Apparition Lesson Three

[Cecily Rambolt]

*posted for Irene Finch


Lesson 3

Irene stood waiting patiently for the students to arrive. By the end of the last lesson, there had definitely been progress made. Today, she had placed squares on the floor, hoping that this would be challenge enough for those who were getting the hang of it, but still easy enough for those who weren’t.

Once the students were all within the Great Hall, Irene spoke, “There was some great progress last week. I hope by the end of today even more of you will be Apparating.” She smiled encouragingly to all of them, “Here are your new destinations” she pointed to the squares, “As usual, I’ll be walking around. Good luck.”

RP the lesson. Have fun with it and Good luck!

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella was not incredibly enthused to be returning to the Great Hall for what promised to be another embarrassing Apparition lesson. What if she was the only one in her class who didn't get her license? What if she splinched herself in half? Similar worries floated around in her head as she slipped once more into what looked more like an obstacle course than a classroom.

The Ravenclaw stepped forward, knowing well enough that the new destination of squares would be quite a challenge. She had splinched off her thumbnail last week. While the nurse had been able to cure her unfortunate mishap, the pain was still fresh in her mind. The girl didn't want to repeat her first blunder. She couldn't imagine how much worse it would be to splinch off a digit, or worse, a limb.

This time, she knew what she had done wrong. Applying that knowledge and acting on fixing her mistakes were the things she had to do next. Again, she drew in a deep breath. Last time, she had let her anxiety and pride take the reigns, and she had reaped the consequences. Holding herself prostrate, the girl decided not to close her eyes this time. Her eyes fixed on the square before her until the picture was a solid image in her brain.

Deliberation did not come so easily to her at first, but when it did, she found that she was able to move from the spot she had been standing on to the other. She was relieved to find that the rest of her body was still intact- and she wouldn't have to be making any trips to the infirmary. Yet.

A small smile crept onto Estrella's face as she started to get the hang of this. It was still new and awkward territory for her, but not so difficult as she had imagined. The Ravenclaw spent the rest of the period moving from small space to small space. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to get her license this time around. She didn't want to have to retake the test, for one thing, and if she passed it, a whole new slew of possibilities would be open to her over the summer break. The girl left the Great Hall feeling quite more confident in herself than she had the previous two weeks.

 

[Jaken Styx]

Jaken got up a little later than usual. He quickly got dressed in his robes, and was thankful that he showered just before he went to bed. He exited the Slytherin hall and grinned upon entering the Great Hall. He wanted to successfully apparate without splinching anything off his body. He found himself lucky that he even got through the day last time without much as an odd hair cut. Jaken took note of the squares upon the floor. Oh no, he thought miserably. It took him two tries to even apparate a few feet into a hoop. And now, a square? Well, it was just another shape, wasn’t it?

Biting his lip, he remembered the three D’s. He stared at the destination, at least ten feet from him. It was clear on where he was going to go. Next, he pictured himself going to the middle of the square. He filled himself up with confidence that he will get there. He was…determined to be in that destination. His mouth felt utterly dry again, and he didn’t bring his water with him. He cursed himself, and realized that he lost track of what he was doing. He rebuilt the first D’s. The last one remained tricky for him.

Deliberation. He closed his eyes, and exhaled his breath slowly. He managed to get a hold of his emotions. He pushed himself to the destination. To the square. He opened his eyes to feel slightly nauseous. He apparated, if only a foot in front of him. It was still a ways to go with to the square. Rolling his eyes at his failure, he did the process once again. Perhaps this time, he might even go three feet! He pushed himself again, and this time, managed another two feet. Jaken glanced at the square. He needed the practice. And boy, he was going to accomplish this task. He had to. He closed his eyes, rebuilt the D’s. He forced himself to move to the destination. Jaken opened his eyes, and glanced down.

