As she grumpily made her way up the millions of death traps stairs, the Slytherin girl put her hair up in a ponytail and fixed the badge on her clothes, staring at everyone she walked by. Why couldn't these lessons be on the grounds? She would almost prefer the cold air from outside then walking up to the divination tower. Lazy, yes.

Not only did they have to climb a million stairs though, they had to climb a ladder to get to the classroom as well. What was up with that? It never did get less annoying. Nevertheless, she made her way into the classroom, only to be pleasantly surprised that Mr. Department Dude wasn't there. Huh...had they scared him off? "Good day." she greeted with a smile as usual before making her way to a desk near the side of the room.

Vashti...was a little nervous for the second Apparition lesson. Were they actually going to be practicing Apparating this time? She couldn't remember whether that was said in the last lesson or not. But either way, she was still nervous.

As she entered the room, she noticed that it hadn't appeared to have changed much - not that she'd really memorized the layout of the room or anything - and one of the people who was there last time was there. The only new addition to the room was the blonde with the coffee. Sure smelled nice... But enough of the coffee.

"Hello," Vashti greeted the two women with a smile. She then took a seat, wondering why exactly she was one of the first ones here.

She hadn't really been very active in teaching the first lesson, but Armen had seemed to handle it well on his own. The students had been mostly polite, which was good. But she knew she couldn't put off actually returning Hogwarts for that much longer. Though upon entering the grounds, she did linger in the corridors for far longer than she should have, meaning Katrina had already gone ahead of her to set up the classroom. It'd been less time since the blond had been in these halls, rather than she, after all. For her, it'd been over fifteen years.

Once she lingered enough, she made the familiar walk up to the towers. Not to the Gryffindor Tower though, which had been most familiar with, but up to the Divination one... that the Headmaster had been most kind as to let them use. Up the ladder .... and into the room, where, as she suspected, Katrina had been waiting.

Taking a seat near the front, facing the class, she nodded as the students filtered in . . .

Mia made her way into the Divination classroom literally dragging her feet, huffing and puffing very loudly. Had she mentioned how much she hated having to climb all those bloody stairs?

Not only did she have to walk up thousands of stairs but she'd also had to climb a ladder which she had managed to almost fall off because her foot had slipped off one of the rungs.

Why did they have to have these lessons up here?

No, seriously. Why?

She threw the instructor women a small smile as she passed them by. "Hello..." Er what was she supposed to call them? Eh...the greeting will do. Mia spotted Evelyn and she made her way over to her. "How's it going HeadGirl?"

Sam walked, or climbed into the classroom. He was very interested in what the next apparition lesson was all about. He found a seat and sat there quietly. He did see that there was an instructor he didn't recognize but he figured it didn't matter. He sat and waited for one of the instructors to tell him what to do.

Josh knew he had been kicked out during the previous Apparition lesson yet he knew he needed to learn this so...well...yes, he was out the Gryffindor Tower to participate in the second one. If that Borr-lover man would kick him out again, so be it. The Gryffindor was going to try his chance.

Once he arrived to the Divination Tower, the lion boy stopped and looked up the ladder trying to guess who could be standing there in the classroom. Probably that annoying man, the woman that never spoke and his classmates with maybe some sixth years. He knew very well that Evelyn was there too.

Taking a deep breath, he started to climb up the ladder and once he was in the classroom, he just...stared around. Eh...it looked like there were less people than he guessed there would be and the best of all, that Borr loving annoying man was not present. It direclty meant he could join the class then.

''Hey.'' he greeted everyone in the classroom in general, teachers and students, before going to occupy a seat in a dark corner.

Glancing over at her young colleague, Katherine looked back at the students. Weren't there more seventh years than this? She was sure she heard something about there being a LARGE class of seventh years this year. Perhaps Armen had terrified them during the first lesson enough to make them not want to return.... but honestly, they had two beautiful young woman teaching them this lesson. Armen was back in London, doing Merlin knew what ... for Berty Borr.

Well, if they wanted to show up late, that was fine with her. Not like she could dock points and it would be their loss of information, not hers.

Standing up, she smiled slightly self-consciously.... "Right, I guess we'll just get started, as it seems some of your classmates have forgotten where we're holding Apparition lessons this year." Traditionally it was in the Great Hall, but with the move of Divination down to the ground level, this was better up in the tower, out of the way. "So in the first lesson, you discussed much about magical transportation, but didn't get into a whole lot on Apparition. Before we discuss some of the theory behind it, can I get some feedback about some of your preconceived notions about what Apparition is?"

This obviously was the only good seat in this divination room, hence why she was sitting here. Near the window where there was a distraction if needed to be. However, since there was no sign of Mr. Ministry dude, there might not need to be a distraction. Smiling at Mia, the Slytherin shrugged her shoulders a little as an answer to her question. Eh. That's how it was going.

