Apparition 2

[Irene Finch]

Irene stood in her Ministry robes waiting for the sixth years to arrive looking as poised as ever. Today, they'd finally get some practice in. She knew that some students had experience with side-along apparition, but doing it alone was a very different experience. They'd soon find that out for themselves. It was one thing to go along for the ride, and quite another thing to be the person who had to remember the 3 Ds and execute them perfectly.

"Let's go. You don't have all day and neither do I" Irene Finch urged the students forward impatiently as the first student walked tentatively through the open Great Hall doors. She took roll as they entered, shutting the doors from the distraction of younger students who wanted to see what was happening. "You don't need to be on top of each other. Space yourselves out!" she stated, exasperation in her tone. Irene gave her wand a small flourish and a large wooden hoop appeared in front of each student, falling into place before them.

Looking around at their faces, Irene 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. Today, you will make your first attempts at apparating" she declared, her hands on her hips as she walked around. "Before we begin, can someone remind us of the three Ds?" she pointed to a student and nodded her head as they responded.

"Excellent" she stated. "Now that you've all been reminded of the three Ds, it is time to put them into practice. For your safety, one of your school nurses is here" she nodded towards the corner where the nurse was stationed. "If you splinch yourself, please remain in your spot and the nurse or I will come to you. No sense bleeding all over the place" she stated with a small shake of her head, not even thinking about how startling that sentence might seem to a muggleborn. She didn't explain splinching either. Sooner rather than later, she was sure they'd learn if they didn't already know. "Begin. I will be walking around."
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Points will be given to the student who answers the question. RP the lesson. If you'd like your character to splinch themselves, please speak with me first.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri had been looking forward to today ever since the last Apparition lesson. He had always loved Portkey trips with his other classes, but the idea of finally really being able to teleport for himself was incredibly exciting. He waited outside the Great Hall eagerly with his classmates, excited for the lesson to begin. When the lady from the ministry gestured them in he went with the class, excitement and nerves swirling in his mind. Though it would be a fascinating, and no doubt incredibly useful skill to have, Kauri did worry slightly about apparition. He had heard about someone getting splinched last year, and hoped desperately the same wouldn't happen today. Kauri had resolved already to pay even closer attention than usual to everything the lady said, make sure he didn't miss anything. He spaced out from his classmates quickly when instructed, and his hand shot into the air as soon as she asked a question. "Destination, Determination, and Deliberation!" Kauri answered when he was called on, pleased to be chosen. He had committed the phrase to memory after last week, not wanting to risk an accident from forgetting the most basic rules. As the lesson went on Kauri felt his nerves creeping up again, as the lady did nothing to obscure how dangerous this could be. But the time had come, and Kauri did his best to drown out the part of his mind screaming at him that this was a huge mistake. It wasn't a mistake, it was going to be just fine, and Kauri was going to prove his worries wrong. Taking a deep breath, he shut all other thoughts out and focused on the center of the hoop, picturing himself there. He was going to get there. Kauri could hear and feel people around him slowly beginning to manage it before he finally felt anything at all, a strange tugging sensation in his stomach that reminded him of using a portkey. The feeling was alarming, but Kauri did his best to follow it, and though he felt dizzy and uncertain, when he looked around a few moments later, he was indeed standing inside his hoop. No pain, no injuries, nothing seemed to be wrong at all. Kauri clapped his hands in delight, before stepping back out of the hoop to take another go. It took a little less time each go around, and by the end of the lesson, Kauri was apparating quickly and easily, to his delight. He had done it! He had learned to teleport! Kauri couldn't be happier with his success.

 

[Caro Taylor]

Caro had been looking forward to today for what felt like her whole life. Apparition meant so much. It meant freedom. She wouldn't be beholden to anyone or anything to go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Finally. What the ministry lady had told her last week about long distance apparition had been disheartening, but this still meant a lot, and Caro wasn't going to let it go. She was going to master apparition, and nothing was going to get in her way. Caro waited with the rest of her class, entering the Great Hall eagerly when they were called in for the lesson. She spread out quickly, giving Sophie an excited grin before returning her attention to the lady. Caro's hand shot into the air to answer the question, but she glowered slightly when she was beaten to it. Whatever. Caro was gonna impress the lady with her amazing apparition skills, she didn't need to answer every question. She glanced over at the mentioned nurse, glad that there was a safety net. Caro knew Lizzie had been amazing at apparition, because of course she had, and Caro was absolutely determined to be amazing herself. She wasn't going to let her stupid sister show her up at the thing she was the most excited to learn at Hogwarts. When the time came to practice Caro took her place and focused on the center of her hoop. The rest of the room faded away to nothing as she concentrated entirely. Caro was going to do this, she was going to apparate. A giggle of delight escaped her as Caro began to feel it working, letting herself go at once, and to her joy, when Caro looked around, she was standing perfectly in the center of her hoop. It had been so quick! She was sure Lizzie had talked about failed attempts, but Caro had nailed it right away! She couldn't be happier, and spent the entire rest of the lesson practicing, overjoyed that for once something was going her way.

