Splinching is the one thing Nigel feared in apparition. Not the ending up in some weird location. He was okay with that. Awesome adventure that could be. But splinching just sounded painful and he did not want to lose any part of his body because he was not paying attention or something.

Everyone else had already said the correct answer. So Nigel just wrote down what it was said, how to stop splinching, and the educated guess the Instructor gave to side along apparition or whatever it was called.

Practical part soon yes?

Okay, so his answer wasn't right?

Theo kept his head low for a moment as the class moved on to the next question. The three D's were stupid anyway. Disappear was much more logical. Destination. Determination. DISAPPEAR.

Splinching???!

Again, Theo didn't know what that was and this time, he decided not to hazard a lame guess. Instead, he listened to the others and his eyes went wide. Leaving part of yourself behind? That could actually happen? "Wooooo- wait... what if you left your head behind?" Would that kill you?

Theo was SO the type for splinching, gosh, maybe Apparition wasn't worth it.

Ouch. Splinching was terrible. Tag sort of already knew what it was but hearing everyone else say it, literally hearing all the possibilities made him squirm. Would be possible to literally lose a body part? Yeah, no, he didn't want that at all.

But then Theo asked a question that Tag had just thought if. That really put panic in him.

O____O

"What Theo said! Only if it is possible, can you get whatever body part you left behind, back?" He didn't want to be armless forever though.

... Splinching. That... didn't sound great.

Alec shuffled a little uncomfortably on the spot. The idea of leaving a body part behind didn't sound good to him. Nope. And talking about it only made him feel more and more nervous about this lesson. What if he ended up splinching himself? He really did NOT want to do that. Especially leaving a head behind. Just... no.

... But Tag. Tag mentioned something about getting the body part back and... wait.

Clearing his throat, he raised his hand in the air and offered, "Erm... sir? Isn't there... something you can take once you've been splinched to get your body part back? A... a healing potion or...?" There had to be. Right?

Oichi knew about splinching quite well. She had a friend who got her arm splinched over the summer and was at St. Mungos for a week. It was a terrifying time and she was thankful her friend got a fully functioning arm back. She hoped that would never happen to her and she knew well how to prevent it. Oichi raised her hand, "Splinching is the crazy scary occurrence of apparating and leaving a body part behind. You can prevent it by concentrating hard in you're determination to get to you're destination.".

No concrete answer? That was okay, since Alice was still eager to hear the guy's thoughts on it. Being the head of DMT and all, he had to know a bit about it, yeah? She nodded at his answer and mentally filed away that information. "Okay. Thanks."

So this lesson already wasn't a total waste of time, then.

But the seventh year remained quiet for the next question, too. Did know what splinching was. Didn't know how to prevent it. But the Newell guy would explain that, she was sure.

Sander grimaced at the sound of that even though he knew what it meant. "Sir, just like the others have said, splinching happens when you accidentally leave behind something of yourself while apparating to another place. It could be as painless as leaving just a piece of your clothing to more painful experiences like leaving a part of your anatomy." Sander shuddered at the thought.

"It usually happens when the person loses his concentration or his deliberation is less than spot on."

Wait, so did that mean Muggles could side-along apparate? Wha?? Waaait, and could someone actually apparate somewhere they'd never been to? So many questions were all jumbled up in her mind and good Merlin, this apparating thing sounded more complicated than she was expecting.

Though not really since loads of people could do it, yeah? So... the theory bit was probably the confusing part... so NEVER MIND THAT, Sophie wanted to go to the practical bit already!!

She just ignored the questions in her mind and listened to the next thing Mr Newell was asking. Splinching. Gah! Another frightening thing about apparation. Well, the only frightening thing, to be honest. Imagine leaving a body part behing... blimey! Actually... "Sir? When a body part is left behind, it's just... magically left behind, right? It's not like it was literally cut off from the rest of our body and then we need to sew it back again or anything..... Right?" Merlin!!! "Like, as Theo asked... if our head was left behind, we wouldn't really die, would we?" ..........Please say no. o_____o

Merlin, this whole apparating thing was turning out to be quite scary.

Though... if apparition was anything like spells... you know, just normal spells... Sophie would be fine.............. hopefully o___o

And odd-looking dude was moving along so fast why now? Because Layla could barely take notes, much less answer anything! And the notes she had taken seemed to be completely unreadable anyway.

