"Miss Granger." It was Diggle's voice. She looked up from the Mesopotamian rune she was trying to use as a binding agent between layers of wards. It was not likely, not according to anything she knew, that someone could figure out the basic structure from the mere moments she made enough of the wards visible to see what she was doing, but she was up against an enemy whose abilities were unknown to her.

"Sir?" she asked. If the others are correct, there will at least be some attempt to understand and unravel my arrangement before brute force is used. I have to-

"Miss Tonks and Mr. Weasley have found spies within our boundary. They are looking for more presently, but they asked me to inform you."

"How?" she asked, not looking at the older wizard. "I haven't had- any- indication someone-" She rotated a ward with runes of the more familiar Elder Futhark. "-well, got in-"

"We are quite confident that if there had been any indication, you would have told us. In any event, Mr. Weasley is concerned that if one wizard aided them in escaping your notice, the method may well be reproducible, and then their entire force may- Perhaps there is something else I should explain first. In certain regions, especially among Bantu Peoples, wizards employ pictures instead of runes in warding. They are more time consuming to create, as I understand, and have to be created perfectly in order to function, but they may slip past certain mechanisms of detection-"

"Damn," Hermione uttered. "Well, that only proves my concerns were correct. I can't begin to analyze the wards- where were they written? -drawn?"

"They were written on the body of one of the young wizards. Regrettably, as they endowed him with more defenses against magic, there was no effective recourse-"

"He's dead," she summarized, not looking at Diggle though she knew it was impolite. The floor of the Blacks' sitting room was covered in open books and scrolls on top of wards she had hidden, and she would hate to step on any one of them as she went to lay down a modern sensory ward. "His soul is no longer with us, so actively used wards would have faded by now. They weren't cut or drawn into his skin, then?"

"No, it seems that his culture relies on a combination of wandless magic, picture wards, and a form of divination known as Ditaola in which bones are cast against a patterned background. Their designs are preserved in the physical world by being painted or dyed, as the level of detail requires thin strokes that would easily heal if cut, and it would be a challenge getting them to stick to the skin and remain perfect if drawn. When employing the correct colors-"

"I'm sorry, sir, colors?"

Hermione knew it was perhaps the least pertinent matter she could address, but something about it was sticking out to her as a clue into broader magical theory. She could not resist the urge to discover more, even if the adults were all concerned with plugging a hole in the defenses. Not for the first time, she wished Terry were with her. At the very least, he would not think there was anything odd about the fact that she had transfigured and enchanted her own robes with a red glow, or if he did, he would find some clever way of asking about it.

"Indeed. Part of the reason these pictures are difficult to recreate exactly is because the correct colors must be used; the same pigmentation is often needed to replicate the color properly." That at least makes sense. Colors can be magically controlled with the color change charm, but the pigment itself might be an ingredient.

"Thank you," she said, sighing a bit. She completely understood the necessity of standardization for the purpose of magical education, but in places where for whatever reason that was a lower priority, there were many commonly understood ways of performing magic. It seems all forms of expression have some sort of magical equivalent. Hermione had not seen it, but would not be surprised if there were magical dances. Where the theory of communicating, that the caster could be understood by other witches and wizards, hit a snag was with nonverbal magic. Adding to her growing list of assumptions, the Ravenclaw witch supposed that nonverbal magic violated numerous theories whenever it originated.

"If it interests you, I am quite sure that the magic practiced by people here can be studied and replicated," Diggle stated.

"That is what I would think," she said. "I learned a fair bit whilst I was in China, and I have no idea why central-south African magic would be any different. I should really ask someone to show me something sometime. The primary difficulty I can foresee is that there might not be written resources on the subject." That's probably part of how these cultures have held onto their magicks for as long as they have. Translating a book is somewhat less challenging than translating a lesson as it is being presented. "Magical education, then, would mostly be given by oral presentation."

