HP: The Arcane Thief

Chapter 132: Celebration

Daphne gripped Axel's hand in worry. "How did you get crippled? And are you fine now?"

Looking at her fussing over him, a smile came to his face. This is just one of the reasons why she is different from anyone else in his life.

She was interested in knowing about their first meeting. But as soon as he told her about his condition at that time, she immediately focused more on his well being rather than their fateful meeting.

'And then she wonders why I would try to be friends with someone like. She's really precious.' thought Axel and he really wanted her to know this too.

"Oi! I am asking something serious here!" said Daphne, annoyed at his smile.

Axel sighed. "Well, if you must know, some nutjob thought it would be fun to torture me endlessly. Well, that doesn't matter. The point is, my nerves were completely damaged. I couldn't do magic at all, I couldn't use a quill to write, hell, even walking used to be difficult back in the days. I was in that condition when I first met you. That's what I'm trying to say. I wasn't Axel Hunt the Quidditch star back then. I was Axel Hunt, the cripple. You can imagine how anyone would treat me when I'm like that."

Axel's face clouded over when he recalled the time. "Those days… they were not good. Due to some reasons, I had stopped trusting anyone. I would push everyone away, no matter if they treated me good or bad. But you…" a helpless smile crossed his face.

"You never seemed to give up on me, no matter how much I tried to push you away. So, the one who doesn't deserve this friendship is me, not you."

"I..."

Daphne was so touched that she didn't know what to say. But, at the same time, Axel's previous state deeply concerned her. Something he said had triggered the memories she had related to it. Her eyes widened as she looked at Axel in shock..

"C-Cruciatus? You were tortured by the Cruciatus, were you?"

She didn't have the memories of Axel, but she did have an incredible amount of information on the cruciatus curse and how to treat its after effects which she had desperately researched for some unknown reason. Now that she connected the dots, she realized she must have researched them for him.

"Are you alright now?" She asked, holding his hands tightly.

"Hey, calm down. I'm completely healed," said Axel, clenching and unclenching his hand to show her as if to demonstrate. "In fact, I'm better than ever."

Though Daphne was relieved, her concern didn't lessen.

She looked at his hands. They seemed to be functioning alright, but, his palms were filled with calluses and the rest of the hand had various scars scattered across the toughened skin. Her heart ached for him just by imagining the hardships he must have had to face in his past.

Daphne gently ran her fingers over the past injuries. "Who was it?" That was all she asked. And even though there were no fluctuations in her voice, Axel could tell she was angry.

"Who... was the fucker who tortured you?"

Axel hesitated. What could he say? It was her father.

"Do you really want to know?"

Daphne nodded her head firmly. And for a moment, it felt like her eyes were glowing.

Axel recalled why he hadn't already told her yet. In the beginning, he hadn't because he didn't trust her. It was murder, after all. He would essentially be giving her the power to make him a fugitive on the charge of murdering a Lord. After that, he began to trust her enough to tell her but the matter was never brought up.

Though, now that she was asking him herself, and he trusted her, Axel still hesitated to tell her. Cyrus Greengrass was Daphne's dad. And Daphne had been wanting to kill her father for a long time. But she had either failed or couldn't be decisive enough. In the end the guy ended up being killed by Axel, but only after he had put Axel through a hellish torture first.

That's why Axel felt that it would not be good to tell her. At least for now. Daphne already had enough on her plate already right now, what the losing her memories and all. He didn't want to add this to the list of her burdens as well.

In the end, he looked into her eyes.

"Fine. I'll tell you… but only after I've brought your memories back. It's a promise."

….

Patricia PoV:

When she woke up, she cried.

Yesterday, they had given it their all in the match. And in their own sleazy and tricky way, they were actually going Toe to Toe with Mahoutokoro without Axel's help, even though they weren't that good at Quidditch.

So, when they were suddenly hit by Takeshi's Jutsu, Patricia, along with the rest of the team got a huge shock… literally and figuratively. In extreme pain and helplessness, she realized that they had been completely outplayed by Mahoutokoro's strategy, and there was nothing they could do to change that.

She had tried to move. She really did. But the pain was just too much. It was at an intensity that someone like her had never experienced before. Realizing that they had lost, Patricia fell unconscious.

That's why, when she woke up, she cried. She had let her team down. She had let the school down. And, she had let down those numerous fans who had especially tuned in to see Axel play properly for one last time.

