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.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur had had a surprisingly fun time at Valentine's day, and was glad she had gone to the dance. The cakes alone were reason enough to go, in her opinion. Now the next thing she really looked forward to was Quidditch. She was sad Gryffindor had lost their last match, but was hopeful that they could at least win the next one. She knew she probably wouldn't play, but that didn't bother her too much. OF course, lessons were still going on too, and Fleur knew that Apparition was one fo the most important things she would learn this year. The teacher seemed impatient today, so Fleur quickly made her way into the Great Hall. She spaced herself out as the teacher told them to, wondering if she was in a bad mood or if that was just... how she was. A hoop appeared in front of them all, and Fleur had a feeling that they would be apparating into it. The teacher asked about the three Ds, and Fleur was pretty sure she remembered. "Destination, determination., and deliberation." She said, glad to hear she had gotten it right. She was glad the school nurse was there in case anything went wrong. After that, they were allowed to try. Fleur stared at the hoop, trying to think of the three Ds. She wasn't really sure what to do, so just tried her very best to focus. After a while, she felt a strange feeling. She closed her eyes, focusing with all her might on the hoop. She opened her eyes again, and to her slight alarm and delight, she had actually managed to apparate into the hoop. Fleur cheered, but couldn't celebrate for very long as the lesson was then over. She was grinning as she left the Great Hall.

 

[Alexis Kramer]

Another week did not come any sooner. A few more weeks and it would be exams again. Alexis' routine was all just quidditch practices, hallway patrols and some quality time with music, Xav and friends. Checking everything in her bag, the Ravenclaw made her way down to the Great Hall for her Apparition class. ​

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Alexis arrived and greeted the professor politely. With the others not just far behind her, the class was all in attendance. The class began with a quick question on the 3 Ds. Alexis raised her hand but was beaten by Fleur. Alexis smiled when her fellow prefect got it correctly. The lesson went on with no delays, Prof. Finch magicked hoops in front of them. They were instructed to apparate into them. Shocked that they were to apparate just on their second lesson. She looked around to see shocked faces before she focused back on her hoop. Destination, Determination, Deliberation. Her blue eyes fixed on its interior and on instinct, she closed her eyes before attempting to apparate. After a moment, she opened an eye and looked down. Happy to see that she was inside, she jumped out to try it again. After a few more tries, she grew confident with it that she tried one more time before the lesson ended and they left the hall.​

 

[Simon Vanity]

Simon thought he had managed pretty well with the valentines day celebrations, he hadn’t managed to take charlotte’s temperature on how they had gone, but in his opinion they had gone pretty well. He thought he had quite easily managed to charm his way through the rose giving parts and then the actual dance. It was nice though, to be her boyfriend, to attend events together. He had already forgotten about everyone else he’d ever been to an event with because it was so much easier with her. He liked having her on his arm, there were no jokes involving others, it was just them. Just them. Simon had enjoyed it, and knew that he would enjoy any more events they did attend together because of course he would insist that they spend everyone together. After so much dancing around with each other, why wouldn’t he spend a little time at each of the events with her. Simon had a picture of the two of the framed on his bedside and he glanced at that as he finished getting ready and then headed out the door. He had a long day ahead and with almost half the semester done he needed to start focusing on his work. ​

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Simon was very ready for the next appirition class, he had spent a good amount of time since the last class reading up on apparition, it wasn’t the first time he’d read about it, but his reading had been a whole lot more serious this time around. He was keen to be able to get it pretty quickly. He was brought into the hall with the rest of his year and he took an empty space away from the rest, he knew he needed to have space to do this, thanks to his reading so he took enough of it. He listened as the professor got start, making sure they were all in a good enough amount of space and then drew their attention back to the front of the room. He raised his hand to answer the question, feeling pretty confident about the answer he would be able to give about it. He listened as someone else gave the answer but then she went into a little detail, told them what to do and then let them gat started. He looked towards the hoop on the ground and concentrated. He cleared his mind and thought about the three D’s. He wanted to be in the hoop, he was thinking hard about being in the hoop. And after a moment he felt a pull and he was tugged into the hoop. He’d managed it! Simon looked around himself, feeling pretty pleased. There wasn’t much time to try again, the teacher dismissing them shortly after. So he just headed out the room, eager for the next lesson.​

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane always found the midpoint of a semester here at Hogwarts to be dull, it dragged on by. He found it a difficult week, with enough to study but in his mind too much time between then and the exam to merit any serious studying, especially given that while an important year, it wasn’t that vital that he spend all of his spare time studying - not that he had done that when it had been his OWLs. He’d studied but he hadn’t done like others in his year and lost his mind over it. He had worked consistently well, not just in bursts of sudden hard work. Shane was bored if he was honest. But he would find something to do, at the very least he had sort of friends now, so perhaps he could see if they wanted to waste some time together. That or he just needed to find something to do here at school. Shane was getting ready for the day, knowing it was still important that he go to classes, and do the work that was necessary for him to do. He gathered up the homework he had mostly finished and put that into his bag. He headed out of the dorm and to class. ​

