In a room just off of the Great Hall, much like the one that was used for the meetings of the Deuling Club, a room has appeared that will be used for the term's Apparition lessons. A sign on the door tells anyone that the first lesson is about to be begin and to come on and join.

Once you walk in you will see a larger classroom than one would have expected with rows of desks set up like any other room for lessons. This was an introductory lesson after all. At the front of the room Inez Grey, the Department Head of Magical Transportation stood in front of the board in her black frilly blouse and grey pencil skirt.

OCC: Remember these lessons are for 6th and 7th years only. Your posts will be removed if you are not one of the older ones. Younger students don't worry you will get your chance to rp in them soon enough.

Selena skipped around, quite happy to be able to take the class... at last. She would be able to pop into places and stuff like that, and it seemed like FUN. A lot of fun, that is - she wouldn't need to pester her cousin for things like that anymore and be able to do it herself. Selena hummed a happy tune, skipping towards the room where the lesson would be held. She looked at the door, read the note, and walked inside because lessons were going to begin... like... now.

"Heeellllooooo!!!" Selena exclaimed, beaming at the woman at the front of the room, before sitting at one of the desks near the front.

So she could LEARN about Apparition and things like that. She wanted to POP everywhere. Yup. With a LOUD sound, because it seemed like fun. She looked at the parchment on her desk. Were they taking notes? Well, it said to write the standard information down so that was what Selena did. She pulled out a quill and wrote on her parchment.

APPARITION!!!! APPARITION!!!! APPARITION!!!!

Ellie BOUNCED into the room. In all seriousness, she's NEVER EVER NEVER been more excited to attend a lesson. Not even one of Little Professor's. He was never able to teach her to APPARATE. She FINALLY got to it. That milestone rite of passage that she's been WAITING for for FOREVER!!!

Her BOUNCING faltered when she entered the room, for it was NOTHING like she expected. There were THINGS in there. Like..... DESKS?!!!!?!?!?! Who ever heard of learning to apparate while sitting in a DESK. The girl expected pillows and taped lines and EMPTY SPACE.

However, lack of Apparition room wasn't going to crush her spirits. So she immediately went back to BOUNCING and BOUNCED into a seat. A FRONT ROW seat, at that, and filled out her parchment.

Apparition class...

Whoah! Time flew by this fast? Last term he barely couldn't wait to enter the class and now, he's entering this class. Jonathan felt happy when he saw the notice for the apparition class. He's may not have the license yet since he is still underage but he'll be seventeen.... soon enough. And then he can get his license.

Jonathan walked over to the Great Hall and entered a classroom. Not many students were there yet but the students he saw were familiar. Jonathan took a seat somewhere in front, Jonathan is more than excited to learn about this.

In front is a lady, "Good day ma'am" he said smiling to her. Jonathan then sat down and saw a parchment ready in each desk. He took the quill and started writing his name, year and house:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parchment

Name: Jonathan Kim
Year: Sixth (6th)
House: Slytherin

Appa-rition...

Adam walked into the area nervously. The mere fact that he could possibly perform similar acts of 'vanishing an reappearing' maybe with a few lessons scared the living day lights out of him. Sure, it sounded fun, not only to be a wizard or witch in the first place, but to almost have superhero powers an disappear in an instant.

But the fact that he was there, ready to take the lesson only signified two things. Time went by fast over the past few years an two Adam only had this year an next year an he would be out of Hogwarts an into the real world.

Name: Adam Burn
Year: 6th Year
House: Gryffindor

Aaron ran into the hall, soon he'd be allowed to Apparate, if all went well.
He sat down at the first table he found and stretched his legs out.
It was even better that he was allowed to do this right after he'd turned 17, hopefully he'd be able to apparate sooner than Shay.

He took the parchment and wrote down his name an what not.
Aaron Roberts
Sixth year
Hufflepuff
Sooo... When would they start actually apparating?

"Good day to you both. It's good to see eager people ready to learn how to Apparate." Inez chirped excitedly. She was really hopeful that the students would enjoy the lessons. If they thought she was as entertaining as her son Nathan thought she was, they would be in business.

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"We will give a few more minutes to let stragglers join us before we begin, ok?" She said with a smile once more. Dealing with children was much different than her employees at the Ministry, smiles were a must!

Hopefully more students would show up. She had heard that the upper class students were a low number this term.

Keefer was super stoked for Apparition Lessons. He bounced into the Hall and pushed open the door. Ah yes, name tags were a must when dealing with the Ministry.

