One night? Harry would believe it when pigs flew.
"Wanna give it a shot?" Hodge set down his book. He'd been buried in reading lately; this would be a nice break. "I know you can do the Patronus Charm—"
"Just luck," Harry muttered. "And that's two different spells."
"The trick to Apparition," Hodge said, counting on his fingers, "is destination, determination, deliberation. You've already used the first two when practicing your Patronus… Speaking of which, when did you learn that spell?"
Harry scratched his head.
"I wanted to learn it ages ago. Tried a few times on my own, no dice." He didn't mention it was because of Hodge—how he'd been dazzled by that endless string of flashy magic Hodge could do. Harry only vaguely knew the Patronus was tied to memory magic and lumped it in with the rest.
"Then the Dementors showed up at school, though they left pretty quick." Harry paused; he hated even thinking about Dementors and instinctively hunted for ways to fight them. "Before the holidays, Professor Lupin pulled me aside, chatted about some stuff… Turns out he knew the Patronus Charm too, so I took the chance to learn from him for a bit. But aside from that time at the station, all I could manage was a silvery mist."
Hodge nodded, then frowned. "Will Lupin keep teaching?"
"He told me it was just temporary," Harry said regretfully. "Dumbledore will probably find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
Hodge clicked his tongue. "Any idea who the new one'll be?"
Harry thought of the past two years' disasters and said gloomily, "As long as it's not a Death Eater, I could even handle another Lockhart."
Did Quirrell count as a Death Eater? Definitely—straight from the Boss's payroll.
"Let's go!"
Hodge grabbed Harry's arm, and the two vanished from the room in an instant.
Harry felt like he'd been shoved into a thick rubber tube; every part of his body was squeezed, his lungs flattening. Just as he thought he'd suffocate, his feet hit solid ground again, surrounded by cool evening breeze.
For the first time, he thought breathing freely was pure bliss.
"I'll take you through Apparition a few times first to get you used to it." Hodge's voice came before Harry could catch his breath. "Wait—wait—" Harry started, but a hand clamped his arm, and the world went black mid-sentence.
Hodge didn't take Harry far—maybe twenty feet. He'd chosen a spot deep in the park's woods, ringed by dense trees.
They went through it a dozen more times before stopping.
"How's it feel?" Hodge asked.
Harry looked miserable. "At least tell me what I'm supposed to do. I don't know anything…"
"Because I haven't started teaching yet," Hodge said with a shrug. "That was just to get you used to the process. Remember the keywords I told you? Destination, determination, deliberation. Any fear is unacceptable."
It made a weird kind of sense. Harry thought it over. The process had been brutal, but his nerves about Apparition were fading fast. Put another way, he wanted to go back to bed. But the words were out, and it was pitch-black woods all around; Harry didn't even know where he was, and this late, he had no money for a cab.
So Harry nodded solemnly, and Hodge looked pleased with the attitude.
"Next—" Hodge stepped back a dozen paces and drew a circle on the ground with the toe of his shoe.
"Focus on the circle. Determine to occupy the space you're picturing. Let the desire to get there flood every tiny part of your body. Then spin in place, searching for that feeling of slipping into the void—you just experienced it…"
Hodge listed a few more pointers, then said, "All right, you can start."
"What? Now?" Harry's face cracked. Seeing Hodge was serious, he hurried on: "We can't do magic outside school. The Ministry already sent me a letter once."
"Harry, the Ministry treats wizarding families differently from Muggle ones," Hodge said calmly.
So Harry nervously reached out, gripping his wand in one hand, and started spinning in place. He was sure he looked ridiculous with his arms spread wide, wobbling and nearly falling.
"Don't tense up. Your magic understands body language, so move deliberately," Hodge coached. "Calm yourself first, then recall what I said. Finally, try to recapture the feeling from when I side-alonged you."
Harry hunted for the sensation. After a moment, he mustered the courage and tried.
Nothing happened.
"No good—way off. Where's your courage? Channel the attitude you had facing Voldemort. How'd you cast that Patronus back then?" Hodge barked.
He was sensitive to emotions; Harry was full of hesitation and fear right now.
Harry tried again.
"Better—I felt your determination. Hold it—" Hodge called, "but your movement's off."
An hour later, Harry had tried over twenty times without success. He was starting to lose hope. "Ugh, I can't. Maybe tomorrow—"
"Tomorrow we're going to the cave. Don't pretend you don't want to. Let me side-along you once more." Hodge walked over despite the desperation spilling from Harry's eyes, unmoved, and gave Harry another taste of side-along Apparition.
Moments later, Hodge and Harry appeared in a different clearing in the woods.
Hodge handed Harry a sweet.
"Rest a bit. Might be the location. If it doesn't work, we'll try by the lake later." He drew a new circle nearby, then frowned in thought, picked up a leaf, and Transfigured it into a lion representing Gryffindor. The palm-sized golden lion roared at Harry, then flopped over like paper and lay quietly in the center of the circle.
Maybe Hodge's theory worked, or maybe the "card lion" sparked Harry's house pride. After resting half an hour, when he focused completely, every thought locked on the destination, Harry felt himself step into that crushing pressure. He knew he'd done it. Looking down, a magically created lion blinked up at him from under his feet.
"Nice one, Harry."
Harry felt exhausted all over.
He walked toward Hodge; the short dozen steps drained what strength he had left, but his mind was sharp. Harry plopped down beside Hodge and tilted his head back to stare at the stars.
"Thanks," Harry said, letting out a long breath.
"It was your own effort." Hodge shifted the sweet in his mouth. He'd known Harry would succeed but not this fast. He'd planned to have Harry practice more for consolidation, but whatever—Harry was wiped out.
"No," Harry said slowly. "I've been really on edge lately, feeling like I can't help with anything." He lifted the hand holding his wand and studied it. "Tonight's training showed me I'm still useful. I'm still working toward that goal."
Hodge blinked.
"All right, I admit it—I've been on edge too."
————
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