Chapter 4: The Smell of Love

The next morning, Lena wakes up before Jasmin and sits up in bed. She glances over at Jasmin's bed and sees that she's still sleeping soundly. Lena considers just waiting for Jasmin to wake up on her own and stretches her arms and legs before getting up from her bed.

She brushes her hair and switches into her school uniform while listening to Jasmin's breathing. She then walks over to Jasmin's bed. Lena gently reaches out and touches Jasmin's shoulder, shaking her lightly. "Jasmin, wake up," she whispers softly. Jasmin stirs slightly and opens her eyes, looking up at Lena with a sleepy smile. "Hey," Jasmin says, stretching her arms. Lena smiles back at her and steps back to get Jasmin's Robe while Jasmin gets dressed. As Lena hands Jasmin her robe, she says, "You'll be excited to know that we have Defense Against the Dark Arts class today!" Jasmin's eyes light up with enthusiasm. "Oh, I can't wait! I've been looking forward to this class all week," she exclaims. Lena nods in agreement and mentions that they should hurry up to get to class on time. Jasmin agrees and even suggests skipping breakfast to make sure they get there early.

The two girls quickly get ready and head out the door, making their way to the classroom. As they walk, they chat excitedly about what they expect to learn in class. Lena can feel her own excitement building up, knowing that they'll be learning new spells and charms that they can use to defend themselves against dark forces.

When they finally arrive at the classroom, they see that the door is already open, and the professor is waiting for them.

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts." Professor Ravenwood says to them after they enter the classroom.

He is a tall man with broad shoulders and a commanding presence. He has brown eyes and jet-black hair that is neatly combed back. There is a sense of mystery about him, but also a reassuring quality that makes you feel like you can trust him. His voice is deep and resonant, and when he speaks, it is with authority and conviction. He wears a long black robe with silver clasps and carries a wand at his side. He moves with a fluid grace that suggests he is a skilled duellist. Overall, Professor Ravenwood exudes strength, confidence, and a sense of deep knowledge and wisdom.

"Thank you!" Jasmin says excited and they sit down in the front row on the side of Professor Ravenwood and wait for the rest of the students to arrive for the class.

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Please take your seats, first off let's have a quick introduction What's Defense against dark arts? Anyone?" he looks at the students and smiles. "Don't be shy, no wrong answers here."

"It's to prepare us against bad people wielding dark magic?" Jasmin asks with a shy voice."

"Exactly!" Professor Ravenwood says in a serious voice. "So, what is this dark magic?"

Jasmin raises her hand again and starts explaining, "Dark magic refers to those spells and curses used by wicked beings to harm others. They are all black magic and can hurt or kill someone. If I am not recalling it wrong." She says and Professor Ravenwood nods in agreement. "This is absolutely correct." He smiles at Jasmin. "Someone was studying before they started here, I see." Jasmin turns red and looks down on her book.

Lena giggles and comforts Jasmin by holding her hand and Jasmin smiles back at Lena.

"Ok then." Professor Ravenwood says and starts his introduction about the dark arts and has all students read some specific pages in the book about curses, charms and spells some of them most students have never heard of.

After reading a few chapters, much more than requested by the Professor, Lena and Jasmine discuss the pages they just read.

"What do you think this one means?" Jasmin asks Lena pointing at a page in the book.

"I don't know...Amplificare Maledictum?" Lena says and points at a word in the sentence.

"What does it say?" she asks her, and Jasmin looks closer at the word. "I've seen it before, but I can't recall, Professor?" She raises her voice and Professor Ravenwood steps next to their desk. "Yes Jasmin? How can I help you?"

"I wanted to ask if you could tell me what this word means." Jasmin asks and looks at him with pleading eyes. Professor Ravenwood smiles at Jasmin and takes a deep breath while thinking of how to explain it to her, he clears his throat and says with confidence, "it's rather advanced dark magic but knowing how curious students can get, It's called amplified curses that can allow a strong dark wizard or witch to increase the potency of their curses." he explains and looks at Jasmin who looks at him with wide eyes.

