Apparition Lesson Two

[Irene Finch]

Apparition,6,2Irene sat in a chair, her legs crossed at the ankles as she waited for the students to arrive. 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. Come in, come in" 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 as soon as she'd finished. "Space yourselves out...there's plenty of room" she stated, making her chair vanish. 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.

 

[Bob Masters]

Bob Masters was terrified. There was so much that could go wrong in todays Apparition lesson, and yet here they were. Here he was. He hoped that he would be able to do it correctly and wouldn't end up splinching himself. He'd come across the term when he had been doing some research before the lesson and needless to say it didn't look particularly comfortable. He sighed, but took a position and listened to their instructor talk to them about the three D's once again. He raised his hand to answer her question. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation!" He said with a smile before taking his space to begin attempting apparition. He began to focus on the hoop in front of him, and even though he spent what was left of the lesson trying to find his way there he had no such luck. With a frown on his face, he left the classroom, determined to do it next time.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Since Darcy could not practice Apparation on her own time outside of these lessons, she had done the next best thing possible to prepare for this lesson: read up on as much as she could. She just wanted to make sure she was completely prepared for this lesson because it did not seem easy, and not being able to practice it more than a few times in an hour's lesson just didn't seem good enough. There was actual consequences involved in this if they did it wrong, and Darcy was not okay with the idea of potentially getting splinched. It seemed painful and irreversible. But she tried not to worry about all that just yet otherwise she might invite it, so Darcy tried to clear her mind and think positively when she entered the great hall and the lesson began. She listened as the instructor began and smiled when she said they were going to attempt to Apparate today. She was nervous but determined to do this, and since that was one of the three D's necessary for her to perform this, she felt confident in her chances.

Once they were allowed to begin, Darcy stood back and watched others attempt to perform it at first because she didn't want to make a fool of herself right away. She was both relieved and scared that others weren't able to do it on their first few tries but before she could psych herself out, she decided to just give it her best shot. The Slytherin inhaled and stared intently at the spot she was trying to Apparate to, it wasn't too far off from where she was currently standing, but starting small was her strategy before she worked her way up to longer distances. At first, nothing happened, and the redhead was disappointed in herself. But she wasn't leaving this great hall until she did it at least once. Darcy squared her shoulders and instead of staring down at the area where she was trying to go, she decided to close her eyes and imagine standing there instead. She felt the tight compression she had read it would feel like and when she opened her eyes she saw that she had moved to where she wanted to go! Though when she looked back at her original spot she saw quite a few red hairs floating down onto the ground so she knew not all of her had made it there. She quickly checked to make sure there was no sudden bald spot in the back of her head, but she still seemed to have all her hair, with the exception of the few strands that had fallen off. It was no more than the amount she'd find in a drain after a shower so she wasn't too worried, but she didn't want to end up accidentally bald so she would try to be more careful.

Darcy tried once more to Apparate to the small distance and this time concentrated on making sure every last hair would make it with her. When she opened her eyes she saw that she had successfully transported herself and reached up for her hair to make sure everything was still in place. Once her hair was checked, she looked down at herself to make sure nothing else had been left behind and smiled triumphantly. Though when she saw how far she had travelled, the feeling of success diminished quickly because it was hardly a huge feat. In the time it had taken her to Apparate she could've just taken about two steps to get to the same location within the same amount of time. She tried not to be too discouraged about it because she knew these were baby steps and eventually she'd be able to Apparate to longer distances which would be so much more convenient for her. But while that idea was reassuring that this skill wasn't a waste of time, it also seemed daunting to be able to master. Darcy packed up her things once the lesson was over and wondered if she'd be able to do it again next lesson.
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[Olivia Havelock]

Olivia was both nervous and excited as she prepared to go to her second apparation lesson. It wasn't something she could practice in preparation for the lesson and she didn't know anyone who could already do it given she didn't know if Victoria had even taken the class before she dropped out. She spent what time she had free thinking about the three D's. Was that all she needed to do? She wasn't sure, it was the first time in her Hogwarts life she had not been able to over prepare for something she was taking. Olivia really didn't want to splinch herself.

When it was time for the lesson the Ravenclaw made her way to the great hall and found some space near the back. She listened to the instructor remind them about the three D's, though her offhanded comment about bleeding all over the place made her eyes widen in terror. No one said anything about bleeding. With the excitement gone, Olivia was now full of terror as they were told to begin practicing. She focused on the spot she wanted to apparate to. concentrated on the three D's. In her own mind she did everything she needed to do except the important thing. She didn't actually apparate. Olivia tried a few more times but it would be in vain. At the end of the lesson she was stood in exactly the same spot she began it. Deflated, Olivia linked arms with Darcy and made her way out of the Great hall.

 

[Hamish Kaster]

Hamish fought the urge to roll his eyes as Bob Masters, his completely one-sided nemesis, once again did what he did best. The Slytherin fought against being a deplorable stereotype, but when it came to Bob it was incredibly hard to remain without a scowl. He didn't need Bob's input to remember the three Ds, and he had no idea why their instructor was even wasting their time listening to Bob. They were told not to bleed all over the place, and whilst certainly sanitary, Hamish was building up a considerable dislike for this woman. Not only did she value Bob's opinions enough to ask him to answer questions, but she seemed intent on making this as uncomfortable and unfortunate as possible. Hamish tried to emulate his mother and remind himself that there was no opinion beyond playing nice, however - as the chances of being able to walk out and do this all by himself were basically impossible. Certainly impossible if he wanted it with all of his limbs intact.

He had picked a spot as far from everyone else he could possibly manage, without outright looking like he was avoiding everyone. This was the worst part of magic - the doing bit. Theory was pretty easy. The doing usually had the unfortunate result of potential harm, and that wasn't quite something Hamish liked to introduce himself to. Standing with his hands on his hips, Hamish began processing himself through the three Ds. Everyone seemed to be utilising different ways to achieve their common goal - some closed their eyes, some looked like they were in a staring contest with a thestral, and others just looked completely intent on shooting laser beams through the floor. Staying still and self-reflecting wasn't quite working for him - distraction was much too easy - so he decided to use his usual tactic of absorbing as much information about where he was, and where he needed to be, and how he was going to be getting there. The Slytherin had gone out of his way today to ensure there was no amount of flapping material on his person, and even tied his hair back like a responsible future-apparater-in-training. He knew where to go - that was quite clear - he just had to get himself there. The Slytherin spent the rest of the lesson concentrating, only managing one successful result that caused him to not only miss his target, but leave behind parts of his shoelaces and a button. He wasn't sure if his hair was okay, but he didn't find his beloved bun on the floor, so he felt somewhat better about the arrangement.
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