All errors are my own. I don't have a beta for this story so if you see something that needs to be fixed please feel free to PM me. Thanks, S.T.

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That night after dinner Greg realized exactly what 'going back to the beginning' meant. He thought he understood before, but this was a bigger task than he'd imagined.

Cho was going through his past assignments and tests to see if there were any commonalities in the errors while Maggie was taking him through the alphabet and numbers. She started by having him write the alphabet on the blackboard. When he was done with that, she wrote the alphabet out of order on the next line down before she had him copy the letters in the order she had written them to see if there was a common error or if the order mattered in the errors at all. So far she discovered 9 letters that were consistently incorrect.

They moved on and the process was repeated with numbers 1 - 50. She did this to find out if the numbers changed when combined with another number.

Cho joined them when they completed the number test. Maggie was studying the board and Greg was massaging his hand. Cho spoke to them both, "I think I see a pattern on your assignments and there is a different pattern for your tests and it differs depending on the class." She noticed Greg was still massaging his hand. "Hand hurt?"

"Yea, it always does when I write this much." He answered.

"I noticed that you hold your quill in an odd position; that's probably why. We can work on that and your penmanship; I think everything's connected."

"I noticed that too. His, your, handwriting gets worse the longer he writes." Maggie paused, "Do you think that's where we should start? Penmanship?"

Cho agreed. "I think some of it has to do with your stress level. I think, no proof here, but I think the more you worry about either taking notes or taking a test, the worse your penmanship gets. So working on penmanship and quill position should help with some of these other issues or at least help clear up the writing so we can see what still needs to be worked on."

Greg looked, and felt, a little defeated. He was trying to be hopeful, but it seemed extremely unlikely that anything would help no matter how optimistic his tutors were.

Maggie could see the defeat manifest itself in the drooped shoulders and lack of eye contact during the conversation. As Cho was looking at the board to make more comparisons to what she had already figured out, Maggie whispered to Greg, "Stiff upper lip, man. You can do this. It's not as daunting as it seems."

Greg whispered back, "we've only just gotten started though."

"Exactly, it's only the beginning. The beginning of everything good is difficult. If it weren't difficult, it wouldn't be any good."

Cho heard every word, but recognized that Maggie had a way of making people feel better when needed and Cho wasn't about to interfere with her new friend's innate skill.

Greg looked at the younger witch, confused. He continued in a regular voice, "I appreciate everything you both are willing to do to help me, I do, but penmanship, letters, numbers, runes, wand motions, and who knows what else is going to come up. Do you really think we can make any kind of a difference in 7 months?"

Cho answered him, "Yes, we do. Since both of us are helping you, I think we can make a difference. Will you graduate at the top of the class? No. But you will do better than Trolls or Dreadfuls or even Poors if we keep at it. According to what I've read, it should always be the same things that trip you up. So we just need to figure out what those are and work on those." She paused and reached out to squeeze his arm."Yes, it's going to take time to learn the alphabet and numbers and everything else all over again, but once you have the alphabet down the words will come pretty quickly and so will the rest."

"But, you'll get behind in your own work." Greg hated the thought of anyone suffering because of his problem.

"No, we won't. I have a plan." Cho smiled at them.

"Care to share?" Greg prompted when she didn't continue.

"Once you get the basics, you won't need us to hover over you. You can work on your stuff and we'll be here to help but not hover. You'll pretty much be on your own just like anybody else who asked for help." She understood that needing so much help was grating for him. It would be for anyone. So, she pushed the one issue that would keep him going: his own independence. "The only problem I see is that we probably aren't going to be able to keep the studying together quiet. We will need every moment we can grab to work. Before and after meals, break times, weekends. Every moment."

Greg considered this for a few moments and then nodded. "I can deal with it if you can. If Malfoy or Zabini or anyone says anything, I'll just do what they're worried I'd do anyway...punch them in the face."

Both girls raised objections but Greg just smiled. Finally he put his hands up, surrendering. "Ok, so I won't punch them, but they don't need to know that now do they?" Both girls laughed at his cheeky response and it got everyone back on track.

