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Chapter 568: The Ministry of Magic’s Assessment
Chapter 568: The Ministry of Magic’s Assessment
Chapter 568: The Ministry of Magic’s Assessment
In the great hall, the sixth graders are still being assessed.
They all had the basic foundation for it, and even according to the normal procedure in previous years, they would have started to access Apparition magic around this time. But because of Sirius’ appearance, they had got their training a little over half a year ahead of schedule, so a large proportion of the students stepped forward when Wilkie Twycross questioned them.
It was significantly less time-consuming for the staff of the Ministry of Magic to just examine the students’ Apparition performance without the need to guide them, as all they had to do was just stand by and record the results. There were two minor splinching instances occurred during which students reacted quite calmly, mainly because they had already seen it in advance in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
The next step of the assessment is the Side-Along Apparition, in which the staff of the Ministry of Magic is responsible to bring the students along with them to Apparate, and then check the students’ physical state to see if they have any strong negative reactions.
“It’s a heavy load for us,” Wilkie Twycross said, “and each person has to take a break for every few attempts. So I will reserve two days for this.” But the thought that there are nearly a thousand more students left sent a pang of distress through the Ministry of Magic staff’s hearts.
“I wouldn’t have to suffer this if I didn’t come to see Ced.” Amos Diggory whispered.
After the most part of the day passed, the Ministry of Magic staff were all exhausted enough for the four Heads of House and Felix to come down and help, but after two more sessions, something went wrong on Felix’s side.
Wilkie Twycross came over quickly, “How are you feeling?” He watched the student’s expression carefully.
” Quite fine.” Cormac McLaggen, who had a short thick, coarse hairstyle, froze for a moment and replied.
“Oh, that’s not okay.” Wilkie Twycross paused as his lips furrowed.
” Wh-Why not?” He asked in bewilderment.
Without answering him, Wilkie Twycross looked at Felix, “Well – Mr. Hap, your Apparition was very – skilful, and the process of movement is nearly free of discomfort, which does not meet our test requirements. ” He pointed at the side where Amos Diggory had moved into the opposite wooden circle with a sixth-year student, and the girl began to dry heave before she could stand.
“Marietta, are you all right?” Her friend Cho Chang asked with concern.
“I … barf…” Marietta clutched the wooden circle and vomited as Mr. Diggory covered his nose and walked away from her, and no one seemed to have wished to go near her except Cho Chang.
“You see, it has to be that bad to test the impact.” Wilkie Twycross said, without any extra expression on his face, which made Cormac McLaggen look at him in respect. “Oh, that’s quite normal, it won’t look weird when you see it more …”
“So do you want me to cause as strong reaction as possible?” Felix asked with interest and a shiver went down Cormac McLaggen’s spine.
“It doesn’t have to be particularly strong …” Wilkie Twycross said in an unnatural tone.
Near noon, the sixth years left with excited faces as they exchanged comments, and the Ministry of Magic staff wrote down their names and performances one by one, before letting the fifth years in. Wilkie Twycross repeated what he had said before by the book and then asked the students to disperse evenly and wait for the staff to carry them as they Apparate.
The Heads of House walked between the students to help them get lined up, and Ron raised his hand while Wilkie Twycross approached them.
Twycross walked over to them, he looked thin and pale as if a gust of wind could blow him over, ” Well, student, what’s your problem?”
“Well, it’s like this.” Ron glanced at Harry and asked, “I just wanted to ask, since we’ve mastered Apparition-” when he saw Wilkie Twycross frown a bit, he hurriedly added, ” We were preparing for the Tournament of Champions, so incidentally we learned to Apparate, Me, Harry and Hermione.”
Wilkie Twycross showed a look of surprise. He looked closely at Ron’s face and then at Harry, “Oh Merlin, Yes … I recognize you! I saw you on the footage, you are Weasley’s kid, right? I am sure of it when I saw the red hair and freckles, you were pretty impressive at the bottom of the lake …”
Ron’s face flushed, he had just spent most of his time in the Black Lake reading a bunch of casual books by repeatedly breaking in the same level.
Not noticing his hidden emotions, Wilkie Twycross continued, “I met your father Arthur Weasley a few times, … unfortunately we never got to talk more than a greeting … ahem, I think it’s okay. ”
” Pardon?”
“Guys!” Wilkie Twycross clapped his hands as everyone looked over, “Let’s add some fun to the hard work and welcome the winners of the Tournament of Champions, who have worked extraordinarily hard to make our country proud, and the footage only showed a very small part of it! In fact – they also mastered the Apparition.”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were pushed to the centre of attention.
“Oh,” Hermione groaned under her breath, “I wasn’t planning on being in the limelight right now.”
