Apparition Lesson Two

[Irene Finch]

Irene entered the castle, her black stilettos clicking along the floor as she made her way to the Great Hall, glad to see that her request to have the tables moved had been granted. The students were beginners and would need all the space they could get today. This would be their first attempt at apparating, and even for the ones who had done side-along apparition, this would be an entirely new experience. 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.

"Come in, Come in" she urged them forward impatiently. "Space yourselves out...there's plenty of room" she stated with a sigh as some of them remained bunched together like scared little children. 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. 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. Today, you will make your first attempts at apparating" she declared, her hands on her hips. "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 for anyone who splinched. "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 bothering to explain what splinching was. Sooner rather than later, she was sure they'd learn. "Begin. I will be walking around."
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Let's try to make this lesson more interactive. Points will be given to the student who answers this first question.Apparition,6,2

 

[Esme Lancaster]

Esme's eyes slowly followed the woman as she entered the Great Hall for the second time that year, the younger witches foot tapping impatiently while she waited for the sixth years to be called in. Apparition was an exciting prospect, and the Slytherin was confident in her capabilities. She'd be the fourth of her generation to receive her license, following Fenris, Emmett and Lythande, with only Emeric, Verity and Namine to go. Of the three to achieve theirs, Emmett had been the only one to splinch himself, and Esme did not want to follow in her brother's footsteps.

The Lancaster girl filed into the Great Hall along with the others, taking her own space, without much need for a prompt. Hoops were conjured, and it didn't take a genius to figure out their purpose, though there was hardly a doubt Avie was clueless about it. She wondered how he'd do, and glanced side-along at the other students gathered there. Victoire for one, she didn't expect much from. The only reason she'd been successful once or twice during their duel was due to Esmes overconfidence and not the other girls magical capability. She was a muggle-born, after all. Compared to her battle against Ivaylo, the Gryffindor had been a walk in the park.

Their instructor called upon them to answer a question they had covered during their first "lesson". Raising her hand, Esme recited it. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation." She said in a rehearsed tone. She'd recited the three steps in her mind following the first lesson.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

The first week had been filled so many dramatics that Victoire was pretty pleased when the second week appeared to her to be something that would be filled with far far less, which she was more than sure that it would be, she had a lot of work to do for the exams that she'd have at the end of the semester and was pretty pleased with how things were happening. She knew that her and Jean would be fine for a little while longer, the little bump which she had caused would be of no greater concern to her for a little while, they just had to play it off well, and have no indication towards his twin brother, or the twin sisters she occasionally saw around the school, though thankfully had never been introduced to. However, given that Victoire had taken a good number of class with her to NEWT level she had a lot more work to do and was faced with a pretty large mound of things to be doing, which included a lot of class so Victoire was straight out the door as soon as she was ready.

Victoire was walked into the Great Hall, pretty excited about finally being able to do the apparition for the first time, she was so excited to be able to do it, to learn about it and just be able to know. She had done so much reading for it, so much time thinking about the three D's asked of her, and she stood confidently in the great hall as the woman at the front began what she was doing, reading all the books that she could so that she would know more about. Victoire looked at the woman and then spaced themselves out in the great hall, and she listened as Esme then told them the three D's of what they were supposed to do. Finally they were able to do it themselves, and then smiled as she was faced with her own hoop and then focused her mind on what she was supposed to do. At first she didn't feel anything, no matter how hard she tried, she was trying her best to focus but her mind was just having none of it. Until she felt the weird tugging much like when they took portkeys and she leaned into this until she felt herself being almost sucked and then all of a sudden she was within the hoop. It was a rather hard thing to do but it was good, and then did it again, managing to not splinch herself when she did that. When the class was finally over she gathered herself and then left the great hall, feeling pretty confident in herself.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Their last apparition lesson hadn’t been much, a mere lecture that Jean was sure he could have gotten through more quickly had it been in a pamphlet, though the likelihood of him reading it would have been a different story. The sixth year was eager for today though, and he was one of the first to enter the Great Hall and claim a spot. Jean watched as the other sixth years came in, some but not all as excited as he was. The Gryffindor stared at the wooden hoop that appeared before him, suddenly a bit apprehensive. It wasn’t much wider than he was, and he was beginning to wonder exactly how he would get his body from where he was standing to land perfectly in that hoop. Taking a deep breath, the teenager listened to Ms. Finch, hoping that she offered some additional words of wisdom. The woman stared at them all, and Jean had the slightest feeling that she was judging them, making a prediction about their success. He straightened up, not wanting her or anyone else to get a whiff of his self-doubt.