"Mostly, yes, because most children do not end up going to Uagadou or other schools. Our friend Wahde read quite a few books at school, and she is not alone in this regard. Oral tradition has a distinguished history, to be sure, but the limitation lies with the human memory. A great many folk tales have circulated among the Bantu peoples, but not nearly as many as in cultures of literacy. The magical children and the do-no-magics, as they are called, share the same collection of stories."

"Parvati was saying something about stories," she commented, trying to rack her brain for what it felt like she was supposed to remember at the perfectly opportune moment. "Are there any mentions of powerful artefacts?"

"Ah, for that type of story, you can be sure that Anansi was involved." Diggle seemed particularly pleased to be relating the story. "Depicted sometimes as a spider, and sometimes as a man, Anansi is believed to be the world's first Animagus, and possibly the originator of Animagery. Akan spiritual tradition credits him with the creation of the first inanimate human body." Hermione could not help but compare him to Merlin, or perhaps the Founders of Hogwarts. "He was even said to have a calabash that contained all the world's wisdom."

"A gourd?"

"An enchanted gourd, to be sure, perhaps a book would have been more intuitive, but in these days there were no books, and the magical and nonmagical alike primarily thought to store things in jars." He thought for a moment. "Since there is an association, reasonably, between wisdom and the head, I would not find it astonishing if someone came up with a cap or crown that contained the very same."

Hermione had heard of a Pensieve, but the structure and purpose seemed different. Rather than containing memories where they could be viewed, the artefact most likely could do the reverse; it could plumb sources of memory outside of the head, and then directly insert them into the head. That approach would have its drawbacks, like the feeling of being overloaded with information, something with which she was intimately familiar, though the design allowed the user to take a break from it at the very least.

"Would Anansi ever have been to the Lost City of the Kalahari?" she asked, trying not to think about how terrible it would be if Lord Voldemort ever got ahold of such an artefact. Then again, perhaps he already has-

"Almost certainly, yes," Diggle said.

"I think the calabash might have been enchanted with a form of the mind arts. Between what Terry told me and what I read myself, I understand that in some cultures, especially ones without writing, there is an emphasis on learning from one's ancestors in the spirit world, some sort of magical realm that only the most talented and knowledgeable can access. In a sense, this acts as a Pensieve in that it contains memories, so there would be a source of external memory for the artefact to plumb."

There was a vertical blue circle across the room and she managed to identify it as an especially sensitive heat detection ward. It was worth a look, but not much more. The older wizard cast a Patronus Charm to inform Mundungus as soon as she shared her thoughts.

"I find your theory interesting, but am I correct in assuming that normal books would be immune to the artefact's perusal?" Diggle asked. The young witch only nodded. "It seems understandable that Anansi would fall, even with such a font of memories; I would think anyone would; how many memories are useful? How would one sort through all those memories?"

Hermione sighed.

"The only way you could sort out truth and knowledge is by being very wise. Lady Ravenclaw, who supposedly possessed a similar artefact centuries ago, once wrote that all creatures are capable of observation, but only those who have understood what they observe and care to know the truth are capable of being made wiser. In a sense it was a word of encouragement to children, who have limited experience, and for this reason the first-years of her House are often made aware of it at Hogwarts, either by an older student telling them, or because they admired the Founder and felt the need to read as much as possible about her."

"Man's greatest treasure indeed," Diggle observed. A Patronus arrived in the form of a jackrabbit. "And yet, from time to time it is more pertinent to have the words of a confederate than all the wisdom in the world."

"We didn't find anyone else, but they're coming soon. Wahde and Sirius are going to keep trying to negotiate with the leaders, because they're tying up more of their resources than our own."

Hermione nodded. There was no need to respond, no need to say anything to the wizard, who was already taking her hand and standing with his wand at the ready. Turning to her wards, she did not need to make the outermost circle visible to have an idea of where the 火 was, since she always put it at '3' given that 气 was at '12', due north according to the compass charm that caused her wand to point north. Aligning a Germanic ward with the rune for water, ᛚ, on the 水 of the outer circle, she could have the outer ward activate a smaller one, which also contained ᛊ, the rune for the sun and thus the counterpart of the cuneiform on a circle whose true purpose was the 𒈗, the symbol used for a king. Assyrian symbols were a pain to even remember, which was why she used them as little as possible, but they were mercifully simpler than the Sumerian pictographs from which they evolved, and carried a greater array of meanings.

