Circle's Close

Chapter Seventeen: Auror Training--Apparation

As the month of March was drawing to a close, so was winter. Every passing day brought sun and warmth, along with fresh patches of grass throughout the Hogwarts grounds as the snow melted away.

The walks to the caves on the outskirts of Hogsmeade became increasingly easier, although muddier. Harry and Hermione spent five minutes before each Auror lesson zapping their robes free of mud so they could practice their training properly. Harry couldn’t wait until the sun became hot enough so that it melted the rest of the snow, and dried all the mud.

When they arrived for their latest Auror lesson, Harry and Hermione both discovered that their instructor still had yet to arrive.

“While we’re waiting, did you want to put our lessons and hard studying to use?”

“Are you challenging me to a duel, Potter?” Hermione asked with a smirk.

“That’s if you’re not too worried that I’ll win,” Harry added playfully. “Do you accept?”

“What do I get if I win?” she asked, approaching him.

Harry grinned. “The knowledge of knowing that you actually beat me,” he told her.

“And that’s supposed to be a prize?” Hermione demanded.

Harry laughed. “Come on--this is me we’re talking about,” he said with an air of smugness. “And what are the chances that you’ll beat me, anyway?”

Hermione laughed in return, stepping back and whipping out her Training wand.

“Famous last words, Potter.”

Harry pulled out his own wand and they took their positions.

A moment later they were shooting out spells, jinxes and curses, each in turn deflecting them and putting all their practicing and long hours of studying to use. They went on for over fifteen minutes, and it wasn’t until Harry caught Remus entering the caves that he stopped.

At which point Hermione shouted, “STUPEFY!” and Harry squealed as he received an electrical shock.

“Funny, Granger!” Harry exclaimed.

“Does that mean I win?” Hermione asked him sweetly.

“Excellent work, you two,” Remus said, interrupting them. “I watched you from outside,” he added. “I was thinking we can dive straight into Apparation. Did you read the passages I marked for you both?”

When Harry and Hermione both nodded, Remus smiled at them and clasped his hands behind his back, standing tall.

“All right--Apparation. We’re going to start today by doing small exercises with our minds. Because initially, it’s with our focused minds that we are able to travel from one place to the other.

“You both know that basic Apparation is a matter of stretching out your mind to another destination, and pulling your body after it,” said Remus. “So what I want you to do is start by slowly casting out your mind and then I want you to snap it back. Sort of like a Muggle yo-yo. And I want you to use me as your focus point.”

Hermione nodded while Harry thought back to the lesson he had read on Apparation. He closed his eyes and opened his mind. It took a moment, but soon enough Remus began to take shape in his mind. His instructor looked the same in his mind’s eye as he did standing before him: hands clasped behind his back, his feet spread apart by a few inches, his eyes traveling from Harry to Hermione.

Harry cleared his head of all thoughts and images and concentrated solely on the man in front of him. He could feel his mind expanding and stretching out to Remus. And as instructed, he banished Remus’s image from his mind and he opened his eyes to find that Hermione had just opened hers.

“That was the strangest sensation,” Harry said aloud, rubbing his forehead.

“I don’t expect either of you to learn how to Apparate this very second. Apparation is tricky, sometimes even dangerous. You need to concentrate, and you need practice. You also will need a lot of patience,” Remus told them encouragingly. “Try again.”

They practiced some more, and after more than half an hour of casting out their minds to Remus, Harry was starting to feel more invigorated than tired--which was strange, because after using his mind this way for such a long period of time, he thought his brain would be mulch by now.

When he voiced this opinion, Remus merely smiled. “This is a way of freeing your mind. While Apparation does require a fair amount of concentration, Harry, this is a lot different from bombarding your mind with other things, like school lessons, or everyday life.

“Now--this time I want you to do the same thing as you did before. Stretch out your mind, use me as your focus point, but this time we’re going to play a little game. When you see me, I want you to tell me how many fingers I’m holding up. Remember: the key is to tell me what you see as quickly as possible. This will help speed up your mind. We’ll do a total of eleven rounds, and the person who gets the most answers correct can go back to the castle early.”

Ten minutes later, Hermione was grinning broadly as she waved good-bye to Remus and Harry.

“You know she’ll never let me live that one down,” Harry muttered with a faint smile.

“The score was close,” Remus said, with laughter in his hazel eyes. “We’ll practice some more...Twenty minutes should do it.”

After another ten minutes of practicing, Harry closed his eyes yet again. He stripped his mind blank, and found Remus behind his closed eyelids. The older wizard stood with arms clasped in front of him, regarding Harry with a thoughtful look. He was inches away from him in reality, all he had to do was stretch out his hand and he could touch Remus. But something in him fought that impulse. Somewhere he could hear a voice—his voice—telling him to follow his mind.

I can't, Harry told his mental self.

His mind debated, telling him that he could do it if he really wanted to.

