The Half-Blood Prince | Hermione Granger x Male Reader (Book Six)

18. The Poisoned Mead

Y/N's POV

I was in shock after everything Dumbledore told me. It was too much for me to process. Dumbledore had asked for one thing in return for him telling me everything and that was that Harry was not to find out what Dumbledore had told me.

How the hell was I supposed to not tell my best friend he was going to die?

"F/N, hurry up. We have to get to the Apparition class." Draco told me. I got out of the armchair I was in and made my way out the Common Room, following Draco, Crabbe and Goyle.

When we arrived, we stood near the back of the Great Hall, at the front were some Professors and an old man whom I assumed was the instructor.

"Good morning," said the Ministry wizard, "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 test in this time. As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. Your headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasise 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. The Heads of House moved among the students, marshaling them into position and breaking up arguments. I stood next to Draco, who seemed quite uninterested.

Once everyone was in the correct position, the instructor started speaking again. "Thank you," he said, "now then..."

He waved his wand. Old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in from of every student.

"The important things to remember when Apparating are the three Ds!" said Twycross. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation-"

"-he sure likes his D's." I smirked and Draco laughed.

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

I gazed at my hoop and isolated my mind so I only thought about that hoop.

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

I focused on occupying the hoop. I looked around and certain people have hilarious expressions on their face, Ernie Macmillian, in particular, looked exceptionally pink from all the concentrating he was doing.

"Step three," called Twycross, "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 glanced around again; lots of people were looking positively alarmed at being asked to Apparate so quickly.

"-two-"

Focus. I needed to focus on where I wanted to go.  I filled my mind with only the idea of Apparating into that hoop.

"-THREE!"

Mustering all the energy I had, I attempted to Apparate and I felt myself spin around slightly, I closed my eyes and when I reoppened them I looked around.

Holy crap, I had Apparated.

The instructor looked extremely impressed.

"Look!" he exclaimed. "This young man has done it! What's your name?"