HP: The Arcane Thief

Chapter 105

In the Territory of the Mikhailovs, Axel looked at the place from a distance. He wanted no extra trouble. He just wanted to loot as much as he could and leave.

Of course, things didn't go as he had planned. There are some things that you just can't avoid.

Axel made his way to the main castle at top speed. But on his way, when he looked at the situation around him, his footsteps unwittingly slowed down.

There were people here. An awful lot of them.

This place was the place of residence of the Mikhailovs. So, only the most important businesses were situated here.

But then, why would they keep so many witches and wizards here? It didn't make sense. So, Axel checks the memories, but even the part of the memories he had managed to get from Maksmilian didn't have much information on this. Only when he read the minds of a few of them did it click to him.

Muggles...

Or more precisely, muggle slaves...

All these people. They had been kidnapped from the Muggle world and made into slaves, forced to work here under horrible conditions. Looking at them, even Axel had to frown.

But, this was just the beginning. As Axel began to make his way deeper and read a few more minds, things only got worse.

Turns out, Mikhailovs were experts at acquiring and training slaves. To the point that they were the world's biggest slave trader. There were various categories available here. Working slaves, sex slaves, warrior slaves, wizards, healers, potioneers... you name it. And they weren't only used here. They were traded all over the world.

Not only that... there are children as well.

Axel's fists clenched.

It's not like he wanted to take down one of the biggest syndicates in the world. It's just that he began to feel that, it would be nice if this stopped.

Really. He really didn't want to get involved...

"—el? Axel?"

Axel came out of his flashback when Martina was calling out his name.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry to wake you up, but we're here," said Martina, pointing out of the window.

Looking out, Axel observed that the sun had already set, and he could make the faint lights from buildings outside, meaning they had reached Hogsmeade.

Axel took in a deep breath. He realized that he had dozed off at some point, because he was covered in a fluffy violet blanket which smelled like lilac.

He hadn't gotten a proper rest after using the Limit Break when saving Martina, and his exhaustion had finally caught up to him.

"You seem much better now," observed Luna, waving her hand above his head while sitting beside him. "The nargles are less."

"You do," agreed Martina. "You were looking awfully tired earlier."

"I guess I was…"

Axel agreed as he straightened, stretching his sore muscles. Taking off the blanket, he cast a few cleaning spells and returned it to Martina after neatly folding it.

"Thanks."

Martina looked at him in confusion. "How do you know it's mine?"

"How can I not know?" Axel raised his eyebrows at her, asking why she was asking dumb questions. It was so obviously hers to the point she might as well have written her name on it.

"Oh, of course," Martina also recalled how observant Axel was and looked embarrassed at her question.

Though, Hermione, who had been quietly watching the scene unfold, was startled. 'How would it be obvious...? Did the two of them already... together... in the blanket?!'

Her face turned scarlet. Having a smart brain can be a problem sometimes. Hermione ended up drawing the most likely assumption based on the information presented to her.

…

Alighting the Hogwarts Express, Axel separated from Martina. There are already enough rumors about the two of them. He didn't want to increase them further.

In the crowd, his eyes quickly found Daphne, who had been reunited with her old Ravenclaw friends, walking in the middle of them like a queen.

Looking at her, Axel sighed. Even though he hated it, she was probably better off without him. Her life could have been in danger because of him. The Greengrass Family curse activated due to him after all.

So, before he tries to bring back her memories, there was something else he had to do: Get rid of that curse once and for all. And that is the reason why he has been running around lately.

The things needed to achieve that aren't something he can get with resources he had.

'Not anymore though,' he thought with a sigh, looking at his new storage space. He was now filthy rich right now.

Axel reached the Great Hall seeing the usual bustling atmosphere. Students were reuniting with their housemates after the Christmas break, talking and gossiping freely. But, as soon as he arrived, the hall began to quieten down.

Students began pointing at him, talking in hushed voices. Most of their expressions weren't welcoming.

"He's here."

"The lucky guy?"

"Yeah, the chap who got engaged to Martina. I really wanna kill right now."

"Darn it, why is the world so unfair? He's just a Muggleborn orphan with no background."

"Another mudblood."

"The engagement needs to be broken or my heart will be broken."

"Shh. Keep it low. You don't know what he'll do if he heard you. He didn't even stop when the opponent was the Mikhailov Heir."

"Yeah, he's dead meat anyways, offending that family."

These people thought Axel couldn't hear them, but he could hear everything loud and clear. He just couldn't be bothered to give enough fuck about their opinions. Axel sighed. It's just for this one night that he's going to be seen here anyway. He was only here to observe the general reactions of everyone and mark down those he might need to watch out for.

He trudged over to the Slytherin table, only to find that most of them had complicated or uninviting looks plastered on their faces. The table was full since of the students had spread themselves, as if to not make room for him. Yep, that's another problem.

Now that it's been revealed that he's probably a mudblood with no family background who's been fooling them, most of them are going to be like this, the ungrateful bigots. No matter he got them a historical victory over Gryffindor. Everything is null-and-void after his past has been revealed.

