Chapter 9: Practise Makes Perfect
It is the morning of the next day and the two girls wake up refreshed after sleeping in for hours.
Jasmin is the first one to open her eyes and look at Lena.
"Good morning," she whispers and Lena smiles.
"Morning," she replies softly. "What time is it?"
"almost time for class, we've slept to long for breakfast, I hope you don’t mind but Defense against the dark arts is a good walk away, we should get going.
"No problem, I'm ready to go," Lena says and stands up.
"You don't need to rush on my account," Jasmin says. "I am perfectly happy to spend some more time with you."
Lena looks at her friend and feels something warm inside of her chest.
She leans in and kisses Jasmin on her lips. "But we should still try to make it in time." she blushes and grabs Jasmin's hand and they walk out of their dormitory through the mist common room down the big tower.
As they pass by the library, they spot Rachel and Daniel standing outside with a few other students and after Rachel spots them she walks over to the two mist girls.
"You are free after Defense against the dark arts, right? We wanted to continue practising with you, we think you could potentially win this year’s duelling competition." Rachel says.
"What do you mean 'potentially'?" Jasmin asks.
Rachel smirks and brushes off the question with a wave of her hand. "We just want to help you, really. It’s not like we have rivals who try to help other 1st year students." Rachel adds and winks at Jasmin.
Lena looks back at Rachel and stares into her eyes with a smile, Jasmin and Rachel stare at each other for a moment before Jasmin looks back at Lena and nods. "If the others get help, we should use it too, lets meet right after class and continue." Jasmin says and Lena nods in agreement. "Sorry to be rude but we are already short on time and should go to Defense against the dark arts." Lena says.
"Tell the staircase kindly your destination, trust me it will lead you where you need to be." Rachel says and waves them goodbye.
Lena nods and runs with Jasmin to the staircase where she says with her soft voice. "We must be at the classroom for Defense against the dark arts."
Suddenly the whole staircase starts to move and shift around while rearranging itself and before the two girls realize it the movements stopped, and they turned around.
They were standing in front of the corridor leading to the Defense against the dark arts classroom. "How did that happen?" Jasmin asks.
"I have no idea," Lena replies.
They walk through the corridor and open the door to the classroom. "We made it in time." Lena says.
"Just barely." Professor Ravenwood says and closes the door behind them with his wand. "Take a seat." he says and gestures to the chairs in the front row of the classroom.
Lena and Jasmin take their seats next to each other and look at the professor.
"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts class, I am Professor Ravenwood, and today fitting to the start of the duelling competition, we will learn Confringo and Diffindo, now can anyone tell me what these spells do?"
Jasmin raises her hand while Lena raises her eyebrow in disbelieve.
"Yes Miss." He says and Jasmin take a breath and says it like a question, "Confringo launches a small fireball that explodes on impact?"
"Exactly!" Professor Ravenwood says, "Good job and about Diffindo?" He looks at Jasmin which shakes her head in silence. Then he looks over to Lena next to her and then proceeds to slowly look around the class. "Any guesses?" he asks almost hoping someone would at least try it.
"It sounds like cutting something." Lena whispers to Jasmin.
"Aha! Say it loud!" Professor Ravenwood says and points his finger in Lena's direction.
Lena turns red from the given attention and says shyly "It cuts something?"
"He grins and enchants a piece of chalk to write the incantations on the blackboard and with another swing of his wand a dozen of Apple flew down from the ceiling levitating above the students. Professor Ravenwood proceeds to show the students the wand movements and instructs them to practise both spells on the apples. "Slice them and explode them." He says while smiling.
Lena and Jasmin get their wands ready, and they concentrate hard on the movements. They try to make sure their hands and arms feel comfortable holding their wands, making sure that they can lift and point them without any problems. They are both doing excellent.
Then the apple flies through the air and they quickly follow the movements. As soon as Lena says "Confringo!", she releases a small blast of fire, and the apple explodes on impact.
"Very good Lena!" Professor Ravenwood says and looks at Jasmin.
"Ok Jasmin, now you have to try it." She says and Jasmin nods and concentrates again.
She swings her wand "Diffindo" and slices the Apple clean in two halves.
Professor Ravenwood smiles and says "very good, very good indeed! Now let us practice for a bit longer before we continue to the next topic."
"Confringo!" Jasmin says and her fireball flies almost across half the room and hits the Apple far away she was focusing on. "Yes." She celebrates quietly. "Good one Jasmin." Lena says and attempts to do something impressive as well.
