The sudden, dramatic loss of Aurelia was very difficult for Maya, and for once the deafening silence of the all but deserted castle was not a pleasant sensation to her. She would much rather have the usual hustle and bustle to distract her. In her dreams, or rather, nightmares, she kept reliving the moment she had been forced to make the ultimate sacrifice for her beloved pet, frantically fighting for her life so that the small parliament of owls could get away. Maya was sure she would never forget the hair-raising sound of clicking pincers even if her magical capabilities had ultimately triumphed over the eight legged freaks.
She had never missed and needed Draco as much as she did now, in the aftermath of what had been a very traumatising event, but some days she literally did not see him at all. She wondered when or even if he ate, considering he had lost a lot of weight over the last couple of months. Vincent and Gregory should embark on some kind of secret mission Maya thought sarcastically, since they were still corpulent as ever. They, like virtually everyone else, had gone home for the holidays. Not like Draco currently needed them, or about a million times worse, her. Maya inadvertently wondered whether this form of emotional disconnect between them could ever be fully healed, but whenever those unpleasant thoughts slipped their way into her mind she vehemently pushed them aside.
Finally December faded into January and with that came the start of the new term. Not only did Maya cast an approving look at the horde of students slowly filing back into the castle, but she had also been quick to notice a large sign on the Slytherin common room noticeboard that morning which said:
APPARITION LESSONS
Hogwarts will organise a twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons from a Ministry of Magic Apparition Instructor. Every student who is seventeen years of age or will turn seventeen on or before 31st August is eligible to partake in this course. Please sign below if you would like to participate. Cost: 12 Galleons.
Maya was the first to write her name underneath the sign. In her opinion being able to vanish and reappear at will was an essential skill to acquire; one never knew when they needed to make a quick getaway, especially in these troubled times. The lessons would drain the last of her money, but she could hardly think of a better use.
Draco had rather lazily scribbled down his name too that evening, but the first day of term was filled with much excited talk about the forthcoming Apparition lessons. The rather boring Charms class did not help; the only interesting thing that happened there was Gryffindor Seamus Finnigan hitting tiny Professor Flitwick in the face with a jet of water. Potions was even less interesting. Professor Slughorn now put a lot of emphasis on the theoretical part of things, which made the subject rather abstract to everyone but Hermione.
"Golpalott's Third Law. A sufficient antidote for a blended poison must be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes required for each separate component. Assuming we successfully identified the potion's ingredients, our primary aim will not be the relatively simple one of selecting antidotes to those ingredients in and of themselves, but rather to discover that one added component which will, by an alchemical process, transform those varying elements. So, I want you all to take one of these phials from my desk and create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck!" Professor Slughorn said, promptly jolting the class awake with his last words.
Maya uncorked her poison, which was a very fitting emerald green, and tipped it into her cauldron. Next, she lit a fire underneath it with her wand. Unfortunately, she did not have the faintest idea what she was supposed to do next. "Any ideas?" she muttered to Draco, who was just standing there and making a particularly disgruntled impression.
"Drink the poison, that should fix most of your problems," he said blankly.
Maya merely rolled her eyes and then cast a glance around the dungeon. Sure enough, only Hermione seemed to know what she was doing; she was in the process of decanting the mysteriously separated ingredients of her poison into ten different crystal phials, which she had categorised neatly on the table in front of her. It seemed that Harry's unexplained rise to best potion-maker was in jeopardy; his cauldron merely gave off a strong smell of rotten eggs. Maya saw him dashing towards the store cupboard in what she took to be a last desperate attempt at salvaging his reputation. Oh well, at least I have no reputation to lose Maya thought bitterly as she stepped away from her own fetid mixture.
"Time's up!" Professor Slughorn called, his voice booming through the room. He then moved around the dungeon, examining the students' work. It seemed that nobody had quite managed to finish the task the professor had set them, and he hardly made comments. He just passed by Maya's work without stopping, but she could not blame him; all she was doing now was trying to avoid breathing in the putrid fumes issuing from her cauldron.
Finally Professor Slughorn reached Harry's table. Maya looked up eagerly, anxious to see every bit of disappointment on Slughorn's face. Harry held out his hand, and Maya craned her neck to get a better view. Through the smoke she spotted a small brown object sitting on Harry's palm. Slughorn stared down at it for at least ten seconds and then suddenly roared with laughter. His laugh was so loud and abrupt that some students flinched.
"A bezoar! Look everyone! You've got a nerve, my boy, but it's true; a bezoar would most definitely act as an antidote to every single one of these potions! Well done! Thinking outside the box really sets apart a good potion-maker! So intuitive! Undoubtedly from Lily... anyway, Harry, bezoars don't work on everything and are quite hard to come by so it's still worth knowing how to mix antidotes... but, you know what, ten extra points to Gryffindor for sheer nerve and cheek!" Slughorn said happily.
As the bell rang, Hermione, Draco and Maya were all most displeased. I never learn, do I? Maya thought indignantly. Of course Harry would find a way to come out on top, like he had done ever since they had started their magical journey.
February arrived and the snow melted around the school. The winds were still cold as ever and there was a constant fall of chilly rain, lashing against the windows and making the castle grounds muddy and slippery. Because of this the first Apparition lesson would take place in the Great Hall.
Excitement was running high that Saturday morning. For some reason Maya had the idea she could sense the magic radiating from every single stone now, as if the Great Hall was trying to give the students entering a little boost for what was about to come. They found that the tables had disappeared, which made the Hall look even larger than usual. The students assembled in front of the Heads of House and a small wizard, whom Maya assumed to be the Ministry Apparition Instructor. He was rather small and thin, which inadvertently made Maya wonder whether that was a result of very frequent disappearances and reappearances. She went to stand right next to Draco, Vincent and Gregory, who were in the midst of a hushed conversation.
