Harry Potter 06 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

time, many of you may be ready to take your test,’ Twycross continued, as though there had been no interruption.
    ‘As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The Headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practise. May I emphasise that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try.
    ‘I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you.’
    There was a great scrambling and jostling as people separated, banged into each other, and ordered others out of their space. The Heads of House moved among the students, marshalling them into position and breaking up arguments.
    ‘Harry, where are you going?’ demanded Hermione.
    But Harry did not answer; he was moving quickly through the crowd, past the place where Professor Flitwick was making squeaky attempts to position a few Ravenclaws, all of whom wanted to be near the front, past Professor Sprout, who was chivvying the Hufflepuffs into line, until, by dodging around Ernie Macmillan, he managed to position himself right at the back of the crowd, directly behind Malfoy, who was taking advantage of the general upheaval to continue his argument with Crabbe, standing five feet away and looking mutinous.
    ‘I don’t know how much longer, all right?’ Malfoy shot at him, oblivious to Harry standing right behind him. ‘It’s taking longer than I thought it would.’
    Crabbe opened his mouth, but Malfoy appeared to second-guess what he was going to say.
    ‘Look, it’s none of your business what I’m doing, Crabbe, you and Goyle just do as you’re told and keep a lookout!’
    ‘I tell my friends what I’m up to, if I want them to keep a lookout for me,’ Harry said, just loud enough for Malfoy to hear him.
    Malfoy spun round on the spot, his hand flying to his wand, but at that precise moment the four Heads of House shouted, ‘Quiet!’ and silence fell again. Malfoy turned slowly to face the front.
    ‘Thank you,’ said Twycross. ‘Now then …’
    He waved his wand. Old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in front of every student.
    ‘The important things to remember when Apparating are the three Ds!’ said Twycross. ‘Destination, Determination, Deliberation!
    ‘Step one: fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination ,’ said Twycross. ‘In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now.’
    Everybody looked around furtively, to check that everyone else was staring into their hoop, then hastily did as they were told. Harry gazed at the circular patch of dusty floor enclosed by his hoop and tried hard to think of nothing else. This proved impossible, as he couldn’t stop puzzling over what Malfoy was doing that needed lookouts.
    ‘Step two,’ said Twycross, ‘focus your determination to occupy the visualised space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!’
    Harry glanced around surreptitiously. A little way to his left, Ernie Macmillan was contemplating his hoop so hard that his face had turned pink; it looked as though he was straining to lay a Quaffle-sized egg. Harry bit back a laugh and hastily returned his gaze to his own hoop.
    ‘Step three,’ called Twycross, ‘and only when I give the command … turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation ! On my command, now … one –’
    Harry glanced around again; lots of people were looking positively alarmed at being asked to Apparate so quickly.
    ‘– two –’
    Harry tried to fix his thoughts on his hoop again; he had already forgotten what the three Ds stood for.
    ‘– THREE!’
    Harry spun on the spot, lost his balance and nearly fell over. He was not the only one. The whole Hall was suddenly full of staggering people; Neville was flat on his back; Ernie Macmillan, on the other hand, had done a kind of pirouetting leap into his hoop and looked momentarily thrilled, until he caught sight of Dean Thomas roaring with laughter at him.
    ‘Never mind, never mind,’ said Twycross dryly, who did not seem to have expected anything better. ‘Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions …’
    The second attempt was no better than the first. The third was just as bad. Not until the fourth did anything exciting happen. There was