Hirsch wasn't a stranger to this room: he usually used it for his boxing needs, to feel fit and, sometimes, use it to get his mind off of anything that was troubling him. The latter was the most popular option the past few weeks days, especially after the recent holidays and everything that had happened then. It was probably because of this that he was called here for something that would be almost as distracting as boxing was.

Besides, this was his job, right?

So, arriving earlier than intended, the Defence professor entered the Defence Training room and made a beeline for the dummies. There was no rigid lesson plan set for this piece of training that Miss Prichard had requested. This was very much a go-with-the-flow kind of training session but one thing he knew he needed was one of these dummies.

Maybe one of the dummies that fought back.

Maybe.

Constant vigilance, eh?

From the very moment she had spoken with Hirsch about extra defense training and the man had agreed, Rylee was excited. With the events of last term and what happened in the beginning of this term she needed to be more ready. Even with her willingness to learn and her ability and readiness to teach herself there were more than a few times where she felt unprepared... and she disliked that feeling very much.

With the holidays behind them now she could fully focus on her studies, Quidditch and all her other activities. Today though was strictly about defense. She was more than ready and no doubt a little early as she made her way into the defense training room where her first training session was to be held.

"Hello, professor!" Rylee greeted happily only a tiny hint of surprise showing on her face that he had arrived before her. "How are you today? Will be be working on something difficult?" The small ginger lioness bounced on the balls of her feet glancing around the room in hopes of gaining some idea as to what they were going to be doing.

Oh, what was that? A lightbulb moment.

Taking out his wand, Hirsch made some intricate movements with his wand as he tried to conjure an object out of thin air. If there was anyone nearby, they would've heard the sound of him mumbling incantations under his breath and seen a target appear out of nowhere and levitate in midair. It probably wasn't the best of ide-

..... oh?

Distracted, Hirsch glanced over his shoulder and towards the slightly hyper Gryffindor who'd just arrived. "Hello, Miss Prichard! I'm very well, thanks. How are you? Ready for some defence training?" In the Training Room, which wasn't meant to have magic used in here but..... well. At her second question, the man paused to glance over at the target, almost as though he was considering it, before turning back to Miss Prichard. "I can't promise that it'll be easy but it'll get progressively more challenging." Which was the only way to learn, really.

Now. "I thought we'd start off with testing how fast your reflexes are. Having a fast reflex is important in any duelling or dangerous situation and could be the difference between defending yourself and being hit by a spell. Situations might take you by surprise but it's important to make sure that you can react to your environment quickly." And safely, especially for her and anyone else around.

"This is going to be a very simple exercise. I want you to choose a simple spell, any spell, and try and hit this target," he said, nodding at the target he'd been working on, "as quickly and accurately as possible. The catch is that the target is going to be moving around in various different directions, but don't let that put you off." This was only practice, after all.

"So, whenever you're ready to start."

Hirsch moved out of the way so that the levitating target was the only one that stood in front of her...

Rylee's gaze settled on the target almost as quickly as they had settled upon Hirsch himself. "I'm great!" She nodded quickly in excitement. "I'm ready!" Or as ready as she could be. "That sounds good to me." Not easy but not super mega hard either. It sounded like the perfect challenge to her.

The second year fell completely quiet in order to listen closely to what was being said. Blue eyes drifted back and forth between Hirsch and the target as the man explained what she would be doing. She knew all about having fast reflexes. Without being fast to react she would have never made the Quidditch team. Her goal had been Seeker who needed super fast reflexes but she made Beater and that was working out wonderful! Her strength and speed was getting better by the day.

Rylee nodded taking in the task. This was why she was here. To learn. To get better at her reaction time. To become better at thinking on her feet in the moment. And above all else... to become better abled at protecting herself during certain situations.

"Got it!" This was a lot like the training they did out on the field for Quidditch. Hitting targets with the Bludger was a part of her training for being a Beater. Only difference was she had her bat rather than her wand... and this target was going to really be moving around rather than just up and down.

Rylee bounced on her heels pulling her wand free of the holster on her arm. "Pick a simple spell... simple spell..." she whispered to herself running through the list of spells she knew she could cast effectively and quickly. There was quite a decent list of spells she could have used but in the end she settled on the Arrow-shooting spell for the simple fact that she would know for sure if the hit the target.

Aiming her wand at the target she cast the Arrow-shooting spell at it hitting it easily the first time. This wasn't so hard. Over and over again she cast the same spell following the target with only her eyes at first until she was made to move in order to not be hit with rebounded arrows.

Her speed and accuracy was rather good at first... only she must have underestimated the targets ability to speed up as well. The quicker she shot arrows at it, the quicker the target seemed to move. Before long she found herself jogging and then running back and forth in order to keep up with it. Many times her spell missed the target just barely and quite a few times more than she would have liked to admit she missed completely. All in all for a second year her aim wasn't all that bad which she knew was due to her Quidditch skills.

After what felt like forever Rylee lowered her wand taking a few breaths. She needed a moment before going again if that's what Hirsch wanted her to do. Maybe she should try a different spell?