Clueless {Scorose}

Chapter 25

Apparation lessons began Wednesday. After classes, they cleared out the great hall, pushing the tables to the sides so that we could all group up in there. 

We were to walk down to the great hall together as a house, but I found the Gryffindors of my year to be disappointingly boring, so I found Al and Scorpius in the corridor and walked with them.

"Any idea why we are going to the great hall for this?" I asked them, as Scorpius interlocked his fingers with my own. "I thought you couldn't apparate within Hogwarts."

"Maybe they'll lift the spell or something," Al suggested

We made it to the great hall and filed in with the rest of the sixth years and the four heads of houses. McGonagall also joined us today and sat in her usual seat at the long table. I caught her eye and smiled, she replied with a slight nod. It was small, but I still appreciated her acknowledgment.

Standing in the center of the room, was who I assumed to be the apparition instructor from the ministry. She was a raven-haired woman, probably in her forties or fifties, who we all gathered around.

"Good evening everyone, my name is Gizela Lacus." She spoke with a smile, a kind one that made you want to listen. "I will be your apparition instructor for the next few weeks, which, by the end of, you will be more than prepared for your Apparation tests. Now, shall we begin?"

She told all of us to move at least five feet apart from each other and remember three words: Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. She called them the three D's. 

"Now, I want you to fix your mind upon the destination," Lacus said. "For now, keep it close, only a few inches in front of you."

I stared at the floor in front of my feet and looked around, to watch the others. Jenny, who had moved towards us by now, looked so focused, I thought she might burst.

"Next you want to focus on determination to take the space you were just thinking about." She said. "Think of it as the only thing consuming your mind, your whole body." We all did as she asked. "And lastly, don't do it until I say, I want you to turn on the spot and feel your way into absolute nothingness, move with deliberation!"

I was surprised we were going to begin apparating so quickly, but I understood why after we started. She counted down, "One, two, three.."

I stayed determined and tried to 'deliberate' but I lost balance and stumbled, tripping over my own feet and lost balance. Luckily, I was not the only one. There were several people that actually fell onto the ground, one of them being Al. He lay curled up in a ball on the ground and stared around as if he didn't know how he got there. The three of us weren't shy to share a laugh, even Al let out a chuckle.

We tried several other attempts, all together, until an hour had passed. I felt a little something a few times, like a slight turning in my stomach, but nothing much else happened. No one else seemed to be going anywhere.

At the end of the lesson, Lacus said goodbye to the group. "Until our next lesson." She said and left the hall with the other professors.

Everyone crowded around the entrance to leave the hall and Scorpius grabbed my hand again as we left.

"How'd you do?" he asked.

"I thought I felt a little something," I said. "How about you?"

"Yeah, pretty much the same."

***

Laura, Jenny and I were hanging out in Jenny's dorm one night. I was working on homework as Jenny braided Laura's hair while she was drawing in her sketchbook.