The Gryffindor was too busy concentrating on the hoop to hear her question, though he heard Esme reply. He looked up at the corner, only noticing the nurse as the woman mentioned that one was there. He flinched at the mention of flinching, forgetting that that was a very real possibility. He’d side-along apparated before and never really had to worry about that because the people he’d been with had been apparating for ages. Now, he was worried. As the woman set them off to the task, Jean looked around for his brother. “Last one to apparate gets to be the house elf for the other for the day” he dared his brother, a smirk on his face.

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene Finch nodded her head after the young Slytherin spoke. “Excellent. Points for Slytherin” she responded, having been granted the power to give students house points during these lessons. The woman had attended Durmstrang, so she only had the vaguest understanding of how important the points system was to the students here. “Perhaps less talking and more getting into the hoop” the woman suggested as she passed a Gryffindor teen.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie was riding the quidditch high, he had been so happy to help his team become one step closer to victory, it was just a final match and they would fine and he couldn't wait for this, he really was just so eager to be able to play, so happy to be able to try his best and help them really cement their victory. The Slytherin seeker knew that quidditch was the best thing for him and he did love the sport, it was just so much fun finding the little glinting balls. All in all, just something he was post excited to do, and something he was really eager to win at. The teen was more than sure that they could win and knew that he would be proud to play whatever part that he could in doing that. It put him in a much better mood therefore and he was happily heading to the classes for the day, he didn't like how much work he was having to do, and he was slowly, very very slowly getting to grips with basic reading, he could read things as long as they were big enough and not too complicated.

Avie wondered into the Great Hall, he wasn't sure what to make of the lessons, he didn't think he'd be very good at it, from what the last lesson had been about the teen was certain he would never be able to get it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try and be good at it. The teen walked into the Great Hall a little behind Esme with a smile on his face, he stood with her and just smiled happily, he found a space in the hall and then moved away from the others when instructed to. The boy listened to Esme reply to the question, repeating the words under his breath, stumbling each time over the last word which seemed to be more complicated than anything he'd ever had to say before. Finally it seemed that they were allowed to begin, and Avie was really wondering if he was going to splinch himself, he knew that he wasn't very good at magic so if anyone here was likely to do such a thing it would be him, but he just stared forward and began to focus like he was supposed to, but focusing was boring and every few moments he would break his concentration and look around himself, he would stare at the woman teaching them or at the other around him working on it, and then try and do it himself. But he didn't have the concentration, he didn't feel anything no matter how hard he tried, or wanted to succeed at it. Eventually the boy grew bored since he assumed he was never going to get it, everyone else was getting it and he just really wasn't, so instead he began just jumping into the hoop, seeing how close he could get from a stationary start. This was until he got a little closer and ended up jumping on to the side of the hoop, which then slipped from under him, causing him to crash to the floor with a loud thump.
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[Esme Lancaster]

Esmè smirked as she was awarded house points. After losing a solid forty points the previous year - from the actions of others - she was determined not to lose any more for the next two. Even so, her self-control wore thin, and it was only a matter of time before she started putting other students into their rightful places. Taking a breath, the Lancaster girl focused on the task at hand, attempting to apparate within the space of the hoop, but the sound of Jean's voice from nearby caught her attention. She glanced over her shoulder at the lesser twin. "I wouldn't be setting a challenge you couldn't win, if I were you." She commented, believing Lucien would have no trouble apparating before his Gryffindor half. "Sounds almost as if you want to be your brother's slave."

Returning her attention to the hoop before her, Esmè began practicing attempting to apparate into it. She revised the three D's in her head and attempted to visualise herself already in the hoop. After multiple attempts, she was getting frustrated. It hadn't been long, and she knew it wasn't going to happen on the first three goes, but she felt like she should have made some sort of progress. So far, no one else had achieved anything close to apparition either. She glanced at the students around her, quietly attempting to will themselves into a specific space, or in Avie's case, quietly watching everyone else do the same thing. She had to continue trying. She may not end up being the first in the class, but she wasn't going to allow herself to fall behind. With another deep breath, she closed her eyes and cleared her mind, blocking out the distractions around her.

