Chapter 37: Fire Mage Talent
Before Hermione could catch her breath, Ethan shouted, "Quick, let's cast a spell on the lake together. First a fire spell, then a protection spell against wind, rain, and fire."
Hermione rolled her eyes at him, took a few deep breaths, then stood side by side with him, wands held level. They cast the spell in unison: "Incendio!"
A red light shot from the tip of Ethan's wand, striking the lake's surface where a small flame sputtered out in the water.
On Hermione's side, only a flash of red light appeared, but no flames materialized.
Ethan raised an eyebrow as an idea began to form.
Hermione stubbornly insisted, "Let's try again. This time we'll cast it on the grass instead of the water. That was a stupid idea, and it affected the casting."
Ethan said nothing, silently pointing his wand at the grassy area very close to the lake.
"Incendio!" Once again, Ethan successfully released the spell, scorching a small patch of lush green grass.
After Ethan used the Levitation Charm to draw some lake water and extinguish the burning grass, he noticed that Hermione looked a little pale.
She had failed to cast her spell twice, but the boy beside her had succeeded both times.
Even though Ethan had mentioned earlier that he might have a talent for fire magic, she couldn't help feeling discouraged at being outshone.
Ethan's joy vanished upon noticing Hermione's ashen face. "That's enough for today. It's getting late. Let's go back to our study sessions."
After casting this simple spell, he was truly certain that he had a real talent for fire magic.
Looking back, although he didn't know why Hagrid had said lighting the flame was easy, it must have been in comparison to his age and the time it had taken him to learn the spell.
Now that the goal had been achieved, there was no need to upset Hermione further.
But Hermione disagreed. She insisted on another round: "Go on, I want to see just how big the gap is between me and the truly talented."
Ethan, unable to resist her, could only comply, but inwardly decided to hold back.
"Impervius!" A few specks of blue light flashed from the tip of the wand, but nothing happened.
Although Hermione's wand tip didn't even flash blue light this time, both of them had failed, so the contrast wasn't as stark.
Ethan comforted her, "You see, the difference between us isn't that big. I just have a slight advantage over you in certain simple magic."
"No! You deliberately mispronounced the key syllables!" Hermione caught on immediately.
She raised an eyebrow. "Show it again, but recite the incantation correctly!"
Seeing that his little trick hadn't fooled Hermione, he laughed it off. "Well, let's call it a day. It's getting late. Let's go to the library to study."
Hermione wasn't having any of it. She huffed, "No! You have to cast the spell!"
But smirking at her didn't help; Hermione still insisted that he cast the spell or she wouldn't let him return to the castle.
Left with no other choice, Ethan dropped the act and stood by the lake, facing the water with complete seriousness. "Impervius!"
Blue light flashed, and a blue flame shot from the tip of his wand, landing on the lake's surface. It rippled gently with the water, showing no sign of going out.
Hermione stared at the beautiful flame in silence.
Ethan gave her a worried look.
Three minutes later, the fire began to die down, and five minutes later, the flames went out. Then Hermione spoke for the first time. "Let's go."
Looking at Hermione's expressionless face, Ethan knew she must be devastated.
She had always been very competitive and dedicated to her studies, but she was completely overwhelmed by his innate talent, which must have been hard for her to accept.
He also felt guilty because he had asked her to cast it.
"You must have talents of your own too, don't be sad, okay?" He had no idea how to comfort her in this situation.
He could only offer these empty words while his mind raced, trying to recall exactly when Hermione had displayed her extraordinary talent.
"Talent? What talent do I have? What talent could a Muggle-born like me have?" Hermione smiled awkwardly.
Ethan reached out and stopped her in her tracks, forcing her to face him.
"That's not the case, Hermione. Although wizarding families are more likely to have inherited magical talents, Muggle-born wizards have advantages too."
"If that were really true, wouldn't the wizarding world be completely intolerant of Muggle-borns? And as far as I know, many wizards who grew up in Muggle communities have shown exceptional talent in certain areas."
Hermione didn't believe a word of it and just looked at him sadly.
Ethan couldn't think of any other examples right then, so he could only offer the one instance he could remember to comfort her.
First, he looked around to make sure no one could hear him before leaning close to her ear and whispering, "I'll tell you a real example, but don't tell anyone else."
"Harry Potter's mother was a Muggle-born witch, but she was also a renowned Potions prodigy among her peers."
He added again, still not entirely at ease, "Don't tell anyone, especially Potter."
"How did you know?" Hermione looked at him suspiciously, thinking that he had made up a lie to comfort her.
After receiving their Hogwarts acceptance letters, the two of them read the same books and discussed the same questions. Even if they attended classes separately for a week, it was impossible for him to know about someone who died more than ten years ago and was not recorded in any history books.
"Hagrid said so. When I visited him, I happened to run into Harry and Ron, and Hagrid vaguely mentioned a few things to me." Ethan spoke vaguely, attributing the information to Hagrid, whom Hermione had not yet met.
Of course, to prevent his lie from being exposed later, he added, "Don't ask Hagrid about this. He already feels guilty for revealing this information to me. If he finds out that I leaked this secret to you, he will definitely cause me trouble."
"I don't know him. How am I supposed to ask? You're not lying to me, are you?" Hermione felt there must be something wrong and couldn't help but confirm again.
"Really, I can guarantee it's true."
"So don't be discouraged. Your talent just isn't in fire magic, and besides, you're stronger than many pure-blood families, aren't you? Like Ron, for example."
"I'll believe you for now." Perhaps it was the fact that she was better than Ron that made her a little happier, at least she wasn't looking so miserable anymore.
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