Author's note: My first published piece, nothing fantastic. I had this thought and couldn't help but scribble something up. This is the result.
Ron was in the Room of Requirement, practicing a few spells. He was trying to think of anything he could so that he could be useful to Harry, show off to Hermione, and maybe get a little of the fame he was waiting for. After their last fight, he realized he needed more than an apology to be forgiven, and at least for once he understood why. Calling Hermione a know-it-all had been a staple of their arguments for years, but when Harry pointed out that they weren't twelve anymore and that being a know-it-all was likely to save both Harry's and Ron's life, he finally understood that he probably shouldn't insult Hermione in front of Harry.
His combats spells, diffindo, reducto, and stupefy, were sufficient but nothing amazing. He had asked the Room for information on Combat Spells, but the language was thick, and had many theories that he just didn't understand. He thought long and hard, and realized that he was at best support in a combat situation, and at worst a liability.
Ron decided that he needed something else to earn his place in the trio. After asking the room for spells about enhancement, healing, and occlumency, he realized he was out of his league for that aspect of things. This took a couple hours of research, but he was well sure that he wasn't cut out for any of those.
Realizing that the group would need a way to travel inconspicuously, he asked the room for books on Apparition. The information given in three of the books was a little beyond him, but he understood the basics. The last book, however, made perfect sense to him.
Apparition is, at its simplest, the magical interpretation of your willpower. Silent, wordless, and fast, it is the pinnacle of travel in today's society. The theories involved can be complex, but fortunately for most wizards and witches, is almost completely unnecessary to be able to perform the spell.
There is no wand movement to accompany apparition, but almost all witches and wizards require the wand and their fingertip to be able to perform apparition without splinching themselves.
Picture your destination in your mind as clearly as you can. Remember as much of the permanent fixtures around the place as possible. If outside, remember where the trees are, remember if there is a road nearby, remember if there is a building nearby, place all of these in a mental picture of your destination. If inside, remember the location of any and all furniture, the walls, the building as a whole, and place all of these in a mental picture of your destination.
Once you have a clear picture of your destination, place an image of yourself in your mental picture. Do not set your location in stone, the theories behind apparition will explain this, but if there is someone or something in your place, your spell will place you as close to your chosen location as possible. Once you have chosen your destination, pictured it clearly in your mind, and pictured yourself there, simply will yourself there. Being able to feel your magic can help, but is not necessary.
Portkeys work very similarly, although the theory is necessary.
Ron asked the room for a place to practice apparition, and was given a very large room with clearly marked sections on the floor. Squares were painted in white, with a number in a red color inside each square. Ron was standing in the square with the number one in it. He imagined the room by looking at it, and placed himself in the square labeled two. Knowing that there was nothing there to impede him, he did go ahead and place himself firmly in the middle of that square in his mind, and with a bit of concentration, felt himself pulled through a very thin tube. Disoriented, he looked around, and realized that he was in the second square.
"Yes!" he enthused.
Ron continued to apparate for a little while, making sure he had the feeling down, and was just getting to the point that he was not experiencing any disorientation when he decided he was ready for his next spell.
Thinking carefully, Ron decided that the portkey spell would be his next learned ability.
Ron carefully imagined the first square, while standing in the twenty third, and carefully imagined himself in that first square.
"Portus!"
Harry and Hermione were sitting in the Library, perusing a couple of books in hopes of finding any way to defeat Voldemort. The long afternoon was starting to grow weary on Harry, and he finally stopped reading.
"Hermione, why is it that portkeys are regulated by the Ministry?" he asked.
"Well, mostly likely due to the complication involved. There's more to a portkey than 'I want to go to Bob's House, portus,' you know. The elevation of the location and the destination, the curvature of the earth for longer distances, the power requirement, and the knowledge of how to place all of the above into a single item, with a single word; that's all part of what goes into the making of a one use portkey. Oh, and of course, observing the Statute of Secrecy, so knowing time of day at your arrival for shadows, and other minutiae are important as well."
"Oh. So, it's not something I can just learn overnight, huh?"
"Of course not! I've been studying this for when we might need it for several months, and I've gotten perhaps halfway through the book that details all the particulars. I found it in Sirius' library at headquarters last summer. I would not cast this spell today, given what I know of it, and I certainly wouldn't use a portkey I had made for any living material. I would test it on an inanimate object first."
"Sounds like it might be something not worth the effort," Harry said.
"Oh, it will be. I just expect it to take a few more months."
Nothing happened. Having seen Dumbledore cast it before, he was expecting a blue glow around the item. He looked at the book he had been reading, and realized there really wasn't a lot there. Grumbling, Ron picked up the next book he could find on portkeys.
Portkeys are the pinnacle of multiple person long distance travel. While not as quick and flashy as apparition, they do have the advantage of being able to transport more than one person with a much smaller power requirement per person, in comparison. While it requires a bit more study and understanding, it is obviously worth the effort of learning.
First and foremost, be aware that the creation of portkeys is controlled by the Ministry of Magic, and only those authorized and licensed to make portkeys may do so. Any creation of portkeys that is unauthorized will be fined and sentenced swiftly. See Ministry of Magic Legal Code Title 39, Chapter 17, Section 4, Part 22 for clarification of fines and punishment.
Second, be aware that creating portkeys that traverse portkey wards is not only illegal for anyone that is not the owner of said ward but nigh on impossible for anyone that is not the ward holder.
Ron suddenly understood why he wasn't able to create a portkey in the room of requirement. Instead of reading further, he decided that he needed to at least test if he could get the spell to complete before he wasted any time on it.
He quickly went to the passage to Hogsmeade, ran through, and stood outside for a minute enjoying the fresh air. Thinking of how proud Hermione would be of his studies, he smiled and dug a sickle out of his pocket, and placed his wand against it. Placing an image of himself there at the pond by the Burrow, he thought about willing himself there directly, and then focused all that into one word:
"Portus."
The sickle glowed faintly blue with tinges of purple. Ron assumed this meant that at least the spell had worked. Smiling happily, he tapped his wand against the sickle.
Molly was used to being alone now. With all the kids either at Hogwarts or far afield in their chosen careers, and Arthur at work all the time, it wasn't unusual to see her sitting in the back yard with a book floating in front of her while he knitted. Christmas was not that far away after all.
What was unusual, however, was the wards rippling. She knew that anyone unauthorized to arrive via apparition, portkey, or floo, would be shunted either away or back where they came from, depending on the method of travel, and that the wards would notify her of an attempted breach.
So, when the wards rippled, Molly was standing with her wand, back against the wall of the Burrow, and scanning what she could see of her home's properties.
She was, therefore, somewhat unsurprised when she heard a very faint screaming coming closer very quickly.
"!" The scream reverberated around the house, but she still hadn't placed the voice, or the cause. Disillusioning herself, she was somewhat surprised when she heard a rather vicious splash from the direction of the pond.
"Expecto Patronus," she intoned quietly. "Arthur, someone just landed in the pond. I'm not sure how. Please come or send someone." The bear quickly ran off much faster than any muggle would expect a bear to be able to off into the distance towards London.
She quietly but swiftly walked to the pond. Looking at the ripples, she could tell whoever it was had landed not far from the edge of the water. Bracing herself, she cast a few charms to push the water back, and was very surprised to see a young man with red hair. Quickly levitating him out of the water and onto dry land, she released the charms holding the water back and then rolled the intruder over.
"No wonder the wards rippled," she sighed.