HP: The Arcane Thief

Chapter 34

*BOOM*

Axel and Daphne rolled over as a spell hit right where he was present just moments ago. The impact was so huge that they got thrown off a bit just by the shockwave. 

[Dark Magic Detected!]

And that was the cherry on top. 

More spells came at them and Axel took Daphne to hide behind a tree. 

"You bastards, you want a fight? You fucking got it," muttered Axel furiously as he took out both of his wands, one of which was wrapped in leather.

But Daphne, on the other hand, took out her Magi-mirror and tapped it a few times, and pointed it out where the attacks came from. 

"I'm Broadcasting this live on my channel and Axel is calling Martina! And a professor! COME AT US!!"

"...." 

Axel stood there dumbly with one of the wands flashing blue and while the other hummed in his hand in demand for some action as he comprehended what Daphne had just done. 

He didn't know whether to praise her quick thinking or smack her head.

On one hand, she had made a brilliant move as displaying this live would get the attackers in a whole lot of trouble. Especially if they actually fired spells now. Plus, him calling Martina would sound quite legit and threatening as she had personally warned everyone to lay off him. 

But on the other hand, this is giving the chance for the attackers to escape and he doesn't even know who they are. And also, he doesn't even have Martina's contact. But,

"Hello, Martina! I'm being attacked! Fly to the forbidden forest! I'll send out a red spark to show our position!"

But, in the end, he still decided to go with Daphne's approach. Because right now, he was at a complete disadvantage. 

There were more than one opponent and one of them knew fucking Silent Casting:meaning very skilled, they could use dark Muthafuckin magic: very dangerous. He didn't even know their numbers, their level of skill, how powerful the dark magic was and how it worked, their identity, etc. 

Plus, he also had Daphne as a baggage if it came down to a fight. He can't fight in his style since these guys would simply target her as soon as he disappears or evades too much. 

With such massive odds stacked up against him, he decided to go with Daphne's approach and fired red sparks into the sky. He also fired a sticking charm at Daphne's hand, sticking her Magi-mirror to her hand, in case the attackers summoned the Magi-mirror out of her hands. He wasn't sure if it was enchanted with an anti summoning or not. 

With everything done, he waited as he heard hushed voices arguing before they began to fade away. 

Daphne giggled quietly,

"They ran away!" she whispered, feeling accomplished.  

A vein popped on Axel's forehead,

"Not until I know who they are," he muttered before he started to fade from view as he activated his skills. 

It's their wishful thinking if they thought they could attack him with no consequences. 

"Stay here. I'll be back. Keep recording on in case they're idiotic enough to still come," he ordered Daphne before leaving. 

"Wait—" But before she could stop him, he was already off. 

Axel quickly caught up to his supposed attackers. 

"We could have still attacked, you know?" Said a boy to his accomplices as he took off his mask. He looked at least above the fifth year. 

"Idiot, they've already called for help and sent out red sparks. Students are wandering around here with their families. People are bound to come and investigate. If we're caught, there'll be hell to pay," said another guy with blonde hair. He was younger than the other two but he seemed the leader here.

Axel knew this guy. He had seen him at the Slytherin table. 

"But Damien, why are you even trying to attack him after Valentino's warning? Don't tell it's that stupid jealousy?" Asked the third guy who was walking with them. 

Damien pointed his finger at him,

"It's none of your business, Faux. I gave you one task: hit silently and run. And you managed to fail spectacularly at it! Don't expect any payment now,"

Faux looked outraged,

"It wasn't my fault! I tell you mate, that kid is abnormal, he is. I even used the power of the circle!" 

Damien shook his head,

"Don't make—" but he paused since the sound of approaching footsteps alerted them.

"Shhhh— someone is coming! Turn around and start walking the way we came!" He ordered in a whisper as they began retracing their steps.

Axel, who was standing on a tree branch, observed everything. 

People were coming. That's the reason why these guys didn't continue their attack on Axel. Though ironically, this was also why Axel didn't attack them just now. 

Besides, even if he did ambush them and win right now, then what? He can't kill them at the moment since he'll get caught and letting him leave after beating them would reveal his cards to them.

They'd know that:

1)He knows it was them who attacked.

2)They'll know that he was actually skilled enough to beat all three of them together. 