As they were working on his penmanship Maggie realized he was frequently using both capital letters and lower-case letters within the same word as well as a mix of cursive and printing. A quick chat had them deciding that printed capital letters were easier for him so they concentrated on those first.

As the night moved on, Greg was shocked at how badly he was affected by this brain thing and amazed at Maggie. Her patience with him was never ending. She was in her element as a teacher and cheering squad. She was relentless in her determination. Greg was sure that anyone else would have gotten frustrated and quit on him by now especially since she wasn't getting anything in return for all her hard work. That was the moment he realized she and Cho were his friends. Who else but friends would go through all this for him? That was also the moment he decided he was not going to let them or himself down. He would do whatever it took no matter how long it took to succeed. But he also knew it was time to call it a night when he saw Maggie yawn again. He called an end to the lesson expecting to have to argue. Fortunately both girls were ready to head to the dorms as well. They packed up their bags and Greg escorted first Maggie and then Cho to their respective dormitories.

The next morning was the first time Greg would be mostly on his own with this new way of looking at things. They hadn't worked out all the bugs yet but he knew he stood a better chance. It felt good until the first class, Charms, actually happened. It was a lecture class and within the first several minutes he knew he was in trouble. His hand had started to cramp again and his notes were unreadable. He stopped trying to take notes and just listened. He occasionally made a drawing of something on the page but the actual note taking had ended. He realized that because everybody didn't expect anything of him, he could sit back in class and make drawn notes of wand motions and no one would be bothered by it. No one would be asking to borrow his notes after all. When class ended he headed to DADA. He pushed past the other students just like he normally did except this time, he wasn't doing it to get away from a class but to be get to a class. He wanted to get to Defence and talk to Cho. He arrived outside the classroom and scouted around until he found her. They spotted each other at the same time.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"Judge for yourself." He handed her his notes and then watched her face fall. "My hand started cramping but I kept at it but even I can't read those notes." He pointed to what appeared to be doodles on the page, "But look! I took down the wand motions."

"That's what these are?" He nodded. "Greg this is brilliant!"

He was shocked but happy, "You mean I got them right?! Yes!"

"Oh, Greg. I'm sorry. No. If the spells are what you have listed at the top, then no. These motions are mostly rubbish." If she didn't know better, she would have said he was near tears. "What's brill is that now we have a general understanding of where the trouble seems to be."

Before she could explain further, the doors opened and the class filed into the room. Greg was about to go sit with his friends as usual but Cho pulled him down to a seat in the back.

"What?" He started to ask as he pointed to his normal seat.

"We are going to work together every class we have together. We are going to learn them together." She stated to make sure he understood she wasn't leaving him alone. She pulled out her parchment and quill and prepared to take notes.

Greg didn't want her to think he was just using her and decided to use this lecture to practice his hand position and note taking. He could rely on her notes to double check his own. It wasn't 10 minutes later when the sound of yet another quill breaking could be heard followed by a growl of frustration. Though Greg tried to keep both sounds quiet, they were heard by Cho. She glanced at his hand as he started to write again and noticed the problem. Before she could say anything to him, the lecture part of class was over. The class broke up into partners for practice. This lesson involved non-verbal defensive shield charms. Because it was non-verbal the wand motions had to be precise as had been described in the lecture. Using the techniques they had practiced in the Room of Requirement the night before, he placed his hand on Cho's and let her guide him through the motions several times. Then he did it on his own. They continued to practice in this manner until the teacher, yet another new one for this year and mostly competent, came to check on their work.

First the teacher tested Cho. "Since you seem to think you are so good that you don't need practice and can teach the lesson, Ms. Chang, let us start with you." He shot a harmless stinging hex at her but she had her shield up and the hex dissolved against it. The teacher pursed his lips and grunted in approval. Next he turned his attention to Greg. "Mr. Goyle." and shot the same hex at Greg.

Greg was able to do the wand motions almost perfectly. Almost meaning that there was a slight tingly feeling in his wand hand as part of the hex came through the shield. Again the teacher just grunted and moved to the next group to test them.

Cho was nearly beside herself in her excitement, "Greg! You did it!" She whispered with a huge smile on her face.