He felt a curious sensation as though he had just touched a portkey, and was now hurtling through a portal of some kind. But just as quickly as it occurred, it stopped. When he opened his eyes, he found Remus smiling brilliantly at him.

“You nearly did it, Harry,” he said happily.

“I felt like--I had done it,” Harry said in awe. “But then--I pulled back. It was like I chickened out.”

“Let me guess--one part of your mind was telling you to follow, and the other argued with you?”

“That’s exactly what happened,” said Harry, rubbing his forehead as though hoping to massage some sense into his brain.

“That is bound to happen,” Remus told Harry. “Are you ready to have another go?”

Harry agreed and after another ten minutes, he heard Remus clap loudly. Harry knew he had just half-way Apparated again.

“This is your first try at it, Harry,” Remus reminded him. “That is a major accomplishment by any standards. I think that’s it for today. Same time on Friday?”

When they said their good-byes, Harry made the slow march back to Hogwarts castle, all the while practicing at Apparation. He continually cast out his mind ahead of him, finding a spot he knew existed just beyond his vision, and when his mind found it, he could see exactly what was happening.

In his mind he could see Dervish and Banges, and watched as an old wizard sat outside the music shop, carving a stylish flute out of wood. He snapped his mind back, and sure enough when he physically passed the shop, the same old wizard was still there, still carving the same flute.

As he kept practicing, he soon came to realize that he was approaching the Hogwarts gates. He knew he would no longer be able to practice once he was back on the Hogwarts grounds. He stood outside the gates for a moment, curiosity nipping at the back of his mind as it so often did.

Was it possible that he could Apparate around the school grounds? The lake, perhaps? Or even the Forbidden Forest? He closed his eyes and envisioned the school grounds, from the lake to the forest, to the Quidditch pitch. He searched and searched, realizing that he could not see the Quidditch stadium, or even the lake where the giant squid lived. His mind was open to only one part of the grounds. One man appeared in his mind, his towering, overgrown form making his way towards the Forbidden Forest, carrying what appeared to be three large burlap sacks in his arms.

Harry’s mind followed Hagrid into the Forest, and he watched with keen wonder until Hagrid suddenly disappeared. For a short and disappointing instant, Harry thought the reason he could no longer see Hagrid was because he had traveled too far into the woods, and perhaps there were certain parts of the Forest where one couldn’t Apparate to. But then his logic kicked in. His mind couldn’t possibly have been blocked, because he could still see the trees and plants where Hagrid had once been standing. Another thought occurred to him--one that made even less sense than his first assumption. It was as though Hagrid had literally vanished into thin air. Could he have Apparated?

Harry’s question remained unanswered as he decisively made his way past the gates and towards the Forbidden Forest. And again, the logical voice in his head reminded him that Hagrid was not a fully trained wizard, and therefore was unable to Apparate. What other explanation could there be?

Even with the brilliant sun shining down on Hogwarts’ grounds, the Forest had a terrifying aspect to it that still made Harry feel uneasy to that very day, no matter how many other times he had entered the foreboding woods. He had seen far too much in these woods not to know better. He kept his hand steady on his wand, which was hidden in his robes.

He was approaching the clearing where Hagrid had vanished, and Harry slowed his pace, peeling his eyes for any clue as to where Hagrid had disappeared. He stepped forward, his left hand slightly stretched out, and to his amazement and horror, the hand vanished! Yet he felt a strange familiarity at this revelation, and he stretched out his other hand, which also vanished. Taking a daring plunge-- his heart pounding-- he took two full steps and watched his whole body miraculously disappear, before pulling his head afterwards.

And what he saw then made him lose his voice and any coherent thought. He saw Hagrid, whose back was turned to him. The half-giant seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Harry had discovered his hideout. The large burlap sacks Harry had seen Hagrid carrying into the forest now sat to the side on the grassy ground, while Hagrid stood in front of a giant-sized cage humming jovially to--

Harry stumbled backwards, hardly able to believe it! It just couldn't be, he thought frantically. Harry reappeared in the forest. He raced through the trees, jumping over jutting roots and strewn about rocks, and up to the castle, through the oaken doors and before he had reached Gryffindor tower, he heard two familiar voices shouting for his attention.

He spun around and saw Ron and Hermione approaching him. Hermione had a pile of books in her hands and an empty-looking book bag thrown over her shoulder.

“Hey, mate,” greeted Ron, frowning curiously.

Harry stopped for a moment to catch his breath, all thoughts of what he had seen in the forest dwindling away for the time being.

“Why are you carrying your books?” he asked Hermione, not realizing the complete unimportance of this question.

“It’s easier this way,” Hermione told him, brushing away the observation with the wave of her free hand. “Did you run all the way here from Hogsmeade, Harry?”

“Then why are you carrying a book bag?” Harry asked.

“To look cool, of course,” Hermione replied. “Now--what’s happened? You’re all sweaty--“

Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, turning sober. “I need you both to come with me now. There’s something I have got to show you.”