Duel between Harry and Hermione, who would win?

[Carolina]

Both would either die or keep dueling forever.

[B]

harry was always better at practicals and hermione was always better in the classroom. neither of them was bad in the other - hermione was still great when putting things into practice, and harry was relatively competent in the classroom. but the marks on their dada owls seem to speak for themselves - harry was brilliant at the practical and even on the written, and got an outstanding, whereas brilliant hermione got 10 outstandings and one exceed expectations - in dada. so hermiones not bad - shes great - for example her quick thinking in lovegoods house - but when staked against each other, harry has enough luck and gut feeling to trump hermione. just my opinion :)

[Luna]

Hermione all the way. I know that Harry got an O in defense and Hermione got an E, but i think that's just JKR's way of letting harry shine. And harry pretty much knows 3spells....protego, expelliarmus and expecto patronum. Yes he did cast the patronus at 13 but he had someone to teach him.no one taught hermione,or ron.
Expecto patronum is the only spell hermione had trouble casting.lupin said many powerful wizards cant cast it. Eg, voldemort.that's because they dont have powerful,happy memories.and he's not going to win the duel with a patronus,isnt he?
Yeah harry got a slightly higher mark than hermione in POA defense,but let's not forget she was under huge stress from her many subjects,lack of sleep etc. (frankly her boggart is ridikkus....but whatever.
Look at the duel between voldemort and dumbledore,no shield charm could've blocked those spells. Harry has better reflexes,that gives him some advantage,but not a big one-dumbledore was like-115? When he defeated voldemort in OOTP.
Also,in HBP, Hermione mastered non verbal spells first, ten minutes into the lesson! A non verbal silencio, and Harry's dead.
Harry only has slightly more experience than hermione. And in deathly hallows,the death eaters were instructed to NOT kills harry,instead,bring him to voldemort.they wanted to kill hermione,and she's not dead yet. Not to mention hermione saves him a LOT.
He defeated voldemort-out of sheer luck,his mother's protection,and voldemort's misjudgment.
Anyway,hermione is likely to keep a cool head,during a duel.
Harry is a good wizard.but his talents lie on quidditch mostly,and superior reflexes. Hermione is way more powerful.

[Ruby]

Hermione has more knowledge and a wider range of spells at her fingertips- also, she's very quick-witted, which would really help her in a duel. If she won, it would be because she outsmarted Harry, not because she out-spelled him.

Harry has more experience and skill with spells. He has great intuition with dueling- I mean, he didn't duel THAT many people before fighting Voldemort. Only a handful or so. What I'm saying is that he KNOWS how to duel. It comes naturally to him. So I think if it was a duel dependent on attack and defense and just intuitive dueling, he would definitely win.

So- head to head straight out dueling with nothing and no one in the way- Harry.

Dueling in a maze or with a variety of interfering variables and time to trick the other person- Hermione.

[Luna]

Ruby harry does not have a lot more experience-just one time in the graveyard with voldemort. And what spells did he use? accio, expelliarmus. And majority of the time, hermine does the spell casting, not harry.she saves them(harry and ron)not the other way round.and like i said, a non verbal silencio will do

[B]

It's true - most of Harry's strength lies in his superior reflexes and innate gut reactions, but when push comes to shove, that is what's most important in a duel. On-your-feet lightening-quick reflexes, less than a second to think, gut feelings - that's how Harry operates. Also, Lupin taught Harry the Patronus charm, but Hermione and the rest of Dumbledore's Army were taught too - by Harry! Additionally, Harry learned to produce a Patronus facing a dementor - and although it was a boggart, it had the same effects as a real dementor. Hermione learned to use the Patronus charm in a safe, warm, learning-conducive environment, without facing any opponent. So Harry not only learned to use the Patronus charm at 13 - and mind you, Hermione had trouble at 15 - but he learned to use it in the most pressurized situations. Also, if you put any stock into what Harry or Snape has to say about the Dark Arts, Harry obviously has the greater advantage - experience, motivation, heart, courage - and pure gut instinct. Hermione is book smart; she's knows so much because she's an intellectual, and relies on books more than anything. Harry's naturally superior at dueling, he relies on pure instinct, and the world is his classroom. He learns, adapts, reacts on his feet. You can't say that he's not skilled - Hermione herself is only so good because she's such a good student. There's a great difference between getting good grades and surviving in the real world. Harry, who studies less, puts in less effort, and is altogether less serious than Hermione about school, earns an O in DADA, whereas Hermione earns Os in all her subjects BUT DADA.

To Harry, fighting the Dark Arts is intuitive, instinctive, and purely natural. Additionally, his motivation and drive is built into his character, from Lily and James's efforts in the Order, and from when his parents were murdered in front of him.
Harry's character is naturally passionate, imaginative, adaptive, and perseverant, all traits that make a difference in a fight. Harry's life experiences built his abhorrence of the Dark Arts, and it feeds into any battle he takes on.

