Chapter 24 (Ava)

I arrived in the Great Hall for my first Apparition lesson just as the Ministry wizard at the front started to address all of the students. I apologised politely and walked over to Harry and Hermione. The wizard continued,

“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-”

Professor McGonagall cut the wizard off,

“Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention.”

I whirled around along with everyone else to look at Draco. His cheeks had turned pink, and he angrily stepped away from Crabbe. I turned back around before he could catch my eye.

Twycross continued,

“-by which time, many of you may be ready to take your test. 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 practise. 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 glanced around at everyone else. They all looked quite serious- it seemed a lot of students were desperate to learn how to Apparate properly.

Twycross cleared his throat,

“I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you.”

Before I could say anything, Harry turned around and walked in a completely different direction.

“Harry, where are you going?” Hermione called.

I tried to go after him, but the students around me were all talking and bumping into each other. All I saw was Harry making his way towards Draco. I started to walk in that direction too, but the teachers began to tell everyone to be quiet. I turned back to face the front as Twycross waved his wand. Wooden hoops appeared on the floor in front of everyone.

“The important things to remember when Apparating are the three Ds! Destination, Determination, Deliberation.”

I gulped nervously.

“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 stared into the centre of my hoop, wondering how much I needed to focus on the destination.

“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!”

I tried to think about it, but surely I was as focused on it as I needed to be? I sighed.

“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, two, THREE!”

I turned on the spot, but only to lose my balance and fall onto the floor. I glanced around at everyone else. All of the students in the Great Hall were either on the floor or staggering about. I pushed myself up and glanced over at Neville who was flat on his back. I smiled and reached my hand out,

“Need some help?”

He stared at my hand for a moment before reaching his own out to clasp onto me. I pulled him up and grinned,

“I fell over too, don’t worry. I have a feeling I’m not going to be very good at this.”

Neville laughed and we both turned back to face Twycross as he cleared his throat,

“Never mind, never mind. Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions…”

I stared into the hoop again and on the count of three, spun around on the spot. I didn’t just fall onto the floor; I landed gracefully on top of Neville beside me. I giggled and pushed myself up off of the ground,

“Sorry for the collision.”

Neville stepped further away from me,

“Sorry, maybe we were just too close.”

When I attempted again, I managed to at least not fall over. However, I still lost my balance, and managed to spin further away from my wooden hoop than I’d been the first time.

When Twycross told us to try again, a horrific scream sounded through the Great Hall. I turned around to see, to my horror, a Hufflepuff student called Susan Bones standing in her hoop with her left leg still in her starting position.

The blood drained out of my face and I turned away before I could be sick. Professors ran towards her to help her, and Twycross shook his head,

“Splinching, or the separation of random body parts occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continually upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation… thus.”

He stepped forwards and twirled around on the spot, disappearing in a flash of robes before appearing at the other end of the Great Hall.

“Remember the three Ds and try again…one- two- three-”

I turned around, but it was a half-hearted attempt. Susan’s Splinching had made me feel nervous about the idea of Apparating. I staggered across the floor, dangerously close to bumping into Hermione. I stopped myself just in time, and apologised quickly before running back to my spot.

I didn’t get any better for the whole next hour. Twycross dismissed us from the Great Hall and everybody left, chattering to each other about the lesson.

As I left, I noticed Draco walking off with Crabbe and Goyle closely following him. Harry was watching them out of the corner of his eye. It worried me that Harry was so desperate to find out what Draco was up to, when his own sister was a complete traitor.

I gulped and made my way down to the common room. All that spinning around had tired me out.

Draco was sitting by the fire with Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise and Pansy. I stared at them for too long and, to my horror, Draco looked up at me. All I could do was nod my head towards him politely. I noticed Pansy looking between us with a confused but smug expression. Of course, now she had Draco all to herself. That didn’t bother me; I’d told her before that I had no interest in him.

I went to the dormitory and checked my bed or the windowsill for any letters.

Nothing.

I had sent Remus my letter a couple of weeks ago, how had he still not replied? Maybe he no longer wanted to associate himself with me. No, that was stupid. After all, he had given Harry the photograph to give to me.

Maybe he was in trouble.

I shivered, shook the thought out of my head and climbed onto my bed, reaching underneath the pillow for the photograph. At least, even if I felt lonely, I still had a beautiful memory to cheer me up and remind me that I was loved.