Right. This people talked a lot.

Blinking her forest green eyes at them all, Willow waited for Celandine Toussaint to finish her presentation, before starting with hers.

"Learning how to appareate is a very important if you are an impatient person, simply because you can get somewhere in just matter of seconds. And if you enjoy the sound of it, too?" What? Who had suggested that? Who liked noise, anyway? Wrinkling her nose a little that suggestion which clearly indicated that she had NOT came up with it, Willow continued, "Also, if you are one of those people who are afraid of flying," cue Willow trying to NOT roll her eyes and sort of failing at it, "It can be very helpful, too. And if you happen to be allergic to floo powder." Like her little brother Noah - he was a weird one. "It can safe your life, too, and not only your life, but your dignity, and pride if you find yourself in a sticky or awkward situation. . . " Trailing off a little and staring off into space for a couple of seconds, Willow cleared her throat and then went on, pretending nothing had happened, "And lastly, when traveling with an underage wizard, and you want to use side-along apparition."

Aaand, that was it. Yep. Giving Anna's mother and the other lady a polite nod, the sixth year returned to her group.

"Thank you, Miss Toussaint. You and your group both did really well. It seems most of you are aware of the benefits of using apparition to escape dangerous situations. Always be aware of your surroundings and what can---and probably will---happen. If you feel the danger has reached such a high level that your life is in jeopardy, utilize apparition and get yourself...and others, if you're able...out of danger," she said, smiling at Miss Toussaint. The girl didn't appear nervous, but she did look rather...upset maybe over something or another. Poor girl. So intelligent, too.

"There's also the benefit of apparition not costing a single knut to utilize. Brooms used in flying can often be costly, as well as the obtaining of any animals you'd like to use," she continued. "With apparition, you just need to rely on your given ability to...say...concentrate. Thank you, Miss Toussaint. You may join your classmates on the logs."


"Well said, Miss Kovak. Thank you, group four. I believe what we've all realized today is that there are many, many reasons we apparate. We apparate because it's quick, cheap, and beneficial. Beneficial covers things like what Miss Kovac said, too. Perhaps the floo network or flying via broomstick is not available for one reason or another," she said, clapping her hands together once and looking at the class for a moment before continuing on with the lesson.

Madison listened to all the presentations, particularly the last one. She never knew anyone to be allergic to Floo Powder, that was a first and there had to not be many of them. Poor thing. The little Ravenclaw was probably speaking of herself by the look on her face.

And with the end of that meant it was time for the fun part. The one part she couldn't wait to get started on. Her eyes looked to Neo as she grinned then towards her Department Head as she spoke. Madison felt as though she was not being a good support as these children were so heavy into learning and, well maybe next time she would be able to keep up a little better.

"Now when appariting, one of the most important things to remember is that you must always concentrate. Apparition requires your full attention from the time you decide to apparate until the time you arrive at your destination. You concentrate to determine when you should apparate, you concentrate to determine where you should apparate, and then you concentrate on the process of actually apparating yourself," she said. "Not giving the process your full attention can, unfortunately, end up in a serious splinching accident. From our discussion, I see that a good many of you fear splinching...and within good reason, too."

"Now because some of us are going to apparate just a bit in our next lesson, we do need to make sure we are aware of just how much we need to concentrate. Mr. and Mrs. Masterson and myself now challenge you to a little game of sorts. Now in this box," she said, sliding a small box out from behind the chalkboard, "I've got a nice stash of bandanas in a variety of colors. Come on up and choose one bandana and then break off individually. Don't go far, but don't sit in pairs or groups either."

"When you've found a spot, go ahead and place the bandana over your eyes and then tie a knot in the back, so that your eyes are covered," she said. As she spoke, she put a bandana over Madison's eyes to show the class just how they'd need to tie their own. "We'd like for everyone to be as quiet as possible, for concentration...is the name of the game. Sit quietly and think carefully about a place...any place you'd like to go. I want to think about what you imagine that place to look like. Think about the sounds...the sights...what you smell and what you hear. Often times when you are concentrating deeply on something, it's almost as if you can actually take yourself there in your imagination. You may even think you hear or feel certain aspects of your daydream, too. That's just all part of good concentration...and imagination. Keep concentrating and thinking about your destination, and we'll let you know when you can remove your blindfold."

