𝑰𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 | 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒐 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒇𝒐𝒚 | 𝟐

| SIXTY TWO |

Chapter 62: The three D's

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"Gather round, gather round!" A short plump man called out across the Great Hall to the sixth year students. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I am your apparition instructor. During your course I will be teaching you the techniques required for apparating, how to avoid splinching and most importantly how to apparate."

Twycross was a fairly old looking man so Olivia had thought. His hair was wispy thin and discoloured to match his skin tone. For an older wizard his voice was abnormally high pitched, sounding even worse with his enthusiastic demeanour. Olivia stood looking unimpressed with her arms crossed tightly over her chest while raising a brow at their instructor.

Since that night with Draco last week she'd been extremely reserved, not saying or eating much and only speaking when spoken to. Her lack of sleep was growing rapidly fast and she couldn't wait for the Christmas holidays to fall in just under two weeks time.

Two weeks away from the castle and it's dramas and getting to go home and see her extended family once more.

Twycross had pulled his wand from his robe and waved it about. Old fashioned wooden hoops appeared on the floor in various different places, "Now then. If you'd all like to find a hoop." He instructed.

Serena turned to Olivia while they shuffled to find a hoop slowly and rolled her eyes before mimicking Wilkie in a high pitched voice, "Hi I'm Wilkie Twycross, abnormally small man who looks like I've no idea what I'm fucking doing. Now if you'd find a hoop so I can explain death by splinching."

The group laughed tiredly around her while Olivia patted her best friends shoulder, "Oh Merlin." She mumbled under her breath quietly.

"The important thing to remember about apparation is the three D's!" said Twycross. "Destination, Determination and Deliberation!"

"Not much then." Blaise murmured from next to Olivia.

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

Every student in the hall looked around themselves to see if anyone had yet attempted to fixate their attention into their chosen hoop. Once they were satisfied with looking some got to work, picturing the very thing in the front of their minds.

"Step two: focus your determination to occupy the visualised space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!"

Before doing as instructed Olivia looked around again, Blaise was stood there staring hopelessly into his hoop with nothing but confusion lining his face. A little way to her left, Ernie Macmillan was staring at his hoop so hard that his face had turned pink as though he was straining to lay a Quaffle-sized egg. Olivia had snorted stubbly before looking to be hoop again.

"Step three: only when I give the command turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation! On my command, now. .one –''

"What the fuck?" Olivia asked alarmed as students paled just thinking about apparating so early into the lesson.

"– two –"

"He's completely bonkers." Blaise grumbled.

"– THREE!"

With her focus on the hoop Olivia closed her eyes momentarily and tried to allow herself to fly into nothingness. She could fly using magic so what was the difference with apparating? Surely it couldn't be that much harder.