Well, that was conclusive. Hermione's patience abruptly vanished. She had been prepared to spend the whole night, if necessary, needling Cho into a mistake, but that no longer seemed like the most reasonable course of action; whatever had driven a supposedly neutral Ravenclaw noblewoman into making such a huge mistake was something she needed to know now. Had Gryffindor definitively secured the county as allies, or was Lord Fenghuang acting on his own? If Ravenclaw had fallen, that left only Hufflepuff to be wooed, and Hermione had a low opinion of those disgustingly cheerful do-gooders. They would be useless in a war – if they even consented to take part at all. Moreover, Hufflepuff was far more likely to ally with Gryffindor than Slytherin. Time had suddenly become of the essence. She needed to know now.