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Shane walked into the great hall as the teacher allowed them in, he couldn’t help that he was near vibrating with excitement over being a step closer to learning and being allowed to apparate. The teen looked up at the teacher once he’d found himself a spot in the room to stand, spreading out like the professor had just told them to do. He listened along, just keen to try and get started, he was therefore pleased when she let them. It made no sense to go over the work they’d already done too much, they’d already covered it all. The hufflepuff took a look at the hoop in front of him and gave a little sigh. He focused himself, grounded himself, concentrated on where he wanted to go. He focused hard, thinking a little about how much he wanted this. And not too much longer after he started he was transported to the centre of the hoop. Having managed so early on, Shane was able to practice a couple more times. It seemed that this was something he was good at. Evenutally the teacher rounded everything off and dismissed them.​

 

[Theodore Westwick]

Valentine's day was now behind him, and Theodore had to admit he'd had a great time. The rose deliveries were still very annoying, but getting a red rose from Zoe was still pretty nice. He was glad Edmund seemed to be happy with his girlfriend too, even if relationships were still a bit of a tricky subject between them after the Diana debacle. But Theodore was glad things were better now, and glanced at Edmund fondly as they both entered the Great Hall for the next Apparition lesson. He had remembered not to take too much with him, and he'd emptied his pockets in the dorm before heading to this lesson. He took a spot in the room near Edmund, spacing out a bit more when the teacher told them to. A Gryffindor student answered the question about the three D's, and then they got started. The teacher pointed out the nurse for if they splinched themselves, and he morbidly found himself hoping he'd see a splinching. He'd always been curious what that looked like. Though he did hope it wouldn't be him. Then it was time to start trying for themselves. Theodore focused with all his might on the wooden hoop in front of him, focusing on Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. He noticed that around the room, a few of his classmates were managing to apparate. This was making him a bit nervous, as he didn't want to be the last one. When he started trying to block that out, he felt like he could focus better on what he was doing. With his gaze focused on the hoop, he eventually managed it. He felt a little queasy afterwards, but also pleased. He didn't manage it a second time, but knew he would get to practice more in the next lesson.

 

[Charlotte Harper]

Charlotte was ready for another lesson. She was really with her heads in the clouds after Valentine. Simon was the best boyfriend ever and she never thought it would happen with her, but she was madely in love. Was it love? She had no idea it felt good at least. Charlotte still wanted to do good in classes and it would not distract her from good results. But she had to be fair that looking at Simon was good too and made her happy. But the fact that they could be a powercouple with good results perhaps helped. She would at least want to score many points to let Slytherin win this year, she hoped.

The blonde entered the great hall for the next lesson and hoped that this time they could do a little bit more than just listen. She listened as the woman spoke and found a spot next to her boyfriend ofcourse. She smiled as the teacher said they would made their first attempt. The three d's were not difficult and she raised her hand obviously. But a gryffindor student could tell and Charlotte rolled her eyes shortly. Charlotte was not afraid that it would go wrong, but it was good to now that a nurse was around in case. Charlotte took distance of Simon and focused on her own. She concentrated and looked to the hoop on the ground she cleared her mind and thought about the three D's they had learned. She wanted to be in the hoop. She closed her eyes for a moment and than felt something and she was tugged into the hoop. She opened her eyes and smiled. She could do it! Charlotte tried to find Simon and smiled. He seemed to be getting the hang of it too. Charlotte wanted to try again but that was not possible. Next time perhaps.

 

[Stella Wright]

Stella had enjoyed the Valentines dance, and received a couple of roses she was pleased about. She couldn't help but think she should have spent more time with Fleur. On the other hand, exams were fast approaching, and while Stella wasn't anywhere near as nervous as she'd been about last year's OWLs, she still hated that time of year.

Stella was fast beginning to thoroughly dislike Irene Finch. Her rude, impatient attitude and refusal to explain anything properly were the opposite of what Stella wanted to see in a teacher, especially one who was trying to teach them something so important. How were they supposed to do this if she wouldn't explain how? Destination, determination, deliberation. That wasn't nearly enough information. Stella stared at the hoop in front of her and tried to concentrate, but she couldn't see what she was supposed to be doing. She saw some other students closing their eyes, so she tried that and imagined herself inside the hoop, concentrating as hard as she could. Nothing. Argh! She couldn't do this, she couldn't understand it, and she hated that. She needed more time, and above all more information. By the end of the class she hadn't managed anything more than giving herself a headache, and she left the hall frustrated, and fearful that she might actually fail this course.

 

[Patrick Vernier]

Soon enough, another week of lessons at Hogwarts had arrived for Patrick. Unfortunately, not much had happened that year for Valentine's Day. The teen did not take on delivering roses again as he wanted to focus on his studies, and with no one to go to the dance with this year, Patrick just kept to himself, feeling as though the extra time to study would really help him out. He needed the good grades and didn't want to slack off. He still had classes to focus on and he made sure he always had everything organised for them. The prefect packed everything he needed into his backpack before heading out of his dormitory and to classes for that week.

