Dark Pasts { A Harry Potter Story }

Chapter 72 - Apparition Lessons

"I can't believe it!" Hermione exclaimed as we walked out of the library after hours of fruitless search for anything concerning Horcruxes.

"We haven't found a single explanation of what Horcruxes are or what they do!" She told Harry once we sat down beside him in the common room.

"We've been through the restricted section and even in the most horrible books, where they tell you how to brew the most gruesome potions — nothing! All I could find was this, in the introduction to Magick Moste Evile — listen —'Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction. . . .' I mean, why mention it then?" I said impatiently.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said and kissed my cheek, although I could tell this bothered him as much as I, if not more.

January flew by and was soon replaced with the dreary wetness of February. There was a constant fall of chilly rain over the castle which seemed to plunge the entire school in a gloomy mood. The upshot of this was that when the first Saturday of the month came it was already time for our first Apparition lesson. When we arrived at the Great Hall, we saw that all the tables had disappeared to give us more room. Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout — the Heads of Houses were standing at the end of the Hall, along with another small wizard whom I did not know.

"Good morning," he said when all the students had arrived and the Heads of Houses had called for quiet."My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time —"

"Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" Professor McGonagall barked, causing us to turn around to see a flushed Draco stepping away from Crabbe, with whom he appeared to have been having an argument.

"— by which time, many of you may be ready to take your tests," the Ministry agent continued as though there had been no interruption. "As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try. I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you."

There was a great scrambling and jostling as people separated, banged into each other, and ordered others out of their space.

"Harry, where are you going?" I asked as I saw him move further toward the back of the classroom where Draco and his friends were standing. I rolled my eyes in annoyance before turning back to face Twycross.

"Now then," he waved his wand so that old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in front of every one of us. "The important things to remember when Apparating are the three D's! Destination, Determination, Deliberation!

"Step one: Fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination," he said. "In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now."

I took a deep breath and stared intently at the inside of the hoop laying in front of me and tried hard not to think about anything else.

"Step two," Twycross said, "focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!" He explained. "Step three, and only when I give the command... Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation! On my command, now . . . one —"

I looked around and saw that most people— like me, were looking quite alarmed at being asked to apparate so quickly.

"—two—"

I quickly looked at the floor inside the loop again, focusing hard. Destination, Determination, Deliberation.

"—THREE!"

I felt myself spin on the spot and nearly fell over. Fortunately, I was not the only one.

"Never mind, never mind..." Twycross said, seeming as though he had not been expecting better. "Adjust your hoops, please,and back to your original positions. . . ."

The second attempt was no better than the first. The third was just as bad. Not until the fourth did anything exciting happen. There was a horrible screech of pain and I looked around to see Susan Bones wobbling in her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away from where she had started.

"Splinching, or the separation of random body parts," said Wilkie Twycross dispassionately, "occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continuously upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation . . .thus."

Twycross stepped forward, turned gracefully on the spot with his arms outstretched, and vanished in a swirl of robes, reappearing at the back of the Hall.

"Remember the three D's," he said, "and try again . . . one —two — three —"

But an hour later, not a single student had yet seemed to make any sort of improvement. Twycross did not seem discouraged, though.

Fastening his cloak at his neck, he merely said, "Until next Saturday, everybody, and do not forget: Destination. Determination.Deliberation."

With that, he waved his wand, Vanishing the hoops, and walked out of the Hall accompanied by Professor McGonagall. Talk brokeout at once as people began moving toward the entrance hall. I quickly turned around and made my way toward Harry and Ron.

"How did you do?" Ron asked Harry as I caught up with them. "I think I felt something the last time I tried — a kind of tingling in my feet."

"I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won," Hermione said stalked past, smirking.

"I didn't feel anything," said Harry, ignoring this interruption."But I don't care about that now —"

"What d'you mean, you don't care? Don't you want to learn to Apparate?" Ron asked.

"I'm not fussed, really, I prefer flying," Harry said as he  glanced over his shoulder. I turned around and saw that his eyes were following Draco. "Look, hurry up, will you, there's something I want to do. . . ."

Ron and I shared a perplexed look before reluctantly following him back to the Gryffindor Tower at a run.

"Are you going to tell us what we're doing, then?" I asked Harry as we went up the staircase leading to their dormitory, which we found to be empty. "Harry?" I called as he began to look through his suitcase.

"Malfoy's using Crabbe and Goyle as lookouts. He was arguing with Crabbe just now. I want to know — aha," He exclaimed as he pulled out a folded square of apparently blank parchment,which he now smoothed out and tapped with the tip of his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good . . . or Malfoy is anyway."

At once, the Marauder's Map appeared on the parchment's surface.

"Help me find Malfoy," said Harry urgently.He laid the map upon his bed, and the three of us leaned over it, searching.

"There!" Ron said, after a minute or so. "He's in the Slytherin common room, look . . . with Parkinson and Zabini and Crabbe and Goyle . . ."

I crossed my arms across my chest and raised my eyebrows at Harry.

"Well, I'm keeping an eye on him from now on," he said firmly, avoiding my gaze. "And the moment I see him lurking somewhere with Crabbe and Goyle keeping watch outside, it'll be on with the old Invisibility cloak and off to find out what he's up to."