What was useful about the cuneiform was that it had been in use for literal millennia, uninterrupted, before the first wand or staff was ever crafted, and by consequence entire seas of ink had been spilled in ferreting out the function of the symbols. Much of it was incorrect and no longer studied, to be sure, but if an author took the proper approach, starting from the facts and the fundamentals and building on that rather than making wild claims and trying to figure out how to support them, some amount of knowledge would be gained, and the author would be worth remembering.

By consequence, making appropriate and accurate reference to any cuneiform symbol promised the effect of a masterclass in spellcraft.

The warm sensation in her feet told her the outer circle had been penetrated by the fire character, 火, which confirmed the efficacy of the sensory ward she had not yet tested, as well as the intelligence Mundungus managed to gather about their most likely angle of attack. Thinking of the Assyrian cuneiform ward, she squeezed Diggle's hand and he apparated her straight into it, right on top of the presently invisible symbol, 𒈗. As a final method of preparation, she held her wand vertically in front of her, rather like a scepter.

TURN AGAINST BAKR OF THE DRAA.

Hermione had her eyes closed in concentration as she poured every ounce of power and skill in Legilimency, taking advantage of a momentary gap in the occlusion ward. Squeezing the hand of the old wizard again, they were back inside the manor a moment before she cast an anti-apparation jinx.

"Did it work?" he asked hurriedly. "I would not relish-"

"We don't know- can't know yet. There are going to be more of them." Concentrating on the sensory ward beneath her feet, she felt as if they were on a bed of nails. "That way-" she said, pointing and using her wand to cancel the jinx for a moment. Realizing she forgot to rotate the wards as she landed, she tried to do so remotely with her wand, getting a feel for the situation with her eyes and ears at the same time.

There were five or six dark wizards not far from her position, and probably more approaching from different directions- They most likely assume the wards are set up like landmines- spread out in different positions. When the Assyrian ward for the king rotated to be right under her feet, it occurred to her that it would be a foul surprise indeed.

TURN AGAINST BAKR OF THE DRAA.

Diggle apparated them out without being asked as several curses flew in their direction.

"That was a bit close, Miss Granger. I'm afraid I can't advise putting ourselves in the dead center of an unseen position again."

"You're probably right," she conceded, putting up the anti-apparation jinx again. Their approach was faster than she could manage on her own. She knew Tonks was probably activating some of her wards, and fighting the dark wizards they had not managed to turn with a combination of Wei and Shi. If Charlie's anything like his younger brother, he'll be right out there with her. She had lost track of exactly how many Weasleys there were, but she could use a few more at the present.

Hermione felt a a few different sensations in her feet and removed the sensory ward, since it was circumstantially useless. One of the much older house wards was reacting to someone being at the window and she shielded in that direction as a strange wizard managed to crawl through a hole someone had blasted. He was shirtless and there was a glowing blue depiction of a spider on his narrow chest.

"Stupefy," she incanted without missing a beat, though the African wizard dodged it with inhuman agility and punched the shield. While that would ordinarily present no problem, he appeared to have magically enhanced strength, and the shield cracked.

"Arania Exumai," Diggle incanted, blasting the wizard backward. "Curious," he said. "-and yet exactly as expected."

"Perhaps you've learned to expect the unexpected, sir," the Ravenclaw ventured, moving a hair out of her eye. "I have a friend who's quite good at that."

"It's good she has you, then, for the filtering... oh, dear, I might have twigged on something," he said, looking out the broken window as he repaired it. The wards are still broken, but there's a chance that they won't realize there's a break.

Mundungus, Charlie, and Tonks came in through the opening left for them in the apparation defenses and Hermione closed it behind them.