She stayed silent for the next question, seeing as she would just end up repeating what everyone else was saying. Instead, she focused on taking even more notes.

Were they even going to get to the practical part today?

Cale nodded at each child who answered - yup, he figured they'd know what splinching was. He knew it was no secret how dangerous apparition could be and they were probably all scared of splinching and whatnot. Never fear! Cale Newell was here!

"Right, very good! Splinching is the act of leaving a body part behind, usually a pinky or a toe. It CAN be severe and life threatening, but that usually only happens if you're panicked while apparating and have very little concentration on the act of moving through space. More often than not, however, it's something small, and you might not even know you've done it! Many people have lost toenails or teeth and not even realized until hours after they arrived at their destination," he added with a small chuckle. "It's also very easy to fix, provided you can FIND the body part you lost. Pieces of flesh, for example, are a lot harder to fix than a missing finger."

"Don't worry though, if you all just concentrate hard on your destination and follow the three D's of apparition, you should be fine. Plus, we're both trained in aiding those who have splinched themselves, so if that happens, we'll be here," he explained, nodding at Misa in the back as he did so.

"Now, I've got two stations set up for you all to practice. As you can see, there are a number of pillows around you. If you're scared of falling or not landing properly at your destination, grab one of those to set outside the hoop you're going to apparate into, just in case you fall. Mainly for your ease of mind, it's pretty easy to catch your balance when you land," he explained, pointing at the navy cushions they were all sitting on.

"There are hoops that you can practice apparating to over on this side of the room," he explained, gesturing to his left. "Grab one and then stand about ten feet away and try to apparate into it. As we've said, there's no incantation or anything needed, just THINK and CONCENTRATE and your magic will do the rest! As you get better at it, try moving further and further away from the hoop. Or maybe set up a line of them and go from one to the next! Be creative!" he exclaimed. This was so fun! He couldn't wait to watch them go!

"For those of you who are feeling a bit more brave, or get tired of the hoops - as you can see, I've brought a portable swamp in the back. There are giant lilypads in the swamp, just a bit larger than the rings here, and you can practice apparating from one lily to the next. Be careful though - it's about four feet deep and if you miss, you WILL get soaked!" he said with a chuckle. "You'll have the rest of the time to practice. The charm has been lifted from the Hall already, so don't worry about that. Just don't try to apparate OUT of the Hall or...well, it won't be as easy a fix as splinching, that's for sure," he warned them all.

"Speaking of, if you DO splinch yourself - you'll be quickly mended by one of us. If you have any questions at all, please ask! Now, whenever you're ready, go ahead, pick a station and get to practicing!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands to signal that they could start the next part of the lesson. YAY HOW EXCITING!

OOC: Alright everyone, have at it! You have the next two days or so to RP your characters practicing. Be sure you have them successfully apparate AT LEAST once otherwise, Cale will deem your charrie unfit to test and you won't be able to get your license! A couple of quick rules:

• Yes, you CAN RP your character splinching as long as it is MINOR. Basically nothing larger than a hand or foot. Anything serious (that would need a Healer to fix) is an automatic FAIL!
• Cale and Misa are wondering around, if you have a question, please address us in the title of your post and one of us will come grab you and help!
• There's no order that you HAVE to complete the tasks in. For example, you don't HAVE to do the rings before the lily pads - by all means, jump right into it if your character is daring! Or just stick to the rings if they're a bit nervous. Whatever you want!
• No trying to cause injury to anyone, please. That's an automatic fail as well.
• After this thread is closed for practice, the testing thread will open about 24 hours later.
• Remember, we are HERE and we are watching even if we aren't posting a reaction to every post, so don't do anything you wouldn't do in front of the other professors!

Sophie grinned to herself as she approached the room off the Great Hall. Was she old enough to attend this lesson? Nope, but she wasn't here for the lesson. She strolled closer to the door and stood there for a moment, listening to the sound of the voice she heard from within.

Yup. It was him alright. Too bad Caleb wasn't around.

Sophie gently pushed open the door and grinned. "HI, DAD!" she called out. With a quick wave, she stepped back out and closed the door behind her.

