Apparation Lesson 2

[Irene Finch]

Irene found it unfortunate that she could not meet with the sixth years every single week to prepare them for their apparation exam, but her schedule and their schedules would simply not allow it. The woman entered the castle, her heels clicking along the floor as she made her way to the Great Hall. Pushing up the sleeves of her Ministry robes, she pulled out her wand and made quick work of moving the tables along the walls. The students would need space for what was planned today since this would be their first attempts at apparating. She wasn't expecting them to do particularly well, but crazier things had happened.

"Come in, Come in" she began by way of greeting the students as she saw the first of them peek their heads inside. She motioned impatiently for the students to come forward. The woman's blue eyes scanned the group before she reached for her wand once more. "Space yourselves out...there's plenty of room" she stated with a smirk. There certainly was plenty of room since the Great Hall was meant to accommodate the entire school and she had only a small portion of the student body in front of her. Once they were finished rearranging themselves, Irene gave her wand a small flourish and a large wooden hoop appeared in front of each student.

As she looked around at the student's faces, Irene's expression remained stern as usual. She gave them no expression of hope or encouragement. It was up to them to work hard and create their own hope. Her blue eyes stared at each student for the briefest of moments, making judgments about their ability to succeed at the task before them. She had been doing this long enough that she was rarely wrong. "Alright. Don't forget the three D's that we discussed last week. Destination. Determination. Deliberation" she stated clearly. "And, if you feel as if you're suddenly being pulled through a tube, don't worry. It means you're doing something right." She looked around the room, wondering if any of them were familiar with the sensation from side-along apparition. She figured that those who had grown up in wizarding families were. It was definitely something to get used to and any of the students who had never done it were in for a huge surprise.

"I'll be walking around in case any of you get splinched and I've asked one of the nurses to join us as well" Irene began, nodding to the woman who was seated in the back corner of the room. Irene knew that there was always one person who rushed and ended up leaving a portion of themselves behind. She looked around, wondering who that person would be today. "Not that I expect any of you to" she added hastily as she noticed a few horrified looks from the group, "but just in case. You'll have nothing to worry about if you concentrate."

Irene crossed her arms and stood waiting for the students to begin. When they didn't right away, Irene rolled her blue eyes. "Whenever you're ready" she added a beat later in a droll tone. She didn't expect them to do anything much for at least the first little while. Irene allowed the students a few moments before she began pacing around the group, stopping to offer a suggestion here and there and demonstrating when she needed to.
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Rp the lesson. Have fun with it! It is ok to not succeed today. You'll still get full credit so long as your RP is good.
If you plan on splinching yourself, please PM me first.

 

[Artemis Jackson]

With her head held slightly downwards, the Slytherin prefect walked her way to the Great Hall. She was headed towards their second lesson for Apparition that was taught by Ms Finch of the Ministry of Magic. Artemis knew that the second she saw the woman's robes and could not help thinking what occupation she would apply for once she got her diploma. She had several options - about five or so, but her mind was not completely set on what job to choose. Artemis thought of the department Ms Finch was working in and figured that their work was somewhat fascinating but as time would go on, Artemis knew that she would probably be bored with that kind of a job. Looking up as she heard a woman's voice usher her classmates in, she noticed that it was Ms Finch's. Casting away her previous thoughts, her eyes followed the direction of the students that were walking to the entrance of the Great Hall. Artemis followed suit, nodding and trading several smiles with some of her classmates. She noticed that some were bouncing up and down with excitement. Not that she could blame them - apparition was the damn dynamite. She felt amused whilst watching them, choosing not to comment on anything that they uttered. The seconds passed by and Ms Finch told them to space out. She did so and found herself a place that she was comfortable with. It was somewhat near the area where the Slytherin table was normally placed and she found comfort in that spot of the room. Looking around, she saw the others move far away from each other and then, they began.

First, it was the wooden hoop that appeared just in front of Artemis. She looked at it and cocked her head, wondering what the hell its purpose was for the lesson. Thinking, the reason behind it gradually came to her mind and she swallowed, hiding any sort of nervousness that was trying to consume her. The last time she even side apparated was when she was not older than five years old. Since then, her dad never took her along with him if his method of transportation was apparition. According to him, her younger self felt sick as f*ck for straight two hours or so. Remembering none of that experience, she knew that she would have to just feel her way through this whole process of apparating. They were given a heads up though, that if they felt being sucked in a tube then they were doing good. "Nasty," murmured Artemis under her breath quite unconsciously as she imagined how that sensation felt like. A few more words from Ms Finch came and then, they were left to do this task. She felt somehow defeated easily however, looking at how all her classmates were starting from square one gave her the boost that she needed. The blonde closed her eyes and focused on her destination, then her determination to be inside that hoop and lastly, her deliberation.