OOC: Please remember not to remove your blindfold if you "hear" or "feel" parts of your 'daydream'. We'll tell you when you remove the blindfold. Just try and be creative with this part.

Roland listened and attempted to take in as much as possible. He had always assumed apparition was as easy as taking the floo network. He had been told it was difficult but he had reasoned that with so many people able to do it it couldn't be that difficult. He could think of another cheap way to travel which was portkey but then again that required something a muggle wouldn't pick up. But then again you could just have turned your watch into a portkey.
He brought his mind back to the lesson rather than let it go off on any longer tangents. He walked up to the box and picked up a green bandana. He tied it around his head and walked away a bit and tripped over the foot of another student. He sat on the ground and took off his bandana, got up walked away to a clear spot and put on the bandana once more.
He imagined his home. It was an old red brick house with a large lawn infront of it with a long sweeping path leading down to the gate. The front doorstep had old black marble pillars. To the right of this were high windows. On the right of these was a gate that led to the enormous yard which houses the magical creatures behind the large old house. He thought of the smell that drifted from there, a slight smell of dung, general animal smells and a slight metallic taste that was the magic emanating from some of the more powerful animals. He imagined the usual distant sounds of fwoopers, auguries and the occasional screech of a hippogriff. The scrubby dry mud path under foot would send a cloud of dust up on any footfall.
He thought if he was within the law to try and Hogwarts didn't prevent apparition, he thought he could've done it there and then.

Ooooh, this seemed like fun! And easy too. Yup, Clifford was lucky enough to have been blessed with a fairly decent imagination so hopefully he'd be good at this! Heehee. "This is a really neat idea, ma'am," the Head Boy grinned, oozing enthusiasm as he chose himself a nice green bandana blindfold thingy.

Bouncing away, Clifford found himself a nice spot and plonked himself down in he grass. Oh but ... Hmmm. "Can someone help me.. y'know.. bandana me up?" He didn't ask anyone in particular.. he just needed a helping hand. "Anyone?" Pleease?

Madison held her hands out in front of her as the blind fold was placed over her eyes. This was different, yet fun. "Class, during this part before apparating, you want to keep three things in mind: Destination, determination and deliberation. Once you think of your destination of choice, you should be determined to make it there in one piece." There she just added her two cents to the class, now she felt a little special.

She giggled at Clifford. "I can help you." she walked over to him and took the badanna from his hand. "Here you go love," smiled at him. She tied it gently around his head.

After she helped Clifford she took a bandanna and walked a little ways from everyone else. She tied it around her eyes and then closed her eyes to concentrate on her favorite place.

The Chanel flagship store in downtown Paris.

She almost sighed with content as she walked up to the double doors. They swung open to welcome her like a beloved friend.

She imagined herself walking in. Jacques waved at her from behind the counter. Bianca, her personal shopped came from around the counter to usher her into the private shopping area up the stairs and behind the mirrors.

Her eyes followed her reflection in the mirror. Her hand reached out to touch the fabric of the latest creation of the Spring line. She sat down in the plush chair and crossed her legs to look at the mini fashion show they were going to put on for her so she would pick out her favorite things. She reached for one of the chocolate coated strawberries and took a bite of it. A ice cold glass of chocolate milk was in her other hand...she could feel the wetness from the icy glass on her fingers.