He smiled at the instructor. "Good morning."

Apparition classes?

Emma had thought originally that the classes were only for Seventh Years but when she was checking the Slytherin Notice Board, she noticed that Sixth years were allowed to go to. And once she saw this, Emma had run up the stairs as fast as she could without knocking over any first years who seemed to be lost and entered the classroom. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at the Ministry woman who would be teaching them apparition. Emma was relieved that she wasn't late. "Hello!" she greeted with a happy grin, once she saw that the class hadn't stared yet.

After saying hello to the woman, she headed over to the parchment, picked up the quill, and wrote her name below.

After doing this, she beamed once she saw Selena was there and stood next to her best friend. "Hey!" she said to other students who were there, greeting them with a friendly smile. She wondered if Maddie would come to this class because she was supposably back at Hogwarts or that's what she had heard form some other students.

Presley wasn't allowed in here. Well, not that she wasn't allowed in the room, just that she wasn't allowed to learn the lesson. She was only thirteen. But that's not why she was here. She had to pop her head into the room because her brother's boss taught the class. Leo worked with brooms, so the chance was slim that he would be here, but Presley had to check anyway. Leo hadn't sent her a letter in two weeks, which might mean he was busy, or that he was planning to surprise her? She without stepping into the room Presley peeked her head around the corned. Not many people were there, but she did spot Miss Grey, and no Leo. Feeling slightly dissapointed, the small girl pulled her head back out of the door, and continued down the hall as if she actually had something to do in that direction.

India entered the room yeah she was the unlucky girl whose birthday was right before the start of term. So she hadn't had time to go to the classes the year prior - because she really couldn't and now even though she was seventeen. It would be better to take the class rather than not to right? At least she could aparate then right?

Looking at her watch, Inez decided it was time to go ahead and begin the lesson now that a few more students had arrived to their little hiding-place classroom. Walking over to the door she shut it quietly and then turned to look at the small hodgepodge of students gathered before her.

"Welcome everyone to your first Apparition Lesson of the term. I am Inez Grey, Department Head of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic." She said proudly, tapping her wand into the palm of her other hand as she spoke. "Now each of you all should be very excited and thankful that you all are permitted to be here because of your experience and maturity as sixth and seventh year level students and I am equally excited for you. I remember when I recieved my Apparition license..." she said with a small smile and glassy eyes. It had been a nice summer back in America..oh she was teaching; no day-dreaming.

"Anyways as the board behind me shows," she stepped to the side and tapped the surface with her wand and the words bolded further. "Our first lesson will be centered around the beginnings and basics of ALL common modes of Transportation, for you can't expect to be allowed to Apparate from one place to another without at least having a basic knowledge of other modes."

"So let us start with something about as basic as we can get: Who can tell me what the four main modes of Magical Transportation we use here in Great Britain?"

OCC: The lesson has now started, please do NOT announce yourself arriving late and if you decide to join, just post yourself as already being there!

Aaron stared at the board behind the woman, hoping it'd say when they'd start actually Apparating. With his luck it'd be some time next year...
But he woooould pay attention, Aaron decided and listened to every word the lady said. Bummer, nothing but basic knowledge the first lesson.

Still, Aaron raised his hand, he was pretty sure he knew a biiiit.
'Ehm... Portkeys, Floo-network, Apparition and.... does the Knight Bus count?' He was a Muggle-born after all, all he ever used were bikes.

Oh....that was WICKED disappointing. She only wanted to Apparate. Not learn about how to NOT Apparate. She'd traveled other ways before, why were they going to bother learning about that. It made no sense to the girl.

But....four main modes....there were four? Well, "Flying," OBVIOUSLY was one, "Floo, Portkey, and Apparating." That was four, yes? And they seemed main to Ellie. They were the only ways she'd ever traveled, at least.

Isabelle smiled at the women. She had taken these classes last year, but had unfortunately fallen sick on the day that she was to take the practical portion of them exam. Therefore she was forced to do this all over again. But, that didn't matter. It would still help her when it came to taking the test this year.

Ummm...okay why did they need to know the four branches of magical transportation? This was an apparition class wasn't it. She didn't go to the wrong room. But Izzy still raised her hand. "The four branches are Portkeys, Floo-Network, Brooms or Flying Transportation, and Apparition," she said with a smile on her face.

