MAEN, all 
I'm only part way through book 7 at the moment, but I'm curious about people Harry meets who give off that little spark of "This person has some kind of magical talent". If they don't know they have it until after they meet him, and then ask him about it, would he direct them to someone or to certain books or anything if they wanted to learn more about cultivating whatever talent they might have? I was thinking about how he felt that spark when he met Shiela at Bock Owned Books and was wondering if she asked him for help figuring out her ability, what he would tell her. Granted, I haven't finished the book yet, or the rest of the series obviously, but am just insanely curious about that information and am hoping someone could tell me
Thank you for reading my inquiry.
In general, there's a huge range of ability. Harry can tell -- very roughly -- how much ability someone has, by the feel of them up on skin-contact. Most are very limited, with very-specific talent; a few have broader, but weaker talents. A few books further along, we meet a "coven" of so-called "Minor Talents," and learn a bit more. Many are so specific/unusual as to not really be able to benefit from Harry's training (or most other White Council wizards).
If you think back to "Fool Moon," you'll recall that Harry trained Kim Delaney for a while (happened off screen, before the start of the novel). She was relatively strong, with a broad multifaceted talent... as minor talents go (well-below the caliber needed to join the White Council). Harry had previously helped her a lot; but she was impatient, and he misjudged the new situation, stonewalled her search for more info (and tragedy ensued). Harry usually offers help where he can; but often can't help all that much.
Dresden's own mentor, Ebenezer McCoy, is the author of one of the most-respected "magic apprentice primer" books; but young wizards
also very-much need an actual mentor/master in their lives, as without oversight they can be the proverbial "danger to themselves and others."
Sheila in particular is an unusual case, however (about whom I'll say no more; you'll learn more this book, and Sheila will play a relatively big role in several future novels).
P.S. -- Welcome to the fandom! I strongly advise you to *NOT* read most of this board, for now... they are not kidding when they named it "Spoilers"!!!
