Chapter 35: Incendio - Fire
"Incendio!"
A spark of red light shot from his wand, igniting the firewood.
"Damn it! It really works!" He was incredibly excited.
The spell to light the fire was just one word. He hadn't even designed any wand movements; he simply spoke the word, and the firewood caught fire.
"Professor Flitwick was right! I must have a real talent for fire magic, even though it's supposed to be difficult!" He watched the firewood burn out and finally calmed down.
"Let's try again without chanting any spells, just relying on my thoughts." He took another piece of firewood and placed it next to the pile of ashes.
He remained where he was, his mouth tightly shut, his eyes fixed on the firewood, holding only one thought in his mind: "Light the firewood in front of me. Light it!"
Another flash of red light, and the firewood ignited once more.
"Yes! I did it!" he exclaimed joyfully.
"Did it work?" Hagrid asked, carrying a thick tree trunk and leading Fang out of the forest.
"Hagrid, look!" He extended his wand with growing confidence, pointing it at the still-burning wood. Another flash of red light shot from his wand, and flames burst from the other end of the log.
Hagrid dropped the tree trunk with a boom. "Oh, that's pretty good."
Once free, Fang pounced on him again, trying to lick his face.
"Alright, alright, Fang, stop." Ethan pushed the dog's head away, but unfortunately, his long tongue still left some saliva on his face.
Hagrid watched Fang and Ethan play with a smile. "You've come to see Little Black, haven't you? He's doing very well right now."
"Little Black? My black salamander?"
"Yes, isn't it a nice name?" Hagrid looked a little smug.
"Honestly, while it's a fitting description, it doesn't sound very good," Ethan said after a moment's hesitation.
"Is it really that bad? I thought about it for so long before deciding on this name," Hagrid said sadly.
Ethan found the sight of a bearded giant trying to look tearful rather nauseating, so he said quickly to appease him, "How about we call him Black Dragon, or Little Black for short? What do you think?"
"Fine," Hagrid reluctantly agreed.
Ethan quickly changed the subject. "This is a gift for you. Roast meat from the kitchen."
"Thank you. Here, have some Rock Cakes!" Hagrid beamed, holding out the plate.
"Is this how you repay my kindness?" Ethan asked, looking at Hagrid resentfully as he remembered the two cakes he'd brought back to the dormitory yesterday.
Given Hagrid's enthusiasm, Ethan couldn't bring himself to refuse. He bit off a small piece, nearly breaking his teeth in the process.
But under Hagrid's expectant gaze, he had no choice but to offer a reluctant compliment. "The taste isn't bad, just a bit hard."
"Is it hard? It's fine." Hagrid crunched away on his cake.
"It's fine for you, but my teeth aren't as strong as yours." Ethan took a sip of tea, swallowed the remaining crumbs in his mouth, and was surprised to find that the Rock Cake actually tasted decent once softened.
He carefully broke off a small piece, dipped it in tea, and placed it in his mouth.
He nodded. The softened cake was finally edible. "It's not bad, Hagrid. But next time you serve Rock Cakes to other people, remember to bring some black tea."
"Is that so? Why didn't Harry and Ron mention it when they came by yesterday? Is it because your teeth are too fragile, Ethan?" Hagrid scratched his head.
"Impossible. No normal human being could bite through these rock-hard crusts," he retorted, flashing a toothy grin.
"Really? I'll ask them both next time." Hagrid scratched his head again.
He asked curiously, "What are they doing here? I saw them heading this way on my way back yesterday."
"You know them?" Hagrid asked, knowing the three weren't from the same House.
"We took Potions together. Everyone knows someone as famous as Harry Potter, right?"
"Don't say that. Harry didn't want that either. Because of this, he..." Hagrid said sadly.
He shook his big, fluffy head. "Let's not talk about it anymore. It's all in the past. I called them over yesterday just to find out how Harry's been doing this week. I'm a little worried about him, and I wonder if he can adjust."
"You're really good to him. If I remember correctly, when you picked us up and brought us across at the start of the year, you specifically called out to him, right?"
Hagrid was somewhat surprised. "You remember all of that? I used to be very close to his parents. What a shame."
He sighed again, downed the tea in his cup, wiped the droplets from his beard, and nodded toward the fireplace, drawing Ethan's gaze.
"Look, isn't Little Black much more energetic now? It's completely black, really beautiful, but it's not perfect because it doesn't have claws or teeth."
Ethan disagreed with Hagrid's aesthetic sense, thinking the black salamander was already beautiful. Of course, it would be even better if parts of its body had some white or red scales.
Hagrid casually added two more pieces of firewood to the fireplace, making the flames burn even brighter.
Seeing Hagrid still wearing his leather jacket, Ethan wiped the sweat from his brow. "Aren't you hot, Hagrid?"
"Oh, I forgot to change my clothes," Hagrid belatedly realized. He took off his leather jacket, pulled out a water bottle, and placed it on the table.
Ethan, who had also removed his wizard's robes to cool off, watched Hagrid for a moment before asking, "Hagrid, can you teach me how you light a fire? I want to know if my method is different from yours."
"Shh! Keep it a secret. No one can know I've cast a spell!" He put a finger to his lips and peeked out the window to see if anyone was listening, then nervously closed it.
Watching this, Ethan couldn't help but lower his voice. "Okay, now can you demonstrate it for me?"
"There's really no other way. Please wait a moment." He took the umbrella from behind the door, placed a piece of firewood halfway into the fireplace, and pointed the umbrella at the exposed half. The flames began to burn.
"You just need to think about lighting it. You can do it if you try a few times. It's not difficult."
Ethan was somewhat frustrated, since this was no different from what he had done himself. "Really? I thought I was just exceptionally gifted."
Hagrid comforted him, "That's already very good. Many first-years can't do that."
"Really?" Ethan was no longer so confident. He planned to continue learning more difficult fire magic and was going to bring Hermione along to prove whether he really had the talent.
//=================//