Bandanas? Honestly? They were the single most tackiest item in the Universe! Well, after feathered boas in neon colors. She wanted to congratulate the Ravenclaw girl--the Slytherin Prefect had called her, Willow, was it? Indeed, she did want to congratulate her and thank her for presenting their list despite having gazed down upon Daphne as if she was on a lower social status than her. Heaving a sigh, Daphne pressed her lips together resigned to a life of inferiority. After all, wasn't that what the pregnancy of her Mother predicted? Then that Isaac Hopton was born;

Grunting, feeling a bit nauseous, Miss Hopton walked up to Mrs. Greingoth and tentatively slipped her hand inside the shoe box, picking up a lime green bandana between her thumb and index finger. Making sure to keep it away from her person, Daphne walked back towards the students in an attempt to find a seat. As she sat, Daphne tucked her foot behind her ankle, legs close together and slightly to the side of the chair, as any lady should sit.

Running her fingers through her hair, Daphne swept her golden locks away from her face before placing the offensive green object before her eyes. She struggled slightly while tying the knot, pinching her hair more than twice and having to undo the knot and tie again repeatedly. Having finally won that mini battle, Miss Daphne Hopton let out a long and dramatic sigh.

Concentrating was clearly her weakness. She thought things over way too much, causing her to be, as Celandine had well put it, stiff; in about every aspect of her life.

Sigh.

This clearly wasn't going to work already. Shaking her head slightly, Daphne attempted to focus herself. Celandine had taught her to meditate and it had worked slightly; perhaps it would have worked better if they hadn't had tried meditating and talking to each other all at once.

Repeat it with me, Daffy! instructed a familiar feminine voice in her head. OMMMMMMMM!

"Now that's preposterous," she mumbled to herself, still blindfolded and fidgeting in her seat. "We're in public."

You're stiff, Daaafffneeee. Stiff!

"I am not," she hissed quietly through gritted teeth before taking in a sharp breath.

She was not stiff. She was not. NOT!

Where did she want to be in the first place? Somewhere solitary, of course, away from chocolate crazed students, folk who lacked a certain sense of propriety, individuals with no inside voice and the generally annoying for no particular reason. That immediately ruled out that Slytherin boy Cam, Plymouth Morgan and his never ending talk, Varius Tipps and...Copernicus Kettleburn.

No Copernicus Kettleburn. Yay!

Smirking to herself, Daphne's perfect place began to take form in her mind albeit blurry and a bit dull in color. Where was she? A low humming in her ears called her, except it was indistinguishable. Was it a voice humming? Humming what? Or was it some kind of singing? Never mind. It was too low and too warbled together for her capture the true meaning of it. Averting her focus somewhere else in her mind, Daphne noticed a bed with ivory colored sheets made of--hmm what was this fabric? Soft and silky and warm. It most definitely was her bed; at least before she was abolished to a smaller room.

POP!

Oh. There went her happy place again. Dagnabbit.

Bella watched and waited while the students made their way up to the front and retrieved a bandana. She turned and smiled at Neo and Madison, then sort of motioned for them to stand and make their way to the front if they were ready. Afterwards, she turned back around and strolled throughout the room again, trying to see if anyone needed any help or had any questions. "That's it, class. Just get that bandana on and then you may begin," she said.

She smiled when she passed by the Head Boy. This one was a character for sure. "Here, dear. I'll get that," she said, taking the bandana from him and securing it around his head. She checked to make sure it wasn't too tight, and when she found that it wasn't, she stood back up. "Carry on, Mr. Carden."

Plymouth managed a brief and limp "hehe" at the AWESOME drawing Lawman had made. That kid was made of cool fibers. And Plymouth was doing okay until Cela - of course - was her group leader. Of course she was. His traitorous eyes watched her, listened, and met hers briefly. Sigh. That sucked the "hehe" out of him for good.


Sooo moving on. Blindfolds. Blindfolds were PERFECT! Plymouth was one of the FIRST ones to jump up and get and he moved as far away from everyone as he could without "being too far". BOY oh BOY. Blindfolds rocked. They blocked out light, but more importantly, they blocked out faces. He tied his and then... he thought about where he wanted to go.


.... ugh. Plymouth couldn't go where he wanted to go. Couldn't smell the thing he wanted to smell. He didn't want to imagine this anymore, so Plymouth pulled grass instead. "What if our place doesn't exist anymore?" Plymouth was going to fail at apparating. "Maybe I'll just take up cross country running."