Artemis focused on the magic flooding her veins. She would most certainly need it and with that, she tried to relax herself. The arising nervousness was not a help so she had to forcefully keep her calm. She did so and that task alone was quite uneasy. When she felt the calmness overtake, she opened her eyes briefly. Artemis did not catch what her fellow sixth years were doing - the prefect just wanted to focus solely on herself. Closing her eyes for the second time, Artemis pictured herself being in that hoop. And with just that, she imagined just going there with her magic. Suddenly she felt a rush - as if she was being pulled exactly into a tube and with that, her determination faltered. She opened her eyes in excitement, a small grin capturing the fullness of her lips. "Oh my," Artemis breathed, a little panicked with what she felt but was excited simultaneously. She repeated the process again, only to feel the same sensation but it was stronger, more intense. Artemis looked down at her feet and saw that it did not move an inch, however, the blood in her heart was pumping faster than normal. Perhaps it was just the excitement of her nervousness - or even both. She saw a few who were successful and marveled at their movement. Other than that, she tried for the third and fourth time but to her avail, no success. That simple sensation of magic in her though was something she valued, and to her that was a sign of a baby step towards fully learning how to apparate.
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[Minoas Stratis]

Think positive... Minoas Stratis reminded himself that morning as he was making his way towards the Great Hall, trying to derive some courage from the last deposits of optimism remaining within him. So many others have succeeded before. You'll soon be one of them. he made another attempt to calm down the uneasy feeling of failure. Minoas wasn't really a pessimist. He was approaching everything in life in a positive way, thinking that everything can be accomplished if you try. Apparation was a different case though. From the first lesson his intuition was screaming inside him about an invisible threat he couldn't explain. He had been certainly through worse than an Apparation class. He had managed to survive an encounter with the notorious Scitorari, how much more difficult would be to apparate compared to this? This and many more similar thoughts he was forcing in his head in order to make himself relax and enjoy this experience but like a tide, doubts were flooding his mind again washing away his optimism.

He felt his stomach was tied in millions knots as he was stepping inside the vast hall. The four, long table were set aside providing space for the students and their instructor from the Ministry was there as well ready to supervise them. "Good morning." Minoas greeted maybe the only person who could calm him down with her presence, Artemis. He forced a weak smile not wanting to let fear sketch his features and halted among the students assembled before the Ministry official. Minoas wished he could share the same excitement most of his classmates had but it was impossible even to fake it. He felt ants crawling all over his body when the woman started talking. He found himself standing alone at the spot as the rest of the students spaced out and watched as large wooden hoop was conjured on the floor in front of him. His heart started racing behind his chest. He had completely forgot of the three D's and he desperately tried to make a mental note of them as the instructor repeated them. The voice of the Ministry woman grew distant as his heart continued pounding in his ears restlessly. Calm down...you'll do it...Destination.Determination.Deliberation...Destination.Determination.Deliberation he repeated in his head and took a deep breath. He decided to mask anything the instructor had to say about splinching and preferred to imagine himself succeeding, thinking of all the different places he could visit around the world.

"Good luck!" he wished heartily to Artemis with a smile and then turned his gaze to the hoop in front of him. It will be easy. Trust me you'll see. Destination. Determinatio.D.... What was the third one? he wondered, feeling panic suddenly taking over and his hands getting sweaty. Destination...what was it, damn it? Delegation? No it wasn't Delegation. he scratched his forehead indignantly. Just...forget it! You just need to get yourself there in that hoop. Concentrate and you'll succeed. he took a few deep breaths and imagined himself disappearing and reappearing at the centre of that ring. He closed his eyes, cleared his head and counted to three. He clenched his teeth and his grey eyes reopened only to see the wooden hoop still mocking him in front him. His stubbornness was never letting him give up. He narrowed his eyes like he was facing a long term enemy rather than a plain, wooden hoop.

Minoas closed again his eyes, feeling his body lighter than a feather, ready to travel through the short distance. He felt a force pulling him and he plucked up his courage. He thought he had done it and he lost his concentration half way through the process of apparation. Something pulled him back violently and heard the creepy sound of reaping flesh. He collapsed on the cold floor right where he was standing a few moments ago, the hoop still mocking him a few meters away. He felt the acute pain as strong as one hundred daggers sinking into his abdomen but he gritted his teeth to never allow the groan of anguish slip off his tongue. He clenched his left side, just where the unbearable pain was coming from and the white shirt of his uniform was dyed scarlet, drenching his shaking hands as well. His eyes were watery with the sheer pain but he attempted to lift his shirt and see the three deep gushes oozing blood on his left, lower abdominal.
I got...I got splinched! his breathing was now shallow rasps and his eyes, wide, filled with fear. He remained kneeled on the floor disoriented and with everything around him blurry. Minoas' skin crawled as he glanced down at his bloodstained hands. Minoas winked and struggled to not let shapes and colors disappear from his eyesight but suddenly, everything went black. The next thing he knew he was on the hard floor with his limbs sprawled all around him while hands were reaching for him. He had no idea if they belonged to the instructor or the healers. He just let blackness devour him while his senses shut down one by one.