Off to the DADA classroom

After spreading her labia to get inside Gryffindor Tower, Hermione grabbed her bag with her wand and headed to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The room reflected each of the professors they'd had who implemented their own style. The interim professor, however, had left the room relatively unusual. There were still the odd magical objects in the room, but were they to be removed, it would look like an ordinary muggle classroom that just so happened to be inside a castle.

Hermione pulled out her wand and decided to prepare the room ahead of time for practicing spells and hexes. With a wave of her wand, all the desks and chairs moved to the side of the room, leaving a large open space for two pairs to practice dueling. It was strange, but after practicing wandless magic for just under a week, wandless magic seemed almost too easy. It was like comparing pressing a nail into a piece of softwood with one's own hand with simply using a hammer to put it into place.

After a while, the Slytherins came into the classroom. "Ah, it looks like you're excited to start!" Pansy called. "Alright, there's enough room for us to get started, and," she placed a bag of supplies on the teacher's desk, "a healthy supply of dittany for basic injuries. Daph, you know all the healing spells, right?"

"Yep!" Daphne replied, turning to Hermione. "I'm actually studying to be a healer. As long as Millie doesn't go too hard on me, I'll be able to whip up any countercurses we need for this!"

"Fine by me," Millicent interjected. "You've already got the shield charms and transfiguration protections figured out. I need to work on those for the N.E.W.T. practical, and you need to get more power in your hexes. Just don't take too long in patching me up if you get overzealous."

"Granger, you've already had a lot of experience dueling, given your outings with Potter and Weasley." Pansy set herself across from Hermione, preparing her wand. "I expect you already know a lot about offensive magic from working directly with the chosen one, so you'll be practicing defensive spells while I try to break through your defenses. Got that?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I understand." She wasn't entirely nervous. Her skills with purely defensive magic were more than reliable, having used them to protect herself and her friends throughout most of last year.

"And remember, ladies," Pansy continued. "According to the study guides, we get more points for the exam if we cast our magic silently, so let's try to not use the incantations today. Keep each other on our toes!"

This almost seemed too easy for Hermione... She had already mastered non-verbal magic back in her sixth year. She looked at the other two Slytherins looked somewhat nervous about this. It seemed that neither of them was particularly confident in their skills.

But when Hermione turned her attention back to Pansy, she saw a cool look of confident determination. It then clicked as to what this really was. This wasn't just to practice for exams, or even just to enjoy Hermione's embarrassment of swishing her arms around naked to watch her body jiggle in the right places.

This was a duel for pride. After almost seven years of animosity between the two girls, years of being catty and passive-aggressive to each other, this was the moment they would finally fight it out with their own magical skills.

Hermione gulped as she knew this would end in one of two ways. She'd either prove that she was the top of the class for a reason, or it would end with Pansy showing absolute dominance over her.