Yup, that was all she'd come for. Ta ta for now. She turned away from the door and headed on her way.

Sander listened to the instructor's directions. Okay they were supposed to grab a hoop place it at least ten feet in front of them and try to apparate into it. He was kidding right? Sander knew that it sounded simple enough but he knew that it was the entire opposite.

But he wasn't a Strand if he didn't make an attempt. "Do or do not, there is no try." thought to himself. So he walked over and picked up a single hoop and placed it on the ground before walking back. When he gauged that he was at least 10 feet away, he turned around and stared at the hoop.

'Okay I need to get from where I'm standing here, to where that hoop is over there...and if I'm lucky enough, I will be somewhere inside the hoop without leaving anything behind over here.' Sander thought to himself.

So he cleared his mind of all thoughts except moving from his current spot into where the hoop was. Here....there...'I want to be there....I need to be there.' he kept repeating to himself. He concentrated hard, imagining himself disappearing from where he was and appearing at where the hoop was.

Sander closed his eyes, placed one foot behind the other and twirled on the spot while continuing to concentrate on where he wanted his entire body to move to next. He felt a strange twisting sensation and a rush of air and quickly opened his eyes.

The first thing he did was check to make sure he still remained intact. He breathed a sigh of relief after fully examining himself. The next thing he did was see where he landed. He blushed in embarrassment. He was nowhere near the hoop at all. In fact he was now at the other end of the room.

Sheepishly looking at the instructor, he walked back to original spot. Strike one!

Splinching CAN be life threatening??!?? Why were they allowed to do this then? They could DIE and then end up as a ghost haunting the school like Myrtle for the rest of their lives...

Lily's face completely fell into a look of terror and shock. She wasn't so sure she wanted to learn anymore. So she was very hesitant when they were told they could start practicing. Slowly, she stood, tucking her parchment and quill back in her bag and putting it to the side of the room, just in time to see someone stick their head in the room and say hi. Must've been one of the Newell kids, otherwise why would they say hi dad? It was just enough of a pause, though, for Lily to get her head on straight. If the dad had apparated before, it couldn't be that difficult. Wiping the frown off her face, the ravenclaw stepped towards the center of the room and grabbed a hoop and a pillow and placed them down a little ways away.

She could do this...

She had to... 3D's... focus and picture being in the destination.

I am there.... I am there... Turn and close your eyes... and...

Sander walked back to his original spot and took a couple of deep breaths to clear his brain before he began concentrating on apparating himself into the center of the hoop that was lying 10 feet away on the ground. He focused on the hoop again. 'I want to move from here to there...from here to there....from here to there.' Sander visualized himself one minute standing in this spot and the next minute appearing standing in the center of the hoop. When he felt ready to attempt to apparate, he moved his left foot behind and turned on the spot. Sander waited for the strange sensation he had felt earlier, the turning and moving but felt nothing.

So he opened his eyes and found to his disappointment that he hadn't moved an inch at all from where he was standing. Taking a deep breath, he rolled his shoulders and neck to help relax himself as he was beginning to feel himself tensing up.

After a couple moments of deep breathing exercises again, Sander decided to try again.

When he was ready he focused on the hoop again. He looked at the center of the hoop and visualized himsself inside it. He began tapping his finger against the side of his leg as he looked at the hoop. He visualized himself standing in the hoop tapping his leg like he was doing now. Then he stopped tapping and visualized himself in the hoop doing the same. He concentrated harder this time. 'Get into the hoop...get into the hoop...get into the hoop'.

Sander closed his eyes concentrating on getting himself into the hoop and moving his left foot back, he turned quickly. This time he felt the sensation of turning and moving and when the feeling stopped, he opened his eyes. Sander immediately looked down and found himself in the hoop, although almost standing at the edge of it. 'Hey at least I'm inside.' he thought to himself. First part successful.

Now he had to check whether he had splinched in the process. He quickly checked his body, his clothes and then his hair. Everything seemed to be in place...at least that's what he thought. When he reached up to examine his face, he realized that his beard was no longer long. It was in fact shorter than it was when he had first entered this class.

Sander immediately walked out of the hoop back to where he originally stood. His eyes opened wide in surprise when he found strands of hair on the ground. It was hairs from his beard!! He had splinched, but thankfully it was a painless one.

