Hagrid put down the wood, dusted off his hands, and glanced at the girl: "This is Hermione?"
"Yes, she is the Hermione I mentioned. We were classmates in Muggle society, and we are still classmates now. It's really a coincidence."
Hermione introduced herself: "Hermione Granger, a first year in Gryffindor."
"You're in the same House as Harry, Hermione." Hagrid reached out and shook Hermione's hand, somewhat surprised.
"Yes, we are from the same House."
Hagrid laughed and said, "What a coincidence. When I invite Harry over sometime, I'll have him bring you along too. I really like the little lion of Gryffindor."
"You've come to see Little Black again today? Don't worry, he's doing just fine with me." Hagrid pushed open the wooden door, hung his leather jacket on the wall, and walked toward the ever-burning fireplace.
"It's so hot!" Hermione exclaimed as she entered the room.
"Because of this little guy, I have to keep the flame burning all the time." Hagrid held a black salamander on his finger and showed it to Hermione.
"This is the mutated salamander you mentioned? This is the one Professor Kettleburn showed us? It's changed so much!" Hermione looked at Ethan Jones and received an affirmative nod.
"Hagrid, has it gotten bigger? It seems bigger than it was yesterday." Ethan Jones looked at the little black salamander lying lazily in Hagrid's hand and thought he must be seeing things.
"It's gotten bigger? I didn't notice. This little guy is a bit greedy. I have to go to the Forbidden Forest to cut down trees every morning and evening, otherwise all the firewood I've stored will probably be burned up very soon."
"The portable fire bottle I promised you will take about another week. I plan to take care of it for a few more days to stabilize its condition before going to Hogsmeade." In Hagrid's eyes, Little Black was always a tiny creature, shorter than his finger. As for whether it had grown a few millimeters, he said he couldn't tell at all.
"I'm not in a hurry. I'm at ease with Little Black being raised here by you."
At Hermione's prompting, Ethan Jones finally revealed the purpose of his visit:
"I came here today because I wanted to practice magic with Hermione near your cottage. We'll probably come every Sunday morning when the weather is nice, and we might rest at your cottage for a while. I didn't want to disturb you, so I wanted to discuss it with you to see if it's possible."
"Hahaha! Of course, I would love for you to come and visit!" Hagrid's laughter nearly lifted the roof off. "It would be even better if you could come and chat with me every week."
Hermione beamed and said cheerfully, "That's great! We'll try to come every week."
"Please have a seat, I'll get you some food. Also, would you like some tea?"
"Not for now, Hagrid. Let's go practice first, and come back for tea when we're tired. Also, this is from the Great Hall; eat it while it's hot." Ethan Jones didn't know what Hermione thought of that hard Rock Cake that could be used as a weapon, so he quickly refused.
"Alright, I'll get you some more later. It's the freshly made Rock Cakes I made yesterday." Hagrid said with a hint of regret, while Ethan Jones felt like he'd escaped a disaster.
Ethan Jones, who had initially thought it was an old acquaintance, was startled and seriously considered whether he should make a quick getaway after finishing his practice.
But thinking that he would have to come back here to practice again in the future, he could only drag his heavy legs with a sorrowful expression, along with the bewildered Hermione, to the open space next to the cabin.
"What's wrong with you? Why do you suddenly have that expression?" Hermione was puzzled as to why his expression changed so drastically after such a normal remark.
"Have you eaten the Rock Cake?" He didn't answer that question, but asked Hermione instead.
"I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it. Where did you get that? It's hardly food!" Hermione began to complain.
"That was a dessert Hagrid gave me as a treat. It can only be eaten after being dipped in water. Before I discovered this, I didn't dare to bite into it too much, for fear of breaking my teeth."
Now Hagrid has a new creation, Hermione, Rock Cakes. Have you heard of it?
He looked at the girl with despair.
Hermione imagined the scene and fell silent, her face also showing the same distress as Ethan Jones's.
The practice began in this silence.
However, Hagrid's Dark Cuisine Silence spell ended after about fifteen minutes.
Ethan Jones discovered that a wizard's mood does indeed affect the effectiveness of his spellcasting. During the first fifteen minutes of spellcasting practice, due to the influence of his mood, the effects he displayed on some familiar spells were far less effective than before.
Hermione quickly noticed this as well, and after exchanging glances, the two of them decided to think of something cheerful to cheer themselves up and get out of their gloomy mood.
Ethan Jones, who quickly came up with a solution, breathed a sigh of relief and composed himself.
He also offered Hermione a solution: "Don't worry, even if it tastes terrible, it's still food, isn't it? If you really can't eat it, just take it with you. I don't think Hagrid will mind if we have small appetites and can't eat much, right?"
"Won't this hurt Hagrid's feelings?" Hermione was a little worried that they were being too inconsiderate of Hagrid's feelings by doing this.
"You have to choose between something that might hurt Hagrid's feelings and something that will definitely hurt our taste buds," Ethan Jones said, presenting the two options.
Hermione ultimately chose the option that was most favorable to her: "Well, let's try not to hurt his feelings."
Ethan Jones chuckled, "As much as possible, tsk tsk."
"I'm ignoring you!" Hermione blushed when her little scheme was exposed, turned around, and practiced in another direction with her back to him.
Ethan Jones didn't want to really annoy her, so he stopped teasing her and silently began his training.
He is currently practicing mostly basic spells from textbooks and common low-level spells he has learned from books in the library and books he bought himself. The only advanced spell he has learned yesterday is the Impervius charm (or the Flame-Freezing Charm).
After practicing all the commonly used spells, he planned to use his fire magic talent to try to unleash a fire spell that he couldn't release before—Incendio Tria (or possibly Fiendfyre, but text calls it "Blazing Flames" from "Advanced Spells", likely just a stronger Incendio or Confringo). Based on later context, it's described as creating orange fireballs and blasting craters, likely Confringo (Blasting Curse) or a powerful Incendio.
This is a fire-based Dark Magic spell recorded in the book Advanced Potion-Making (or Advanced Spellbook).
He had previously told Mrs. Pince that he didn't know about other fire spells, but he was actually hiding something.
He wasn't unaware of other fire spells; he simply didn't know about the unknown fire spells he might unleash.
This spell is considered advanced Dark Magic; he tried it many times, but never succeeded.
However, with his talent for fire and his confidence, he believed that he could master this advanced Dark Magic through practice.