Ron’s voice trembled a little, “Believe me, I didn’t see it coming too… Harry, did you bring the Liquid Luck, now is the right time …”
Harry knew Ron too well to know that he was babbling out of nervousness. How could they possibly drink the Liquid Luck while everyone watches? But he did mentally ponder whether it is necessary to carry it everywhere with him, lest he encounters a similar unexpected situation and be helpless.
The students and professors gathered around them, all watching the show with great interest. They knew that Harry could Apparate, he had demonstrated it when dealing with the Dragon, by using it to move twice. Ron had also used it once, as for whether Hermione knew the magic as well, they weren’t quite sure.
“Well then, to be safe, let’s let Mr. Potter try it first.” Wilkie Twycross said and then Harry was pulled near a wooden circle. Wilkie Twycross pushed him from behind and Harry almost tripped as he jumped into the circle crookedly.
“Very well, please hold your breath …”
The voice of Wilkie Twycross sounded from afar, but Harry’s consciousness was all focused on the wooden circle, he is literally familiar with this process and had used it during the Christmas holidays, he collected his thoughts and tried with all his might to occupy the space across the room … He appeared across the room all at once.
Many students were startled.
They could discern a comparison. Most of them were unaware that the Ministry of Magic staff had in fact deliberately heightened the discomfort of the Apparition; all they knew is that Harry’s spell casting was extremely smooth compared to the loud bursts made by the adult wizards, and he appeared in the centre of the wooden circle a dozen feet away in a flash before their eyes.
In the crowd, Umbridge examined Harry, and she could tell that he was performing this magic extremely well.
Wilkie Twycross, the professional instructor, was also a little surprised, ” Can you adjust the position you appear in? Mr. Potter.”
Harry nodded.
He had spent a lot of time over the summer trying to imitate Professor Hap’s tactic. Although it still looked elementary compared to the original, it still had some semblance of the Professor’s tactic. At least Sirius couldn’t handle it.
The students applauded after a long pause, and several members of the Frontline Lookout loudly cheered for Harry. The crowd grew quiet and Ron saw Wilkie Twycross grinning and beckoning him, so he walked over with fluttering feet. When Harry was returning, he squeezed the words out of his teeth and whispered, “Do you need a Daydream spell from Neville?”
Ron grinned stiffly as he stepped into the wooden circle. Wilkie Twycross rambled on, introducing him to his colleague, “This is Weasley, his brother and dad both work in the Ministry, you should know them – Arthur’s very nice, I’ve seen him in the lift a few times, and he has always initiated the greeting… . His brother’s a workaholic, I had believed he worked the night shift for a while …”
Ron really wanted to tell him to shut up. He took a few deep breaths, trying to stabilize his emotions, his eyes fixed dead on the wooden circle in the distance – “BANG!” He appeared in the wooden circle.
Ron touched his face quickly, “I made it? No hair loss? And the eyebrows are intact? Great!” He beamed with delight.
Finally, it was Hermione’s turn, who also managed to complete her spell skilfully, appearing exactly where she was supposed to be without much noise. The students applauded in unison, and she retreated into the crowd with a red face.
“Very good!” exclaimed Wilkie Twycross, “Very good, students. They have demonstrated their magic brilliantly, and I will advise the Ministry to issue them certificates in advance … Also, as a professional instructor, I must correct one thing in order to avoid any unnecessary misconceptions on your part; their spellcasting gestures are not the standard style.”
“What do you mean?” Cormac McLaggen asked, “They’re doing it wrong?”
“No, of course not, in fact, they did it much better.” Wilkie Twycross spread his hands, “The most important thing for beginners to remember when Apparating is Three D’s: Destination, Determination, and Deliberation… Other than that the gestures are also necessary, it will help us master Apparition, because, with it, you can easily visualize.”
Twycross walked into the nearest wooden circle, where he opened his arms and gracefully spun in place, and disappeared in a fluttering whirl of robes, before appearing in a wooden circle on the other side.
“Just like that – mobilize your magic and turn gracefully – that’s the right way to do it -”
“Are you kidding me!” Ron shouted.
Twycross looked at him calmly and Ron flinched as he mumbled, “Uh, sorry.” “It’s alright,” said Twycross, “I’m just curious about why you think it’s weird, didn’t the person who taught you the Apparition tell you about this spellcasting gesture?”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately looked to Professor Hap in the crowd, the Professor looked at the ceiling and seemed to be suddenly fascinated by the candle decorations overhead.
Draco Malfoy, who was not far away, also had a surprised look on his face; he had the same confusion when he had studied, but the professor hadn’t mentioned it at all, and he had assumed that he had seen the wrong information …
Professor McGonagall gave Felix a stern glare, as the situation became clear – Felix must have omitted a rather important step in the first place, causing Harry and the others to not even know the common spell casting gesture used by beginners even after learning the spell … Professor McGonagall glanced at Hermione, this student should know, but the other two well …
She smacked her lips and said, ” Twycross, can we continue the assessment?”
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