"Good morning," the Ministry wizard said when the last of excited chattering had died down. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I will be your Apparition Instructor for the next twelve weeks, during which I hope to sufficiently prepare you for your Apparition test..."
"Malfoy, stop talking and pay attention!" Professor McGonagall suddenly barked, cutting across Twycross.
Everybody looked round and Draco went red as he promptly stepped away from his friends.
"As most of you are probably aware, one usually cannot Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The Headmaster, however, has lifted this enchantment within the Great Hall for the duration of one hour so as to enable you to practise. Now, place yourselves so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you," Twycross continued, utterly unfazed by the interruption.
Several arguments ensued as people tried to find their space and the Heads of House took it upon themselves to put students into position. Draco took advantage of the chaos to continue his argument with Vincent. "I don't know how much longer, okay? It's taking much longer than I thought it would!" Draco spat at him.
"Draco!" Maya hissed urgently, noticing Harry positioning himself right behind them.
Draco cast her a quick glance but chose to ignore her. "I keep telling you, it's none of your business what I'm doing, Crabbe, so you and Goyle just do as I say and keep a lookout!"
"Draco!" Maya hissed again.
"What?" he snapped at her.
Maya jerked her head towards Harry, who, sure enough, was listening most intently.
"This was a private conversation, Potter, and you're not invited!" Draco spat after spinning round and catching sight of the Gryffindor.
"Yeah, was. But, you know, I would tell my friends what I'm up to if I want them to help me," Harry said casually.
Draco made to grab his wand, but then the four Heads of House called for silence and the Slytherin could do nothing more than slowly turning back to face the front.
"Thank you, now then..." Twycross said, waving his wand and making rather old-fashioned wooden hoops appear in front of each student. "The very most important things to remember when it comes to Apparating are the three Ds! Destination, Determination, Deliberation, in that order. So as for step one, I need you all to fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination, the interior of the hoop in front of you. Fully concentrate upon that particular destination now."
Maya inadvertently glanced at Draco. She knew he had his mind elsewhere and that he would not be able to muster sufficient concentration. Actually, now her mind was elsewhere too... shoot.
"Step two, focus your determination to occupy the visualised space! Let your yearning to enter it push aside any other kind of desire you might have!" Twycross called. "And finally, step three, and wait for my command... turn on the spot, feel your way into the void and move with deliberation! One..."
Maya glanced around the Great Hall; not a single student seemed ready to Apparate just yet.
"Two... three!"
Sure enough, nobody had quite managed to do it. Everywhere Maya looked she saw stumbling people and Neville Longbottom was flat on his back. No surprises there Maya thought gleefully.
Twycross was not at all fazed; atrocious Apparition attempts were undoubtedly par for the course. "Never mind, let's try again..."
The next three attempts were just as bad, but on the fifth something interesting happened. A terrible screech of pain echoed through the Hall and everyone looked around to see Susan Bones of Hufflepuff awkwardly wobbling in the hoop before her, with her left leg still standing where she started. The Heads of House quickly made their way over to repair the damage, and Maya suddenly understood why they had been present.
"Ah yes, Splinching, that is to say separation of random body parts, occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. Concentrate continually upon your destination, without allowing the mind to wander off, and move without haste but with strong determination like so," Twycross said without any emotion, promptly vanishing and reappearing at the very back of the Hall.
"Break a leg!" Maya hissed gleefully, staring at the sobbing Hufflepuff.
Draco turned around to look at her and actually grinned. That must have been the first time in a long while. "To be honest, I also feel like legging it," he sneered.
"Same, as for Apparition I already feel like I'm on my last legs."
"Oh well, hope she won't feel too bad about us pulling her leg."
"We'll have to shake a leg if we want to Apparate this lesson, I guess we're nearly done."
"Yeah, and it seems when something goes wrong, we won't have a leg to stand on."
An hour later nobody had yet managed to successfully Apparate, but Twycross again did not seem particularly discouraged. "Until next Saturday, and remember: Destination. Determination. Deliberation."
Talk broke out at once as people made their way towards the Entrance Hall, but Maya would rather get out of the crowd as quickly as possible. She was not used to performing poorly and longed for the peace and quiet of her room.
Several weeks passed and February faded into March. The scheduled Hogsmeade trip had been cancelled, very much to general indignation, but Maya could not say she was surprised. Katie Bell still had not returned from St Mungo's Hospital and further disappearances had been reported in the Daily Prophet. The wizarding world was a relatively small one and so every single instance of this happening had a direct effect on several of the students. The weekly Apparition lessons made for some distraction, but people were still struggling as ever and becoming increasingly frustrated with the course.
The news that spread around the school on March 2 was as weird as it was random. From what Maya managed to piece together from the numerous snippets of information, Ron Weasley had been poisoned and was now recovering in the Hospital Wing. Considering the fact that the incident had taken place in Slughorn's room, the Potions teacher, people seemed to think it had been an accident. Maya, however, was only truly interested in the version of one particular person. When she saw Draco in the Slytherin common room that night, their eyes locked and Maya was about to walk over to him when, much to her surprise, he actually began moving towards her.
"We need to talk," Draco said quietly, motioning for Maya to follow him to the safe seclusion of his room. Maya nodded, cast a quick glance around and then hastily followed her friend down the stone steps.
