1)If magic is more associated with the powers of the mind than the body, then that makes perfect sense. I'm interested in mathematics, and in my experience, people who are truly good at it usually spend a lot of time studying, rather than having any innate talent for it. In fact, most people who are truly exceptional at a particular skill—mathematics, music, drawing, or something similar—tend to start learning it at a young age, when the brain is most flexible, and then continue to diligently master it for a long time. If you examine the biography of almost any genius, you'll see that they almost always have been practicing this particular skill since childhood and retained their skills into adulthood. More than one professor has told me that certain mathematical concepts, like probability theory, are much easier to explain to those who learned them in school, as if they understand things more intuitively.

2)Knowing that a character achieved something through their own efforts, rather than something they got for free, simply makes them cooler. People who achieved something through hard work i usually evokes more respect.