The peaceful weeks of school life quickly passed by.
James reappeared in classes, too. Aside from being much quieter, he didn't seem to have any other particular changes. However, whenever Snape glanced his way, he always met James's eyes, full of hatred, like the Black Lake overflowing during the rainy season. It seemed Sirius hadn't used that Love Potion on James. Snape just wondered if Sirius had thrown it away or kept it. This made Snape even more cautious, trying to avoid being alone.
On the first Friday evening in April, Snape and the others returned to the common room after dinner to find several sixth-year Slytherins sitting by the crackling fire, talking about something. Walking over to the notice board, they discovered a new announcement posted: the Apparition exam schedule. The notice stated that students turning seventeen could sign up for special, strictly supervised training in Hogsmeade before the first exam on April 24th.
After reading the notice, Abbot slumped into an armchair like a deflated balloon. Despite being old enough, he hadn't successfully Apparated yet and felt his chances of passing the exam were slim. "Ugh," he groaned, "looks like I'll have to take the train home again this holiday. Can't surprise the family, then."
Snape, on the other hand, had successfully Apparated a few times. However, he had no objections to taking the Hogwarts Express. "We don't have many chances left to take the train, do we?" Snape said, pulling an empty chair from by the fire and sitting beside Abbot and Barty Crouch Jr. "I'm a little sad about it. Even if I pass the Apparition exam, I still plan to take the train back."
Sitting by the warm fire, chatting about their remaining few days of school life, they eventually had to face their reality: mountains of homework. The N.E.W.T. advanced coursework was harder than ever, and even a seemingly simple question could require consulting a vast amount of literature. These days, Snape had many more opportunities to meet Madam Pince. Each time he borrowed or returned books, she would bring her wrinkled face close to the volumes, meticulously checking to ensure students hadn't done anything improper to her precious books.
On Sunday morning, Snape and Abbot waited in the Entrance Hall. Before long, Pandora came walking towards the Entrance Hall from the west corridor, the direction of Ravenclaw Tower. After they met up, they prepared to head to Hogsmeade for the special Apparition training.
The weather outside was pleasant and spring-like, with a rare clear blue sky and white clouds appearing above the castle. Once they arrived in Hogsmeade, they followed the purple magical arrows floating in the air, crossing the street and walking towards the end of the village closest to the mountains. On the distant mountain peaks, the snow had melted, replaced by a light green hue.
The pale, slender Wilkie Twycross stood near Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Next to him was a small witch wearing a beautiful magenta wizard's hat, who appeared to be Twycross's assistant. On the ground beside them lay an old Cleansweep Three racing broom. The broomstick had many marks, clearly showing its age. Several students were already gathered around them, looking through small booklets in their hands.
"Come closer!" the small witch enthusiastically waved at Snape and his companions.
"Hello everyone, I'm Cili Polke from the Apparition Test Centre, Mr. Twycross's assistant." Polke said, taking several small booklets from her bag and handing them over. "They contain everything you need to know about Apparition. Of course, the most crucial things are Mr. Twycross's three Ds: **Destination, Determination, and Deliberation**."
Snape took the booklet titled *Common Apparition Mistakes and How to Avoid Them* and flipped through it. Underneath the cover, the Ministry of Magic's abbreviation—M.o.M.—was printed, and a cartoon wizard with hair as almost transparent as Twycross's was also on the cover. The cartoon wizard continuously flickered on the booklet, appearing at the top of the cover one moment, then flashing to the bottom, even bowing politely out of the page.
"Everyone, listen closely," Twycross said, raising his voice to capture everyone's attention after Polke informed him that all students had arrived. "Today, here in Hogsmeade, you can relax and try Apparating." He paused, then continued, "There are no anti-Apparition jinxes here, so even if you make a slight mistake, there's no need to worry too much."
"However, I must remind you about your **Destination**," Twycross said, pointing to a large empty space circled in red ink outside Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, which was remarkably larger than the wooden circles they usually practiced with. "I still hope you can achieve as precise a movement as possible. After all, even a tiny error when actually using Apparition can lead to major problems. These terrible consequences are all written in the booklet, you can take a look."
"We'll have more practice opportunities next week and the week after," he added. "By then, this circle will be shrunk to the same size as in the final examination. Come on, line up, one by one."
When it was Snape's turn, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, imagined the red circle in his mind, and made an effort to consider his hair as part of his body. With a soft pop, he successfully Apparated inside the red circle. In a subsequent attempt, Pandora also succeeded, though her foot landed right on the edge of the circle.
Snape and Pandora's success greatly encouraged Abbot. He gripped his wand tightly, full of resolve, and stood beside Twycross, staring intently at the empty space. Then, he vanished. However, no one appeared in the empty space. The scene instantly erupted into chaos.
"Don't panic!" Twycross calmly told everyone, then bent down, picked up the broomstick from the ground, and straddled it. The Cleansweep Three wobbled into the sky at a speed befitting its performance. Under the students' watchful eyes, Twycross circled in the air, squinting, carefully searching for Abbot nearby. After a while, he suddenly pointed towards Hogsmeade Station and shouted, "He's over there!"
Snape looked in the direction Twycross was pointing, and Abbot was jogging up the slope towards them. When Abbot ran closer, panting, Snape asked him, "Where did you go?"
"I Apparated to the Three Broomsticks," Abbot said, out of breath, hands on his knees.
"Was that on purpose, or by accident?" Snape couldn't help but ask.
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It seems Apparition is quite a tricky business, even for experienced witches and wizards! What do you think will happen to Abbot? Will he be able to master it by the exam?