Chapter Eleven: Apparition Fail
When the Hogwarts students got back from their holidays, the sixth years were greeted with posters that hung on the Notice Board, informing them about Apparition lessons that would start the first weekend of February. This got a lot of them excited, as nearly everyone always was when they heard they were to be learning how to Apparate.
On the first Saturday of the month, the sixth years assembled in front of Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout—the Heads of Houses—and a small wizard whom Harish took to be the Apparition instructor from the Ministry.
He was oddly colorless, with transparent eyelashes, wispy hair, and an insubstantial air, as though a single gust of wind might blow him away. Ron vaguely wondered whether his odd appearance was caused by him apparating so much, as Ron was sure he taught Apparition every year, or whether it was just an ideal build for someone wishing to vanish.
"Good morning," the Ministry wizard said, when all the students had arrived and the Heads of Houses had called for quiet. "My name is Wilke 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, by which time many of you may be ready to take your tests.
"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 five clear 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 Houses moved among the students, marshaling them into position and breaking up arguments. Then, they called for quiet once again as everyone was situated.
"Thank you," Twycross said. "Now then…"
He waved his wand. Old fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in front of every student.
"The important thing to remember when Apparating are the three D's!" Twycross exclaimed. "Destination, Determination, and Deliberation!
"Step one: Fix your mind firmly on the desired destination," Twycross informed them. "In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now."
Everyone glanced around furtively to check that everyone else was staring into their hoop, and then hastily did as they were told. Ron stared at the circular patch of dusty floor enclosed by his hoop and tried to think of nothing else. This was proving difficult, as random thoughts of anything from food to the twins kept popping into his head.
"Step two," Twycross said, interrupting Ron thoughts, who hastily began focusing on his hoop once again. "focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every part of your body!"
Ron had no idea what the dotty old man had meant by that, so he tried to imagine himself disappearing with a pop and reappearing inside the circle.
"Step three," Twycross called, "and only when I give the command…Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation! On my command, now…one—"
Ron glanced around again; there were a lot of people that looked absolutely distressed at being asked to Apparate so quickly.
"—two—"
Ron tried to fix his thoughts on his hoop again; he had already forgotten what the three D's stood for.
"—THREE!"
Ron spun on the spot, lost balance, and fell flat on his face. He was not the only one, The whole Hall was suddenly full of staggering people; Neville had spun himself right into the person next to him. Seamus had done a sort of pirouetting leap into his hoop and had looked momentarily thrilled before he had caught sight of Dean roaring in laughter at him.
"Never mind, never mind," Twycross said dryly, who did not seem to have expected anything better. "Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions…"
Ron forced himself to focus, determined to make it into the hoop again. He returned to his spot, staring a hole into his hoop and repeating the three D's (once he had remembered what they stood for). Twycross began counting once again.
"One—"
Ron stared into his hoop, his destination, and once again imagined himself appearing inside it.
"—two—"
Ron was certainly determined all right. He was determined to figure out what the twins were up to….
"—THREE!"
Ron turned on his heel, and then—
He spun out of control and fell on his bottom.
The rest of the session went on like this with nothing eventful happening other than Hannah Abbot accidentally Splinching herself. An hour later, Twycross fastened his cloak at his neck and said, "Until next Saturday, everyone, do not forget: Destination. Determination. Deliberation."
And with that, he waved his wand, Vanishing the hoops. And walked out of the Hall accompanied by Professor McGonagall. Talk broke out at once as people began moving toward the entrance hall.