HP: The Wizard Who Paints with Magic

Chapter 323 324: Gravity Magic! Ethan’s Most “Harmless” Moment Is When He’s Simply Using Magic

Late at night, Hagrid was jolted awake from his dreams.

He was trussed up like a holiday roast, hauled out of the cave, and dumped onto the central rocky ground, the one stained with dried blood. For a split second, he honestly thought this was some sort of special giant "hospitality" play.

Then, in the wavering torchlight, he saw the deputy holding a spear that was still dripping blood.

Only then did Hagrid realise something was very, very wrong.

Merlin's beard. Had Ethan finally snapped and gone for the giants?

The leader was nowhere to be seen. Did that mean the leader had already been…?

Hagrid panicked on the spot and shouted, "Ethan didn't mean it! He's just a kid who loves art! Please don't make things difficult for him!"

His voice echoed through the silent night.

It echoed into the ears of the utterly baffled giants.

…What on earth is this bloke saying?

Ethan: "..."

Very sincere.

Also extremely and quite deservedly offensive.

After waiting and hearing nothing, Hagrid cautiously lifted his head.

And immediately met a face more terrifying than a ghost.

Ethan smiled at him, neck bent so far it was nearly ninety degrees.

It was Ethan's scent, but there was something unnervingly wrong about it, like a mannequin that had learned to breathe.

Slowly, he said, "It seems you have many misunderstandings about my image, my dear Mr Hagrid."

"That was my mistake."

"In the future, I'll give you more opportunities to understand my true nature."

Hagrid's eyes bulged in horror.

In an instant, Hagrid's sturdy body went ash-grey, and he sort of floated down like a scrap of paper.

All strength, all thoughts, all plans evaporated.

The deputy who had staged the coup stared in disbelief. Are these wizards here to mock us?

"Enough!"

Golgomath snapped, furious. He slammed the butt of his spear into the ground with a heavy boom, like a bandit bursting into an inn only to find nobody even looking at him.

The humiliation hit him in the chest, hot and sharp, and he roared, "The weak, useless former leader is dead by my hand! From this day forward, I, Golgomath, am the Gurg of the giant tribe!"

"What?" Hagrid finally processed it, his expression tightening.

A dreadful feeling crawled up his spine.

Sure enough, Golgomath stood taller, gloating, and shouted, "I will never cooperate with wizards as fragile as twigs! I will lead my people to the side that reeks of violence and blood!"

Then he looked down at Ethan, Luna, and Hagrid like they were three insects that could be crushed under one heel.

He gave a sneer and said with contempt, "And these three little runts are the beginning of our slaughter."

"Kill them! Show these wizards the supreme power of the giants!"

"Kill!!!"

The giants roared in excitement, mostly the younger ones, eager and hot-blooded.

"You!" Hagrid was furious and horrified.

Maybe it was the shared blood, half-giant calling to half-giant, but his anger came tangled with a deep ache. With a blood-drinking leader like this, the giants, once glorious in ancient times, really might be headed for extinction.

As the giants closed in with bad intentions, a clear, calm voice cut across the noise.

"Since you all boast of your strength, do you dare to compete with me?"

Hagrid turned in shock.

Ethan stood there with the expression of someone holding all the cards.

Does Ethan have another plan?

But leaving aside the question of how a human was supposed to compete with giants born with terrifying strength, even if he somehow won, they would never gain the giants' support again.

This mission was doomed to fail...

The honest, loyal half-giant lowered his head, defeated.

"Compete with us in strength?"

The giants stared at one another, then exploded into laughter loud enough to shake the rocks.

"Ha ha ha! This wizard's lost his mind!"

"He's only as big as our palm, and he wants to compete in strength?"

"What a joke!"

Ethan's expression did not change.

Those diamond-blue eyes calmly watched these slow, enormous brutes, and then he dropped the real bomb.

"If I lose, you can do whatever you like with me. But if I win."

"You will bow your heads to me."

The moment those words landed, even Hagrid's eyes went wide.

What did Ethan just say?

Become the giant king?

Weren't they here to ask for cooperation?

How had it suddenly turned into conquering the giant tribe?

Hagrid did not understand. Hagrid was deeply confused.

"You suicidal little bug!"

The giants finally reacted, fury surging up. They naturally took it as an insult.

One of them reached out with a massive hand, aiming to grab Ethan and crush him into meat paste.

Then.

"Gravity magic."

A whisper so light it was almost nothing spilled from Ethan's lips.

Dark purple magic coiled around his body.

Bang!

His feet slammed into the earth, cracking the stone with spiderweb fractures, as if he had suddenly become unbearably heavy.

Gravity magic, counted among ancient magics, was notoriously obscure and difficult. Ordinary wizards would need years of study before they could even attempt a successful cast.

But Ethan was not ordinary.

His unique talent, paired with his knowledge and skill, allowed him to master it in mere months.

He had learned to control gravity.

Boom!

The giant seized Ethan.

In the next second, the giant froze.

"Huh?"

He looked down at Ethan, who stood there perfectly still, as if rooted to the mountain itself.

The giant yanked.

He could not move Ethan even a hair, as though Ethan had fused with the Carpathians.

"What are you doing, Grul?" the others barked, irritated.

They shoved Grul aside and grabbed at Ethan themselves.

"Huh?"

One confused face became several.

The giants leaned down, suspicious and alarmed, staring at Ethan's calm, faintly smiling face. They pulled with all their might, veins bulging, faces turning purple.

No matter what they did, Ethan did not budge.

It was as if they were not holding a tiny human.

It was as if they were trying to lift an immeasurable colossus.

"What is going on?!" the giants panted, shocked and confused, eyes locked on Ethan.

Ethan dusted off his clothes as if he were brushing away an inconvenience, then looked up at them with sincere diamond-blue eyes.

"That's it?"

Giant: !!!

Provocation. Barefaced provocation.

A soft laugh escaped.

The giants whipped their heads around, glaring at Luna, who had laughed aloud.

With a furious bellow, one giant swung a fist at her.

He hit nothing.

All he saw was that "blond little runt" turning into a wisp of silver mist, light and graceful, springing backwards and vanishing from sight.

They could not hit her.

They could not pull him up.

Every giant present felt a huge, helpless rage, jammed in their chests, buzzing in their skulls.

They had never felt this stifled in their lives.

Then the coup leader moved.

Golgomath strode toward Ethan, carrying a spear taller than a tree.

He advanced like a moving hill. Each step made the ground tremble.

The spear that had pierced the former leader's heart still dripped fresh blood, pattering onto the grey-white rock and trailing in a red line.

The giant tribe fell deathly silent.

With awe and hungry anticipation, they watched the new leader, the embodiment of violence and slaughter.

Boom.

Golgomath stopped in front of Ethan.

His small, vicious eyes looked down, and his low voice rolled from above like thunder.

"You dare use magic to deceive my people. I will tear you into pieces, twist off your head, and hang it in my cave!"

In the silence, after a long moment, Ethan spoke.

"There was once a man called Mr Weasley who said: When Ethan is simply using magic, you'd best kneel early and beg for mercy."

Ethan lifted his head, purple magic surging in his hand, and smiled at the giant leader with pure innocence.

"So?"

"Are you going to kneel and beg me for mercy now?"

Hagrid sucked in a sharp breath.

Stunned, thrilled, he stared at Ethan, who was casually talking madness to a giant warlord, and somehow Ethan's figure looked impossibly tall.

No wonder he was the hero of the wizarding world.

Absolutely brilliant.

Only…

Why does that line sound exactly like something a villain would say?