Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard

Chapter 698: Chapter 667: Ministry of Magic Reinforcement Arrives (3)

There was another crisp sound, and in the next second, he appeared again inside the wooden hoop in front of the person ahead.

”Oh!” Excited cheers erupted from the crowd, and even Professor McGonagall, watching from the side, couldn’t help but curl her lips into a slight smile.

Snape snorted disdainfully. ”Childish.”

Tonks glanced at the stunned Teckros, barely holding back her laughter, but half her hair had already turned golden.

When Teckros finally snapped out of it, his pale face began to flush rapidly; he said, with a hint of annoyance, ”You must have planned this together, right?”

”We didn’t, Professor,” Kael said. ”In fact, I succeeded the first time—you just didn’t notice.”

”That’s right, I can vouch for him,” Professor Sprout said with a smile. She’d been watching the Hufflepuff students the whole time, especially Kael.

Teckros was momentarily at a loss for words. The scene earlier had been far too chaotic; he really hadn’t noticed that, among all those flashy attempts, someone had actually done it for real.

”Alright, alright, I lost,” Teckros said. ”I’ll keep my promise.”

He couldn’t help but laugh himself after saying that.

As for someone learning Apparition so quickly, he was honestly very happy; whether Kael already knew it before... he really didn’t care.

Learning to Apparate before the age of sixteen was already an impressive feat—the younger you are, the more gifted you must be.

”Alright, you don’t need to study anymore.” Teckros waved a hand at Kael, signaling him to go to the side, while feeling even more hopeful about the rest of the lesson.

With one person succeeding, would there be a second?

At that thought, Teckros called out the command once more.

But to his disappointment, the second attempt fared no better than the first. He opened his eyes as wide as he could but still didn’t see a second person succeed with Apparition.

It wasn’t until the third round that things changed.

Someone succeeded—but only halfway.

Cho stood wobbling inside the wooden hoop, but her right leg was left behind in her original spot.

Someone let out a terrible scream.

”Don’t panic, it’s perfectly normal,” Teckros said calmly. ”Remember what I said before? Splinching is the most common accident when learning Apparition.”

While he spoke, Professor McGonagall strode quickly over, picked up Cho’s leg, and brought it to her side.

”Pomona, Dittany...”

”Is it this, Professor?”

At that moment, someone suddenly handed her a bottle filled with Dittany Essence.

”Yes, that’s the one.” Professor McGonagall looked up at Kael, took the Dittany Essence, smeared it onto Cho’s wound, and, like assembling building blocks, placed the leg back in position.

”Don’t be afraid, try walking.” Professor McGonagall said softly. ”Splinching isn’t anything to fear. As long as the parts are joined back in time, everything’s fine.”

Cho’s face was as white as a sheet. She took a deep breath, stepped forward cautiously, and realized to her surprise that she could still move normally, and felt no discomfort at all.

”Next time, don’t hesitate, and don’t worry about failing. We’ll always help promptly if needed,” Professor McGonagall reminded her and then moved away again.

Cho nodded and returned to the group.

But whether because Cho’s splinching had left everyone rattled or not, in the following half hour, not one more person succeeded.

Everyone, including the now-experienced Cho, just kept repeating the move of spinning in place and jumping into the hoop.

Teckros felt a little disappointed, yet he understood—Kael was a special case, after all; this was what was normal.

After witnessing the visual shock of Splinching, maintaining resolve and composure became much harder—this was, after all, why he’d said before that it might take until the third lesson for someone else to succeed.

Overcoming the fear of Splinching is the hardest part of learning Apparition—it simply takes time.

He fastened his cloak and said, ”Alright everyone, don’t forget: focus, determination, composure. See you next Wednesday.”

”Wait a minute, Professor...” someone suddenly asked, ”I thought Apparition lessons were only on Saturdays?”

”That’s right,” Teckros replied. ”But I also have to help Mrs. Umbridge teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. The Ministry of Magic originally wanted to send two Aurors, but most Aurors have proper duties and can’t leave, so they found me instead.”

Kael wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he noticed that Tonks’ hair had grown even blacker, and she was glaring furiously at Teckros.

Kael quickly figured out what was going on.

If all the other Aurors were busy with serious business, didn’t that mean that Tonks was the only one in the whole Auror Office with nothing to do?

Kael couldn’t help but chuckle, but the very next second, he realized Tonks was shooting him a withering glare, and he quickly shut his mouth in fright.