Unhelpful Helpfulness PV avery Closed

Before Hogwarts, when Catriona was still a small child, she and Niamh had had tutors, personally hired to teach the pair of sisters all the essentials. Catriona hadn't done particularly well, even back then, so she wasn't expecting anything big from herself once September came. Catriona knew her parents expected different things from her, since they had their own standards, but she knew she probably wasn't going to match them. Her goal was simply not to fail or struggle too badly in her classes.

When it came to spellwork, Catriona had learned that she wasn't exactly the best at it. It had been over a week since classes at Hogwarts had officially started, and while she was still getting used to it, she'd already come to realize that she had her own strengths and weaknesses. Charms class was one. It wasn't as if she wasn't trying, because she certainly had been. Even though academics had never been a focus for her prior to coming to Hogwarts, Catriona still wanted to get high marks and do well. It wasn't a priority for her to get the highest marks per se, but she at least wanted to have a decent grasp of things.

So far, she wasn't failing. She'd gotten average marks on all her assignments thus far, but what was really ticking her off was how difficult she'd found finishing it—especially when her wand was involved. Catriona's magical capabilities didn't seem to be coming through, no matter how hard she concentrated or how desperately she wanted her wand tip to illuminate. It just didn't seem to want to cooperate with her.

Today, Catriona had chosen the library for her study spot. She preferred quiet places where she wouldn't be bothered with minimal background distractions, which made the library perfect for her. Though she had never been a big reader, the Hogwarts library was beginning to feel more like a safe space for her, similar to the one on her family's property back in Eastbourne. Catriona felt comfortable here, so in the past few days, she'd been spending a considerable amount of time in the library, trying her best to get her work done.

None of the homework was too overwhelming, but she did have a lot of it. Catriona didn't get easily worked up or stressed, so she wasn't too worried about getting it all done—as long as she could properly focus. She was pretty sure she could get this wrapped up fairly soon.

That was what Catriona had thought an hour and a half ago. Now, she was still stuck on the same sentence for a Charms essay asking about a specific spell that she had found a little challenging to cast. She was completely (though she'd never admit it) lost, but didn't want to give up that easily, so she'd spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure it out on her own. It hadn't worked out too well, and she was still stuck.

Making a small correction on her scribbled mess of words, Catriona sighed deeply, disappointed with herself. "I cannot believe this," she muttered to herself. How could a single essay be this hard?