Chapter 4

"After I bought the book from you," Peter began. "I went over to Jenny's place and passed the book to her."

"Well, not exactly," Jennifer said. "He told me about the book, but didn't want to pass it to me right away, so I just took it from him and went to my room to read it."

Peter smiled. "Yeah, that's true. Jenny was naughty and took it from my bag."

Leena looked at Jennifer and asked, "Was that when you cast the 'Golden Hair' spell?"

"No, not yet," Jennifer replied. "Peter came up afterwards and showed me the summoning spell."

"Yeah, I was just describing what you did in the shop, and the book appeared on my palms!" Peter said excitedly to Leena.

"I tried doing it too, but it didn't work," Jennifer said. "I got small puffs of smoke though. After that, I cast the 'Golden Hair' spell."

"Oh," Peter interrupted. "I remember when we were holding hands, and Jenny felt a warm glow in her hand."

"That's right!" Jennifer added as she blushed. "We were kissing and holding hands when I felt the glow in my right hand. Pete didn't feel it though."

Leena asked, "Where was the book when you felt this glow?"

"I was holding it then," Peter described. "I think her right hand was over mine as I was holding the book."

"What does that glow mean?" Jennifer asked.

Leena brought her palm up and said, "Slow down. Tell me more about yesterday, and I'll tell you my thoughts afterwards."

Jennifer crossed her arms and pouted a little. "Okay," she continued. "After I felt the glow, we decided to try casting a spell and I chose the 'Golden Hair' spell."

"It didn't seem like it worked at first," Peter added as he placed his palm on Jennifer's thigh.

Jennifer glanced at Peter's hand resting just below the hem of her short skirt. She blushed slightly and considered adjusting his hand. She looked at Peter and wondered if he would realize it.

Peter did not notice Jennifer's look as he continued, "Then I noticed that the top of her hair was turning gold, and I asked her to have a look."

"I went over to my dresser and I saw my hair turn gold! It was strange though, I remember feeling weak right after my hair turned completely gold," Jennifer described.

"Yeah," Peter concurred. "She suddenly wobbled and I helped her to the bed. Soon after that, we went down for dinner."

Leena nodded and cocked her head slightly, wanting them to finish their story.

"During dinner, Mum and Daddy didn't seem to notice that my hair had turned gold," Jennifer said quickly, getting a little irritated that Leena was not saying anything. "After dinner, we went back to my room."

"Oh," Peter exclaimed. "During dinner, I mentioned the magic book to her parents, but they thought it was a book on magic tricks," he added quickly. "When we went back to her room, Jenny was upset with me, and there was this gold aura around her body!"

Jennifer looked at Peter with an apologetic look and said, "Peter tried to tell me about it but I wouldn't listen. Eventually, he came and hugged me and I finally calmed down. The aura disappeared then I think."

Peter nodded. "I could almost see the change in her eyes. She was glaring at me at first, and then her expression suddenly changed back to normal, and the aura disappeared together with that."

"Are you going to explain what happened to us now?" Jennifer asked and looked at Leena expectantly.

Leena kept silent for a while, and asked, "Was that all that happened?"

"I think so," Peter said. "Oh, we noticed that photos of Jenny had gold hair too, even the ones online."

Leena nodded and began, "Okay, let me begin by telling you about magic in general. Magic is a complex subject, and I am still learning many of its intricacies, even after years of practice."

Jennifer unfolded her arms and placed her palm on top of Peter's, slowly moving it lower along her thigh. She looked at Leena impatiently.

"Magic isn't some kind of mystical force," Leena continued as she waved her hands around. "Neither is it a law of Nature. Instead, magic follows its own laws, and can even defy Nature's laws at times."

"By Nature's laws, do you mean physical laws like gravity?" Peter asked.

Leena nodded. "Yes, science has been dedicated to understanding Nature. When you learn more about magic, you will begin to see how everything fits together."

"So what is magic?" Jennifer asked.

"Magic stems from us," Leena answered and pointed to herself. "It feeds on our emotions, using them to fuel the changes we wish to make. That's essentially what spells are - a method of directing our emotions into magic."

Jennifer gasped and put her hand on her mouth. Peter turned and looked at Jennifer with concern.

"Does magic control our emotions? I've felt like I lost control of my emotions more than once since yesterday," Jennifer asked.

Leena nodded and answered, "Yes, and no. If you cannot control your emotions, then magic will control them for you. Learning about magic is very much about learning and controlling your emotions."