3)He isn't going to take Martina's help. So the biggest deterrent preventing them from attacking him won't exist. 

Thus, attacking them right now is just making things more difficult for himself.

Soon, Two wizards in Auror robes came into view and they easily spotted Damien and company who were walking ahead. 

"Hey, you three! We saw red sparks in the sky. Do you guys know anything about it?" 

The three shook their heads, and Malcolm stepped forward,

"No, we were also going to investigate just that, actually," said Damien smoothly, indicating the way they were going. 

"...What a Slytherin move," he muttered as he witnessed the Aurors ordering Malcolm and his goons to go out of the forest, which was exactly what they wanted. 

This guy wasn't dumb. He waited for the perfect opportunity to ambush him and has the ability to think on his feet and improvise. Earlier, he made the decision to retreat quickly instead of continuing to attack, avoiding the chance of Martina ever discovering who the attacker was. 

Though, leaving was also his biggest mistake.

Because now, Axel is the hunter. And they will be his prey. 

"You picked a fight with the wrong person, rich guy," he muttered as he once again faded from view. 

As the most vindictive person here, he wasn't going to let this go unpunished.  

Just like them, he can also bide his time and strike at the perfect opportunities. And just like them, he wouldn't let them know who attacked them.  

But unlike them, he won't fail miserably at both tasks like they did.

….

While making while way back to Daphne, Axel checked the system notifications.

[You managed to handle the unexpected situation.

• +2% Approval

• Method to Remove the trace from your wand. ]

Axel returned to Daphne making her way in his direction, still recording and looking scared.

"Why the hell did you not stay there?!" He asked her irately as he emerged from behind a tree. 

"Aaahh—!" Daphne jumped and he quickly had to put a hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. But then he got a punch to his stomach. 

"Why the hell did you go after them?! They are so dangerous!" 

Axel glared at her,

"Because, I am more dangerous. Now shut up and follow me. We have to leave," 

"...." Daphne found herself obediently shutting up and following him. 

When he claimed to be more dangerous with those amber eyes deadly serious, she somehow believed him. 

"Was the recording really live?" He asked, wondering if it would be troublesome. 

Daphne shook her head,

"No, it was just being sent to my mother. I couldn't do more due to panic and urgency," she said sheepishly. 

"That's good," Axel sighed in relief,

"You handled the situation quite well," he said after a pause. It was a genuine praise. She might not be too strong magically. But she was able to use her brain and come up with a way out when the odds seemed to be stacked against them. 

*Step*

Daphne stopped walking as her eyes widened. 

'He…. actually praised me?' 

An indescribable feeling filled up her chest as she realized what had happened. After three months of knowing each other, this was the first time he had actually praised her. 

That's exactly what made it so much more rewarding now. 

Axel turned around to glare at her,

"Why did you stop? We have to leave quickly," he said in annoyance. 

"Yes!"

A dazzling smile of pure joy came to her face which had been crying bitterly just a while earlier as she followed him once again with a spring in her steps and lots of motivation for the future.

****

"Mum! Don't be sad. Please be happy?" Said a small cute girl with brown hair and big and adorable grey eyes. 

The woman who was her mother wiped the stray tear that had escaped her eyes as she smiled,

"I'm not sad, Tory. It's going to be okay. I'll find another way," she said reassuringly. 

Astoria Greengrass shook her little head,

"I don't mind. I just want to see sister. Can you call her?" she asked with a pout. 

 The woman, Evelyn Greengrass nodded and was about to call her eldest daughter, but her Magi-mirror rang at this moment, indicating a call from Daphne.

"Oh, look she called us herself," she said as she accepted the call. 

But instead of seeing her daughter's face, she saw a shaky view of a forest with spells being fired towards them. 

"!!!"

"Give me a minute, Tory,"

Evelyn quickly stood up and walked away from Astoria. 

"Daphne?! Daphne! What's happening?!" She asked urgently, but got no response.

"You bastards, you want a fight? You fucking got it," came the voice of a boy from the device. 

"I'm Broadcasting this live on my channel and Axel is calling Martina! And a professor! COME AT US!!" Said Daphne. 

"!!!"

Evelyn quickly understood the situation and could do nothing but watch the scenes unfold. Fortunately, after some time, it looked like the attackers had gone away.