She positioned herself and casts Diffindo and manages to slice 3 Apples at once two of them pretty much dead center.
Jasmin summons one of the sliced apple halves to herself and starts eating it as Professor Ravenwood the end of class announces.
Lena and Jasmin quickly leave and head to the west of the castle, knowing how to navigate the staircase now, they arrive in no time.
Lena and Jasmin were feeling more confident after learning new spells in class and were eager to put them to the test in the Dreamweaver's Room. As they made their way through the dimly lit corridors of the west wing of the castle, they chatted excitedly about what they had learned.
"I can't wait to see the look on David's face when I hit him with a Confringo," Jasmin said, grinning as they approached the portrait of the sleeping mage.
Lena laughed. "Keep on dreaming, we still have a lot to learn. They probably know more than just Confringo”.
The sleeping Mage opens one eye and they turned around to make sure nobody was around.
"You're right. I just feel so confident getting to know all these spells we learn; I am also really glad we learned that one Vulnera Sanentur spell in case things go south." Jasmin says and Lena nods as the Portrait opens and the girls rushed inside, the portrait quickly shutting close behind them.
As they stepped inside the room, they found Rachel and Daniel already waiting for them. Rachel held out her wand, and a shimmering magical barrier appeared in front of them.
"Today, we're going to work on duelling tactics and the use of some advanced spells," Rachel said, a mischievous glint in her eye.
Daniel nodded, his wand at the ready. "That's right. And to start, let's review the spells you learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Lena and Jasmin nodded eagerly, and they began to practice Confringo and Diffindo under the watchful eye of their mentors. Rachel and Daniel gave them pointers on technique and timing, and soon the girls were casting the spells with ease.
"You're both doing great," Rachel said, smiling at the girls. "You've really improved since yesterday."
Jasmin beamed, a sense of pride and accomplishment filling her. Lena nodded in agreement, feeling grateful for the support and guidance of their mentors.
"Now, let's move on to some more advanced spells," Daniel said, "First up is Descendo."
He raised his wand and demonstrated the spell, causing a nearby object to sink slowly to the ground. Lena and Jasmin watched in awe as the object descended smoothly and gracefully.
"Descendo is a great spell to use if you need to bring something down gently or slowly," Rachel explained. "But be careful, if you use too much force, you could end up smashing whatever it is you're trying to bring down and you can also use it to smack down your opponent in a duel once you lifted them up from the ground."
Next, Daniel taught them Finite Incantatem, a useful spell for undoing other spells. "If someone casts a jinx on you, or you accidentally cast a spell you didn't mean to, Finite Incantatem can undo it," he explained.
Rachel then demonstrated Glacius, a spell that created a blast of icy wind. "This spell can freeze things in place but be careful not to freeze yourself or your teammates," she warned.
Finally, they moved on to Levicorpus and Liberacorpus, two spells that worked in tandem. Lena and Jasmin watched as Daniel lifted Rachel into the air with Levicorpus, then released her with Liberacorpus.
"These spells can be used to immobilize your opponent or even to free yourself if you're trapped," Daniel explained.
Lena and Jasmin practiced each spell under the watchful eye of Rachel and Daniel, taking care to use the proper technique and control. By the end of the session, they had mastered each spell and were feeling confident and prepared for the upcoming duelling competition.
But several hours of intense practice and learning new spells are showing their marks, Lena and Jasmin were exhausted. They bid farewell to Rachel and Daniel and made their way back to their common room.
Lena and Jasmin entered the Mist common room, exhausted but satisfied with their day's practice. The room was dimly lit, and the soft sound of rain could be heard outside. As Lena and Jasmin entered their dormitory, they were greeted with a cozy atmosphere. The room was also just dimly lit, and the only sound was the gentle patter of rain against the windowpane. Lena walked over to her bed and flopped down on it, pulling the covers over her body. Jasmin followed suit, climbing into the bed beside Lena.
Lena put her arm around Jasmin, and the two of them lay there in silence, watching the raindrops race each other down the window. The rhythmic sound of the rain was calming, and it wasn't long before Lena and Jasmin were drifting off to sleep.
The room was filled with the soft sounds of their breathing as they slept soundly, wrapped in each other's embrace. The rain continued to fall outside, but Lena and Jasmin were safe and warm in their little corner of Castlehaven.