Actually, having focused on Mia, Evelyn hadn't noticed Josh enter the room, nor the fact that he was sitting in a dark corner. What she did notice though was that quiet Lady from the previous lesson wasn't so quiet anymore.

Preconceived notions? What in the world? Since no one else was speaking up though, the Slytherin girl grumbled in her mind before raising her hand. "A fast yet potentially harmful way to travel?" Obviously.

Shivering TJ raised her hand as well "A scary way due to either total blackness or being splinched." Ugh, neither way sounded like a whole lot of fun!"

Was she...the only sixth year here? Where were the rest of them - not to mention the seventh years? She could've sworn there were a lot more present last time. Was it because of that Ministry guy - she'd forgotten his name - that only a few had shown up this time? Hmm.

A question? About their "preconceived notions" of Apparition. Vashti raised her hand. "That it's dangerous. Or at least it can be if you don't focus completely." It all came back to Splinching with her. She did NOT want that to happen to her. Ever.

Jaxon looked up and raised his hand. He cleared his throat and slowly but clearly spoke.

"Apparition is a way of Transportation that is quick and dangerous is performed poorly" he paused. "If you are not focused correctly you could suffer from splinching or some other body parts being left behind." he then cleared his throat and sighed.

Preconceived notions? Salander wasnt sure what that was but this one he knew very well "First time I did any kind of apparating-- it was a side along a few terms back at COMC class-- I ended up seeing my breakfast again." Yes it was gross, and it wasnt anywhere near as pleasant as the first time he saw his breakfast.

Well that was quite ... unsurprising, seeing the Head Girl speak up first; clearly the girl wasn't picked to be Head Girl for her looks, but rather for her ability to fearlessly speak out loud in a lesson. Admirable trait. The girl would do well in the Ministry, no doubt.

"Harmful, if you don't know what you're doing." But of course, she did and she would show them what to do too. That was her job after all. "But actually, Apparition does tend to be relatively safe..." Compared to - shutter - magic carpets. Or portkeys. Merlin only knew where those would lead you.

"It's not too terrible though. Because at least with apparition, you know where you're going..." that was part of the process anyway.

"This I'll take. It's dangerous, without focus." Katherine nodded at the brunette. It was one of the few methods of magical transportation where lack of focus COULD harm you.

"The only way it might be dangerous or performed poorly is by, as you said, not focused correctly," Kat informed the class. "Focus is basically everything with regards to Apparition."

"Side along apparition is actually many people's first experiences with apparition." Kat nodded. "But as the name suggests, you're on the sidelines. You're not in control. It's different when it's YOU who has to do the focusing, versus someone else." Besides, side along was actually a lot like using a portkey in her mind; you went along for the dizzying ride, without any idea about where you were headed.


Time to move along though. Glancing back toward Katrina to make sure the young woman didn't have anything she wished to add, she turned back toward the students again. "So when it comes to apparition, it's not dangerous at all, unless you lack focus. But what is it you're trying to focus on? That, my dears, is simple enough. With Apparition, you have your three D's that are important to remember whilst Apparating .... Has anyone heard or read about the three D's of Apparition and would like to share one of them out loud?"

That was easy for her to say TJ thought silently to herself. She probably wasn't afraid of being splinched! Well obviously one of the D's had to be destination, TJ figured and Raised her hand "Destination?"

She was seriously beginning to wish she'd just had her brothers teach her...'least then she wouldn't feel so foolish being afraid of apparition!

Oh, yes, Treyen remembered that trip to that museum that Salander was referring to. Back when Saylen was still around. It felt like ages ago, even if it was around two years, though.

He missed Saylen. She wasn't the nicest one, until the end came and he gained Aslan.

Oh, focus. That was the one thing he might get in trouble with...probably.

As soon as he heard some Slytherin girl saying 'Destination' he realized there were only two left...and there was ONE of those D's that matched Saylen, yes? "Determination." He said, after having raised his hand.

Not dangerous at all. Right. Sure. Vashti still thought it was, focus or not, and she wasn't changing her mind.

But anyway, they were talking about the Three D's? She'd heard of and/or read about those once...but it wasn't until one of the seventh years mentioned the first one that Vashti actually remembered them. Destination, Determination... Hmm? Was that Treyen? Had he been here the whole time? Merlin, how'd she miss that? But anyway, the third one was... "Deliberation," she said after raising her hand.

Ah ... one from each house had spoken up... almost. Except for the one missing house was her former house. But these kids had read up about Apparition, which was a good start! "Yes, the three D's are, as you've so kindly learned, Destination, Determination, and Deliberation." Katherine said, continuing on with her lesson. Rubbing her temple absently with her index finger, as she collected her thoughts with the lesson, she then went over and collected several hoops from the side of the room.