The four forms of transportation around Great Britain. "Flying, Apparating, Floo Network an Portkeys. But none of them are more safe than the other. They're all equal in safety.." After he gave his answer he counted off his fingers remembering all the four words he had said, yes, four. Adam had gotten all of them, from what he said.

No Apparition today? Well, not that he would've been able to do it on the first try. But they weren't going to even attempt it? Disappointing.

He tried to still have a good attitude. He raised both hands in preparation to answer. "Ma'am, there is Apparition, the Floo Network, Brooms, and Portkeys. Which one you use depends on how far you're going and how old you are, as well as the nature of your trip."

Portkeys were a pain, because you had to get them authorized. So official business, but otherwise superfluous. Apparition is definitely best for everyday use if you can do it, he decided.

Selena grinned at her friend, about to reply before she turned to hear the professor start speaking. LESSONS WERE STARTING! They were going to learn how to pop LOUDLY and get to places like... sound. Yup, that had to be it. Wizards and Witches turned into sound when they disappeared and reappeared through the- right. Back on track.



Selena swung her legs back and forth as she played with her quill... and listened to the lady speak of course. Apparently, the lady was the Department Head, odd. Selena had never met a department head before but she did know her cousin worked in the department. Selena continued to swing her legs back and forth as the professo- erh... department head started to reminisce about something that was OBVIOUSLY sad and touching... because she had that glassy eye effect people could see in sad moving picture movie thingies.

She peered around the lady and looked at the bolded words. BIG bolded words. Basics? Selena had been looking forward to turning into sound and appearing in places... apparently, the department head had a different plan.

But...

She did know the answer. Selena waved her hand in the air and said, "Miss Department Head Grey!! The four modes of transportation are... flooing through fireplaces, apparition, flying on death sticks, and portkeys," Selena said proudly.

Yup. That was it.

Inez Grey, Department Head of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic, doesn't really seem familiar but really, Jonathan hasn't been in the ministry once and his father doesn't talk about it that much too, since he is also new.

Jonathan smiled as the first lesson had begun. He listened to her talking about apparition license and what not. Brief stuff about it just to boost up the class with some small and simple introductory about it.

And the first question is: four main modes of Magical Transportation we use here in Great Britain.

Jonathan raised his hand to answer "Flying is one" which is probably the most commonly used right? Everyone owns a broomstick.... right? RIGHT? "uhhmmm... Apparition " which is what they'll be learning right now. "Portkey and the floo network" Jonathan hasn't tried the floo network yet though.

India sat there nervous every had said everything already but she needed to pipe up or she'd never get her apparation certificate now would she? Raising her hand she looked over to Magical Transportation Department Head Inez Grey and finnally piped up with an answer. "There are flying on brooms or other flying devices such as charmed flying carpets - though brooms are more common, there are portkey's, the floo network, and apparation." She smiled. Of course there was apparation that was what they were all here today to learn about.

Oh good, they majority of them all seemed to understand that Apparition wasn't the only form of Magical Transportation available to witches and wizards in these modern times. They would make decent adults upon graduation if they kept it up.

Inez was proud.

"Aha," She knew someone would mention these. "Miss Johanson here has named one of the the other flying modes of transportation that may be used around the world, however here in Great Britain, flying carpets are deemed illegal. We will talk more about this later." Inez said with a small smile at the Ravenclaw girl.
"The Knight Bus is a commonly used mode of transport for the British wizarding community but it would fall into the 'special' category of Muggle-converted transportation systems along with the Hogwarts Express. But that may be touched on later aswell." It was good that they knew of some others forms besides just the norm.

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"You all were correct! The four main branches of Magical Transportation are Apparition, Floo Fireplaces, Broomsticks, and Portkeys and those are the ones that my department in the Ministry work to regulate and patrol." It was a lot of paper work and checking in with people but it was definately exciting work. "And as a few of you stated each of them are just as important and exciting as the other." Special emphasis on the exciting part. Just because they weren't apparating this lesson didn't mean they wouldn't have fun.

Hmm now where shall they go next?

Before she was going to trudge on any further, the department head was a tad bit bothered by the sad expression the students all seemed to be sporting and she guessed it was for the reason she had assumed would be true when writing up the lesson. She reached into the desk that was for her to use and produced a large box of candies. Inez then walked down the aisle and handed them each a chocolate frog for their correct answers.

There candy made kids happier right?

