Harry Potter: The Arcane Thief (Litrpg)

Chapter 28: Special Reward

Axel walked through the corridors of Hogwarts while feeling like murdering someone. As he had feared, the picture had spread everywhere already.

The effort he put in the last two months into putting a low profile had all gone to shit as now even the previous RM (Recorded Memory) of his Duel was once again being shared, to inform everyone who exactly was the 'lucky bastard' who had the Mafia Prodigy sleeping at his bedside.

'First the Troll, then Dementors, and now this... yep, I think I officially hate Halloween now,' he thought irately.

It was quite absurd that his biggest problem until yesterday was just money. Money that he could steal but wasn't stealing for… no real reason at all. After one encounter with the Dementor, he could no longer give a fuck about getting caught or some shitty trauma.

He realized that after two months of living a better life, he had begun to think that he had a choice. Hell no, he didn't. He doesn't even know what would have happened if that girl hadn't been there. He would have been grateful if she had not gotten him into so much trouble. That's why he had just left without listening to whatever she had to say.

After sitting on the Slytherin table for breakfast under his stealth skills, he finally checked the system notifications of yesterday. When the Dementors had attacked, he didn't have the leisure to see what mission he had been given.

[Congratulations. You survived an encounter with Dementors.

-Special skill: Minor Light attribute

-1% approval rate. Total = 14%]

Axel looked at the system interface in a stupor. Light attribute? Holy shit that sounds good! And it's apparently a special skill. He recalled that he could unlock special skills in special cases or by doing special missions. Now, the only question is… what exactly is this?

He tapped the Minor Light attribute of the system interface to get more information on it.

[Minor Light attribute: Light attribute Magic is the magic summoned from the #$*# #!$. This skill gives you the ability to imbue a minor amount of Light Magic into your spells.]

Axel was pleasantly surprised, but also a bit confused.

'System, what is the meaning of those symbols? Also, I thought all the magic wizards usually did was light magic. Is that not it?' He asked.

[Axel, those symbols mean that the information is locked. And as explained previously, most wizards of these times do not have any accurate knowledge of Light and Dark Magic.

They mostly term the dangerous spells which use the normal magic to be Dark magic and all the other spells as Light Magic, which is, of course, an absolutely wrong conjecture.

The real Dark magic is spells that use the magic summoned from the Nether World. An example would be Fiendfire. And the real Light magic is spells that use the magic summoned from #$*# #!$. An Example would be the Patronus charm. The Light Magic and Dark Magic are natural counter to each other.]

'...Damn… now we're talking!'

After comprehending the meaning of those words, Axel wanted to shout out in joy.

It's about the goddamn time he got something like this. There's apparently a very powerful Darklord trying to take over this world, and that Darklord and his minions are quite adept at Dark magic. So, having something like Light Attribute magic, which can counter creatures like the Dementors is a necessity and is going to be quite handy.

Axel grinned. It was certainly a 'Special Skill' alright. His mood felt much 'lighter' now. He didn't even particularly mind all the attention and troubles the photo with that girl had brought him anymore.

Feeling much better, he left for his first class which was with the Gryffindors.

A few moments later. . .

"..."

Well, maybe he had spoken too soon about not minding the troubles of that photo.

He certainly did mind it if a crowd of students are gathering up in front of his Potions class to wait for his arrival.

Sigh*

He can't just enter the class in stealth since he needs to show his face to the Professor for attendance. And when he does that, it would be absolutely certain that he can turn himself invisible through magic since these idiots don't know that there are ways one can avoid being noticed without using Invisibility or magic. There are already rumors that he can cast the disillusionment charm and he doesn't want them to believe it.

Thus, with all the exasperation in the world, he turned off all the skills and started to walk toward his classroom. It's not comfortable and it might be annoying, so he usually avoids trouble, but when it comes down to it, he'll not cower away. So what if there was a photo of him with some girl? Heck, so what if he even slept with that girl? If anyone has a problem they can kiss his ass.

It wasn't long before someone spotted him approaching the class.

"Hey! He's here!"

"Really? Where?"

"There he is!"

"Yeah, that's him alright."

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The crowd of students started approaching him but Axel didn't stop walking.

"Hey, what exactly happened?"

"Yeah, how did you end up in that situation?"

"Do you actually know her?"

"Hey, I'm just warning you. Stay away from her or I'll—"

All kinds of people were mixed in the crowd. Some were just there to gossip, some were jealous gits while some were there just to enjoy the show, recording everything on their Magi-mirrors.

Axel didn't stop walking at all. He got mixed up into the crowd and emerged from the other side while everyone was trying to find him inside the crowd.

"Hey, where'd he go?!"

"Do you see him?"

"Damn it, why are there so many people here?!"