One moment he could see perfectly clear.. the next the world went black and he felt the material covering his vision. He would've had a complete freak out 'cept .. well, he knew why the lights just went out. Now it was imagination time!

"Thankoooo!" He chimed happily to the mysterious helper whoever they were as he crossed his legs underneath him. Now.. time to get into the ZONE, baby. Taking a deep breath, Clifford shut his eyes - he didn't know why.. considering everything was black anyway but .. eh.

Now he had to imagine some place. Some place he'd like to go.

The sound of the sea, waves crashing and seagulls squawking filled Clifford's ears, blocking out the sounds of the people around him. His favouritest place in the whole entire world was his cliff.

Yes, Clifford's cliff. Clifford had a cliff. And it was aaaall his.

And THAT - that is where he was now.

The wind ruffled up his already messy hair, and inhaling slowly, the seventh year could practially smell the salt in the air. Smell the salt.. feel the warmth and cool breeze..

"Ahhhhhhh.. Hmmm." Completely oblivious that the sound had escaped outloud, Clifford sighed contentedly and flopped himself backwards, lying in the grass.

... sunbathing was guuurd.

Lucas heard all the presentations with utmost attention. He was really excited about this whole apparation thing that's why he's taken active part in this lesson.

After Mrs. Greingoth finished briefing them about the task at hand Lucas got up from where he was sitting and went over to where the box of bandanas was placed. He bent over it and started looking for one that he'd like to wear. Ah! red always does the trick. He thought and picked up a red one as he saw it.

Lucas then took a couple of steps back and turned to find a nice spot where he could concentrate. As Mrs. Greingoth had told them not to go too far away he just took a few steps so as to get clear of the logs and sat down on the grass. He took the bandana, folded it over is eyes so that he couldn't see anything and then tied a strong knot on the back of his head.

Okay now, Breathe in, Breathe out. That's more like it. He thought to himself as he made himself focused. So a place I'd like to go to. Lucas had just the right place in mind. It'd been a place he'd visited long ago, back when e was a child. His was being in the Department of International Co-operation, had taken him to Pakistan. He'd seen many places there on sight seeing but there was one he was never able to forget. His father had taken him to the Nothern areas of the country to let him see a lake. They said it was the most famous lake in Asia because it was situated in a valley.It was the most beautiful scene he'd ever seen.

Lucas started with the sights of that place. Firstly, he tried to imagine the snow-capped mountains, the ice-cold water and the rich green grass. A smile erupted on his face as he did so. Then he started to imagine the smell of the place, the smell of water, the smell of frost on the leaves and the smell of wet grass. This was very easy for Lucas as he'd done this practice before because he'd never been able to forget that place and he'd no intention to do so as well. Okay,coming to the sounds. He concentrated harder now, concentrated on the sounds.He tried to block all the other sounds in the vicinity and focused on the sounds of the birds, the sound of the slight chilly breeze against the wet grass and the sound of the water.

Lucas could feel it now. He could feel as if he was revisiting the place with all it's smells and sounds.

OOC: We'll just say, at this point, that everyody is blinfolded and can't see Bella, Neo, or Madison.

As soon as all the students were blindfolded, Bella nodded towards Neo and Madi, then headed off to retrieve something from behind a tree. Seconds later, she reappeared in the 'classroom' area, pushing a little ice cream cart she'd owned when she was shopkeeper at Florean's. The cart was large in size and usually held a pretty big quantity of all the flavor's Florean's owned. As a matter of fact, Bella had arranged to have the cart filled, and she was going to offer ice cream to the students as soon as class was over.

She stopped to prepare herself a triple-scooped butterbeer ice cream, then ate it as she pushed the cart through the area. As soon as she passed by the Head Boy, she stopped the cart and then rang the bell atop the cart a few times. She may have even dropped a drip or two...or three or four...on the boy, but she wasn't sure. Either way, she'd see just well he was concentrating. It'd be interesting to ask him later if he felt anything cold or heard any loud bells.

