"We have protection spells and shield charms," Hermione reveals. "They're much easier, and usually much more effective. The Patronus seems to work best against certain Dark creatures; I suppose, in terms of Thedosian magic, the Patronus Charm would probably be close to spirit magic. That may be why it took me so long to achieve it; I've never been good at any kind of metaphysical type of magic."

Shrugging a little, Hermione offers, "Well, a non-magical person from my world would claim there's no magic there, because they wouldn't know any better. So perhaps it's similar for those rifters who say they don't know about magic back home. It doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't exist, just that they aren't privy to it for some reason or the other." After all, magic is energy, and it can neither be created or destroyed, so the thought of a world with no magic whatsoever, even in terms of untapped potential, just doesn't make any sense to Hermione.

"Thedas seems to be a world with more problems than it knows what to do with," she murmurs softly, looking out over the party. "The first step to solving a problem is admitting that there is one, but given some of these nobles here, that might just prove to be an even bigger problem in and of itself."