Perhaps what she'd been missing was female guidance in her life. Sure, she had Papa's wife, but Holly would rather forcefully transfer to Hufflepuff house than accept the woman as a mother. She'd made a point to defy her at any moment she could — at least in ways that would see Papa take her side rather than his second wife's. Perhaps it wasn't a lack of feminine guidance, but rather that she'd forcefully denied the offers of feminine guidance she'd been given. Were there deeper meanings for her issues? Or was she just awful? (Hint: It was probably the latter.)

"But —" She'd started to speak, but realized she was about to go into a tirade. That, she realized, was exactly what Madam Sykes was talking about. She needed to think before she spoke, no matter how confident she was and how deeply believed in the words that left her mouth. It's about the perception of others.

(Which, when she considered it, meant she could technically be as opinionated, loud, and mouthy as she wanted when no one was around to scold her — or when she cared little about the opinions of the person she was mouthing off to. Hmm.)

Taking a deep breath, Holly would try again, and this time slowly and with care.

"Do you have... methods for that? It's hard," she whispered.