It was her fault. If only she had been more competent, if only she had researched more, if only she had been paying more attention, she might have been able to figure out what Mahoutokoro was planning and stop them beforehand.

But instead, it was Axel who did. And by the time she led the team to take action, it was already too late.

Tears poured out of her eyes, soaking the pillow as she silently sobbed in frustration. It would have still been acceptable if they were defeated with a few point difference. But a total take down? It was humiliating.

The effects of the dreamless sleep potion that the team had been given had worn off, and the whole team was awake now. Each and every one had tears in their eyes. And what hurt them more than losing was seeing the strong and charismatic captain they had always looked up to crying too. It really made them realize just how badly they had messed up.

"Captain… it's not your fault," Patricia heard someone say. It was Diana. She was crying too.

Patricia realized that her team had also woken up. It wouldn't do to behave like this, especially right now, when her team needs her the most. Wiping her tears, she sat up on her bed and drew the curtains.

"Let's quit moping around. We have to face it. We lost. Let's receive it gracefully and learn from it. " she said to her teammates, and to herself.

Her teammates slowly emerged from the canopies of their own beds. All of them had reddened eyes, The defeat against Mahoutokoro had been a big blow to them.

Patricia looked around. The Slytherin team was admitted in a separate ward. Hundreds of gifts were piled up in one corner, as consolation gifts to the team. But Patricia was searching for something else. "Where's Axel?"

The teammates, who were distracted by the gifts, also realized this. There were only six beds in the room. Axel was nowhere to be found.

Patricia decided that she would handle her star seeker separately. He must have been the one to take this defeat the hardest. After all, she knew he had the power to have defeated the Mahoutokoro easily had it not been for that last attack.

"Well, gather around, everyone. We need to see this." She said, picking up her magimirror from the table. Running away won't change anything. They need to face the reality. And it would be best to do it when they are together.

The teammates all reluctantly gathered around. Patricia looked at everyone. "Ready?" She asked.

She was going to open the magihive, And she had an idea of what they were going to face. They had been taken down in the middle of the match. The magihive right now would be filled with curses and criticism from their fans, memes from antifans, expert's opinions of where they had gone wrong, and much more.

Knowing it was going to be painful, Patricia opened the Magihive. And—

"AXEL "HUNTS" MAHOUTOKORO!"

"HOGWARTS WINS!"

"AXEL HUNT: ONE VS ALL!"

"EXPERT'S OPINION ON THE MATCH"

"HUNT BREAKS MORE RECORDS"

"JOHN SANDERSON CALLS AXEL HUNT THE BEST QUIDDITCH PLAYER IN THE WORLD"

"TEAM HOGWARTS PULL AND UNEXPECTED WIN!"

"HUNT'S EXPLOSIVE LAST MATCH"

!!!

The team stared at the top posts in a stunned silence, Hogwarts… won? No one seemed to be criticizing them?

It was like suddenly being able to breathe while on the verge of drowning.

"H-How…?" Patricia couldn't understand. How the hell did he do it?

"Is this… a dream?" Anderson murmured.

With shaking fingers, Patricia quickly opened the video feed with the heading, "Hunt avenges his teammates: The Epic Showdown"

The video started with Team Hogwarts getting by Mahotokoro's combo attack and falling to the ground. The members all winced upon recalling the particular moment. They could still feel the after effects of that shock,

But then, they saw the camera focusing on Axel, who had pushed himself back into a sitting position.

"Damn…"

The teammates stared at the video, transfixed. They knew first hand how painful it must have been for Axel and yet, he had sat up.

The team saw Axel looking at the rest of them, and then at the scoreboard. Seemingly having made his resolve, he slowly stood up.

"He… He is really following through his words," said Elijah, the beater.

They recalled what Axel had told them. At that moment, his words might have sounded arrogant. But looking at him actually having the grit to follow through, they felt goosebumps rippling on their arms.

"But… how did he take on the whole team?" Asked Diana.

That was the question. They knew how bad his condition must have been. And they couldn't imagine him being able to win. Right now, being the only man standing, all the fire power would be focused on Axel.

"Did he use some tricks? Like the fog?" Suggested Anderson, but even that didn't seem viable. The fog could be cleared if they once again created a storm.

The video gave them the answer.

"Direct confrontation?!"

What they saw next, made them lose their minds.

….

Later at night after meeting Daphne, Axel returned to his hospital room. He wasn't really discharged yet, as he was recommended mandatory rest by the Healers. Well, the actual injuries he had sustained were as severe as a normal human would suffer when they are tickled.

