Apparition Lesson One

[Cecily Rambolt]

[Note: Apparition Lessons and testing are opened to all 6th Year students. However only those students who are 17 or will turn 17 by the end of Y6 are eligible to get their license. Students who successfully pass the class will have attained their Apparition License. *students whose birthdays fall after the test will receive their license then*]

*posted for Irene Finch

Lesson 1

Irene sat at the front of the room, waiting for the students to enter the Great Hall to begin their lessons. As they strode in, she smiled at each of them. It was only a few years ago that she, herself, had been in their position: taking lessons in order to get an Apparition License.

Once everyone was there, Irene stood and took a deep breath. “Hello everybody. My name is Irene Finch and I work with the Department of Transportation in the Portkey and Apparition Regulation Committee. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be your Apparition Instructor, teaching you the basics to help you all learn to Apparate” Irene smiled at all of them as she began to pace the front of the room.

Irene’s face grew serious as she spoke, “Normally, it is impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within the grounds of Hogwarts New Zealand, but we have given special permission to do so only in this room. I would strongly urge you to not try to Apparate or Disapparate outside of this room or at any other time other than your lessons. Until you have your license, you always need to be supervised when you attempt to Apparate. We don’t want to see anyone get splinched.” Irene wondered how many of them knew what splinching was, but quickly figured that the ones who flinched as she said this probably had some idea.

She smiled, hoping that they weren’t thoroughly nervous and continued, “Today will pretty much just be an introduction to what you will need to do in order to Apparate. We call them the three D’s: Destination. Determination. Deliberation.” She stopped to let the words sink in, “The first step to Apparating is to pick your destination and focus on it. Next, fill yourself with determination to arrive at your destination. Picture your entire body moving into that space. Finally, you want to turn on the spot, feel yourself going into nothing and deliberately move toward the spot.” As Irene explained these steps to the students, she continued to pace the front.

“With practice, you’ll be able to do this quickly like so” and with that, Irene turned in place and Apparated to the back of the room. “That will be all for today. Next week, we’ll actually begin to practice” she finished, hoping that they had enjoyed the demonstration. RP the lesson.

 

[Sophia Stark]

Sophia arrived quite early to Apparition Lessons. She was already seventeen and extremely excited to learn such a useful skill. Although it would only be helpful outside of the grounds it was still something. The sixth year could sneak away to any place she wanted, any time she wanted. The number of times the Slytherin had wished for that ability were too many to count.

The noirette was dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans, white camisole, lightweight green cardigan buttoned three-quarters of the way up, and a pair of brown ballet flats. In her time with Shane the teen discovered Muggle fashion and now had no problem in wearing it around. Sophia actually found the clothes rather comfortable, and she certainly looked good in them. Her long black hair was straight, as usual, and pulled into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck.

Entering the Great Hall Sophia took a seat (?) near the back of the room. Despite her excitement she had no desire to sit in the front. The Slytherin much preferred being able to observe everyone else rather than letting them see her. She listened with interest to Ms. Finch, trying her hardest not to focus on why the name sounded so familiar. Sophia was sure she had heard it before, but she could not come up with a reason as to why. The woman had not been involved in her stint at the Ministry, surely Sophia would have remembered that.

The nagging feeling that Sophia had heard the name before had to wait. Even though they were not practicing today the Slytherin was still anxious to hear every word. As with most everything else Sophia was determined to be great at Apparition. After all, what use was doing something if you were not going to be good at it?

Once the lesson was over Sophia stood and left the Great Hall with quick strides. She had much to do and not much time in which to do it. On top of playing catch up and trying to master NEWT Level classes the Slytherin was going to have to study Apparition and mentally prepare herself for the next lesson.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin absolutely despised having his birthday in the summer. It had pretty much guaranteed that his birthday parties were poorly attended as everyone was on summer holidays and now it meant that he wouldn't receive his licence to Apparate until after virtually everyone else in his year, provided he passed the course as he expected to. Originally, Bruin had heard that students who were not 17 yet would have to wait until next year and he had actually headed off to the library to research any constitutional challenges to this rule that might have been made previously to this arbitrary rule. However, it appeared that the Ministry had decided to be a little more reasonable and at least allow him to complete the training with his peers, even if he did not receive his licence until after his birthday.

As Bruin entered the Great Hall, he noticed that Sophia was standing near the back. The inital awkwardness of seeing her back at the school had now grown to a veritable chasm between them, occasionally passing by each other on the way to classes, but rarely giving each other as much as a second glance. He couldn't even really recall the circumstances around her departure, only that they hadn't exactly parted on great terms and he figured that there wasn't much of a chance of renewing whatever it was they had in ways of a friendship at this point. Bruin had always been stubborn, but this typically didn't apply to his interactions with other people and he usually was pretty forgiving. Now, he just felt as though some things were just too much work and the grudges that he formed within him were stronger and less likely to change with time. Who knew what would happen going forward?