Once the students held their spots with their blindfolds on, Madison knew they were ready. First on her list was the first one ready. Now each student had to remember that even during the toughest of times, concentration was what apparition came down too in order to make it in one piece.

And with that, Madison pulled her wand from the inside of her robes and silently accio'd one of Roma's squeaky toys to play with. After all, she hadn't seen her puppy since the summer. She lifted her hand and soon, a big rubber chicken came flying thru the air and landed in Madison's opened hand. For a moment, she felt the doggy slobber and knew, Roma had just been playing with it at the beginning of class with her master.

SQUEAKY! SQUEAKY!

The toy made a loud squeaky noise which she knew instantly would perk the dog's ears up. Without a word, Madi aimed for the toy to land just to the side of the Slytherin student so that Roma would brush against her. Poor thing needed a bath too.

Ahhh, now here's one she hadn't really had a chance to interact with. Miss Hopton, if she remembered correctly. She paused to take a nice, tasty lick of her ice cream, then she opened the top of the cart. The surrounding air immediately became cold...near freezing...as Bella dug through the cart. Hmm...what to get? What to get? Oh, maybe she could...hmm... Bella closed the lid of the cart, then dug through a box dangling from the side. Ice cream cones...and lots of them. Pulling out a huge family-sized waffle cone, Bella placed the treat upside down on top of Miss Hopton's head. She sort of resembled a punished student wearing a dunce hat, but at least it was a cool dunce hat, yes?

Clifford was sunbathing. Sunbathing on his cliff. It was a B-E-A-UUUUTIFUL day, with only the tiniest hint of breeze. PERFECT. It felt like he had on FAR too many clothes though. Yes, he was getting waaaay too hot and bothered.. and - and how were you meant to get a nice tan if you were all covered up, huh? HUH?

Exactly. You couldn't.

Sighing happily once more, Clifford reached up and quickly undid the buttons on his shirt leaving it gaping open. Chyeah, now he could enjoy the sun rays properly.

He was vaguely aware of a bell ringing somewhere. Somewhere in the distance.. probably on the beach below. "Shuuuuuush!" Rolling his eyes at the annoying disturbance from below, Clifford inhaled a nice lungful of sea salty air and crossed his arms behind his head.

Lovely.

Bianca turned to Paris. "We have the new SQUEAK. SQUEAK in for you today." Paris blinked at her. Did she just say what she just think she said. Paris shook her head as she looked at the new suits that had just come in. Lovely, she thought.

She stood up from the chair she was sitting in to feel the fabric and so she could hold it up to her body. The aqua color didn't seem to look right in the light. Something brushed against her leg. She shook her leg and it brushed against her again.

What was that?

She looked down at her leg to see what it was. 'Ohh some new fur boots!' She had to have those. She reached down to pick them up to try them on.

Copernicus's bandanna was firmly in place as he seated himself in the grass. His posture was taut, because he was going to will himself right into perfect concentration. He was.

So... he had to think of a place. The perfect place. Somewhere he knew better then the back of his own hand, for this exercise at least.

With his eyes closed, Copernicus let his mind wander. The house in France was familiar, but it had never felt like home. He'd been happy in Italy with Cela, but there was always the knowledge that Plymouth would like to be there too. So where was home, anyway?

Unbidden, Copernicus thought of a winding garden, the dapple of sun through a lattice, the deep shade beneath an ancient tree, the way the thatch smelled in the morning dew, the feel of gloam between his toes and the heat of the sun on his bare shoulders as he worked on that garden next to Plymouth... a new mother whispering to her roses, a pitcher of ice cold lemonade on the porch that was dripping in the heat. He could feel the entire house take shape in his mind, but it was Haylan's garden that felt like home.

He relaxed in his intent concentration. SEE! He could do anything if he wanted to badly enough.