"Thanks but you got in trouble for it."

"Posh! I practiced and it worked for me. But don't you get it? YOU DID IT!"

"I did, didn't I?" Having finally realized what had happened, he was nearly as excited as his friend. "We did it!"

They were smiling and still working on the wand motion that Greg missed when the teacher interrupted them, "Alright, class. I know it's early but I'm going to let you go after a couple of reminders. 1) Your essay on non-verbal spells is due next class. 2) The class after that, you will have a practical exam on non-verbal spells. 3) I'm really pleased with your work and how you all are coming along with these spells. They aren't easy. Keep practicing. Class dismissed."

They packed up their bags and joined the queue that was filing out of the class. "I'm glad he let us out early. I need to run back to my dorm and get some more quills. Can you believe I broke 3 this class?"

"I saw. I have an idea why and I think a way to help. We'll work on it tonight. For now, just make sure you have what you are working on written down so we can go over it. Your notes from Charms class are...difficult to say the least."

They chuckled at the obvious kindness of her statement before splitting off for their next classes.

After last class and before dinner Maggie and Greg were waiting for Cho in the RoR. Maggie would not allow them to be idle however. Greg was practicing his letters and Maggie was doing her own homework.

Fifteen minutes later Cho arrived with what looked like a dozen eggs in a pan. "Hi. Sorry I'm late. I had to stop by the kitchen and get these." She held up an egg.

"Eggs. Why do we need eggs?" Greg asked. Maggie was inquiringly silent.

"Because you keep breaking quills. Your grip is too strong which is probably also why your hand cramped so fast today. You need to lighten up your grip."

"And eggs will help me how?"

"These will break and spread icky gross stuff all over you. You will learn to lighten up or you will have icky gross stuff all over your hand."

"Cho you can't be serious!" Maggie chimed in.

"Actually….I'm not." She smiled. "These are actually hard boiled. That way when you break them it won't make a mess but you can start to feel when your grip is getting to hard for a quill. After you get a feel for it and stop breaking them, then you will use soft boiled eggs and work to raw eggs."

"How am I supposed to practice writing with an egg?"

She took his quill away and replaced it with an egg. "Pointy end, ink pot, go." She left him to continuing to work on his letters.

He looked at the egg and then at his paper and then back at the egg. "Cho, you can't…"

"Yes I can. Use it. I bet you can't go 5 minutes without them breaking." She decided a challenge might work best on him this time.

He glared at her but didn't comment. He started to try and write with the egg. "This is stupid. I can't write with an egg." he was mumbling to himself when CRACK! He put that egg aside and grabbed another. A few minutes later and it was set next to the first egg. Within 20 minutes he was angry and frustrated.

Cho was beginning to worry that maybe this wasn't her best idea. She could hear him talking to himself but couldn't tell what he was saying. She leaned closer to hear.

"You can do this, you big dumb oaf. Just relax your hand. It's an egg. Hold it like one." He was trying and getting very frustrated.

It was at that point Maggie decided enough was enough. "Alright, stop. You aren't ready for an egg yet, obviously, so let's try something else." She moved over to her bag and pulled out a long thin cylinder. "Welcome to the 20th Century, muggle style." She held up a ball point pen and clicked it open. "This my dear friends is called a pen. It is made of plastic and ink." She looked up and smiled at her friends who were looking at her with blank faces. *sigh* "That means it won't break very easily."

Greg took the pen and tested it. He shrugged and got back to work happily discovering the pen was much more durable. After a time though he realized it didn't help with the cramping in his hand. He was able to practice writing and relaxing his hand without worrying about breaking anything. It will get better, he told himself, it has too.

After he got used to a few minutes Maggie interrupted again. "I sent a letter to my mom about your penmanship and hand position. She suggested somethings I think we need to try." She had their attention as she turned to retrieve a new spiral notebook out of her bag. She had written "Greg Goyle" on it. She handed it over. "One of the things she mentioned was to use lined paper so start to use this. Also that you need to sit up straighter. Take your tie off, you too Cho." She also removed her tie and collected the other two tying all three together. She pushed him back in his chair and tied his torso to the back of the chair using the ties. "There, that should help." She waited a moment and when no one moved, "go on try it."