Bruin decided to remain near the front. If anything, he was more determined than ever to prove his abilities to his classmates. He certainly wouldn't have his age thrown back in his face. He made note of the Three D's of Apparition and the limitations that they would experience around the grounds. He also heard the Splinching word that he had read about in preparation for the first class and was a little nervous about the prospects of his first attempt. A lot of people wanted a piece of him these days and he didn't think it would be prudent to leave any of them laying around.

 

[Isabella Ormonde]

The Great Hall was the meeting point for all the 6th year students who would be learning how to apparate, Isabella hurried along delighted to be learning this skill. Sakura she knew would be doing the same back in England and when they both had their liscenses it would be so much easier to get to see one another. As she entered she spotted Bruin and smiled, noticing another girl but not having any notion at all who she was, Isabella merely smiled at her as well and went to take her place.

The woman from the ministry was forthright with the lesson theory, explaining in depth about the three D's and splinching. Isabella could remember hearing talk about this and winced a little. Knowing she would have an easier mode of transport to also get to see James made her all the more determined to get this right. She certainly didn't want to show up with an arm or leg missing. She was also keenly aware that she hadn't brought her school bag with her and couldn't take any notes from the class. She would simply have to get to the library or back to her dorm in enough time before she forgot it all.

"Destination. Determination. Deliberation" she repeated to herself over and over. When the class was dismissed she all but ran out of the door, delighted that they would be practising for real the following week.

 

[Jaken Styx]

Jaken was actually proud to have his birthday so early in the year, even if it did mean that he could possibly be older than everyone else in his year. He walked to the Great Hall, making no hurry to get there, but he wasn't being slow as Christmas either. Upon entering, he saw Bruin, and two other girls. He went and stood somewhat closer to Bruin than the other girls. He greeted Bruin regularly, and turned his attention to the Ministry Official.

Jaken knew that you couldn't Apparate or Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, and smiled when they would be allowed to do so in this room. He repeated the three D's in his mind, until he could probably say them in his sleep. When he got around to sleeping, that is. Jaken winced slightly, when he thought of himself splinching. He remembered the poor rat in the dungeons when he was practicing his Transfiguration, and shook the thought out of his head.

He watched the woman Apparate to the back of the room, and hoped that one day he could do that. He could not wait until next week to actually practice. Jaken walked out of the Great Hall.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella could not truthfully say that she was not nervous about Apparition lessons. While glad that her birthday had fallen early enough in the year for her to get her license, she was incredibly frightened at the prospect of Apparating. She tried not to exhibit this fear, however, as she slipped into the Great Hall. The Ravenclaw girl wasn't sure whether it was the prospect of apparating itself or the consequences that came with it that had her so sick to her stomach over the very idea. She had read some rather nasty stories about people being splinched. The very word sent a chill coursing up her body.

Glad that she was not tardy for this lesson, Estrella gave Bruin and Jaken a friendly wave. She smiled at Sophia, making her way past to the front. The Ravenclaw never liked sitting in the back- she didn't like people obstructing her view and she knew that when it came to Apparition she would have to take all the help she could get.

Her dark eyes followed Ms. Finch as she explained the three D's of apparation. These three concepts raced through Estrella's head, and soon they were all jumbled together. Oh, this was going to be impossible! Estrella's mouth became dry as cotton as she watched their instructor apparate. It really wasn't supposed to be so hard, but the girl felt her stomach churning with deliberation. Except it had nothing to do with apparition. How was she ever going to survive this?

The Ravenclaw girl wished that she could snatch the confidence from her peers as she turned out of the great hall, having been dismissed by their instructor. This was going to be on a whole different level than regular classes, she could tell. Estrella had a handle on school- not something as crazy as this.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi nervously walked into the Great Hall for the 1st Apparition lesson. She would be 17 in a months time and able to get her license then. On the one hand, she was looking forward to the prospect of being able to Apparate as she pleased. On the other, though, she was nervous at the idea of Apparating because it didn't look particularly pleasant. As Cyndi noticed, she saw that all of the other 6th years were there. Cyndi did a quick double take as she scanned the room, noticing a girl whom she had not seen in a number of years. She couldn't quite remember her name... Sonya or Sophie. She knew it was something like that. Cyndi walked toward the front of the room where all of her friends seemed to have gathered. She waved at them excitedly.

As she stepped to the front, she was able to see the instructor, who happened to be her cousin. Cyndi knew that she worked at the ministry but she had no idea that she worked in the Apparition department. She smiled at her cousin who appeared quite nervous.

Cyndi listened to Ms. Finch discuss the three Ds of apparation being careful to note that concentration was key here. She always had trouble concentrating when she was nervous and knew that this would be a long few weeks of practice. When splinching was discussed, Cyndi flinched. She didn't want to be the person who got flinched but knew that her nervousness might pose a serious problem. Cyndi watched as their instructor quickly apparated without even pausing to think about it. Cyndi hoped that one day it might come as naturally to her.

As they were dismissed, Cyndi walked out of the room. She was lost in thought over the prospect of apparating and wondered whether her fellow classmates were as nervous as she was or if she was overreacting.