First Apparation Lesson

[Hilary Grace]

Hilary walked in the park for the first time since it had opened. She saw a few families over by the playground and a couple sitting on a park bench but other than that the park was fairly empty today. She walked over to the grassy area on the side that Irene had mentioned and took a seat on the grass. She then proceeded to stretch a little bit, noticing that she was a little tighter than she had been when she was in school. To be expected I guess she thought to herself.

Today she was here to try something that she had never tried before: Apparation. She was a little nervous and fairly excited but more mostly in disbelief that she hadn't done this before. She had sent Irene Finch an owl about it and she had offered to meet her here today to do some private lessons which would hopefully lead to Hilary getting her license eventually.

The day looked calm and but not too hot, the perfect day to try something new.

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene signed the last piece of parchment with a flourish before adding it to her outbox and watching it disappear. It was wonderful how magic worked sometimes. Taking off her ministry robes and donning her winter coat, Irene left her office at a stroll. She was off to the park to conduct some private apparation lessons. She'd done it a couple of times in the past usually by special request, but it had been a while since the service had been requested of her.

Apparating quickly to the park, Irene only briefly broke stride. She headed to the area she'd asked to meet the woman and sure enough when she arrived, the woman was already there. She was glad for that as she hated to be kept waiting."You must be Ms. Grace" Irene stated, her blue eyes looking the woman over as if she were trying to gauge the woman's potential. "I'm Irene Finch. Do you have any questions before we begin?" she asked in a no-nonsense voice as she stood before the woman.

 

[Hilary Grace]

Out of Character:

SORRY, I forgot to track this topic! Fixed

Hilary saw the woman apparate into the park and smiled. This must be the ministry worker she had spoken with. "Yes thank-you, that's me" Hilary smiled "But Hilary is fine, it's nice to meet you". Hilary glanced around the park and then back to the woman, "I guess my major question is, is it necessary to have anything on you to apparate?" Hilary wanted to make sure that she hadn't doomed herself to failure by not having a special badge or something in her pocket before she started.

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene nodded her head to show she'd heard the woman, though she didn't really think that she'd call her by name. She wasn't really here to make friends. She was here to do a job. Upon hearing Hilary's question, Irene pondered it for a moment. "I think the only thing you require on you are your wits" she said with a smirk, her blue eyes looking for signs of nerves in the woman before her.

"Actually, the less you have on you, the easier it is to apparate." That was true for anyone, but especially for beginners. Irene smiled at the woman. "Ok...the fundamentals"Irene said rubbing her hands together. "You must remember the 3 Ds before you can even attempt apparating." She punctuated each by holding up a finger. "First, you must choose your destination. Second, you must have determination. Third, you must move with deliberation. Got that so far?" she asked.

 

[Hilary Grace]

When Hilary heard that she just needed her wits she smiled with just a flash of nerves. She was excited to try apparation, but like many beginners was a little frightened that something horrible would happen in the process. She looked down at herself, jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, there was nothing too cumbersome on her and of that she was glad.

When Irene started listing the three fundamentals, Hilary listened closely. As the woman finished she caught herself repeating them in her head to try hard to comit them to memory. Destination, determination, deliberation; Destination, determination, deliberation. She looked up at the woman and nodded "Destination, determination, deliberation... I think I've got it"

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene nodded her head as the woman said that she believed she had the words down. It was true that the words themselves were easy enough to remember. It was putting them into action that was the true test. "Very well" she said, pulling out her wand. Waving it quickly, Irene conjured up a large plastic hoop. She'd seen muggle children use it to play before and it was only recently that she'd discovered that it was called a hula hoop.

Irene picked the hoop up and then flung it a few feet away. "Ok...that's your target. You want to get yourself from here" Irene apparated quickly, appearing inside of the hoop, " to here." She stepped out of the hoop and walked back. "Are you ready to try? You've got to clear your mind first and not think about anything else but getting into that hoop."

 

[Hilary Grace]

Hilary nodded her head to show that she had understood the woman. It was interesting to her that one of the most difficult pieces of magic was the one with the least amount of theory behind it. She looked at the hoop for a moment and took a deep breath.

"Alright, I think I'm ready to try it" Hilary said to the woman with just a twinge of nerves in her voice. Well as ready as I'll ever be she added to herself. She looked back at the hoop with determination, trying to clear her mind but still remember the three words at the same time. After another deep breath she closed her eyes and spun into it. A moment later she re-opened her eyes in the same place: she had done nothing but spin on the spot.

