Before Hermione could catch her breath, Ethan Jones 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, and chanted the spell in unison: "Incendio!"
A red light emanated from the tip of Ethan Jones's wand, falling onto the lake's surface, where a small flame was swallowed by the water.
On Hermione's side, only a flash of red light appeared, but no flames materialized.
Ethan Jones raised an eyebrow, and some ideas began to form in his mind.
Hermione was a little unconvinced: "Let's try again. This time we'll choose to cast it on the grass and release the flames on the lake. This idea is a bit too stupid and will affect the casting."
Ethan Jones didn't speak, but silently pointed his wand at the grassy area very close to the lake.
"Incendio!" Once again, Ethan Jones successfully released the spell, scorching a small patch of lush green grass.
After Ethan Jones used the Levitation Charm to draw some lake water and extinguish the burning grass, he noticed that Hermione looked a little pale.
She failed to cast her spell twice, but the boy beside her succeeded both times.
Even though Ethan Jones had mentioned beforehand that he might have a talent for fire magic, she couldn't help but feel a little sad at being outshone.
Ethan Jones'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 now, although I don't know why Hagrid said lighting the flame was easy, it must have been in comparison to his age and the time it took him to learn the spell.
Now that the goal has been achieved, there is no need to further harm Hermione.
But Hermione disagreed. She insisted that Ethan Jones challenge her to another match: "Go on, I want to see just how big the gap is between me and the truly talented."
Ethan Jones, unable to resist her, could only comply, but inwardly decided to give in a little.
"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 failed, so the contrast wasn't as stark.
Ethan Jones comforted her, "You see, the difference between us isn't that big. I just have a slight advantage over you in some simple magic."
"No! You deliberately mispronounced the key syllables!" Hermione noticed the problem astutely.
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!"
Ethan Jones's smirking was of no use; Hermione insisted that he cast the spell or she wouldn't let him return to the castle.
Left with no other choice, Ethan Jones had to put away his joking manner and stand seriously by the lake, facing the water: "Impervius!"
A flash of blue light appeared, and a bright blue flame shot out from the tip of the wand, landing on the lake surface. It rippled gently with the water, showing no sign of going out.
Hermione just stared at the beautiful flame without saying a word.
Ethan Jones looked at her with a worried expression.
Three minutes later, the fire began to subside, and five minutes later, the flames went out. Hermione then spoke her first words: "Let's go."
Looking at Hermione's expressionless face, Ethan Jones knew she must be devastated.
She has always been very competitive and dedicated to her studies, but she was completely overwhelmed by her own innate talent, which must have been hard for her to accept.
Moreover, he felt very guilty because he had asked to bring it.
"You must have your own talents too, don't be sad, okay?" He didn't know how to comfort her in this situation.
He could only utter these empty words without any real substance while his mind raced, trying to recall exactly where Hermione had displayed her extraordinary talent.
"Talent? What talent do I have? What talent could a Muggle-born wizard like me have?" Hermione gave an awkward smile.
Ethan Jones reached out and stopped her in her tracks, forcing her to face him directly:
"That's not the case, Hermione. Although wizarding families are more likely to have inherited bloodline talents, Muggle-born wizards are not without their advantages."
If that's really the case, wouldn't the wizarding world be completely intolerant of Muggle wizards? 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 him and just looked at him sadly.
Ethan Jones couldn't think of any other examples at the moment, so he could only give the one instance he could remember to comfort Hermione.
He first looked around to make sure no one could hear him before leaning close to Hermione's ear and whispering, "I'll tell you a real example, but don't tell anyone else."
Harry Potter's mother was a Muggle-born wizard, 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 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 Jones 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.