Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 661 The Course in Transformation

Because Harry's request for Horace Slughorn to teach him Occlumency failed, he still had to endure Snape's sarcastic remarks and harassment every Saturday night.

What frustrated Harry even more was that, despite Snape's sarcastic remarks, his own Defense Against Brains skills remained unchanged.

Harry couldn't even conjure up a very simple image in his mind.

Soon, when February arrived, the ice and snow around Hogwarts began to melt, replaced by cold, gloomy, and rainy days.

Lead-gray clouds hung low over the castle, and cold rain poured down incessantly, turning the lawns muddy and slippery.

This resulted in the cancellation of the first Apparition class for sixth graders, which was originally scheduled for Saturday morning, and the class was instead moved to the lobby.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived at the Great Hall, they found that all the tables inside were gone. Heavy rain was pounding against the high glass windows, darkening the enchanted ceiling and making a dull, clanging sound.

Professor McGonagall, Snape, Flake, Tyrell, Spielberg, and a diminutive Apparition professor whom Harry had once met at the Ministry of Magic stood at the very front of the Great Hall—

He looked quite strange, with translucent eyelashes, fine hair, and a frail body that seemed as if a gust of wind could blow him away.

Harry wondered if disappearing and then reappearing had reduced his physical mass, or if this frail physique was actually ideal for disappearing.

"Good morning!" The wizard from the government greeted the young wizards gathered in the hall, and all the students fell silent instantly.

"Hello everyone, my name is Taureans, and I will be teaching you Apparition for the next twelve weeks. I hope you will all pass the Apparition Test this time—"

"Students, please be quiet and concentrate!" Professor McGonagall snapped.

Professor McGonagall's reprimand silenced the whispering wizards in the Great Hall.

“I hope you all do well in the upcoming exams,” Taureans continued, as if she had never been interrupted.

“As you all know, you normally cannot Apparate at Hogwarts. But the Headmaster is making an exception today—limited to this Great Hall. You will have one hour to practice Apparate. Should I emphasize that it would be absolutely unwise for you to try to Apparate outside of Hogwarts?”

“I want each of you to adjust your positions right now and make sure there is at least 5 feet of open space in front of you.”

People started moving. Of course, there were bound to be some bumps and squabbles, with everyone wanting to be at the front. This kept the four deans quite busy.

“Thank you,” Taureans said, “Now…”

He waved his wand, and an old-fashioned wooden ring immediately appeared in front of each student.

“It’s very important to remember to count to three times: destination—” Taureans said! “Destination, destination, destination!”

“The first step: focus your mind on where you want to go,” Taurean said. “For example, in your wooden rings, now gently focus your mind on your destination.”

Everyone was secretly glancing around to see how others were staring at their wooden rings, and hurriedly doing as they were told.

Harry stared at the ring on the dusty floor, trying hard not to think about anything, but it was futile. He felt that thoughts and images would suddenly and inexplicably pop into his mind. "Step two," Taucorous continued, "Focus on occupying the space! Think of entering it with every cell in your body!"

Harry glanced around furtively. Not far to his left, Enoch was staring intently at his ring, his face flushed red, looking like a magnified, distorted egg.

Harry chuckled to himself, then immediately turned back to look at his ring.

“The third step,” Taureans said, “is to stand at that point when I give the command, and feel yourself begin to move. Listen to my command, now… one.”

Harry peeked around again, while most of the people nervously prepared to teleport away immediately.

Harry focused his attention back on his ring; he had forgotten why there were three destinations.
"three!"

Harry started spinning at that point, losing his balance and nearly falling. But he wasn't the only one who lost his balance and almost fell—

Suddenly, the entire hall was filled with staggering people. Neville fell flat on his back; on the other side, Enor looked trembling as he spun on his toes in his ring until he noticed Dan laughing at him.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” Tao Keruos said calmly. “Nothing unexpected happened. Please go back to your original positions and adjust your rings.”

The second time wasn't any better than the first. The third time seemed worse, and the fourth time brought no excitement either.

The hall was filled with agonizing screams; everyone looked terrified, with Susan from Hufflepuff College screaming the loudest—

Her body was shaking violently and painfully inside the ring, her left leg still five feet away from where she started.

Tierra was the first to react, raising her hand and waving at Susan—

Susan was like a mosquito trapped in amber, frozen in mid-air.

Tiye stretched out his hand, as if he were pulling backward.

Susan's limbs and legs began to recede backward, returning to the state before Susan Apparated—

When she was still whole.

“Thank you, Professor Tierra,” Taukorous said emotionlessly. “Any part of your body that has separated is because your will was not strong enough. You must keep your mind focused on your destination and move without hesitation, but with careful consideration… that’s how it will work.”

Tao Corus took two steps forward, gracefully turned around, extended her arm, and disappeared into the slight swirling motion created by her robes, reappearing at the back of the hall—

“Remember the three Ds! Purpose, determination, and deliberation!” he said. “Alright, students, please try again… One—two—three—”

—But an hour later, Susan’s accident was still the most interesting one that had happened.

Taureans didn't seem discouraged; clearly, he didn't expect anyone to master Apparition on their first attempt. He fastened his cloak and simply said, "See you next Saturday. Don't forget your purpose, your determination, and your careful consideration."

(End of this chapter)