As Patrick entered the Great Hall and the professor was telling everyone to spread out, Patrick could feel his hands shake with fear. They were going to try and apparate for the very first time, and all this talk about splinching really didn't make Patrick feel any better about it. However, Patrick knew that if he wanted to undertake his desired career after he finished his education, apparating would be very important for him. Additionally, the school wouldn't make people his age learn to do it if they didn't think they would be able to. Looking around at the nurses around the room, Patrick took a deep breath before focusing on the three D's as the professor said. He wanted more than anything to get it right, to get into the hoop in one piece so he didn't look like a failure. He focused hard, not managing to get it right at all until the lesson had almost ended. He had actually eventually moved into the hoop! Beaming, Patrick left the Great Hall after that lesson quite proud of himself.

 

[Zoe Westwick]

Valentines had been everything Zoe had hoped for, and she was still giddy with joy. Teddy had sent her the sweetest rose in the world, and their time at the dance had been magical. Floating on a cloud of love, it was hard to keep in mind that she still had other things to worry about. There was a Quidditch match coming up soon, for instance, and Zoe wanted to be top of her game. Ravenclaw wouldn't be walking away with the cup this year, but she wanted to put in her best effort at least.

Entering the Great Hall with her classmates for Apparition, Zoe was buzzing with excitement. Finally! They were going to apparate today! She had gone over all her notes what felt like a dozen times this morning, and couldn't wait to give this a real proper try. She listened carefully to everything the teacher said, and spread out from her classmates when she was asked, positively giddy as the hoop appeared in front of her. When the time came to practice Zoe focused with all her might, trying to remember the three Ds. She was gonna be amazing at this, and really show Harley. No matter how hard she tried though, Zoe didn't feel anything at all. She kept trying and trying, only growing more frustrated as her classmates began apparating around her one by one. Why was this so hard?! Her mind kept wandering as she tried to focus on the place she was going, and nothing was happening at all. Zoe stayed to practice until the very last moment, but even as the room was being cleaned up and she had to give up, nothing at all having happened. Tears of frustration in her eyes, Zoe was trembling a little as she left the Great Hall, overwhelmed with disappointment in herself.

 

[Edmund Westwick]

Valentines was over, and to Edmund's overwhelming relief, it had actually gone well. It still bewildered him, that he had such a wonderful girlfriend, and that someone like Analei would want to be with someone like him. But things were as good as ever, and he was still positively glowing from the dance they had shared. Edmund was a terrible dancer, he knew this for a fact, but Analei made him feel like he could do anything at all, as long as they were together.

Edmund was extremely excited for today's Apparition lesson. He was ready to apparate, and he had been thinking about it ever since the last lesson, the three Ds circling around his head. Being able to apparate meant so much freedom to go wherever he pleased, and Edmund wouldn't pass this up for anything. He joined the rest of his class in the Great Hall, spreading out when they were instructed to, and listened closely to the teacher. Just apparate into the hoop, easy. Edmund could do that. He focused on the spot he was supposed to apparate to, keeping the three Ds in mind as he tried to calm his mind. He could do this. It took a while, but after trying for a while, Edmund felt a strange sensation, one he tried to lean into. A moment later, he was stumbling slightly as he found himself in the center of his hoop all at once. Looking around, Edmund grinned in delight. He had done it! Focusing on where he had just stood, a few minutes later Edmund managed to apparate back out of the hoop. He kept practicing for the rest of the class, pleased when he managed to get quicker each time.

 

[Charlie Madison]

Well, it was over. Charlie's final school dance with her girlfriend. Now there was nothing ahead but Phoebe's graduation, and Charlie really didn't want to think about that. Phoebe was leaving, and Charlie would be stuck at this school all by herself for a whole year. As much as she wanted to stay focused on her studies, Charlie felt as though there was an aching wound opening in her chest, one that she couldn't ignore no matter how hard she tried. She was losing the only person keeping her sane in this school, and it hurt.

Apparition was a perfect salve for any hurt Charlie was feeling though. Even though the first lesson had only been a lecture, she was excited enough to learn that it overrode any other feelings she had about her life. She listened closely to the teacher, spreading out a long way from the rest of her classmates when instructed. Charlie wanted plenty of space. She had been practicing visualisation a lot for the nonverbal casting they were studying in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and for Transfiguration last year, so when the time came to practice, Charlie found it easy to sink into that headspace. It took almost no time at all before she felt a strange pull and answered it, disappearing and reappearing with a pop in the middle of her hoop. Looking around, Charlie realised she had been one of the first of her classmates to manage it. Finally, something she was actually good at! Invigorated by the success, Charlie turned her focus back outside the hoop, and spent the rest of the class practicing apparating in and out of the hoop faster and faster, pleased that for once something had come to her easily.