And then, a handsome boy's visage came into her view, holding a wand in each hand. 

"They ran away!" Came Daphne's triumphant voice. 

"No. Not until I know who they are," said the boy before he started to fade from view.

"Wait!" Called out Daphne as she swore under her breath. But then she seemed to recall something and quickly turned the mirror in her direction. 

"Hi mum, as you can see, I'm a bit busy so I've disabled the incoming sound. I can't hear whatever you're saying. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She said as she quickly began to chase. Fortunately, both of them were safe in the end and the call got canceled.

But Evelyn, just stood there with her with her heart pounding very hard. It wasn't because of her daughter being in danger since she already knew Daphne would be able to handle it. It was because of something else. 

Just now in the call, she had noticed something quite shocking. 

'It can't be, right?' she wondered as she replayed the video. And her suspicions were correct. It was indeed the very same.

'How did he get it?!' 

She needed answers... She needed to know everything.

***

Time passed, and soon, Christmas was coming. One morning, Hogwarts woke up to find itself buried in several feet of snow. And on such a snowy day, a boy could be seen running laps around the frozen lake. 

This boy was obviously Axel Hunt. His body was now functioning enough that he could actually run. Though making explosive movements would still send jolts of pain throughout his body.

During this time, his main focus had been Occlumency, but he already knew that only focusing on Occlumency with his shitty lucky was pure idiocy and impatient behaviour.

In his short time here, he had been challenged to a duel, attacked by a troll, followed, by Dementors, followed by some idiots and almost by a dangerous Mafia family. He had to be prepared.

Thus, there was one secret weapon he had developed during this time. It was his Trump card. Something that uses all of his skills and talents.

Aside from that, there were also some other major changes during this time.

After arriving at a secluded spot, he took out a dagger and began practicing his Knife-Wielding skill. 

"Ásphxàzüs Rørtzkhôf." He muttered in between his strikes. Most of times, nothing would happen. But if you looked carefully, some of the knife strikes would leave behind thin trails of glowing blue light.  

Frankly, he didn't know what the fuck he was saying. The words he was chanting was a new feature. 

[Approval rate: 20%]

[New feature unlocked]

[Arcane Scribe: You are now able to access the Arcane Language.]

Progress: 1.2%]

When the feature had unlocked a few days ago, the pain he had felt in his head was nothing to scoff at. It was as if head was being split open.

After reaching a threshold, many of his skills had stopped progressing. 

But after this upgrade, his skills started to show incantations and the progress percentage started to increase once again. It means that he would have never mastered those skills without increasing his approval rate and unlocking this feature.

He imitated the swiping, slashing, and stabbing motions of the dagger as the Images in his head played. But, he couldn't do one important thing: Switching the blade between his hands. 

He wasn't actually gripping the dagger since he couldn't do that properly in the first place. It was just stuck to his palm with a sticking charm. So he wasn't able to change hands to increase the variations of attacks. 

After he was done, he lay down on the frozen ground in exhaustion. The Christmas holidays are starting today. And he has decided to spend them outside Hogwarts.

He had unlocked some potion recepies which are going to help him train, but he couldn't make the potions himself due to obvious reasons and the ingredients aren't cheap. So he's going to go out and figure something out.

Aside from this, he had three letters, inviting him for Christmas. One from the Black Family, one from the Greengrass family, and unbelievably, one from Valentino Family. 

The latter letter came as a surprise to him, to say the least. After he had threatened them with a knife to their successor's throat, an invitation for Christmas was the last thing he was expecting in that Letter. 

Of course, he politely declined the invitations of Blacks and Valentinos saying that he had prior arrangements. But for Greengrass, it was troublesome.

Daphne had once again cashed in her homework favor. 

That is why, he had agreed to have the Christmas Dinner with the Greengrass family. But that's just one day.

He had other unfinished business to attend to in London. Something he thought he'd need a long time to accomplish but was possible after the crazy changes he had gone through this year.  

'Unfinished business indeed,' he thought as he traced the scars on his face. He's no longer as weak as he used to be.

"Worthless street rat, huh? Let's see who's the rat now," He muttered as his eyes began to glow. He had waited enough. It's time for some retribution.

***

A.N.: A new feature. Plus, Evelyn now knows...may be.

Next chapter: Gangsta's Entry

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