To those that knew her, it came as no surprise that Cassia wasn’t the most academically-gifted of students. With her tendency to daydream in class and her performance being in proportion to her interest in the given subject, her grades aside from a few were average at best. But she was making more of an effort to change that this year. After seeing how proud her parents had been of Cordelia for her stellar OWL scores, it made her determined to try and receive the same kind of praise for her own exam scores at the end of the year, and then perhaps she wouldn’t appear so useless in their eyes. While she understood that intelligence wasn’t usually equated to how well one did in school, she still couldn’t help but feel that the trait that seemed to grace her family had skipped over her entirely, and it made her parents look at her differently - and not in the way she wanted, sadly.

Fortunately, for all that Cora took pride in her own intelligence, her sister never made her feel that she was inferior and was likely her biggest champion in conquering her goal this year, and was more than willing to help her study. A daunting - and often frustrating - undertaking, Cassia was sure, but her sister seemed to bear it with an impeccable amount of patience, and she was positive that were she any other student, Cora would have eventually lost her cool.

The potion had to be stirred counterclockwise for three minutes, and Cassia was currently stirring with a sort of mindlessness as her mind wandered past the dungeons to outside where the grass was a vibrant green and where the sun awaited her with the promise of warmth. A place infinitely preferable to the dark and chilly dungeon in which they now sat; why most Slytherins - including her father - were so eager to spend their school years in an environment that was cold and damp was unfathomable to her. It seemed unnecessarily miserable - which likely explained, among other reasons, why she wasn’t sorted into Slytherin in the first place, but still...

Her mind continued in this vein until, suddenly, a slender hand reached out to stop her stirring, and Cassia realized that she’d gone over the three minutes. “Ah, sorry!” She quickly apologized, her cheeks coloring slightly, though she was sure Cora was used to this by now. She took a peak into the cauldron, the potion didn’t appear to look any different before she’d started stirring it, but she turned to Cora anyway. “It’s not ruined, is it?”

The grimace that crossed her sister’s face as Cassia peered over her shoulder didn’t give the Hufflepuff any reassurance that her potion was up to par, and neither did the question that soon followed.

“The book said one whole flower,” Cassia answered, pointing to the large tome beside the cauldron, the instructions inked into the yellowing parchment, “which I believe is 1 ounce, perhaps?” This was spoken a bit questioningly as, in truth, she had guesstimated that answer to the best of her ability.

"Diced," she mumbled as the heat rose to her cheeks, feeling a little embarrassed yet kicking herself. Of course grinding would yield better results than dicing; it was a simple enough concept that was taught to first years — why couldn't she get that through her head?

Releasing a defeated sigh, Cassia sank back into her chair, a frown on her lips. "What can be done for it now?," she asked. If anyone would know, it would be Cora.

Cassia tried to muster a smile at her sister's words of encouragement and succeeded in giving a small one though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I know," she said with another soft sigh, brushing a stray dark curl behind her ear as she stood up from her chair, wand in hand. "I just don't understand why I'm so hopeless at Potions. It can be a bit discouraging sometimes, to be honest." She continued, a bit sadly, vanishing the contents of the cauldron with a small flourish of her wand.

Another small smile crossed Cassia's face at her sister's words, this time a little more genuine than the first. Cora had always been her biggest champion when it came to anything that Cassia was passionate about, and she knew that she could always count on her to put things back into perspective whenever her thoughts spiraled unnecessarily.

"Thank you, Cora," she said to her sister, giving her hand a slight squeeze before turning her attention back to the cauldron again. "Shall we try again?" She asked, unwilling to give up just yet. There was just enough time left for a second attempt, and she was determined to get this potion right.