'Losers,'

Quite unimpressed, Axel left those losers behind as he entered the class with his hands still in his pockets. Even inside, he could feel many gazes fixed on him. Not paying them any attention, he went straight to the last bench which all but belonged to him now in all his classes.

Once he settled his equipments, of course, he was still not going to be left alone.

"Hey, Axel,"

"Hi Axel,"

Two girls came to his table. It wasn't the first time they were bothering him in these two months, so he knew their names. Parvati and Lavender. Gryffindor's gossip girls.

"We saw your photo! Holy Morgana, you two looked cute together."

"Yeah, how do you two know each other?"

"None of your damn business. Now scram."

"?!" x2

It wasn't Axel who said that. It was Rose Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived. Parvati and Lavender both looked fairly terrified as they scurried away quietly.

Axel was almost impressed. In the past two months, Rose had built up a reputation for herself as the Girl-Who-Must-Not-be-messed-with. Those who had messed with her were all always met with a vicious revenge. Except only for Axel himself. He couldn't understand just why, but she never did do anything against him despite all of her threats.

"What do you want?" Asked Axel rudely. Since she doesn't do anything, he is just going to treat her like anyone else.

Rose gritted her teeth. Oh how satisfying it would be if she could just prank the living hell out of this guy, but she valued her life more. This guy has Aunt Bella obsessed over him for some reason.

"I'm not here because I want something. I'm just here to let you know that I know your secret," she said imperiously.

That made him pause.

"What secret?" he asked, his wand slowly sliding in his hand.

Rose shook her head, as she looked at her Magi-mirror. Aunt Bella seemed to have gone berserk today after seeing his photo. Rose now has several orders she has to follow, demanded urgently by the Minister of Magic.

"If you want to know, first answer these questions. How did you end up in the Hospital wing and what is your relationship with Martina Valentino? And also, it would be better if you 'stay away from vixens like her' since her family's reputation is quite bad. hmm… that's it," she said as she finished reading what Aunt Bella had written.

Axel looked at her for several seconds. Then just scoffed,

"I think I'll pass. You can go tell my secret to everyone."

Rose grew angry.

"Huh? You think I'm bluffing? I know that you know some weird magic that lets you capture any woman. And what's with that face? You're probably wondering how I know, right? Well, it's not too difficult to guess after looking at the series of events," she said triumphantly, feeling smug when Axel's eyebrows went up his hairline when she exposed his secret.

First Aunt Andromeda, then Aunt Bella, and now Martina Valentino. Heck, even she sometimes finds herself under that spell as well but since she's the Girl-Who-Lived, she's most likely immune to it.

Axel nodded slowly,

"Yeah… get lost."

"...What?" The smug expression on her face vanished as she wondered if she had heard him wrong.

"I said… 'get—lost' do you get it now? You can go and expose my secret everywhere. Blimey, I can't even bring myself to be bothered," he said exasperatedly. Seriously, what's with this girl's brain? He was an idiot to think she knew one of his real secrets.

Rose stomped her foot in frustration. Oh Merlin, if only she could do whatever she wanted with him… she would have made him regret every single time he's insulted her.

Too bad she can't do anything with a somewhat psychotic Minister of Magic protecting him like her love child. With a huff, Rose stalked off while wondering how she was supposed to answer Aunt Bella now.

She thought for a while. Well, isn't it obvious? If Axel isn't giving her the information, then she just has to invent it herself, right?

Let's see, why Axel was in the Hospital wing? Let's just attribute it to the Troll. He was out wandering and got done in by the Troll, seems legit, huh?

What's the relationship between her and Martina? Let's see. Both are having a romantic relationship and Axel is getting help from her. Yeah, that's good. Axel is seducing women to get benefits.

There! It's done! Isn't she simply a genius? Rose simply sent the made-up answers to her Aunt, not knowing what results it would bring.

She then quickly began setting up the equipments for the potions class. Snape is no longer kind to her and instead treats her badly in the classes now. But that has been the case for every Gryffindor, isn't it? Oh well, she knew enough to get by.

…

Axel walked out of Potions class with another Troll (T) grade to his name. But as he already mentioned, he couldn't care less about this shit. What would he even do with full grades? Get attention? No thank you, he was already struggling with what attention he , grades are only useful to those who are going to apply for some job. And Axel wanted to be someone who hires, not someone who gets hired.

As he walked along the corridors, his footsteps slowed down as he noticed a difference. He was expecting the students to flood him again, but funnily enough, none were coming.

Shrugging to himself, he went to attend his next class, going almost unhindered save for a few stragglers.

It was History class, and despite it being a much more interesting class, that couldn't prevent him from taking the last seat.

Daphne was sitting there while reading some book. When he came, she didn't even glance up at him.

"What's up with you? What book is it?" Asked Axel as he sat down. She wouldn't usually ignore him like this, so he thought that the book must be really interesting.

Daphne didn't even look at him,

"Oh… I'm trying not to bother you, so that your 'girlfriend' doesn't come after me," she said, turning the book, since it was upside down.

Axel grew puzzled at her absurd words,

"The fuck are you talking about?" There was no need for a language filter when talking to her.

Daphne sighed,

"I forgot that your Magi-mirror is just a showpiece. For fuck's sake, do try to use it sometimes. Your girlfriend has made a declaration."

Axel frowned as he took out his Magi-mirror to check the forums.

"Oh… hell," he muttered as he saw the changes. The photo had been deleted from the forum and now there was another post pinned to the top, posted by Martina Valentino herself.

"Anyone bothering Axel Hunt will have to answer to me."

Axel's mouth twitched. What's the problem with this girl? It seems that he can forget about having a peaceful life at Hogwarts.

Daphne finally looked at him to see his reaction.

"You sure work fast, Mr. Charming. You managed to land the Mafia Princess in just two months."

Axel looked at her in annoyance.

"What's up with you? Why are you being so bitchy?"

Daphne looked back into her book.

"You are such a liar. You deny even being friends with me and would even make that bimbo your girlfriend because her family is more powerful. I didn't know you were so superficial."

Axel rolled his eyes,

"Have you ever seen me talking to her?"

Daphne paused,

"...No,"

"Have you ever seen her talking to me?"

"Uh...No?"

"Have you ever heard me even mentioning her?"

"..."

"Then the fuck are you assuming she's my girlfriend? Jeez! You're being so annoying. That's why I don't make friends. It's more trouble than it's worth."

Daphne's brain started to work normally again after she calmed down. She realized that the photo had Axel unconscious or sleeping so it's not like he was willingly having the Valentino girl sleeping next to her. And as for the post that Martina posted, he didn't even know about it.

And now that she thought about it, she couldn't even imagine Axel making her a girlfriend for superficial things.

'It all seems... one-sided?' She realized. And now she was feeling stupid. She had just gotten wrapped up in her friends' discussion. Really, why does she even bother listening to those immature girls?!

In the first place, she sits here in the last seat instead of the first only because she finds those of her age too immature and annoying. And sitting here is quite peaceful and refreshing as they both usually do their own thing and don't annoy each other. But she had done it, she had annoyed him over silly nonsense.

Though another reason for her unreasonable behavior would be the inferiority she felt when compared to Martina Valentino. The girl is a Legend in the Ravenclaw house. Everyone all but worships her due to her genius.

But genius or not, would that matter to Axel? Fuck no. And if he was materialistic, he'd have just gone for Rose, who has the whole Black Family with her. She had just blindly listened to the gossip.

"Um… I'm sorry, I was being an idiot," she said meekly.

Axel rolled his eyes,

"As long as you know," he said simply. He'll sit somewhere else if she continues her nonsense. Now he has to think of what consequences that new post would bring.

At this moment, Professor Gorski, their History Professor entered the class, looking quite worse for wear. His eyes had dark circles, and his posture was quite languid, contrasting his usual energetic appearance.

Yawn*

"Excuse my unrefined appearance, I have had a tough night due to my injuries flaring up. I won't be teaching you anything today so you can quietly do whatever you want for the period today," he said, making many students disappointed along while also making some happy.

Axel just shrugged. He had a never-ending list of tasks, so it was alright for him, though Daphne was not happy.

"I have nothing to do!" She complained.

Axel put his notebook in front of her.

"You can just do my Homework if you're so free."

Daphne wouldn't have done it and she knew that Axel was also just joking, but… this time, she accepted the notebook and took out her pen.

"I'll do it," she said, making Axel surprised.

"Just as a payback for saying those things," she said.

Axel shrugged. She didn't owe him anything really but, who is he to decline a gift horse in the mouth?

""You have Failed.""came a creepy rasping voice from a Locket.

Umbridge knelt down.

"Forgive me, my lord."

The voice grew colder,

""Even after arranging two Dementors and a helper for you, you still have failed in the task, does this deserve forgiveness?""

Umbridge bowed lower,

"T-There was an interruption, my lord. I-I think it was Dumbledore. All the other professors except myself and our helper were after the Troll!"

That made the voice even angrier,

""Dumbledore! It's Dumbledore again…. It seems that we have no choice but to execute the task in Dumbledore's absence… Leave the stone, for now, focus more on the other task. It's going to be much more important in my plans.""

Umbridge nodded dutifully,

"Yes my lord. That task has been going swimmingly. No one seems to suspect a thing."

"But... my Lord. About the new helper..."

""Don't question his loyalty. I gave him an offer he simply can not refuse,"" the voice said with a hint of amusement.