Tutoring: Gabriella Tillington

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Herbology was a subject Flavio loved because of his time growing and tending to the flowers and plants that were at the wild patch, though it was also the subject he found the most difficulty with academically. He wasn't sure why but for some unusual reason the boy found it easier to simply grow plants rather than learn theory about them. However he was getting better at studying and paying attention in his herbology classes, and signing up to be a tutor for a subject was a ploy to help him remember what he knew from earlier years as well as something to build his confidence for the subject. He had been paired with a girl named Gabriella Tillington, and did not know anything about her besides her name and house. But he had managed to get a note to her that informed her their first study session would be close to the wild patch.

Flavio believed the gardens would be a great place to study herbology as they could focus on both the theoretical side of the subject, and could go nearby to the wild patch if the girl wanted to study something more practical. The Ravenclaw was pleased with his decision as he arrived to the spot he planned to tutor Gabriella, with his herbology notebooks and textbooks in his arms. He found a bench and placed the books down before sitting next to them and waiting for his student to arrive.​

<i></i>

 

[Gabriella Tillington]

Gabriella wasn't entirely sure why she had signed up for the tutoring program to get extra help in herbology. She knew deep down that her biggest problem with the subject was just that she didn't like it. She hated the practical parts, the digging around in the dirt and getting her hands dirty. It didn't feel like it was all that useful either, and part of her wished she could just drop it. But she couldn't, being only a first year. And having a T or P on her grade list was something she couldn't bear. She hoped her tutor would help her at least do well enough on the exam to pass with a decent grade.

She had hoped it would mainly be theory, but the fact that her tutor wanted to meet up in the gardens made her think that wasn't the case. She made her way there somewhat reluctantly, glancing at the lake a few times on her way. She would much rather spend her time there. She entered the gardens and looked around for a little while before spotting a boy with books that looked like herbology textbooks. She approached him. "Excuse me, I'm looking for my tutor. Are you Flavio?"

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Flavio whistled a tune to himself as he observed his surroundings. All in an effort to keep his mind occupied before his student arrived. He was lucky he did not need to wait long when a girl soon approached him, explaining that she was looking for her tutor and then asking if he was Flavio. Flavio could only assume this was the girl he was tutoring and he quickly nodded in response. "I am Flavio." He confirmed. "It is nice to meet you, Gabriella." He then added, not waiting a moment longer to cut to the chase. "So you've signed up for tutoring in Herbology. Do you want to explain to me what you are having trouble with, so we can focus on that?" He asked. He brought along all his books and notes and could go over everything with her however figured that it would make sense to ask if there were aspects of Herbology that she needed to focus on, more than others, so they could have a place to start. As he waited for her to respond he picked up his herbology textbook from first year and opened it to the contents page.​

<i></i>

 

[Gabriella Tillington]

Gabriella was glad she had found the boy that was supposed to tutor her, but she really wasn't sure what to do now. Should she sit with him? She wasn't sure, so she kept standing with her arms crossed. He asked her to explain her problem with Herbology, which was hard for her to put into words. Maybe she should have expected this question to come up, but she hadn't. She started to play with her hair, hating to admit she had problems with things. "Well, I don't like the practical parts much. I think that's my problem for the most part. I can study theory easily, but I think I just don't really have a feeling for real plants." She glanced at the book he opened, wondering what he had planned for this tutoring session. "I don't know if any of that helps." She added uncertainly.

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Flavio nodded as the girl answered his question, closing his book before looking up to her. He had expected her to tell him a particular plant she did not understand that he could look up and explain, rather than the entire aspect of practical Herbology. But he was still prepared to help the girl however he could and smiled while he responded to her, hoping it would be reassurance that it wasn't a problem to have trouble working with plants. "This does help, and in that case, it might be best to just work practically get used to working with plants instead of sitting here and going through notes that might not help you at all." He said. The practical aspect of Herbology was what he was best at rather than the theory and Flavio felt confident he would be able to teach her or at least help her feel more comfortable getting her hands dirty. He placed his book down on top of the pile on the bench and stood up. Choosing the gardens had clearly been a good decision as the flowers and plants were not all magical and a good starting point, in his opinion. They would face an issue with most of the flowers being well tended to but that did not mean he couldn't explain it. "If you choose a random plant here I can explain how it works to you, maybe? Most of the plants here are well tended to by the house elves, so if you wanted to actually prune something we could go to the wild patch since most of the plants that grow there always need to be looked after." Flavio was happy to give the girl an option and continued to smile as he waited for her to respond.
​

<i></i>

 

[Gabriella Tillington]

Gabriella wondered if she had been wasting this boy's time. Could he even help her? She had practically just told him she just didn't... like Herbology. That wasn't something he could teach. She felt embarrassed, and wondered if she should excuse herself and apologize. But he didn't seem bothered by her admission, and in fact still seemed like he wanted to help her. She hesitated and nodded. "I think so too." She said slowly. When he told her to choose a random plant, she turned her head to look around, playing idly with her hair. She eventually pointed at one nearby.

"I suppose pruning or working on something myself would be the most useful, though I do have to admit I rather dread the experience so would be inclined to say no." She said, thinking his words over. "But in order to learn, I may have to. If you don't mind. Perhaps another time? We could discuss the basics here, and then... maybe meet up there some other time. As long as you're not too inconvenienced by that." She didn't want to give him extra work on her behalf, she assumed older students had to be busy. "Perhaps some tips on how to keep yourself and your clothes clean while working with plants would already help me enough." She added, embarrassed by her earlier request of a second tutoring session.