Strike Two!

Don't worry though, if you all just concentrate hard on your destination and follow the three D's of apparition, you should be fine.

Should be. That was what had stood out in Ella's mind. The should being the operative word there and gosh, that wasn't exactly reassuring. She didn't let her mind rest on this for long, though. They were being given the okay to practice and really, she couldn't afford to be distracted. Not if she didn't want to lose a...a...those things on your feet...you can wiggle th- toe! She didn't want to lose a toe during this. Yes.

When the instructor dude had finished talking, the eighteen year old moved quite slowly over to the rings and selected one. She then set it up so that it was situated about 10 feet away from her. That's what Mr... .... ...the instructor had said, yeah? ...Yeah. Okay, time to get started.

Concentrating.

Ella closed her eyes and cleared her mind, focusing only on the ring. She knew what it looked like and where she wanted to go. Inside the ring. I want to travel to the center of that ring. Let me land right in the center of the ring.

Sarah had been taking lots of notes, she did not want to rely on her memory (although it was sharp) with this one. She wrote some more and gave her aching hands a shake.
She was nervous. So nervous that she could feel her heart speeding up. Like what if she left her head behind? There was a reason it was attatched in the first place. 'be calm' she told herself.
She grabbed a hoop and placed it in front of her. She was going to be cautious.
She looked at the hoop, a determine look in her eye. DDD... She thought about getting into the hoop, seeing herself there... her foreward creased with concentration...
But nothing happened.
UGH. Sarah looked at the hoop again. "I will get in there" she told herself. "i can do anything I set my mind to".

Oichi was in shock as she heard it was now time to practice apparating. She could not help but think of her freind who splinched her entire arm off. Sure she was fine and yes she felt like she was in a rush because she was close to being late to her first job at the Ministry, but still... [I] No, I need to concentrate, I can definately do this. I will never be so foolish to attempt apparation in a hurry. Plus I have all the time I need today.[I] Oichi grabbed a hoolahoop and placed it a foot from her. She then concentrated on getting her body to that point. With a pop her entire self made it there. She felt elation immediately followed by slight disorientation. She fell to the the ground laughing giddily and waited for her mind to return to normal.

Tessa listened carefully to the instructions, not letting any of her nervousness show on her face. Her fingers were tapping a little bit more than normal, but no one would notice that. She glanced around the room, looking between the hoops and the swamp. She really wanted to play on the lilypads, but, just to be safe, walked over to grab one of the hoops.

Tessa set the hoop down, and walked the approximate distance before turning to look at the hoop on the ground. "I can do this," she murmured, reciting the three D's in her mind. She took a breath, closed her eyes and turned... and nearly fell over.

She caught herself and opened her eyes, looking around. She hadn't even apparated. That was disappointing. She wasn't discouraged by it and straightened herself once more, looking over at the hoop. That was where she wanted to go, and that is where she would end up.

Closing her eyes, Tessa took another deep breath and concentrated, thinking of the times she had apparated with her father in the past. The sensation and the landing, that was what she wanted to do. Once again, she took a breath, and turned-

She landed on the ground, releasing her breath as she quickly regained her balance. Looking around, she found that she had apparated- but just not to the hoop. However, that didn't discourage her either. A smile on her face, she strode back to her starting point for another try.

Sander sheepishly picked up his strands of hair that had splinched when he apparated and quickly stuffed it into his pocket. He then looked at the hoop and decided to try again.

When he was ready he focused on the hoop again. He looked at the center of the hoop and visualized himself inside it. He began tapping his finger on the side of his leg again as he looked at the hoop. He visualized himself standing in the hoop tapping his leg like he was doing now. He slowly stopped tapping and saw himself in the hoop do the same. He concentrated harder this time. 'Get into the hoop...get into the hoop...get into the hoop' he thought to himself

Sander closed his eyes concentrating on getting himself into the hoop and moving his left foot back, he turned quickly. Like before he felt the sensation of turning and moving and when the feeling stopped, he opened his eyes. He quickly he looked down and was surprised to find himself standing inside the center of the hoop. Okay part one successful.

Now he had to check whether he had splinched in the process like he had on his second attempt. Sander quickly checked his body, his clothes and then his hair. Everything seemed to be in place. There was one more place to check.