 

[Norton Gillespie]

Norton was smiling easily as he headed back into the dorm room, he had spent a little time outside, getting himself a little practice in and getting himself ready for the day. The teen had been enjoying that most of the quidditch semester was over, it meant he could focus on a few other things which were of great importance to him. Like April, his exams, the stars. The teen was getting himself together for the day while also vaguely tidying his dorm, he’d been thinking while studying about the winter break and how much he thought about April meeting his family, or well, what was left of it, maybe even taking her with him to his mother’s grave. He knew he would definitely need to talk to her about it but he didn’t think that as they grew closer he didn’t talk about it, that it might get closer to omitting the truth and he always wanted to be honest with April but he was acutely aware that the heaviness it might bring talking about wouldn’t be fun for either of them. For now however he just packed up all of the things he would need for the day ahead of him and headed out of the dorm room and to the classroom he would need.​

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The prior lesson had been nerve wracking for Norton, who had been relatively unsure as to if he was ready to learn to apparate. It would be a good and useful thing for him to be able to do, but it did admittedly make him quite nervous. The teen knew that much like with muggles and driving it was just an important and necessary skill for him to learn. The teen entered the great hall with the rest of the class and stood amongst the students as the professor got started. He spaced himself out from the rest of his year and in front of a wooden hoop which had appeared around the room. One for each of them. The teen looked up at the professor as the woman began going over what they had done in the lesson prior and then focused on what she was saying for them to know for this lesson. He was a little surprised that they would be allowed to just get started, but given that they had only three lessons and an exam it was now or never really. Norton recalled her words and focused on how she’d told them to do it. It hadn’t been too informative and he’d been glad to do his own reading on it before the class. It took a little longer than most others, but eventually Norton felt something and let it pull him until he was stood inside the hoop. He let out a long disbelieving sigh and took stock of his body. All parts accounted for. It was certainly cool but oh boy was it weird. With that the lesson wrapped up and he left the hall.​

 

[Marcos Morales]

Marcos was surprised by how fast this year was flying by. He was having to keep track of how everything was going just so that he knew what would be happening in every day. Since lowering the amount of classes he did overall and having a little more time to himself had helped manage his time better, the busy week prior had been enough to put him a little off kilter and have to work twice as hard to put himself back properly. He needed to just focus and work and not think about anything else. He just needed to focus on each day as it came and by the end of the week he’d back to his routine and managing just fine. It would be better if he wasn’t still focused on doing well exam wise, absolutely needing to work hard in his classes to achieve better than passing grades so he wasn’t the one of the family with bad grades. He knew it would also be important to have a wider plan if quidditch didn’t work out or for the future when he left the sport. With that thought in his head he put down the school book he had been reading and began just getting himself together for the day. Making sure to have all of his quidditch gear with him. With that he headed out of the room.​

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Marcos had been looking forward to the next apparition lesson, he knew how important it was for him to learn this skill and to pass the exam at the end. He walked into the great hall with the rest of his year group and looked to the professor at the front of the room as the woman got started. He moved slightly to get enough space and stared at the hoop that appeared in front of him. Marcos kept his gaze on it for a few more moments before it moved up to the teacher as she began speaking going over what they had to do it more or less just on their own without the teacher giving them step by step instructions. Marcos was glad when they were finally able to just get started on their own and Marcos took the time to relax his mind, and remember the three D’s. He focused on the hoop in front of him and then took a deep breath. He let himself relax and fell the pull of the apparition and after leaning into it, he appear exactly where he needed to be. Right where he needed to be. The teen smiled and then with that done, he packed up his things and left the room.​

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe had never much cared about Valentine's day, but now that she had a girlfriend the event was a bit more interesting to her. The dance had been fun, but she still didn't quite get the point of it all as she knew she could tell her girlfriend she loved her any time she wanted. Rose was running around organizing the rose deliveries and had dropped a few hints to Phoebe about needing help, but she hadn't gone to sign up to deliver. She had better things to do, and liked doing things on her own. She wasn't just here to be Rose's assistant. Besides, Alice seemed happy enough to sign up. She really wanted to think of good experiments to perform in the last few weeks at Hogwarts, that seemed like fun.