"Thank you, Professor! I am not fully found of the dark art in a way I want to pursue, but is it possible to apply this empowerment to other, more helpful spells?" Jasmin asks and the Professor looks at her in disbelief. "I've never had a student ask me about how to combine curse amplification with a normal spell to increase its potency." he admits, "But It could be possible if you know how to increase a Spells power."

Lena just looks at them talking and looks at the book again, feeling that Jasmin really wants to explore this. "Is there a way to try and understand a spell in a way one could master it and empower it?" she asks and Jasmin's eyes glow as she hears her ask this, realizing that Lena was showing interest in the topic too.

"I can recommend you to get the Book: Spells and how to form them, you can find it in the Library, if you know where to search or who to ask, if mastered you might be able to form spells at your own will and manipulate them in certain ways." he says but seems not fully convinced himself. "It's not easy lecture, but if you are really interested, that is the book you need." he says and leave the desk after the two girls thank him for his insights.

"So now that you all have read the pages" he stops for a second and smiles at Lena and Jasmin, "or way more than I asked you to."

Jasmin turns slightly red again and Lena just giggles.

"To defend yourself all you need to know is Protego, the protection charm, but don't fully leave your chances to it, you can't block everything with it, but luckily most spells will be deflected." he explains and starts to show that it can even be cast without a wand as long as the incantation of Protego is said correctly.

After practising the Protego spell for almost half an hour Professor Ravenwood seems satisfied and dismisses the class.

While walking out of the classroom Lena informs Jasmin about their next class and leads her to the potion’s classroom close by down the stairs.

Jasmin's head is full of this amplification curse stuff they just read and heard from Professor Ravenwood, but she tries to focus on the next class, she knows nothing about potions besides the trivial things Lena has told her and shown in her book, so she really needs to get a good start.

Lena loves that class, she already knew how to make some potions and she learned how to make new ones while studying at home, but even though she knows how to make them, she never had to gather the materials from scratch before. Luckily, that won't be required in today's class as Professor Sarb tells them to get a cauldron and get the ingredients needed to brew a minor healing potion, called the Sanatio potion.

Professor Sarb is a fair woman with a warm smile and kind eyes. She isn't particularly tall, but she still towers over many of her young students. Her long, curly hair is a deep shade of brown and is often tied back in a loose bun, revealing a pair of silver hoop earrings that glint in the light. She wears long, flowing robes that are always neatly pressed and have a faint scent of lavender. Despite her serious demeanor in the classroom, she always seems to be grinning slightly, as if she knows something the rest of the world doesn't.

Jasmin looks at her with shy eyes while watching how Lena seems to already know exactly what ingredients she's looking for, to make the Wiggenweld potion requested by Professor Sarb.

"Wow I knew you know how to brew potions but how do you know all these ingredients?" Jasmin asks her and follows her lead, grabbing one of all the ingredients Lena is grabbing.

"I just know what I need, I couldn't tell you what half of these things are." Lena confesses with a smile.

"I'm just glad to have you with me so I can learn from you and not embarrass myself blowing up my cauldron." Jasmin says and watches Lena who shows her exactly which ingredients and how much of it she has to add to her cauldron.

"I would love to teach you." Lena replies and explains her every step.

"Now you have to stir it gently until it starts to turn green." Lena tells her.

"Just like your beautiful Eyes?" Jasmin asks and giggles at her as Lena holds Jasmin's arm and shows her the movement.

"What... Yes." she replies and tries to not blush.

After stirring the cauldron for a while Jasmin realizes it turning green and shortly after Lena looks over into Jasmin’s cauldron and smiles at her.

"That’s perfect Jasmin." Lena says and they both fill a little bottle with their mixture and hand it over to Professor Sarb who inspects each bottle.

"Those are really fine Sanatio potions, you both did a good job, please study the Strength Potion until next class, otherwise have a nice rest of the day, you are finished here." she says and both Girls walk out of the classroom thrilled with the result.

As they walked out of the Potions classroom, Jasmin turned to Lena and gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks so much for helping me in class today, Lena. I don't think I could have brewed that potion without your guidance."

Lena returned the smile, feeling a warmth in her chest. "No problem, Jasmin. I'm always happy to help." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Hey, why don't we go outside and watch the sunset? It's really beautiful from the castle grounds."

