Chapter 105: Diabolical Quidditch

Chapter 105

Axel sighed as he remembered his small adventure.

...


Casually walking through the crowd at the airport, Axel looked around himself.

Why was he here? To take a flight to Russia of course. Cross-country Apparition is not something he's too keen on attempting when he's recently learnt to apparate. The required degree of proficiency increases with the increase in distance. He'd rather spend a few hours in a flight rather than try to apparate over such a long distance and risk getting splinched.

He still hasn't been able to perfect his void travel, and Portkey is also not an option since he doesn't know how to create one and he wants to keep his visit discreet so he can't ask for help.

In the end, Flight was the easiest option.


Standing in the middle of the crowded terminal, he saw Non magical people bustling about, most of their problems being things as basic as aerophobia, missing their flights, and checking their passports and tickets.


Not long ago, the two years younger version of himself would have been using the very watered down version of his Arcane Eyes, trying to pick out wealthy targets, figuring out the best way to keep himself inconspicuous and take away the target's priced possessions.


But now, he no longer bothered. It no longer brought him the thrill, the sense of accomplishment, and the satisfaction that it used to. Walking among the crowd under stealth, Axel didn't steal a single thing.


After all, now he had set his sights on much bigger targets...

The Mikhailov Family.

This family is the biggest contributor to all the crimes and atrocities happening around the world.

Why have they been able to do so? Because they have the resources to back up their wrongdoings. Just take for example how long it took for them to find out Axel's past information. In barely a few hours, they found something the rest of the world had been unable to find until now.


Now this, was what Axel considered a real target. This was someone Axel would now find consider worth stealing from.


Axel suppressed his excitement. How long has it been since he felt this? With all the magic and training and all the problems, he had forgotten his real identity. Someone who steals from those who deserve it.


Walking up to the counter, he read the receptionist's mind, and found all the information he needed.


Well, it was his first time coming at an airport but it really doesn't matter with his high level Legilimency. He can get any information he wants without having to ask.

Under his stealth, he made his way towards the security blocking the next flight to Russia. To his intrigue, he found quite a few measures installed in place to prevent magical intruders. Things like wards, magical security devices and a few wizarding guards.

"Shouldn't be a surprise," he muttered, getting past them with some precaution. How easy it would be for a Death Eater or terrorist to make the flights crash or for wizards to travel without needing an identity. He was sure there was a department in ministry that dealt with all this stuff.


But of course, these measures were for people who try to get through using trivial things like the disillusionment charm or invisibility cloak. Axel was far above these measly measures, having no trouble getting past the security to board the flight.

Within a quarter of the day, Axel was in Moscow, Russia. The place nearest to the main residence of the Mikhailov family which he remembered from Maksmilian's memories.

Apparating right in front of the residence, Axel looked in front of him. Though nothing was visible to the naked eye, his Arcane Eyes could see wards powerful and dangerous enough to make any intruder regret ever trying to breach them, if they managed to stay alive.

Of course, they weren't as good as the ones which surround the Valentino Residence, but they were still quite impressive and difficult to breach.

There was a huge difference between breaking the wards and by-passing them without raising an alarm. But thankfully, Axel had everything he needed. The knife, Maksmilian's blood, and sufficient mastery. It took some time, but Axel was soon in.

"As expected, they're loaded as fuck," he muttered.

As soon as the whole residence became fully visible to him, even though he had remembered it through the memories, he was still a bit dazed.

In front of him was an extremely vast space that was the main headquarters of the Mikhailov Family. Golden sculptures, encrusted with gems adorned the estate, magical plants of all categories were planted throughout the place, and far away, Axel could barely make out the silhouette of a giant palace painted in vibrant colours.

That was the place where the bastards who had leaked his information were located.


"Well, let's just get this over with," he murmured.

He was aware that he had to do something about these new enemies soon, but he would come back for that another day. His plan for now was simple. Go in there, take as much as he can, and come out.


But of course... things rarely go according to plan. There were some things that he just couldn't handle.


"—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..."


....