"Let's see, because Miss. Johanson and Mr. Roberts have brought the focus onto forms of transport you can ride, we will begin with brooms. Brooms were first seen being used for a mode of transportation way back in A.D. 963. People of the time decided that flying was by far the fastest way to get from one place to another." She nodded and continued to pace infront of the class.

"Mind, this was before the establishment of the International Statute of Secrecy so this posed a problem for these early magical folk. How would they keep their flying secret from the Muggles? That was when it was decided that broomsticks would be used. They were a common item in the home and wouldn't raise any suspision."

Inez held up a large photograph to show the class:

"How have brooms changed since the past? What all features have been added?"

As much as Ellie LOVED brooms and flying and stuff, she was pretty sure she wasn't in Vindictus' lesson. She wanted to APPARATE. Not talk about...

CHOCOLATE.

It was all good, basically. She could talk about broomsticks for hours, sure. As long as she had candy. Heh.

"They've been given cushioning charms, for one," she said, unwrapping the frog. "And foot rests. Racing brooms are made sleeker and more aerodynamic. Well, they all are compared to the dinosaur days when brooms were first made to fly, but racing brooms especially so they can go faster when you play Quidditch." And despite WHY brooms were made in the FIRST place, their primary use was TOTALLY for Quidditch. Totally. "And they can turn better."

And that was all the girl had to say about that. So she bit one of the frog's back legs off.

Chocolate? Well, that would certainly cheer him up after the whole lack of Apparating thing. Maybe that was her intention.. He pondered this and decided that if that was the case, she was to be applauded for her foresight. Maybe she has some Seer blood in her! Or she just wasn't dumb. One of the two.

Ah yes, brooms. Keefer was extremely happy that there had been several modifications since their inception. He raised his hand to reply. "Ma'am, brooms have changed a lot. They have been made more lightweight and aerodynamic by changes to the materials used. The spells used to enchant them are far more numerous and sophisticated, including protection against Dark Magic. The Cushioning Charm is an obvious bonus as well." And one he was sincerely thankful for every time he rode a broom. "The basic design of the broomstick is the same, but racing models will go to the extent of tailoring every twig, every contour of the handle to exact specifications for optimum speed." Like the Firebolt series, which was the first to do so.

He still wasn't sure how this knowledge would help him Apparate, but he couldn't very well complain. Nor could he just walk out in the middle of a lesson. Besides, she may be right and this information will prove useful for Apparition. But all things considered, he doubted it would.

Chocolate frog for getting a question right? Selena liked this. A lot. She wondered if the profes- department head would mind if she ate it now. Probably not since the woman HAD given them the chocolate. Grinning to herself, she opened the box, quickly froze the little hoppy froggie and stuffed it into her mouth. She chewed on it happily as she listened to the professor continue to speak.

Had the people also realized flying was by far the most dangerous way of getting from one place to another as well?! Obviously not. Selena continued to chew on the chocolate, allowing the thingy to melt in her mouth.

She stopped midchew at the sight of the black and white photograph. How had they changed? Selena had absolutely no idea. "I know they're still broom-y and dangerous!" Selena offered. "And apparently faster, so it's more dangerous... and deadly... and stuff," Selena said, through a mouth full of chocolate. Finishing off the chocolate frog, Selena took out a tissue and wiped her mouth.

Chocolate was good.

India loved the idea chocolate frogs and candies to award correct answers. However the smile was far better. She liked smiles. Smiles meant you said something smart, or brought up a good point - and being the studious little Ravenclaw she was, well. She just loved doing that.

She listened to some of the answers and tried to think what had been added to brooms to make them better, stronger, or safer than they used to be. And maybe, slightly more conspicuous than they had been when Flying a broom would most likely mean you'd be burnt at the stake.

She wasn't a fan of brooms at all really but she'd give it a go. Politely raising her hand once more, as she was kind of a stickler for manners herself. She answered. "Well there are charms on some brooms so that when you fly over muggles the broom and its rider are disillusioned and become more transparent, you aren't exactly invisible but neither you or the brook look like you are there. Still, its not a strong illusion so you have to be careful fore an observant muggle might notice the shape of a leg in cloud and it'd be a little awkward." Taking a quick breath she listed some more things that had been added. "cushion seats, cushioning charms, foot rests, handles for steering, spells and charms on the brooms so that when and if you crash the broom does not splinter and is therefore harder to break" there were obviously more - right? She wasn't a broom wiz but some people were and clearly could rattle things off like it was no problem what so ever.