Jasmin's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "That sounds wonderful, Lena. Let's do it!"

The two girls made their way outside and walked towards a grassy area in front of the castle. As they left the building, they caught a glimpse of the old tree in the distance, its twisted branches reaching towards the sky. They noticed Dante and a couple of his friends gathered around the tree, appearing to be talking or perhaps discussing something.

Lena and Jasmin exchanged a glance, remembering their earlier encounter with Dante at that very spot, before they continued walking around the castle to find a more secluded area on the other side. As they sat down, Jasmin couldn't help but admire the beautiful colours of the sky as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

Free from the sight of Dante and his friends, the girls tried to focus on the beauty of the moment and the enchanting atmosphere around them as the sun continued to set.

"This is breath-taking," Jasmin breathed out.

Lena smiled and leaned back on her hands. "Yeah, it really is."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching as the colours in the sky began to deepen. Lena turned her head towards Jasmin and smiled softly. "I feel like we haven't really talked about ourselves much, Jasmin. Would you be willing to share a bit about yourself?"

Jasmin looks at her and feels a warm touch inside her, she smiles at Lena, "What would you like to know?"

Lena shrugged. "Anything really. Your family for example?"

Her question took Jasmin by surprise, and she had to think about her mother.

Jasmin's eyes turn misty as she struggles to hold back her tears. "My mother has passed away," she says in a soft voice, her voice barely above a whisper. Lena's heart sinks as she sees the sadness in Jasmin's eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Lena says, taking Jasmin's hand in hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I can't even imagine how hard that must be for you."

Jasmin looks at Lena gratefully and takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "Thank you," she says, her voice still quivering slightly. "It's been really tough, but I'm trying to stay strong."

Lena nods sympathetically, feeling a deep sense of empathy for Jasmin. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you," she says, giving Jasmin's hand another squeeze.

Jasmin manages a small smile, touched by Lena's kindness. "Thank you, Lena," she says. "I really appreciate it."

As the sun set behind them, the sky turning shades of pink and orange, Lena and Jasmin sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the beautiful moment together. Lena's heart was beating fast, as she knew she had to tell Jasmin how she truly felt. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation and nervousness as Lena took a deep breath.

"I have to tell you something," Lena said, her voice trembling slightly. She wiped away a tear on Jasmin's cheek and took a moment to compose herself. "I know this may come as a surprise, but I have feelings for you, Jasmin."

Jasmin's eyes widened in surprise, but then a soft smile spread across her face as she realized what Lena was saying. "Lena, I had no idea," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "But I feel the same way about you."

Lena's heart swelled with joy and relief, as she felt a deep connection with Jasmin. "Really?" Lena said, her voice filled with happiness. "I'm so glad you feel the same way."

They both leaned in, moving closer to each other, and Jasmin squeezed Lena's hand. "I think you're right," Jasmin said, her smile growing wider. "And, I could not be any happier than right now."

Their long blonde and orange hair gently brushed against each other as they learned in, their eyes locked in a passionate gaze. The sun had fully set now, leaving the sky awash with shades of pink, orange, and purple. Lena's heart was beating faster than ever before as she looked at Jasmin, her emotions overflowing with love and tenderness.

Their lips met in a soft, gentle kiss, and Lena felt all the emotions flood through her. She felt Jasmin's finger on her face, holding her close as they lost themselves in the moment. The warmth of Jasmin's lips against hers sent shivers down Lena's spine, igniting a fire inside her that she never knew existed.

As they broke apart, they rested their foreheads together, their breathing heavy and laboured. Lena looked into Jasmin's eyes and saw the same desire burning within them. "I never want to let go," Lena whispered, her voice filled with longing and love.

Jasmin smiled at her, her eyes shining with happiness. "Me neither," she replied, her voice soft and tender. They both knew that they had found something special in each other, something that they never wanted to let go of.

They held each other close, their long hair intermingling in the gentle breeze. The world around them faded away as they lost themselves in each other's embrace. For that moment, nothing else mattered, as they savoured the sweet taste of their first kiss.