He walked over to where he had been originally standing. He looked around the area to see whether he had left anything behind, but couldn't find anything significant. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had successfully apparated...without splinching!! "Yes!!" he whispered to himself.

Then he looked over at the lily pads floating in the water nearby. Sander decided to attempt apparating onto them. The worst that could happen would be that he missed and fell into the water...and that wasn't counting the splinching effect!

So he walked over to the lily pads, stood in front of them and focussed on the one nearest to him.

Time to try again.

Tessa went back to her starting point and was about to apparate when an idea came to mind. She walked over to the hoop and stood right in the middle of it. She wanted to know every detail of the area before she apparated to it. She hadn’t been successful so far- so she figured she needed to really put herself in the place she would be going to. She looked at her surroundings, how the walls looked from that angle, the ceiling, she even looked down at the floor to pick what stones she wanted her feet to land on.

Finished, she walked back over to her starting point. She cleared her mind, focused on where she wanted to end up and turned on the spot. The feeling of apparating came over her, and then she had landed. Cracking open one eye, then the other, she found that she was standing exactly where she had envisioned. "YES!" she exclaimed, jumping up in excitement before realizing that she had probably just disturbed a few people around her.

Refocusing once more she took her hoop and moved it to a different location. She had to make it more difficult, otherwise she wouldn't be improving. She focused on the spot, closed her eyes and apparated. She opened her eyes to find she was in the center of the hoop once more. She grinned, but remembered there was something she hadn't been checking for... splinching. Nothing hurt, so nothing major had happened. She ran her tongue over her teeth and held out her hands. So far so good.

She checked her hair, and every strand seemed to be just as it had been before- blonde, grey, and colorful. Her grin widened and she looked over to the swamp.

Lilypads, here I come! she thought.

Sander's eyes narrowed down on the giant lily pad that he would attempt to apparate onto. He first closed his eyes, visualizing himself standing where he was currently standing, then disappearing and apparating over to stand on the center of the lily pad. Concentrating hard on the image, Sander opened his eyes and stared at the lily pad.

'...move from here...to there....from this spot...to the middle of the lily pad.' he thought to himself as he visualized himself doing it. Taking a deep breath and concentrating really hard on what he wanted to do and where he wanted to be, Sander moved his left foot back and quickly turned on the spot.

He felt that same twisting motion he had felt the others times he was practicing to apparate and then everything stopped moving. Sander quickly looked down and found himself standing on the edge of the lily pad....and falling backwards towards the water. He flailed his arms frantically trying to catch his balance but failed and fell into the pool.

SSSPPPLLLAAASSHHH!!


Sander emerged headfirst from the water, dripping wet and spitting out water. 'Thank goodness for clean water,' Sander thought to himself. Even as he stood in the pool of water, he analyzed what had gone wrong. He had landed on the lily pad but not right in the middle, but rather closer to the edge. That of course caused him to fall. His deliberation had not been strong enough.

Slowly climbing out of the pool, Sander stood on the side of it dripping wet. He shook his head to head, sending water flying everywhere. Then taking out his wand, he pointed it at herself and moving it in two counter clockwise circles up and down his front and back, he said, "Siccus Aerous" casting the hot air charm and drying himself. Although he didn't know why he did that. The odds of him falling off and getting wet again, were pretty high. Once he was dry, he made sure that he dried up the puddle of water under his feet before ending the spell.

Then he walked back to where he had been standing before and looked back at the lily pad. 'If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. Do or do not. There is no try....Wait! did I just contradict myself?' Sander chuckled to himself before he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and began to concentrate on apparating again onto the lily pad again.

OhgoodMERLIN, it was practice time already!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

Now Sophie was having a hard time trying not to bounce. Wow. Wow wow wow, she was rally going to apparate! WOW! How EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beaming, the girl quickly went to where the hoops where. She didn't want to try the lilypads just yet, because... she had never apparated before and she didn't quite feel like getting wet. So yeah, hoops fiirsstttt!!!

She placed one on the floor and backed away from it. That was about 10 ft, right? Should be. Okay! OKAY!!! Merlin, she was EXCITED!!!!

