Glory |A. Potter|

Thirty-Six

The village of Hogsmeade had been cleared of most visitors at the edge of it, although if one didn't know, they wouldn't have noticed much of a difference. Perhaps they would have been confused at the sight of so many students in one place, far away from most shops that could be of interest to them, but they would still think they were on a trip and wouldn't spare them more than a glance. Little did they know the students had another purpose for arriving in Hogsmeade today.

They sat by groups separated by houses, all of them wearing their school robes, some of them shivering slightly as a particularly harsh gust of wind pushed through them. A few ways away, an adult stood, a Ministry official, holding a piece of parchment. Once in a while, he called out a name.

The sixth-years had arrived in Hogsmeade because of their apparition test. The Ministry Official called out the students alphabetically, and to not keep a group waiting, he called a person first from Hufflepuff, then Gryffindor, then Ravenclaw and finally Slytherin. Instructions were recited to every student that reached him and got ready to apparate. So far, the three students who had been called forward had apparated to the required location, all of them looking anxious.

Jane sat in between Ramona and Scorpius, her eyes on the Ministry Official looking through the piece of parchment. She knew she was going to be the next to be called.

"You can do it," Scorpius told her softly, "you have managed to do it plenty of times before, you can do it again today."

"Yeah," she muttered.

"You are so lucky you are going first," Albus spoke up from Scorpius's other side. "We'll have to wait and just watch the others go ahead."

"Imagine if your surname were Vasquez, Albus," Ramona sighed, "we're going to be here a long time."

"I guess I'll see you at school," Jane muttered as Annabeth a few ways away let out a hum in an attempt to catch their attention.

"Are you going to be in the dormitory?"

"I have Quidditch practice," she shook her head, "the last game of the season is in a week, the Captain wants us to be prepared."

"You will be," Scorpius assured her, "you practice hard."

"Gibbs, Jane!"

"See you later," she muttered.

"Good luck!" Ramona, Scorpius and Albus chorused.

Jane walked forward and came to a stop next to the Ministry Official, her wand loosely held at hand as she sat at the space she was supposed to. He looked over at her briefly, wrote something down on his parchment and then looked at her once more.

"You are expected to apparate in the courtyard of Hogwarts, in front of the fountain. Should you not appear in the courtyard five seconds after I say you may start your try, you fail. If you don't arrive in one piece, you fail. Is that understood?"

Jane nodded and he took a step back.

"Begin your try."

Jane closed her eyes, vividly imagined the courtyard and the fountain in the middle of it, held her wand tightly and quickly turned on the spot. She felt her feet leaving the ground, her body pressed from all sides as she travelled on and on for what seemed like an eternity. Then she felt her feet touch the ground. She leaned slightly forward but managed to stabilise herself in the last minute. She opened her eyes. The fountain stood in front of her.

"Congratulations, Miss Gibbs," she heard a voice say and so she turned to it to find yet another Ministry Official. She wrote something down on her own paper and then sent her a small smile. "You passed. You can now apparate and the Ministry has been notified. Congratulations."