When she opened them again, the Lancaster girl was stood in front of a sea of students, professors and parents, all gathered within the Great Hall she had been practicing Apparition in only moments ago. Her Slytherin attire had been replaced by darker robes, and a square of parchment was pressed into her hands - one she recognised as a graduation certificate with her name on it. Looking up once more, she took in the other graduates she stood with. Victoire, Ivaylo and Jean she glanced at only briefly, until she found more welcome faces. Jakobe, Lucien, and-

Avie crashing into the ground jerked the seeress back to the present. It was just another vision. She needed more training with Bryce. Rubbing her temple with two fingers, Esmè looked across to the Slytherin boy. Typical Avie. She shook her head with a small smile once she was sure he wasn't too hurt, and tried to get back into the focus of the day. After some time, there came an unfamiliar sensation, as if her entire body was being squeezed, and a loud pop ringed from behind her ear. The witch looked down at her feet, accomplishment flushing through her as she found herself now standing within the hoop she had spent so long trying to apparate into. She was closer to the edge than she was the center, but in that moment it didn't matter to her. She'd managed to apparate on her own, and that was a major milestone. With the remainder of their time, she continued to practice, managing a couple more, mostly successful transportations.

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean made no comment as the professor walked by him, making her comment. When Esme spoke, Jean gave her a deadpan expression, waiting until she'd turned her head to give her the finger before turning his attention to apparating. The teenager found himself easily distracted, instead watching his fellow classmates attempt to apparate. The faces that they were making were fairly amusing, and Avie was a source of entertainment for a few moments before Jean realized that he had better get to practicing.

Sighing, the Gryffindor looked at the hoop, his destination. He willed himself over there, clearing his mind as best he could so that he could use his determination to get himself into the hoop. For a moment, he felt nothing. Then, he felt a strange sensation. It was sort of like what happened when he side-along apparated but not. Jean decided to go with it, hoping that it would work out for him. A moment later, he looked around and found himself in the hoop. The teenager's mouth split into a huge grin. He'd done it. It was just in time for him to watch Avie take a tumble. "You alright, Avie?" Jean called out, not caring if he was disturbing the peace. Soon enough, he was back to practicing some more. He had a lot of incentive to get this right.

 

[Massimiliano Moretti]

Week one had rushed past him, and the Ravenclaw was eagerly awaiting the continuation of classes. The holidays were filled with nothing but boredom, in his opinion, because he would be unable to learn further, practically. Especially with a class like apparition. He couldn't just apparate at home because the onyl way for him to learn was right here. Whilst reading was all well and good and certainly had its place in his learning, the practical experience was, in his opinion, the most important part of all this. Otherwise, he would end up leaving parts of himself behind. The Ravenclaw shuddered.

His concentration was rather interrupted by a Slytherin, whom even Max knew the name of - Avie. He didn't know him particularly well, but he knew enough to know that this was, unfortunately for that poor Slytherin, a common occurrence. The Ravenclaw frowned slightly. He wasn't sure he wanted to see Avie 'succeed' in this - he really didn't like the thought of witnessed someone splinch themselves. He returned to his concentrating once more now that Avie seemed to be okay and that Gryffindor guy had zipped it. He wanted to walk out of here with a success.
​

 

[Saul Forrester]

No one could seem to shut up this lesson, and Saul suddenly appreciated how much of a jerk he was the last time he'd stood in this hall and whispered. He was so determined to apparate successfully first time that he wanted to smack the other sixth years in the head for carrying on while he was trying to concentrate. This time around, there were less penis jokes in his head while he considered the three D's (now in the right order).

Destination - that hoop. Merlin, it was a small hoop. Determination - he was going to get into that friggen hoop. Deliberation - Okay, so he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to be deliberating on. There was no decision to make, he just had to get into the hoop. Stupid rules, really. Saul decided to close his eyes to concentrate on where he thought the hoop was, 'cause it was easier to do so when he couldn't see everyone mucking about. After ten seconds with a constipated look, Saul slammed into a wall. It was like he'd been pulled belly-first into a black hole, squashed down into mere particles, then spat back out at the far end of the Great Hall. He wasn't even facing in the right direction towards the hoop.

"Ow," moaned the Irishman, clutching his now bleeding nose. Then he was off to the nurse to sort out his nosebleed, resolving to do a better job next lesson. Try or die.​