.....No incantation to think of. That kind of scared her, but it would be a nice practice of massive intent, wouldn't it? Good! That would otally be usedful for wandless magic! Wooo, two birds with a stone! Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!!

By now Sophie was already used to controlling her excitement over learning new magic and didn't have such hard time concentrating. Kind of. She was really excited, but her focus was in the centre of the hoop. She wanted to land there. Come on. She could do it.

ALKDJFSDNFJKSDNJKFDNKFJ THIS WAS TOO COOL!!!!

The Hufflepuff bit her lower bit in excitement and her eyes sparkled while eyeing the centre of the hoop. Her next destinatiooonnnn!! Without actually walking there. BLIMEY. This was brilliant!

...Okay, so she was having trouble concentrating then. Sophie took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. BUT SHE WAS JUST GOING TO APPARATE, HEHEHEHE, COOL!!! Right, focus, Sophie. Calm down.

She stared at the centre of the hoop......... and stared........ stared........... stared some more......................

THIS WAS TOO BRILLIANT, she couldn't stop thinking how awesome that was. The fact she was a tad hyper at the moment was getting in the way, apparently.... gaaahhhhh!!!!

Sarah looked at the hoop, even more determine than before. She was going to do. She could get into that circle. Nothing was going to stop this determined lioness.
Suddenly she felt this twisting feeling, it was like a roller coaster - but it did not last long. The next thing she knew it, she was standing in the hoop, a big smile on her face.
"I DID IT!" she cried., she wanted to hug someone out of excitement. Plus, the travellng was so much fun. It was THRILLING in fact. Sarah left the hoop and started her place further away. This time it only took two tries to get her into the loop.

Then she moved the hoop even furher back. She was using the practice time wisely.

Was she ready to take this business to the next level. YES! She was going to do the lillies. She thought hard about her desire to land on a lilly pad.. like a frog. She closed her eyes, thought of it and there she was. LIke a frog on the lily pad. maybe, if someone kissed her she would turn into more of a princess

Okay, so was this professor ignoring him?

Cool.

It seemed like he was wasting no time and was getting straight into the practical part of the lesson. Which was great, and exciting, but all Theo could think about was splinching. Was he more likely to do it since he was thinking about it? He pressed his eyes shut and tried to get it out of his head, to think about fields of green instead. But that was about as helpful as NOTHING.

Theo sighed and grabbed not one pillow, but two, then made his way over to a hoop. He laid both pillows around the outside of the hoop and then took a few steps away.

Breeeeeeeathing. And the three D's.

What were they again? Destination. Hoop. Determination. COME ON, THEO. And disappear. POOF. Wait, no, it was something else. Deliberation? But he didn't understand that woooooooooooooord....

Theo closed his eyes again and started to think of the hoop. Inside the hoop, to be specific. Hoop, hoop, hoop, hoop. That's where he wanted to be, the hoop. Well, nothing was happening yet. So he turned to the next D. COME ON, THEO, GET IN THAT HOOP. He tried imagining himself inside the hoop now, which he felt much more confident with. Theo peeked his eye open but nothing had happened yet.

Well this was absolutely stupid.

Sander's eyes focused on the giant lily pad that he had fallen off earlier. Like before, he closed his eyes, concentrating hard on visualizing himself standing where he was now and then disappearing and apparating over to stand on the center of the lily pad. He kept that image strong in his mind as he opened his eyes and stared at the lily pad.

' I want to move from here...to there....from this spot...to the middle of the lily pad.' he kept thinking to himself as he visualized himself actually doing it. Taking a deep breath and concentrating really hard on what he wanted to do and where he wanted to be, Sander moved his left foot back and quickly turned on the spot.

He felt that same twisting and rushing movement and then POP!.... everything stopped moving. Sander quickly looked down and found himself standing on the lily pad. Despite rocking back and forth a little bit, this time he didn't fall off. Sander quickly examined himself thoroughly. Everything seemed to look where it should be, but he needed to be certain. So he jumped off the lily pad on to solid ground and walked back to where he originally stood. Carefully checking around the area, he smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. There were no signs that he had accidentally left anything of himself behind.

He hadn't splinched and that meant that he had been successful again. Sander smiled to himself as he looked over to see how Tessa was fairing with her apparation attempts.