Greg tried to get his hand into his usual writing position but it wouldn't bend correctly with his body so upright. "I can't."

"That's the next thing she mentioned. You need a straight wrist and pivot your arm from your elbow rather than your shoulder while pulling to make the letters instead of pushing to make them."

The blank looks continued until she showed them the difference between what he had been doing and what he now needed to do. With a lot of hard work that night including missing dinner in the Great Hall, the improvement in his penmanship was small but obvious.

Time continued and they continued along this line of work every chance they got. Their studying together was noticed but no one said anything directly to them about it. Slowly Greg started to notice a difference. Using Maggie's pen-thing his writing got more clear. His hand still cramped but not as quickly and his assignments came back with fewer red marks.

He realized that all the hard work really was paying off when he got his first 'Dreadful' on a written assignment for Muggle Studies. He just sat there after the class had been released. "Is there a problem Mr. Goyle?"

"Huh? Oh, no Professor. It's just...I got a 'Dreadful'."

"Yes. It's the grade that was warranted. Is there a problem?"

He didn't answer the professor but left the classroom. Habit propelled his feet toward the Great Hall for lunch. He walked the entire time without looking away from the assignment in his hand. He finally looked up when he entered the hall and scouted for Cho or Maggie. He finally spotted Maggie sitting at her table. He noticed her sitting at the end of the table alone. He walked over to her and sat down in front of her.

Maggie looked up and smiled at him. He slid his assignment into her line of vision. She looked at it and the smile she gave him was amazing. "GREG! This is great! I'm so happy for you!"

"Well, let's not get carried away. It's only a 'Dreadful'. It's not that great."

"I disagree. Look at this! I can read it, the sentences are in good order and the spelling is much better. This is great!" At that moment she saw Cho walk in. "CHO! Come here! You've gotta see this." Greg who was already starting to blush under the praise turned a slightly brighter shade of red at Maggie's yelled summons.

Cho joined them and sat down. Maggie handed her Greg's assignment. Cho looked over the assignment and was smiling as big as the others. Without thinking she threw her arms around his neck for only a moment before she pulled back and was bouncing in her seat. "I am so proud of you! This has to feel good. Have you ever gotten a 'Dreadful' before?"

At this point Greg could feel his face heat under the red color. No one had ever said they were proud of him. "I've gotten higher than 'Dreadful' before but those were on practicals….in Herbology."

"But this was…"

Greg cut her off, "on a written assignment. No. Only ever 'Troll'. My first not 'Troll' on a written assignment. Thank you both."

Maggie tried to deflect the praise, "It was all you. You did the work."

"I couldn't have done it without both of you. You for figuring out what the problem was and Cho over here for figuring out how to help me and the both of you for sticking with me."

"What are friends for if not for this so, glad to help but don't forget we are getting something out of this as well." Greg looked a question at her so she continued, "Cho is discovering she is a great teacher and she gets to use you as a test subject to prove her point that this place needs a primary school."

"You never told us what you're getting out of this, Maggie."

Maggie looked at the two people across from her and answered simply, "better grades. Helping you and listening to you two work on your assignments has helped me get better grades. And I get to help prove this school needs to get into the 20th Century. Now, I think we need to celebrate this achievement." She handed a glass of pumpkin juice to Cho and Greg. "Raise your glasses to the three of us. Each getting what we want and what we need."

The next day in DADA they were going to get back the essays for non-verbal spells and had a practical test on them. One by one the students were tested in front of the entire class on their non-verbal offensive and defensive spells. The professor graded them right on the spot. The lowest grade was 'Acceptable' and more than one student received that grade. Greg was one of those students. He got a couple of the wand motions wrong but nothing dangerous came through his shields and his offensive spell wasn't as strong as it could have been but Cho was ridiculously happy.

When the essays were returned he was even more shocked. 'Poor' was written at the top but there was a note written on the back of the essay. "Mr. Goyle. I can see the improvement in your work. If it were possible I would have given you a 'Poor plus'. I see you understand the material but your writing MUST improve."