"Right then, everyone stand up. Since sitting down is not very good for focusing. Stretch a little, whilst I move your desks to the side of the room and set up." She instructed. Though she could probably apparate whilst sitting nowadays, as she'd been doing it for so long. But anyway, do it. Move. "While you're stretching, thinking about the dangers of apparating again. What could go wrong? Is it fixable?"

Standing up as the professor instructed she stretched her arms up over her head standing up onto her tiptoes and came back down. Well the professor had said to stretch! Oh no...ohnonononononono she didn't want to think of those dangers! And now they were going to talk about them? Where there more dangers then just splinching? Or landing on someone, or....dying?

Biting her lip she whispered "Splinching...and most of the time yes you can reverse it."

Taking a mental note of the three D's, for the millionth time, the Slytherin stood up, excited to see those hoops which could possibly mean they were going to try apparating, but a little confused on the whole 'stretching a little' instructions. What exactly were they supposed to stretch? She never read anything about stretching. She never saw Destiny's grandmother stretch before apparating before either.

But after someone mentioned splinching, Evelyn immediately started stretching. For the love of Merlin...being splinched was not on her 'to do' list. What was more dangerous than that? "Could possibly land somewhere dangerous." she muttered, thinking of the possible locations. Could land in a beast infested lake. Or in a fire. Or...GASP...a chocolate factory.

Shudder.

As the students slowly began to rise from their seats, Katherine used a quick flick of her wand to have the desks moved to the side of the room... out of the way...

Laying a few hoops scattered about the room, she nodded as someone mentioned splinching. "Yes, splinching is definitely one of the most common mistakes. Especially for young apparaters." Inexperienced. "But the good news is that its generally fixable." There was always the rare circumstance.....

Why did the Head Girl seem so reluctant to stretch? Did she not see the point? "The stretching is just because you've been sitting awhile..." You know. FYI and stuff. Nothing to do with pre-apparition. But it did tend to relax the mind, which was good.

Ah, good, the girl was thinking outside the box; a trait that she was sure the Ministry would find useful. "Yes... that is definitely a possibility! You could end up apparating into a dangerous situation! Or ... possibly with muggles nearby and risk exposing our world." Though her family was used to strange things when it came to her. But that was a different situation all together. It wasn't just random muggles who were clueless about the wizarding world; it was muggles who were her family.

"Now before we begin with our practicing... can anyone tell me one potential problem there might be when it comes to you all apparating here..." It was obvious enough, but how many of them really knew the laws of their home for the past six or seven years?

Oh Merlin...this was it. They were going to try Apparating in just a few minutes.

This was too soon. Really. She couldn't do this. She would probably be the one who ended up Splinching herself and looking like a fool and being scarred for life. Dear Merlin, help her.

After stretching a little nervously, too nervous to actually answer that question about the dangers because she was already worrying about them, Vashti took a deep breath as yet another question was asked. She raised her hand rather quickly. "You can't Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts or on the Hogwarts grounds." So...did that mean they wouldn't have to do this today? Yes? Please?

She was about to speak up again, since most of the students in the room, well the few there were hadn't really been answering any yet. Relieved when the younger Ravenclaw girl answered, TJ just stood there with her mouth closed staring at those hoops. She was definitely not looking forward to this!

They were nervous. Katherine was sure of it. But she also knew they were smart; the theoretical parts of Apparition for instance, they understood.

"Precisely right!" So how on Earth were they going to attempt to apparate then? "That's why we've been able to take down the anti-apparition charm on the Divination Tower. So you won't be able to apparate anyplace unsafe, but pretty much anyplace within this room..." Katherine explained, and as an example she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Disappearing from her spot near the front of the room, she appeared a moment later in the hoop closest to her.

"See. Only within this room. If you don't get it right on the first try, then that's okay," Kat acknowledged. "You don't even have to try this time. There will be an opportunity to try again next week, before you take sit for your Apparition exam. However, if you do apparate, I want you to keep the Three D's in mind. Focus. Relax. Imagine yourselves in the hoop closest to you. Take turns. Any questions, go ahead and ask me or Miss Rayne here...." she said, indicating to the quiet blond who would be working with them more next time.

Looking up from the hoop nearest her as the woman spoke again, she watched as she apparated into the hoop. Taking a deep breath TJ closed her eyes trying to relax. Were they supposed to start then? Opening her eyes she looked around at the other students in the room. Destination, Determination, Deliberation she said over and over again in her head. Her dad had said she needed to clear all thoughts from her mind too...but she was supposed to focus on those 3 D's...? How could you focus on them and clear your mind at the same time???

Destination...the hoop. Determination...was she determined? Yes, she didn't want to splinch she was determined to get all of her self and body parts into that hoop in one piece! Deliberation...to do it purposefully without hesitation....

"What do you do first?" she asked raising her hand, "After you concentrate on the 3 D's, I mean. Or if you just focus on that spot will you just appear there?" That didn't seem right...didn't you like have to do something first?