The next two days passed in much the same way: long, dusty hours spent poring over books with Percy followed by a report from the Manor team that they had made no significant progress on the wards. The only bright spot was her duelling session with Ginny, who could always be counted upon for some creative and belligerent spellcasting. The two women were nearly evenly matched, but a well-placed series of mild hexes from Hermione gave her the edge. Although she could certainly perform more complex magic, Hermione preferred to practise with simpler spells she could perform wandlessly if needed. Harry’s proclivity toward disarming his opponents had shown her how reliant most wizards were on their wands, and she intended to never find herself defenceless, particularly after her own experience at Malfoy Manor. 