May 5th, 1890 — An empty classroom in the dungeons

It was rarely a struggle to tutor other Hufflepuffs. Most were relatively friendly and easy enough to work with, and the first years were usually particularly eager to learn. Now approaching her seventh year, she'd finally gained the confidence to be the first to offer to help... assuming help was needed in a subject she'd thoroughly studied. Only taking three classes left her with a lot of time on her hands—time that, if not spent studying, was dedicated to fulfilling her prefect duties or club activities.

"So tell me... Miss O'Malley," she said, sifting through her stack of supplies in search of an unblemished piece of parchment. It always helped to have a clean sheet; it made her want to look at her notes more, and she suspected it would help the little redhead. "What part of History do you struggle with? The readings? The essays? Or is the comprehension itself?" She tried not to judge, but she held the intrinsic belief that all the heavy-reading classes were difficult for the poorer students. They couldn't possibly have had the same exposure to book that she'd had.

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@"Alina O'Malley"

  

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— set by mj  —

Things between Alina and Artemis had been tense over the last few weeks. Miss Fairchild being a hint more busy in terms of spending more time with her sister, and Alina not taking such a change very well. She had to keep up on her tutoring. Pop ins with another family's governess lessons and a couple tutoring sessions were not enough for Alina's standards. She was a determined little wench.

Heavy reading and writing classes were a legitimate struggle for Alina. While she was better off than most of her situation, with all that endless additional waking hours to get some learning in to an already busy work day since the day her ma could no longer teach her all she knew. Mrs. Binns had seen some kind of spark in her. So when Alina was not busy working, which was often, she was busy learning. That didn't mean she had the ability to show up for every lesson. "Readings, and the essays. And understanding the really big words." It was hard on multiple spells as well. Those complicated wordings and complex - yet similar - words. Hufflepuffs drove her nuts, but Alina was absolutely trying to play nice so she could get the help she wanted.

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Magic by Lady!

Reading was one of those skills that seemed impossible to teach. Frida had been blessed with the best governess who made learning to read as natural as falling asleep. She never remembered struggling or have to ask about big words, and the thought of struggling as a student was a tad horrifying. Hopefully Miss O'Malley had more trouble fitting their vocabulary words into essays than composing them altogether.

"How do you prepare your study materials, Miss O'Malley? Do you use a journal to take notes? Strong study skills will make comprehending the readings easier," she said, pulling a tightly-rolled parchment piece and a stack of rectangle cards from her pouch. She laid the cards out front-facing, revealing the words written on them. "Especially with the larger words."

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— set by mj  —

The look in the older Hufflepuff's eyes was a disappointment. As if an impossible task was laid before her and she had no clue how to comprehend it, let alone set about getting it done. Having spoken to a few other people of this concern left Alina frustrated by this one's reaction. The others didn't see it as so hard.

"I have papers." Her book was stuffed with papers of notes. Taking that out, she gently pulled the papers out one by one. While readable, her handwriting wasn't what one would consider 'pretty'. Not that Alina really mind this. The etiquette instructor did seem to at times.

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Magic by Lady!

Frida scanned the papers, spending most of her time trying to discern each individual letter. It would have been cruel to say it, but Frida was unable to figure out where each subject ended and where a new one began.

Maybe it was not study skills they needed to focus on. Maybe it was simply note-taking.

"And do you... read these? Regularly?" she asked, unable to mask her concern.

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— set by mj  —

Oh, that look was quite familiar. The etiquette teacher had it often. The other professors seemed to have gotten used to it by now. Depended on the professor. Honestly, Alina didn't see what the big deal was. She could read it just fine.

"Oh yeah. Studying is my priority, has to be so I can stay in school." Something she wanted desperately.

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Magic by Lady!

Well that it was good. It was a start, at least, even if Frida doubted the effectiveness of her techniques.

"Shall we begin?" she asked with a smile, tapping her pointer finger on the cover of the textbook. Hopefully she would manage through the study session without having to ask Miss O'Malley to read her notes aloud!

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— set by mj  —

Being underestimated was something that Alina was slowly becoming accustomed to. No one took a girl of her station very seriously when it came to academics. She wasn't taught by a school house teacher or a governess. Well, at least not consistently by a governess. But she was also self-taught, when she could try.

In all likelihood, Alina was bound to have to read her notes aloud. She was used to it and thus prepared to do so. "Yes, let's begin."

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Magic by Lady!

Frida smiled and opened the book to the first page of the chapter: Goblins and their Role in the Development of Gringotts Bank. An easy chapter.

"As we go along, I want you to rewrite your notes. Repititon helps. Could you do that?" she said, hoping the girl would be amiable to her request.

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— set by mj  —

With a nod to her tutor's instructions, their work began.

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Magic by Lady!