[Ruby]

Great job, B. You put my thoughts into words!

[B]

thanks ;)

[Simone]

This is such a difficult and complex question to answer. I think both of them have such fantastic attributes that would aid them in a duel. However, I think ultimately Hermione would swing it because she is so intelligent and well-read that she could come up with lots of different spells and jinxes but Harry (although he is very brave and good at getting out of trouble) would be slower of the mark and Hermione would win. IMO!!

[B]

Yeah but do you really think book smarts is what you need in a duel? Harry knows plenty of hexes and jinxes and charms, because he learned a bunch for the maze in the Triwizard Tournament, and because he couldn't have passed his OWL in DADA without knowing how to counter and respond to dark magic. And Harry has a seeker's reflexes. That's not something you can top even with a girl that's a veritable encyclopedia. Hermione sounds great in theory, but it's Harry that's proven to be the best in actuality. Harry doesn't freeze up in life-threatening situations, or lack any courage or bravado. Plus, if no one's noticed, he's managed to outtalk Voldemort twice in a duel - in the Chamber of Secrets, with Tom Riddle, and the final battle for Hogwarts. He doesn't lack brains - he's really bright! But being Hermione's friend means constantly looking rather stupid next to her. But don't undervalue Harry's intelligence and quick-witted thinking. He's understood things that Hermione couldn't puzzle out, figured out things before her, and has shown a greater presence of mind in a critical situation. Hermione is the brain of the trio, but Harry has always been and is the force of action that drives all three of them.

[Lundyn]

That is a tough one. Hermione is hell of a witch, she knows her spells the best. But Hermione is a kind soul, it wouldn't like to hurt someone unless it is absolutely necessary. I think a duel between her and Harry would be more for practice and fun. I'd pay money to see them hash it out against each other.

Hermione is absolutely brilliant and has the wits about her to put Harry on the floor. Harry is more persistent than Hermione though and would continue to move forward with a duel and less likely to back out than Hermione. They are both brilliant and both able to cause death to one another, but I personally cannot say who would lose if they faced each other.

[Marc]

Harry by a mile. Just because you are the smartest wizard doesn't mean your the best, Harry is one of a kind he would wipe the floor with her.

[Pallavi]

In my humble opinion Harry will win against Hermione. From all the war between wizards in HP Series I read i infer that it is the instinct that count not knowledge in dueling, Hermione is far better than Harry in Magic , but in this aspect I think he can win . It was Harry that teaches the Dumbledore Army and its Hermione's idea .

[Street]

I think some people may be biased as the books are centered around harry.if it really comes to a duel then no amount of dumb luck,"priori incantatem"crap and his supposed natural DADA talent can save his behind from hermione's WICKED spells.smarts over brute power any day

[Street]

I'd also like to point out that other subjects like tranfiguration,charms hell even arithmancy are just as important as DADA in a duel.so just being great at 1 and moderate at the other 3 is hardly enough to defeat someone(hermione) who is proficient at the 3 and more than mediocre in DADA.

[Varun]

Let us just see a Screw Attack video, (these people simulate fights between characters like darth vader or even harry potter). It will tell us everything

[Himani]

Definitely, Harry would win ! He is more experienced in dueling . Even though Hermione has more knowledge of spells but still it's the practice that matters . She is good in charms but Harry is way better in dark arts .

[Caroline]

This is a difficult answer for me.
My first thought was to put down Hermione, because she has talent which she worked hard for. She also is smart enough to have known what spell to use. She was the one, of the two, who figured out most of the things they had to do to to complete their objective.
However, Harry also has the talent I aforementioned Hermione had. He also worked hard for more of the talent he had. He learned much from her, making him also know what spell to use when. He was the one, with Ron, who went to collect the things for the objective to get completed.
This is a difficult decision. Harry had to have Hermione and Ron to do anything he accomplished, so if it was him solo and her solo, she would probably win, simply because she was much more independent than him.

[Paula]

Harry!

[Elis]

Hermione. Of course. She knows an awful lot more than Harry when it comes to spells.

[Elis]

Eliza wrote: "Hermione. Harry is very good at DADA, but he just uses the basic defense spells: Expelliarmus, Stupefy, etc. A duel isn't won just using defensive spells. Do they help? Absolutely. But one also has..."

totally agreed!

[Katia]

Hermione, hands down. Harry has typically only ever been good at magic when his life or his friends' lives were at stake and if he had no real reason to duel Hermione then she would definitely win.

[Zoe]

I think Harry vs Hermione is so weird, but I'm team Hermione all the way