But amidst the hostile gazes, he actually found a few people inviting him. Patricia, who was sitting with the rest of the Slytherin team, who were sitting together at the main seats, and others were two of his classmates he had never exchanged any words with.

Axel glanced back at Daphne, who was looking at him from the Ravenclaw table and resolutely skipped Patricia, going over to the classmates who were inviting him instead.

Theodore Nott and Tracy Davis. These were the names of the two classmates who had invited him to sit with. It's not like Axel had ever paid any attention to them, but remembering their names was only after attending all the classes together for almost 2 years. But of course, he had exchanged nary a glance with these two, let alone words. He sat beside Theodore and nodded at the two of them, hoping it would not be too much of a drag to sit here.

"Hi, I'm Theodore Nott. And this is my fiancee Tracy Davis," said Theodore, introducing themselves as Tracy waved at Axle from across the table.

It's not uncommon in Magical culture for children to get engaged for political reasons. Though the practice has lessened over the recent years, it's still nothing special.

Axel nodded. "Axel Hunt. Why did you invite me?" He asked straightforwardly.

Nott shrugged. "I just want to be friends. I've been wanting to talk to you for a while," he admitted.

"Then why only talk now?" Asked Axel.

"Because he was too insecure back when you were not engaged. Now he's sure you won't try your scummy tricks on me," said Tracy with a grin, making Theodore glare at her.

"...."

Axel didn't know what to say. He didn't know how he could stop people from having such an impression of him. But, he also didn't know if he should tell these two that he's not actually engaged yet.

Dumbledore went to the podium like usual. "Welcome, everyone. I trust you all had an explosive Christmas? He asked looking around, his gaze lingering on Axel for a moment longer.

Axel sighed. He was now on the Headmaster's radar. Just great.

"I can already hear your tummies protesting so I shan't take much of your time. There are a few announcements I need to make. First of all, the match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff that was supposed to happen on Saturday has been postponed to Sunday, please inform your parents as well, lest they arrive on Saturday, the notifications will also be sent to the Hogwarts group."

There were a few protests at that, since the students would now have to wait more but it was alright since it was only one day. Many eyes strayed towards Axel, who was the main reason why the match was so much hyped up. Everyone wanted to see him play again.

"As for the next announcement, it is about the final Quidditch match between Hogwarts and Mahoutokoro. There's a change in format. After much discussion, it has been decided that the match will be held in the...Diabolical, or the Unrestricted format—"

"""""!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!""""""

Surprised exclamations filled the room before Dumbledore even finished speaking, after which, a huge cheer arose from the crowd, causing Axel a lower his senses of hearing due to annoyance.

"Quiet… Quiet, let me finish. Even though it's a Diabolical format match, full attention will be given to the players' safety, and strict rules have to be followed. A regular match does not do justice to the two schools' skillsets, hence this decision has been taken. But yes, you all do have the right to be excited!" he said, spreading his arms as the cheers arose once again.

"The hell is Diabolical format?" After the noise subsided, Axel asked Theodore whose usually calm face was also excited. He needed to know since he might be playing that match. It sounded so cringe.

???

"You don't know?!"

Those around him who heard him looked at him with shocked gazes.

"You are being known to the world for quidditch and didn't even know this?" Asked Tracy in bafflement.

Axel looked at her in bewilderment. "So what?" He had already learnt about Quidditch's existence not long ago, and he didn't have too much interest in the sport since it was not a challenge at all.

"They made this decision because of you and yet you are the only person who is clueless about it." Theodore shook his head in bemusement.

"Anyways, the Unrestricted format, is the most exciting form of Quidditch, but it's banned in most places because it's dangerous," he said seemingly happy to break the news to him.

"In this format... players will be allowed to use Magic in the match."

!!!!

Axel's eyes widened at the implications.

Magic... Is allowed?

He recalled the powerful jutsus spammed by the monsters of Mahoutokoro.

"Fuck..."

If he ever faced off against their team in a match as important as Hogwarts vs Mahoutokoro, as the star player, he would definitely be the main target of all those jutsus. Even dodging should have a limit. It was fine untill it was just bludgers, but how can he face off against THAT while holding back?

And then there's the other thing. Axel glanced at Akiko, whose serious face had a hint of amusement at this moment. He had pissed off almost all the students of Mahoutokoro due to having suspicious relations with this Goddess of theirs.

So, all those students were already looking for a chance have a go at him. The only thing stopping them was the diplomatic issues caused by severely beating up a student from Hogwarts. But... suppose if they get a free reign to do whatever they want against him for ninty minutes...

'Those guys must be scrambling to get in on the teams,' he thought, looked at the gleeful face of the Mahoutokoro students as if Christmas had come again.

At this moment, Akiko also happened to glance at him, and their eyes met. A hint of amusement passed through her eyes, as if she could already think of his predicament and was thoroughly enjoying the situation.

'How will you hold back now?' Her eyes seemed to say.

Axel gave her an annoyed look. It was better when her face was always serious.

....

A.N.: Next : Sorry Hufflepuff

Next next: "Axel Hunt... I think he broke Quidditch..."

Next... next: A Reunion

Next..... next: New Wand....

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