HP: The Arcane Thief

In the dim lighting, the Great Hall, decorated with various Halloween decorations, coupled with the music blaring in the background, looked completely different from its usual magnificence.

At one side, a huge buffet was arranged on a table, with all sorts of Halloween themed dishes, and on the other, a stage was built with posters of seven weird people and various musical instruments installed.

Walking in with Daphne, Axel looked around the great hall. People were wearing all sorts of bizarre costumes, most of which he couldn't even recognise. They were talking, dancing, laughing, eating, scaring each other, or pulling pranks.

"We're on time. Look, it's the Weird Sisters!" Exclaimed Daphne, pointing at the Stage where the music was coming from.

And indeed, currently, everyone's attention had shifted towards the stage where seven witches appeared. They were also in Halloween getup, looking like zombies.

"Who are they?" Asked Axel as a commotion started as soon as they appeared on the stage.

Daphne was not surprised that Hermit Axel didn't know about it. "They're the most popular musical band! They are going to do a concert here tonight!" She explained, dragging him along with the crowd.

"Are they a big deal?"

"Big deal? They have fans all over the world. Look around! Everyone is here for them!" Said Daphne, and indeed a huge crowd was now gathering in front of the stage as the students cheered and yelled.

"Let's go, we have to get to the front spot!" Exclaimed Daphne, dragging him into the crowd.

The concert started soon, and the crowd went wild, screaming and dancing along with the music. Standing in between the crowd of people, Axel looked at Daphne, who was vibing along with the music, and Daphne also looked at him.

"!!!" Daphne shouted something which he couldn't hear.

"Can't hear you!" Axel yelled back.

Daphne just grabbed his hand and raised it into the air, making the both of them to move to the beats of music. It was a weird experience, moving along the rhythm in a crowd of people who are all screaming, dancing and jumping like crazy. But it was not unpleasant.

After a while, they exited the crowd to take a break with the concert still going on in the background.

"Wasn't it great?! You were going to miss all this," said Daphne, leaning closer to be heard over the music.

'Was it?' Wondered Axel. He didn't know. But it was definitely unsafe. It's quite easy to be attacked in such a crowd.

Daphne rolled her eyes at him, "Don't give me that look. For once, I'm going to have you live a little," she said as she dragged him towards the stalls.

?? 'What look?' Wondered Axel. He was sure he hadn't done anything.

Daphne picked up two servings of what looked like eyeballs stuck with a toothpick. "Here, try this," she said, picking up one by the toothpick and offering it to his mouth.

"Whose eyeballs are these?" Asked Axel, craning his neck away from the thing.

Chuckling softly, Daphne ate the other eyeball to show him. "It's not an eyeball, it's a marshmallow!" She exclaimed.

Axel frowned, looking at the eyeball, "How could you tell?"

Daphne shook her head, "That's the thing. You don't find out until you eat it," she said, taking a bite out of a finger dripping with blood next.

"Oh, fries with ketchup. Nice!"

Axel sighed. Daphne had already taken his permission to skip the diet for tonight. And since Axel had decided to take a break tonight, he had decided to just go along with whatever for once. But, looking at her eating away freely, he was still getting second hand diabetes. "This is going to mess up all the dieting you've done," he couldn't help but say.

Eating another bloody finger, Daphne looked down at herself. "Oh fuck it, my tummy has never been so flat before. It deserves a reward!" she said, patting her belly which had indeed flattened after Axel's intense training, not that it was fat before. "Now, remember you're on break. So open up—" she said, still holding out the eyeball to mouth.

Axel sighed and finally took a bite. It was the first time he was eating something other than his diet in a while. And he has to accept, it was fucking delicious.

"You're aware you're going to have to train double after this, right?" He asked Daphne who was grinning like a Cheshire cat after feeding him.

Daphne sighed blissfully, "I leave that to my future self. But this... this is worth it."

Daphne's smile seemed infectious, as a small smile slowly came to Axel's face as well. "Well, I guess I'll let go for tonight as well."

They started to try different types of foods one after another. Witch's Brew, Blood Splatter Cookie Platter, Treats not Tricks, Mummy Hot Dogs, Graveyard Parfait, things like that.

"Axel, you're here!" While they were still eating, someone called Axel. Axel and Daphne turned to see Patricia walking towards them. She was dressed as an Amazoness Tonight, wearing a revealing warrior outfit which was turning a lot of heads.