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene hid a grin behind her hand as she watched the woman spin in place. It was a very fine spin, but certainly did not result in anything. Not that she had expected it to. She'd never come across a student, adult or otherwise, who had succeeded in apparating simply by hearing how it was to be done. "The spinning is good. Once you get the hang of it, you won't necessarily have to do it. What I want you to do is stare at the hoop and think of nothing but getting yourself inside of it. You have to..." she searched for the right words for a moment and then continued, "visualize yourself in there."

Irene placed her hands in her jacket pocket and waited patiently for her pupil to try once more. She was glad that not many people seemed to be paying attention to them because the last thing Hilary needed was an audience watching her attempts, or worse, trying to offer her tidbits of advice.

 

[Hilary Grace]

Hilary heard the words that the woman said and absorbed them. She looked hard at the hoop and then began to picture it. Once she had it in her mind she tried to picture herself in it. Finally with her eyes still closed she took only a slight spin. She felt herself fading in sorts and then reappearing in flesh, though only a few inches in front of her starting spot.

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene watched as Hilary seemed to be taking in what she was saying. The woman simply watched, not uttering a word as her pupil did her best. From one moment to the next, the young woman moved a little bit, a tiny crack emanating across the park. Irene's face broke out into a smile, her blue eyes widening with pleasure. "Good job Hilary" she complimented. Although the woman had not reached the target, there had been movement and that was progress.

Checking the time, Irene spoke once more. "I think we should call it a day. I've got to pick my daughter up." She put her hands back into her pocket and looked around at all of the space. "This would normally be the time when I tell my students to not bother apparating because the charm will be replaced on the Great Hall. That's obviously not the case here." She smirked and continued, "I will say that you ought to be cautious if you decide to practice. If you get splinched, it could be really bad for you." It was certainly an understatement, but she couldn't tell the woman to not practice if she wanted to. She was an adult after all.

 

[Hilary Grace]

When Hilary saw that she had moved, even just a small amount, she smiled. Irene also seemed pleased by the progress that Hilary had made, and that gave Hilary her 'good student' feelings once again. She was really hoping to be able to succeed at apparation as it would really help her in the long run.

When Irene decided that it was time to call it a day, Hilary let herself relax a little and noticed the pure wave of exhaustion that came over her. It was probably a good thing that they were stopping for the day. Hilary listened closely as Irene spoke of splinching and the dangers of practicing and decided to just practice the focus part, and leave the apparation to their next meeting.

"So, when would you next like to meet? I am free at almost any point over the next couple of weeks." Hilary asked the woman the question with a smile excited to try apparation again after she had had a chance to rest and think about it a little more.

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene thought for a moment. "I should be free next week. Same time, same place?" she asked as she began to back up. She was going to apparate out of the park anyway so if she stayed a few extra moments it wouldn't hurt. She knew that her daughter was safe seeing as she was with her father. Irene couldn't stand the guy but she couldn't deny his parenting skills. That didn't mean that she was just going to leave her daughter with him all night. "See you next week, Ms. Grace." Irene stood stock still for a second and then gave a small half-spin and disapparated with a loud crack.

 

[Hilary Grace]

*NEXT WEEK*

Hilary arrived at the same spot in the park that they had been the week before. Last week had been her first time trying apparation, and she had made greater progress than even she had expected. Over the last week she had been thinking about the three Ds and had been working on developing focus although she had not actually practiced apparation due to fear of splinching.

Hilary looked around the park and saw that it was another nice day. Once again she was wearing just a simple longsleeve t-shirt and jeans, deciding to leave her standard wizarding clothes at home for another day. As she waited for Irene she played with her wand a little in her hands. She was excited to get started again.

 

[Irene Finch]

On this day, Irene walked into the park. She'd been in Brightstone Village with her child having a bite to eat after a long day full of doctor's appointments. Melina was not feeling well, but the doctor had told Irene not to worry because it was just hay fever. Without much conversation, Irene had dropped Melina off with her father who happened to be in Brightstone as well, and she'd headed for the park.

The ministry official was pleased to see her pupil already waiting. She wondered if the woman had attempted apparating at all during the week. Irene knew she probably wouldn't have, but then again she was a stickler for rules and such. She did not know if Hilary was. Pulling out her wand as she drew near, Irene wasted no time in conjuring a hoop, which landed about five feet away from where Hilary was standing. "Hilary, there's your target. Let's begin" she dictated before she had even reached Hilary. Irene knew that the exam for adults learning apparation was much more difficult than the student's exam and she wanted Hilary to be more than adequately prepared.