"You bought us some time, but the others are dead already," Tonks said. "You might have gotten about ten of them, and they killed a few, we killed a few, but either there were more of them than we thought, or some of them were just that powerful."

"How can Bakr be stronger than they are?" Mundungus asked. "They're going to kill him one of these days- surprised they haven't already-"

"It doesn't make sense to worry about that right now," Tonks said. "What we need to be doing is keeping them out."

"We can't keep them out forever," Charlie managed, looking like he was getting to be out of breath. More of an athletic inclination, he dodged more than he shielded in duels, and it probably served him well enough against dark wizards.

"You're right," Hermione said. "Some of them must be able to resist the magic I've been using." She doubted she had been in range to hit every one of their assailants, but if there were wizards who had warded themselves to shrug off stunning spells, it was something she had to consider. "It's going to be dark soon; we'll have the advantage if we need to escape-"

"Miss Granger, there is no way we can escape," Diggle argued. "All of Africa watches this battle between the Order of the Phoenix and the forces of darkness; as little as I like it, we cannot be seen to lose here."

"There are five of us!" she reasoned, somewhat desperately. "We agreed that if necessary, we would escape!" The Ravenclaw could feel the spells colliding with the manor, more aware than anyone else as to how long the defenses would hold. She had almost forgotten to add muggle repelling charms, until a very confused militant wandered through the area the previous day.

"Actually, there are six." Everyone turned to see Andromeda Tonks surface from the fireplace in a flash of green flame. "Grindelwald decided it was entirely too late to continue our discussion any further."

Hermione hoped like nothing she had ever hoped before that the talks had gone well, having a painfully limited idea of what was at stake and what had been established thus far. She was at a loss of what to do about her current situation and still trying to sort out everything else the Order was doing. Calm down, Hermione. You're not the leader. You're not responsible for what you cannot control.

The door threatened to throw open again, else be blasted off the hinges. As much as it allowed her to predict their actions, the brute force approach made sense for the invaders, because with sufficient force, any magical barrier would break. She let the others try slowing them down while she laid down more wards, hoping to try the same trick as before. We know where they're coming in this time. We have to hope that they won't be resistant to it. With her inexpert use of Shi and Wei giving her more, there was no other word for it, power in ways she did not fully understand, she could reasonably expect Legilimency to work against anyone whose Occlumency was not so strong she was kept out entirely.

All around her there was fighting as she tried to lay down wards. Mundungus and Charlie were throwing curses out the windows whenever there seemed to be an opportunity, Tonks was placing shields and obstruction charms on the door, some part of her mind recalling that Ministry employees could effectively repel more than just muggles, and Diggle seemed to be keeping the three of them on their feet with shields, while apprising Andromeda of the situation. Well, at least no one's wasting time asking me what I'm doing.

It was not the first time she thought to herself they were letting her take a combative, authoritative back seat, but she was grateful for it in this particular instance. She tried to place the runes as quickly as possible without mistakes, reminding herself that one error would make it all useless when a witch came tumbling though the window that was already broken. Andromeda responded with immediate lethality, but not perfect accuracy as the invader witch needed only sway to the right to avoid the curse, while transfiguring a hole in the floor under her opponent who was shielding. Damn- damn it all, if only I'd protected that window- Everything was happening at once. Diggle was somewhere, probably trying to get Andromeda out of the hole, the invading witch sent a curse at Mundungus, who had moved away from the window, Charlie was trying to shout over Tonks, who might have been saying they would be in before long, and she was still trying to finish up the warding. Damn it, if only we had one more-

The fireplace flashed with green flame once more, which distracted the invader long enough for Andromeda to kill her as she held onto the edge of the hole with a free hand. The Ravenclaw could only stare while laying down a ᚦ with her hand and a 𒆜 with her wand.

"Hi, Hermione, sorry I'm late. I got a patronus from- oh, well, that doesn't matter, does it?"

"Your entrances are about as bad as your potions," Hermione said, tears coming unexpected and unbidden. "Now help us fight."