But he couldn't let that go in his medical record, could he? After all, everyone had seen him getting hit. If he came out unscathed, it would raise eyebrows.

So, Axel had simply manufactured a few injuries by himself in order to show the healers.

After Akiko and Martina, no one came to disturb him. Well, no one was allowed to. So Axel was able to sneak in and out conveniently. Axel returned late at night and fell asleep without much thought. It was just another day passed for him.

But, not for everyone else.

You can't just casually shock the whole world and simply wash your hands of the matter. You simply don't. The ramifications of what he had done began to appear the very next day.

Axel felt like he had barely slept but he was already woken up by urgent knocking on his door.

"Excuse me, for Merlin's sake! I told you he needs rest!"

"Sorry nurse! It really can't wait!"

"YEAH!"

"OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR!"

Recognising the voices to be his teammates, Axel undid the privacy locks he had placed on the door, and the door burst open as his teammates rushed in.

"What the—"

Axel wasn't given a chance to express his bewilderment on the situation. Seemingly out of their minds, his teammates jumped him like madmen.

"YOU BLOODY GENIUS YOU—"

"WE ACTUALLY WON!"

"THANKYOUTHABKYOUTHANKYOU!"

"YOU DID IT!"

Axel: "...."

Axel hated physical contact with people he wasn't close with. He considered giving them another jolt of electricity, but in the end, decided against it. They were simply too happy right now.

Perhaps the him of the past might have actually done it, but Axel simply found that even more bothersome now.

"Fuck! I'm supposed to be injured, damn it!" He protested.

Only then did Patricia, who was the first to stick to him, regained some reason. "Hey! Take it easy. He's injured!"

The team's excitement was inordinately high, so it took a long time for them to calm down and let Axel go.

After that, the team together together with their heads down while Axel glared at them, still sitting on his bed with his arms crossed. His clothes and hair were disheveled after allegedly being attacked by his team mates.

"What the fuck was that for?" Asked Axel, trying very hard not to get them admitted into the hospital wing again.

The team actually had the decency to look embarrassed. But when Patricia explained the situation, Axel had to reluctantly let them go.

They had thought they had lost and when they saw the video of Axel taking them to victory and avenging them, they were simply overcome with emotions.

Of course, that wasn't the end of the consequences. It was only the beginning.

""""CONGRATULATIONS!""""

When Axel and the team went to the Great Hall for breakfast, they found the whole school waiting for them.

As soon as they entered, confetti rained down on them and everyone yelled in celebration. The team was lifted into the air by the human wave and carried to the middle of the hall.

It was a full on party. The long tables were nowhere to be seen, switched by smaller tables which were arranged at the sides. The enchanted ceiling had been set to show fireworks and disco lights. Weird sisters music blared from the singing speakers.

Still getting bounced by the wave of super excited students, Axel looked at the ceiling with half closed eyes. "Can I at least have breakfast?"

As soon as he was let down, Patricia kissed his cheek in front of everyone, making the crowd erupt into cheers, catcalls, and wolf whistles.

"IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" She said, looking the happiest person alive.

"Me too!" Said Diana, kissing his other cheek.

But that was not good for Axel. Because in the next moment, he had been surrounded by a huge number of senior girls trying to kiss him.

Axel took advantage of the chaos to slip out of the crowd unnoticed.

[Arcane Eyes]

He searched for Daphne. He founded sitting at a corner, looking at the horde of girls wanting to kiss him with cold eyes. Axel sighed. Due to the issue with the organization, Axel had told her not to be seen together in public. He simply didn't want to risk the organization using her to get to him.

"Hey! He's here!"

While he was still looking at Daphne, he was once again found out, causing him to be surrounded again. Some students wanted pictures,some wanted autographs, some bold girls wanted him to sign on… specific parts of their bodies.

Axel sighed. This is harassment. Just when he was about to do something about it, the girls had to separate on their own, because Professor Mcgonagall had arrived to mediate.

"Mr. Hunt and the rest of the team are still recovering from their injuries. Please make some distance. Let them at least have breakfast for Merlin's sake!"

Mcgonagall looked at the team and smiled. Yes, actually smiled. "Good work, students. 100 points to Slytherin."

""""WOOOAAAHHHH""""

Looking at the uncontrolled atmosphere, Axel had to wonder if he had gone too far this time.