I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the name of a young adult fantasy series that I read in the early 2010s. From what I remember, there was a male protagonist (probably teenaged?) who was extraordinarily skilled in some magical system that revolved around basic elements (fire, earth, water, etc). I feel like the series may have begun with some sort of entrance exam, that was repeated at the start of every book/school year. There was always some dark force acting as an antagonist, but the protagonist wasn’t very well liked with classmates (I think they had all had a lot more training than him, some kind of elitist thing). All that’s to say that other students may have been minor antagonists as well. This one is a total shot in the dark but I believe the main bad guy wore a mask of some sort. It wasn’t actually super reminiscent of Harry Potter, besides the basic plot of a super talented kid appears out of nowhere and isn’t well liked. But, I can’t think of a better title so I’m sticking with that. The cover was a dark brown, maybe maroon-leaning, with a simple icon on the front I believe. This is the detail I’m least sure about since, during my search, I found a copy of Swann’s Way that looks a lot like what I’m describing and I may be conflating mental images here. I understand that none of this is super specific, or concrete for that matter, but any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated!
Might be ‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman (2009).
Bit of a long shot, as some details don’t really match, but maybe the Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmio? I have this memory of the Red King being in some sort of helmet-like mask, but looking at covers, I’m not sure where that was coming from. But the series was extremely Harry Potter-like.
Doesn’t fit all aspects, but is Ursula LeGuin’s ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ a possibility?
Another thought tho pubbed in late 2014: The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare?
https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Trial-Magisterium-1/dp/0545522269
It sounds like “The Iron Trial” by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.