Daphne's smile stiffened as soon as she saw the older girl. "How vulgar," she muttered to herself. Though Daphne knew that it was only her jealousy speaking.

Patricia seemed to have heard that as she smiled at Daphne, not at all bothered. "This is a Princess Diana costume. It's quite normal in wizarding Brazil. Please don't disrespect our culture."

"...." Daphne had nothing to say to that, only cursing the fact that she was only 12, and there were some things she couldn't have right now.

Patricia then turned to Axel, "Axel, tomorrow's our match…"

"Yeah? So what?"

"…" Patricia didn't know what to do with this guy. She was dying with trepidation right now just thinking about the millions of ways they could lose tomorrow's match, and the person she had pinned all her hopes on is so nonchalant about the whole thing, making her question her decision yet again.

Patricia sighed, "The team I have this time is the worst team House Slytherin has ever had. The remaining good players I had recruited have left because I couldn't explain why our seeker doesn't come to practice even though he's never played Quidditch before. So we're left with a bunch of noobs for tomorrow's match." she said, her calm facade slipping.

"So?" Asked Axel, as if he couldn't understand where the problem was.

"You—" Patricia took in a deep breath, trying not to snap at the guy. He was her only hope now, and she can't afford to have him leaving the team as well.

"So, I'm wondering what we are supposed to do tomorrow. And should I worry about the match or the aftermath after we lose to Gryffindor under my terrible leadership," she said, barely keeping her composure.

Axel smiled, satisfied to see that she had stopped her threats now. Yep, he was just testing her. "Listen Captain, the only thing you need to worry about," he said in a relaxed tone, "Is to decide the point margin you want to win with. Leave the rest to me."

"Oh, overconfident much?" Said someone, as a ball was thrown at Axel at high speed from behind.

"?"

Since Daphne was standing right in front of him, Axel didn't dodge the ball, and it was too late for using magic. So, he could only deflect it.

—Plop—

But unexpectedly, the ball exploded on contact, spraying golden and scarlet color all around. Daphne was saved since she was shielded by Axel, but Axel and Patricia had gotten paint splatter on their outfits, drawing a lot of attention.

!!!!!

Witnessing such a scene, gasps were accompanied by sounds of camera flashes, and many people had begun filming it on their Magi-mirrors. Yep, people weren't going to miss this opportunity.

*Honk* *Honk*

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" Exclaimed the culprits, the Weasley Twins together after blowing the party horns, and many people laughed along with them, finding this funny. People are like this. They find these things funny as long as it doesn't happen to them.

'Don't kill them, don't Kill them, don't kill them, ok may be later, but not now.'

Axel slowly removed his mask and shook off its paint as he casually looked at the culprits.

"Scourgify," he muttered, taking out his wand removing the paint off himself, and from the still stunned Patricia. The paint came off, but the stains were still there.

*Crack* *crackle* Axel's knuckles cracked as he clenched them into fists. He wasn't angry, no. He had received far worse treatment than this multiple times back when he was on the streets. So of course just a bit of paint wasn't going to phase him. But…

'Retaliation is a must,'

That's right, he has to dish out multiple times what he received just now. Because,

First of all, that suit was expensive.

Second, the paint was Scarlet and gold, meaning they were clearly sending a message here. This is not a simple prank, but a humiliating attack. And if he didn't retaliate appropriately, it'll send out the wrong message.

Third, no matter if he was still very weak to defeat some of the enemies he would have to face in the future, he was still not weak enough to have to take this kind of treatment from a couple of clowns. As the person with power, he should be the bully, not the other way around. Otherwise, all this power is useless.

Just as Axel was going to take action, a system notification flashed in front of his eyes.

[Special Quest: School in Danger]

[An extremely dangerous creature has been summoned into Hogwarts, and it's currently making its way down here. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to prevent it from reaching here, or it could result in extreme consequences.]

[Rewards:

->Special Skill: Barrier

->Limited Information on Atlantis.]

'System! What the fuck?! Give me more details. What kind of creature are we dealing with? What's its danger categorisation?'

!!!

The information came, and Axel eyes got stuck on the system interface, ignoring the clowns completely. He can also deal with them in the match tomorrow and the mission right now...

'Fuck…' Isn't this... too fucking difficult?!

Axel was occupied, but nothing was holding back Patricia. "Fred and George Weasley! I challenge the two of you to an Honor Duel right now! The duel doesn't end until one side is completely unconscious!" she exclaimed drawing her wand and pointing it at them.

Meanwhile, Daphne dragged Axel away from the commotion, fearing he might murder someone. "A-are you alright?! You're not hurt, are you?" She asked anxiously.

With all his attention on the mission, Axel snorted, knowing that his break was over. "I'm fine. But I need to leave. Now," he said, looking around for someone.

'So much for fun,' he thought.

"What?! But we were just getting started! There's so much to do—"

Axel grabbed Daphne's shoulders and looked into her eyes in all seriousness. "Daphne, I need to leave. Now."

Daphne found herself unable to deny his words. But, she didn't want it to end yet. This had been turning out to be the best night of her life.

"Ah…alright, then let's go toge—"

"No! You're staying here! And don't you dare leave this place until I come back! Find a professor and stay close to them."

"... Alright," said Daphne in resignation. Daphne didn't know what was happening, but she could tell that Axel meant business right now. So, she went along with his demands. But that didn't mean she wasn't crestfallen right now. "I'll do whatever you ask, but please don't do something that'll get you into trouble," she said despondently.

"Don't worry." Axel nodded in relief as he turned to leave. He was really glad she understood the severity of the situation. "And Daphne," he paused.

"Yes?"

Axel scratched his head as he looked away. "Thanks for tonight. I… I think I had fun," he said, looking back at her.

*Ba-dump* *Ba-dump* Ba-dump*

Daphne was stunned as an unbelievable feeling rushed through her. "I—" she began, but Axel was already off, disappearing into the crowd. It was definitely good that he had, because Daphne's mental faculties were no longer working properly and she would probably have made a fool of herself if he had stayed.

…

Axel didn't directly go to the fight. He first had something else to do.

"Martina."

Axel quickly found Martina even in the crowd. She was sitting together with Luna, away from all the commotion, literally on the opposite end of the great hall.

"Oh, Axel? Do you know what the commotion there is about?" She asked, pointing at the crowd that was gathering on the other side.

"Hello Axel, you seem to be in trouble," greeted Luna casually with her usual half closed eyes. She was in a bizarre outfit tonight, with a crumpled horn on her head.

"Hi Luna," Axel didn't have time to chat with the girl so he went to business.

"Martina, you said the combat suit you made for me was almost ready, do you have it on you right now?" He asked urgently.

That's the reason why he's here. The information about the creature provided by the system is too overwhelming, and he was going to be needing more than just the clothes on his back for his safety.

Now, normally one wouldn't carry such stuff on them all the time, but Martina was different. The small hand bag which she kept on her person all the time is phenomenal. She has a research lab in there and also has enough space to put a giant Basilisk inside.

And sure enough, Martina nodded her head, "Yeah, it's here. But why are you asking for it right now?"

"Because I need it right now! Things are turning out like last Halloween," said Axel, trying to make her understand that he was not fucking around.

And his words had the desired effect, as Martina was instantly alarmed as she stood up from her seat. "Again?! But isn't the Basilisk already— "

"It's not a Basilisk! It's something more dangerous! Now, give me the suit. Quick! It's coming this way." Said Axel, cutting her off.

All the nonsense was instantly gone as she brought out a combat suit made out of black leather. "I'm also coming," she said, taking out her staff as her costume turned purple and black, shifting into combat mode.

Axel shrugged, "With the current situation, I could definitely use a hand," he said, turning to leave.

"How about one more?" Came a voice, and Axel saw Akiko appear behind them. Akiko was in a fox spirit costume tonight, with two fox ears on her head and a tail on her back. She had been listening in to the conversation.

Axel grinned. "I was counting on it. Let's go."

The three of them made their way out of the hall and they could finally converse freely. Martina looked at Axel and asked exactly what he had asked the system.

"Axel, do you know what creature it is? And how dangerous is it? Could it actually be five X-es?"

"Five X-es?" Axel had a grim expression on his face as he recalled the system's information. "Its danger categorisation… let's just say that 5 isn't enough to cut it."

Yep, that was the thing. This thing was so dangerous that XXXXX was not enough to describe it. That's why Axel was so serious right now. He didn't think he was powerful enough to deal with it without any help.

'But…if it's with these two…' Axel looked at Martina and Akiko on either side of him. The most broken students of Hogwarts and Mahoutokoro. Their power level at their age was not something that could be understood with common sense.

If the three of them join forces…

'Ain't no way we could lose right?'

…

A.N.: POWERSTONES!

Revenge will be taken in the match. But what could be the creature?

: Fight! Strongest Trio vs ????

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