So this young man didn't really appear to be concentrating too hard, but he sure was doing a number on Masterson's grounds. If Bella didn't do something soon, he'd have a huge hole dug, and boy would Neo have a fit over that one! Bella once again pulled the lid of the cart open. The air became freezing cold, and she shivered a bit as she dug through the cart. When an idea struck, she quickly scooped up one medium-sized helping of Troll Bogey ice cream. Yummm....

Seeing that the boy was blindfolded, Bella dumped the scoop into his hand. She then closed the lid on the cart and picked up a leaf off the ground. Biting her lip to keep from laughing, Bella tickled the boy's nose with the leaf. If all worked perfectly, he'd jerk his hand (with the ice cream, hee hee) up to his face in a matter of seconds. Nothing a good wand flick couldn't clean up, though.

Plymouth was thinking about laying down and taking a quick nap. He'd been taking lots of naps lately.


"OHHH!" WET. Wet and COLD. Did a bird poop on him? Maybe a penguin? Was their poo cold? Plymouth nearly freaked *OUT* at the thought. He HATED birds. With their beaks and their claws and freaky beady...


....


Was that... FEATHERS? On his FACE??? "HELP!" Plymouth did forget ALL about the ice cream/frozen penguin poo and slapped away at the BEAST leaf. He creamed his face good, too. Disaster. Apparating was horrifying and Plymouth was definitely taking up cross country running instead. He'd have good looking legs and stuff then anyway.


Plymouth had another useful reason for apparating: In the case of RABID BIRD attacks! He sat with troll bogey ice cream smothered on his face, down his shirt, and all over his hands, while doing some heavy wild breathing.

Madison turned her attention towards the first student she aimed the dog toy to land next to her and she couldn't believe what the girl was doing. She heard Roma give a yelp as the girl seemed to catch her off guard but then the dog began giving sugar until she heard the squeak of the toy again.

SQUEAKY! SQUEAKY!

The next toy was a soft plush toy. She saw Roma's ears perk up as she dropped the slimy toy in the Slytherin's lap and was ready for the new toy. She then threw the toy towards the Gryffindor student, this time it landed on the students head, but it was soft so she was not worried. Her aim was a little off at the moment, but she was allowed to be off once in a while.

Once Lawliet was blindfolded (which he honestly did not enjoy at all, considering his paranoia), he laid down and thought of a place where he wanted to be. That... shouldn't be too hard, right? Most people would think of home, but he... didn't exactly have a home. It was complicated.

The Slytherin racked his brains, trying to come up with a place where he wanted to be. The best he could come up with was somewhere deep in the mountains, far away from people where he could just sit... and think for a long time. He let a long sigh out as he imagined himself walking through a forest, crisp fresh air filling up his lungs and while taking photographs of the beautiful scenery.

He allowed his imagination to take him wherever it needed to go and he almost felt as though he was physically there.

Madison then pulled out her camera, her prize possession besides her husband, and walked over close to another Slytherin student. She brought the camera up to her face and began snapping pictures of Roma and the students. The one and only annoying thing about her camera, it was old, it was loud, and every time she snapped a picture, the flash would POP!

SNAP!

POP!

Moving on...

Bella pushed the cart throughout the room, then made a sharp turn towards the side. Hmmm...next victim is...that nice, well-mannered Ravenclaw sitting just over there. Yes, indeed. This one looked as if he could use a good distraction or two. Well, time to open the freezing cold cart once again.

When the cart opened, the same freezing cold air immediately came out. How she ever endured this thing for so long was beyond her. Grabbing an ice-cream scoop, Bella dug up a small-sized helping of Chocolate Frog. She placed it on a cone and began to lick as quickly as she could. How many licks does it take to get to the middle of a Chocolate Frog ice cream? The world may never know...

...or not. Finally, Bella had reached the center, and as predicted a chocolate frog hopped from the cone. It was amazing how magical those little things were. The frog hopped across the ground, landed in a Hufflepuff's lap, then hopped right back to Kettleburn. It landed on his head and proceeded to jump up and down...up and down...up and down...