He was in the square! Jaken beamed in satisfaction. However, instead of just doing it once, he decided to practice even more. He searched for another square. Smirking slightly, he tried it again. Not much luck though. He simply moved a fraction. He began agitated. He was going to apparate to that square. No matter what. He rebuilt the D’s and pushed his body to the square. He succeeded. Jaken wondered if his agitation actually helped out. Instead of giving up, he was filled up with more determination than usual. He kept on practicing for a good while. Feeling better, he left the Great Hall to call it a day.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin entered the Great Hall and was relieved to see that there were no hoops laid out this week. He hadn't shown any ability to apparate as yet and was beginning to have nightmares about hoops in his dreams, mocking him. Last night, a hoop had actually spoke to him, something along the lines of "Remember the three D's...Dummy, Dunno, Deadbeat!" Bruin got the distinct feeling that his lack of confidence was going to cripple him if he didn't bring it in check and had spent most of the day in the library attempting to find something better to go on then the stupid instructions they'd been given so far. He had left the library with the impression that he'd better learn how to clear his mind and focus or he'd be the only Sixth Year not passing his Apparition Test this year.

Bruin listened carefully to the instructor and picked himself a square in a quiet corner of the hall. He took a few deep breaths and flushed everything else from his mind. There would be no failure today! Bruin opened his eyes and looked hard at the square ahead of him. That is my DESTINATION!

Bruin then focused hard on the picture of the square that he had imprinted within his mind. There it was and that's where he was DETERMINED to go. There was no doubt in Bruin's mind he would be apparating today. There was nothing more important to Bruin at the moment than mastering this movement.

Finally, Bruin knew that he was ready to do it and he began to lean in the direction of the hoop as he felt a tingling sensation deep inside of him. It was an odd feeling and Bruin felt almost as though he were leaping through space even though he was quite confident that he hadn't moved a muscle. Bruin opened his eyes and was surprised to see that he was now standing facing the opposite direction than when he had closed his eyes. When he looked down at his feet, he noticed that he was standing on a square, although for the life of him he wasn't entirely sure that it was the one he had been aiming for.

Pleased that he had at least accomplished something, even it wasn't necessarily what he was expecting, Bruin gathered up his stuff and headed for Gryffindor Tower.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi entered into the Great Hall, determined to try her best today. She only had a few practices left before she would be taking her apparition exam and she still wasn’t quite getting the hang of how to apparate. Cyndi’s nerves were still there as evidenced by the fact that she her fingernails, which she usually kept painted nicely, were chipped. She stood in her usual spot in the room, noticing that they would be apparating into squares today and not circles as they had been practicing with last week.

As they began, Cyndi listened to Ms. Finch’s words of encouragement and hoped that they would help her in some way. Cyndi was beginning to tire of the three D’s, but knew that she needed to master them if she was ever going to be successful. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When her mind was relaxed, Cyndi opened them and looked at the square that was just a few feet in front of her. Ok, Cyndi thought to herself as she found her Destination. She concentrated on the spot as hard as possible, imaging herself moving to that spot. Cyndi began to feel a slight tingling, but just as quickly the feeling vanished.

I think I’m on to something, Cyndi thought to herself as she closed her eyes and focused again. A few seconds later, the tingling was back and when she opened her eyes, she was standing near the square. “Yes!” Cyndi exclaimed and then she blushed because the room was quiet and she had broken the silence. She had missed the inside of the square, but she had actually apparated.

Cyndi stepped back to her position and tried again, concentrating on the square. She was determined to get inside of the square this time. As the tingling sensation settled over her again, Cyndi concentrated on the inside of the square. Within a second, she was inside the square and ready to celebrate again, but something felt different. There was a slight breeze where her stomach was and as Cyndi looked down, her eyes widened. Apparently, as she had apparated, Cyndi had left some of her t-shirt behind, enough that her stomach was now completely exposed. Luckily, it was the end of the lesson and Cyndi left the room quickly, hoping nobody noticed as she picked up the rest of the shirt from the floor.