HP: The Arcane Thief-Chapter 82: Axel vs Gryffindor
After separating from Axel, Daphne went to the VIP box to see her family. On her way, she found Hannah, Susan and Neville, going in the same direction as well.
"Heya, Daph! You're going to the VIP box, right?" Said Susan, raising her hand in greetings.
Daphne smiled, "Hey guys. Yes I am, mum and Tory are here."
Susan beamed, "Our families are also here. I love this day!" She exclaimed. She then noticed the green scarf wrapped around Daphne's neck and raised her eyebrows, "You're supporting Slytherin? Is it because of Axel?"
Daphne nodded, not bothering to deny it.
Neville snorted. "How useless. When everyone knows there's no chance of them winning. I'm so looking forward to Axel's humiliation!"
Daphne gave him one cold look, "No one asked for your jealous opinion, Neville. Just learn to accept that you're not the main character outside your home," she snapped.
She had been tired of this guy taking every opportunity to talk bad about Axel out of jealousy. Did anyone see her talking bad about Martina? Or Akiko? Or Patricia? He should learn something from her. Daphne wondered if she should write a book on how to be a proper fangirl.
Daphne looked at Hannah who looked a bit intimidated by her outburst, and Susan who didn't seem to know what to say, and then at Neville who had obediently shut up, and she suddenly didn't want to stay here any longer.
"Sus, Han, I'll go ahead. See you guys in the VIP box!" With that, she was off.
Walking away from the people who once used to be her friends, Daphne sighed. She used to be very close to them. But over the last year, they had just sort of, drifted apart. In the first place, she had become friends with them because her father had ordered her to do it and she wasn't given a choice. But her asshole of a father was already dead, so she could be friends with anyone she wanted, and frankly, she no longer wanted to be friends with them.
Daphne didn't let this small encounter dampen her mood. She was going to meet mom and Tory! Last time, those two had been away searching for a way to cure Astoria. but this time, they're here, and she will be watching Axel's match with them! Thus, feeling excited, Daphne made her way to the VIP box.
"Daphi!" As soon as she stepped in, she heard a very dear voice calling her. There was only one person in the world who called her 'Daphi'. It's because this girl couldn't pronounce 'Daphne' when she was little, and now, even when she's 10 years old she still calls Daphne by that name.
"Tory! I miss you!" Daphne hugged the little missile that was headed her way.
"I missed you too!" said Astoria in a muffle voice with her head buried in Daphne's shoulder. She then began hitting her with her little hands. "I'm so mad at you! You got to go to the Halloween party here with Axel and you didn't take me!"
Daphne laughed gloatingly. "Who was the one teasing me for not being able to go to a Halloween party? I had so much fun with Axel! It was the best night of my life!"
The two sisters went to the area where their mother was seated, waiting for them. Evelyn beamed as soon as she saw her elder daughter.
"How's my big girl doing?" She cooed, wrapping Daphne into her warm embrace.
"Mum, don't talk like that. There are people I know here!" Protested Daphne in a whisper while returning the hug.
Evelyn just smiled. Holding her daughter at arms length she scrutinized her. "You seem to have changed a little in just two months," she said, patting her over her clothes. "Hmm… your figure has changed so fast. Quickly share what you're doing with mum as well."
As a woman who took care of her appearance, Daphne's change due to her intense training and extremely nutritious diet didn't go unnoticed by her mother. The baby fat was gone, and she had gotten more beautiful, while also developing curves in the right places. So, Evelyn naturally wanted in on the secret as well.
"Is it because of the ingredients you've been ordering?"
Daphne shrugged, "I dunno? Must be puberty," she said, playing dumb. She won't tell anyone unless Axel allows it, not even her mother. Besides, Evelyn Greengrass does not need to worry about her appearance. There are already enough offers of remarriage as it is.
At her daughter's blatant acting, