Josh had left History Of Magic and headed for the library in the hope of getting his homework complete. After all, with that done he could easily enjoy the rest of the day. Especially as classes were finished for the day. Johs was glad they were finished, to be honest, since the teachers were all loading everyone up with work, with the OWLs approaching. Fortuantely, he did still have plenty of free time.

Arriving at the library, he found a seat, put his bag down, sat down, and got out a particuarly nasty piecve of homework he had been set. OK, he'd need to grab a book from the shelves for this one. Quickly getting up, he oput his bag on his seat so no-ome would take it, and hurried off to find the book he needed. He soon returned, and sat down again, opening the book and starting to read.

Professor Trishna had suggested she try to find some other students to tutor her. He said it might help with her recollection- although Winnie had no problem remembering anything. She was just like an erumpent- she never forgot anything! She just took a long time remembering all of those things which she knew. Winifred couldn't help that there was only so much room in her brain and that some things got temporarily lost.

The only place she could think of where there would be studious people was the Hogwarts library. Winnie wasn't a big fan of the library herself- she got in trouble for being in there a lot because she had a tendency to be loud and apparently people who were studying and reading didn't appreciate a good conversation or her loud, horse-like laugh.

But she was on a mission- and as long as Winifred remained focused she could refrain from being too obnoxious. It wasn't long before she spotted a likely candidate. Joshua Harcroft was a prefect, and Winnie decided that was as good a place to start as any. Besides, she had heard he was a good student. Winifred slid into one of the empty seats, and then the third year Hufflepuff cleared her throat. "You're Josh Harcroft the prefect, right?" she asked. She had to be sure- a lot of the older boys looked the same and it seemed twins were quite common in the wizarding world so you could never be too careful.

Josh was too absorbed in his work to notice Winnie's approach, or even when she sat down. Therefore, when she cleared her throat, he looked up, quite surprsied to see someone there. putting down his quill, he replied. " Yes, I am. How can I help you?" he asked, internally wondering why she needed his help, since he didn't know the 3rd years all that well.

Winifred did not typically take pains to think through what she was going to say. There was very little filter between mouth and brain unless she was dealing with her parents or other adults she was related to- and that filter had taken years to construct. She was still working on one with some of her professors, and as far as her peers were concerned- if Winifred thought something, then they were immediately graced with her enlightenment. Something which seemed to be causing her a lot of problems as of late.

So this one time- this rare and momentous occasion in wizarding history- Winifred took the time to ensure her next words were not entirely offensive or insane.

"I know that I don't know you very well, but I thought I'd ask you since you're a prefect. I was talking to Professor Trishna yesterday, and he suggested that I should ask some older students for some help with my classes. I..." she grew quiet, blushing slightly. "I'm pretty bad at everything except for muggle studies. Kids don't even want to be near me in charms and transfiguration because they're afraid I might set them on fire or something because my wand is so finicky. So I thought I'd come and check the library for some smart kids who might be able to help me a little."

" You need a tutor." Josh said, thinking that Winifred had been fairly lucky to choose him to approach. He was one of ionly a few students with boht the knowledge and inclination to tutor others. " I can help you, but what do you mean by your wand is finicky? I've never heard of an Ollivanders wand beuing finicky to use by the wizard it chose.[1]" Josh added, wondering if Winifred had a wand that hadn't chosen her.

1.	obviously, he doesn't know Winifred doesn't have an ollivanders wand

The ever important issue of the wand. Winifred bit her lip and shrugged gently. "I haven't got an Ollivander's wand," she confessed. "I went there when I bought school supplies in my first year- and I tried every wand and none of them worked. Everyone though I was so weird for that. But we just kept looking. I ended up buying my wand from a travelling Irish wizard in Diagon. It's not a standard wand, but it's the only one that seemed to like me. And it works from time to time."

She produced her wand and sat it down on the table. It was rather short- barely over seven inches long. The shaft was bent to the left, like it had suffered some sort of accident- but it hadn't, it was that way when Winifred had purchased it. Other than the handle (which was oddly misshapen) the wand was quite smooth. "It has a diricawl feather core. Those are the fat dumb birds that disappear."

"My dad says the core is weird because he's a squib. He thinks it's his fault I'm bad at magic," she said- in true Winifred fashion of giving someone a lot of (possibly uncomfortable) information. "Like sometimes it works really well and I do marvelously! But most of the time... Well..." Winifred paused and found a piece of parchment. She laid it on the table and attempted to demonstrate a levitation the spell- something from her first year- and instead of levitating, the parchment crumpled up into a charred mess. "Except usually it catches on fire instead of just crumpling like that."

Josh sighed at Winifred's story. It was clear that she had a low-quality wand, and worse, she couldn't get a better one. " Winifred, i'll be blunt here. It looks like your wand is a lot of the problem, since it's either damaged, or badly-made. I also wonder if it truly has chosen you, or is simply partially compatible. If I'm right, it'll take m lot of work from you to force the wand into obeying you." Josh warned. "I can tutor you in just about every subject, but I would advise you to look into trying to get a different wand. Ollivanders makes more every year, so he might be able to find you one, and there are quite a few smaller wandmakers scattered about. You should be able to find a better wand." Johs finished, mentally furious. tm looked like Winifred had been scammed by an irreputable wandmaker, assuming it was actualyl a wandmaker thta sold the wand to her.

Winifred picked her wand back up- feeling somewhat defensive after Josh's mini-tirade (even though it was a typical speech from anyone who had tried to help her in the past and had encountered her strange wand). "Some people are just bad at magic, too," she told him. "It's not always because you've got a bad wand. Not everyone has as much magic as everyone else. I try." Well, she tried sometimes- sort of, if she felt like it. But that wasn't generally very often at all.

"Lots of kids have problems with messing up spells until they learn them." But the problem with Winifred was repeating a spell she had learned. She would get it right one time- and the next time it was as though she just had to learn it all over again.

"Besides- the wand chooses the wizard. If a stupid wand chose me, then well... I guess that says a lot, doesn't it?" But she didn't want to be rude to him- not if he was going to help her. "But even so, I would work really hard, I promise! You know how they teach you that you have to really mean it when you cast bad spells?" she asked. "Well, sometimes I don't really mean it when I cast a normal spell. It's like...I know it's going to mess up anyway or something. Maybe that's part of it?" Winifred asked. One of the most astute observations the Hufflepuff ever had in her short lifetime. "Like, maybe I'm bad at it because I think I'm bad at it- or something?"

"Winifred, you being able to perform spells at all meas it isn't an issue with yuor magic itself. If it was, yuo wouoldnlt be able to cast spells at all. All I was saying was I doubt your wand is helping matters." Johs said, slightly surprised at how defeatist Winifred sounded. " Actaully, you may have hit on the biggest part of the issue. Magic is essentially intent made reality. Mind Over Matter, you need to really think you can do whta you are trying t do. It's what causes accidental magic actually." Josh said, suspecting that if there was a confidence issue, he would easily be able to help. Thouhg he doubted he'd be able to teach her to produce a patronus, he should at leats get her able to perform classwork.

Winifred sighed. "It's hard, though, to think that I can do it if nobody else thinks I can do it, you know?" she said. "I mean, the professors all expect me to do bad and any time we're practicing spells in class it's like everyone is afraid to even be near me." Normally these were all things that Winifred tired to not be bothered by. Most of her peers assumed she was indifferent, and that's because she tried really hard not to get upset. Winifred knew that she wasn't good at her wand, and she figured that there wasn't anything wrong with the fact that other people seemed to know that, too. She made jokes just like everyone else made jokes- because it was easier when others laughed at you if you were laughing at yourself too.

"I just... I don't know how to believe I can do it, when I know that I can't," she confessed. "It's not that easy to say you can do something and genuinely believe it, ya know?" It was true. Things were always easier said than done. "I but I do want to try to do better- and I promised Professor Trishna that I would work really hard."

"I understand, Winifred. You've had three years of people thinking that you can't perform spells, and as a result, you've struggled But since you have managed to pass your classes, clearly you do better during exams, where the examiner does not say any such thing. " Josh said, figuring itn out from the fact she was in third year, when she'd be in first if she hadnt passed first year.

"My wand always does better on exams. I guess it's because it knows that they matter more. But during class it just... it's always so awful! I'm afraid I won't pass this year if I don't really try to work harder. And I can't fail my third year! It's just so much harder this year than it was last year. And I have more classes because of electives!" But she did considerably better with her electives than she did in other classes. Winifred currently had an O in muggle studies after all- shocking to most people she could manage such a good grade.

"So you wouldn't mind then, taking some time to help with charms and transfiguration?" Winifred asked. "I know you're super busy because you're a prefect, and you have your OWLs this year too... But I wouldn't take up too much of your time, I promise!" Even an hour a week would probably help Winifred if she could manage to focus that long. "I'm asking a couple of other people too, that way I can have two or three people to help me so that one person doesn't have to do it all." She knew that a lot of people got impatient with her and tired of her company rather quickly.

" Your wand doesn't know if it matters more, with the possible exception of if your life is threatened.[1] It's more likely to be you being determined to peform the spells. Anyway, yes, i'd be able to tutor you in harms and transfiguration. Do bear in mind though, that I will expect you to work hard. Shall we say a hour a week to start off with, maybe more later on?" Josh said, he would ave been willing totutor her in everything, but he could see her point about multiple tutors being a good idea. Not least, it would reduce the amount of time each tutor would lose, so make each one more tolerant.

1.	a reference to what harry's wand did in DH in the flight from privet drive

Winifred beamed. "That would be great!" she exclaimed. If Winifred had not already been given a lecture earlier in the year in reference personal space, she might have hugged the older boy. She was very excited that he seemed willing to help, and said that they might do some more extra work if she managed to do well.

And she really was going to try to work hard. Whether or not it would show, though, was yet to be seen. "What's your schedule like?" Winifred asked. "I don't want to mess up your prefect duties or your studying. Other than when I have classes I don't really have anything else to do. I'm not on the quidditch team or anything. I'm no good on a broom- I still haven't passed flying. And I haven't joined any clubs, even though I've thought about it some."

"So really whenever is best for you will totally work for me!" Winifred finished, still smiling broadly. There! That was two whole subjects down! Now Winnie would just have to find tutors for her other classes! Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all!

Winifred perhasps didnt know that some information iis best kept to yourself. " You haven't passed flying in third year? how in the name of merlin did that happen?" Josh asked, honestly surprised. people usually got it after Remedial flying... this could be more work than he expected. " as for whne we should do the tutoring sessions, do you have a free period tuesdays and thursdays before lunch like me? that might be the best time for it." Josh asked, rubbing his eyes briefly. He was gettign tired.