What also seemed like fun to Phoebe was finally getting to try apparating. She had gone over the theory they had learned in the previous lesson endlessly, trying to prepare herself as well as she could. She wanted, no, needed to be good at this. Rose had failed last year, and Phoebe still felt like she was competing with her sister a bit. If she could do this better than her, it meant she was definitely better at magic. Phoebe was glad the teacher seemed as impatient to begin as she was, and quickly found a space in the great hall. She looked curiously at the wooden hoop in front of her, and quickly realized what it was for. When the teacher asked for a reminder of the three D's, she raised her hand. She was frustrated that Kauri Tipene was picked to answer it instead. She scowled at him, but then looked at the teacher again. She hadn't even noticed the nurse until they were pointed out, but was also sure that she wouldn't need any medical attention. Then the teacher told them they could begin, and Phoebe immediately focused all her attention on the hoop in front of her. She hadn't tried to practice, but she had still spent a lot of her time between the two lessons trying to prepare herself for this. She focused on the three D's, mostly focusing all her attention and focus on what she as doing. She completely lost track of what everyone else was doing. Eventually, she felt a strange feeling. She gave into it, and before she knew it, she was in the hoop. Phoebe cheered for herself, then looked around eagerly to see if she was the first. She wasn't. But she had still done it, and that made her happy.

 

[Sophie Wilson]

The Valentine's dance had come and gone, as had the final Quidditch match of the year. It had been a brutal one, and even Sophie, who didn't like Quidditch, could admit to herself that it had been pretty spectacular to watch. Gruesome, but spectacular. She wouldn't mind if she had to fill in for the story again, though she did still hope someone else would cover it. Someone who understood the sport a bit better than her. She was doing an alright job covering things for the paper, but it was always nice to get someone else's perspective on things she wasn't too interested in. But Sophie also figured it was good practice for her future. If she managed to get a job at the Prophet, she would need to write about all sorts of things.

Sophie had remembered not to bring anything extra to the second apparition lesson. It wasn't difficult to bring no jewelry, as she rarely ever wore any. She made her way into the great hall when the teacher let them in, frowning a bit at her impatient tone. The girl found a place in the great hall and then looked down as a wooden hoop was placed in front of her feet. She stared back at the teacher as she looked over at her, wondering if she was trying to intimidate her students. If she was, she would have to try a bit harder. Most of the kids here had had Professor Styx as a teacher for nearly six years now. Predictably, Kauri Tipene answered the question, and Phoebe Holland looked pissed off about it. Sophie waited for the lesson to go on. The part about splinching made her wince a bit, and she looked at the nurse. She wondered if anyone had ever died during these lessons. What if the nurses weren't fast enough? But she pushed that thought away. When they got to start trying, Sophie tried to clear her mind. It wasn't easy, but she managed to focus entirely on the three D's after a while. She managed to apparate into the hoop, and was very relieved to see she hadn't splinched herself. If there were a few black hairs left behind outside the hoop, Sophie pretended not to notice and hid them with her foot. Next time she would do it perfectly.

 

[April Ward]

Ever since the Quidditch match, April had had trouble being her cheerful self. They had lost, horribly. She had lost. It hurt to lose to Syrus, who always rubbed everything in, and it hurt to lose for the second time this year, meaning that Hufflepuff was in the final place in the competition. It made April very unhappy, which was unlike her. Valentine's day had cheered her up a bit, and she still felt fluttery feelings when she thought of the rose Norton had sent her, but underneath it all she was too sad about Quidditch to really be her usual cheerful self.

She also wasn't too excited about apparition. The idea of apparating was wonderful and magical, but April was deep down kind of worried that she wouldn't be able to do it. Apparating required a lot of focus, and focusing wasn't her strong point. On top of that, the lady teaching them was kind of scary. October had talked about her admiringly, but to April's eyes she was just kind of unpleasant. The girl made her way into the great hall when the teacher urged them inside, then found a space somewhere. She twirled around while she waited for the lesson to begin, stopping when a wooden hoop appeared at her feet. She was standing near Kauri and waved at him, but he seemed to busy asnwering the teacher's question. That wasn't a big surprise. She was a bit horrified to hear the bit about splinching, though she had also heard from October that a boy had splinched last year. April was grateful the nurse was there in case it happened to her, though she was trying to be confident. Then they had to try apparating, and April started to try. She thought of the three D's as much as she could, trying her best to imagine herself in the new place. But at the end of the lesson, she still hadn't managed it. This made her sad, especially because Kauri and Norton had both managed. She was eager to leave when the lesson was over, wishing she was better at this sort of thing.

 

[Viktor Styx]

It was the second lesson for Apparition, which meant that this was the second to the last, then the exam. That was it. It would not be too much longer for the prefect. He still remembered the three D's. Destination. Determination. Deliberation. Now, what were they going to do today? Lecture, or perform? Viktor walked from the others, and had some space all to himself. He looked at the hoop that he was supposed to apparate into. He thought and focused. He attempted he didn't know how many times. He was started to grow tired, frustrated, and all around just irritated because this was not coming easy to him. Viktor closed his eyes and focused. He did not want to splinch himself in the process. No, he was going to do this and get it done today. Viktor repeated the three D's in his head. And he performed each one. Viktor felt something unusual, but also, familiar. He opened his eyes to see that he moved. Well, he was in the hoop, but it took a lot out of him. Who knew that this would have been so hard to do?