The peaceful weeks of school life passed quickly.
James had reappeared in class. Aside from being much quieter than before, there seemed to be nothing else unusual about him.
However, every time Snape glanced over unintentionally, he would always meet James's eyes, eyes brimming with hatred as deep and turbulent as the Black Lake during the rainy season.
It seemed, then, that Sirius had not used that bottle of Amortentia on James. Snape could only wonder whether Sirius had thrown it away, or if he had decided to keep it.
This made Snape all the more cautious, taking care to avoid moving about alone.
On the evening of the first Friday in April, after dinner, Snape and his friends returned to the Slytherin common room to find several sixth-year students sitting by the crackling fire, discussing something.
When they walked over to the notice board, they discovered a new announcement posted there, stating the date for the Apparition Examination.
According to the notice, before the first round of exams on April 24th, any student who had reached the age of seventeen could register to take part in special training sessions in Hogsmeade (under strict supervision).
Abbott, after reading the notice, deflated like a punctured balloon and collapsed into an armchair. Though he had already reached the eligible age, he had not yet managed a successful Apparition attempt. He felt his chances of passing were practically nonexistent.
"Sigh..." he said. "Looks like I'll have to take the train home again this holiday. Can't give my family a shock, I suppose..."
Snape, on the other hand, had already succeeded a few times. But he had no particular objection to taking the Hogwarts Express back.
"We won't have many more chances to ride the train, will we?" Snape pulled over an empty chair from beside the fire and sat down between Abbott and young Barty. "To be honest, I'll miss it a bit. Even if I pass the Apparition test, I plan to take the train home."
Sitting by the warm fireplace, they chatted for a while about the few remaining days of their school years before reality forced them back to the mountains of homework waiting for them.
Assignments for the N.E.W.T.-level courses were far more difficult than before; even a question that looked simple could require consulting a small mountain of reference books.
These days, Snape was seeing Madam Pince far more often. Every time he borrowed or returned books, she would bring her wrinkled face close to the pages, carefully inspecting whether students had done anything untoward to her precious volumes.
On Sunday morning, Snape and Abbott were waiting in the Entrance Hall.
Before long, Pandora came walking from the western corridor, the direction of the Ravenclaw Tower.
Once they met up, the three of them prepared to leave for Hogsmeade to attend the Apparition training session.
The weather outside was delightfully pleasant, full of spring warmth. For once, the sky above the castle was clear and blue, dotted with soft white clouds.
Upon reaching Hogsmeade, they followed floating purple magical arrows down the street toward the far end of the village, closest to the mountains.
The distant peaks, once covered in snow, were now showing a pale green tint where the snow had melted.
Standing near Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop was the thin, pale figure of Wilkie Twycross. Beside him stood a short witch wearing a bright violet wizard's hat, apparently Twycross's assistant.
On the ground next to them rested an old Nimbus Three Star broomstick. The handle bore many scuff marks; it was clearly well-used.
Several students had already gathered nearby, flipping through small booklets.
"Come over here!" the short witch called out warmly, waving to Snape and the others.
"Hello, I'm Cilly Polk, assistant to Mr. Twycross from the Apparition Test Center," Polk said cheerfully as she reached into her bag and handed each of them a booklet. "Inside you'll find everything you need to know about Apparition.
"Of course, the most important part is what Mr. Twycross will teach you, the Three D's: Destination, Determination, and Deliberation."
Snape accepted the booklet titled Common Apparition Mistakes and How to Avoid Them and flipped through it.
Printed at the bottom of the cover were the initials M.o.M., short for Ministry of Magic, alongside an illustration of a nearly transparent cartoon wizard who looked remarkably like Twycross himself.
The little wizard on the cover kept flickering, appearing at the top one moment, at the bottom the next, occasionally bowing politely to whoever was holding the booklet.
"Everyone, listen up!" Twycross raised his voice once Polk informed him that the students were all present, drawing their attention. "Today, in Hogsmeade, you can relax a bit and give Apparition a try."
He paused before continuing, "There's no Anti-Apparition enchantment here, so even if you misplace yourself a little, there's no need to panic."
"However, I must remind you, your target-" Twycross pointed to a large open space outside Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, marked by a red-inked circle. Compared with the wooden ring they usually practiced with, this target area was enormous. ", I still hope you can manage as precise a movement as possible.
"After all, when using Apparition in real life, even the smallest mistake can cause serious problems. The terrifying consequences are all listed in your booklets, do take a look."
"We'll have practice sessions again next week and the week after," he added. "By then, the circle will be reduced to the same size as in the final examination. All right, form a line, one at a time..."
When Snape's turn came, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pictured the red circle clearly in his mind, carefully remembering to include his hair as part of his body.
With a faint pop, he successfully Apparated right into the red circle.
On her turn, Pandora also succeeded, though her foot landed right on the edge of the circle.
Their success gave Abbott a huge boost of confidence. Gripping his wand tightly, he stood beside Twycross, eyes fixed intently on the open space ahead.
Then, with a sharp crack, he vanished.
But the target area remained empty.
The scene immediately fell into confusion.
"Don't panic!" Twycross said calmly. Then he bent down, picked up the broom from the ground, and swung his leg over it.
The old Nimbus Three Star, though shaky, rose into the air at a respectable speed for its age.
Under the students' anxious gaze, Twycross circled above them, squinting as he scanned the surroundings for any sign of Abbott.
After a short while, he suddenly pointed toward the direction of the Hogsmeade Station and shouted, "He's over there!"
Snape followed the direction of his finger, and saw Abbott running up the slope toward them.
When Abbott finally reached them, panting heavily, Snape stepped forward and asked, "Where did you go?"
"I Apparated to the Three Broomsticks," Abbott said, leaning on his knees and gasping for breath.
"Did you do it on purpose, or by accident?" Snape couldn't help but ask.