of the Rings length essays only shows an inability to consolidate your thoughts into a more concise manner that gets to the point without going on and on. You shouldn't put every last minute detail about a topic into an essay. Be concise, get to the point, and follow instructions. Do you know who got the best grade on this essay in your class?"

"No, " said Hermione simply.

"Harry Potter received an E on his theory of Charms essay, " explained Flitwick, "While a couple of missed points kept him from an O, Mr. Potter hit most of the key points of the theory of Charms in a concise well thought out manner while staying within the length restrictions and following instructions correctly."

Hermione sighed, "So I need to write a shorter essay next time to get a better grade?"

"The key is to follow the instructions I give you on any given assignment, " said Flitwick in a businesslike voice, "I allow somewhat longer essays for my older students who are writing about more complex topics but even then there are still limitations.. Just follow the instructions on any particular assignment and you'll be fine."

"I understand, " said Hermione finally.

"Then you may leave, " said Flitwick more kindly.

And Hermione walked out of Flitwick's office having been humbled.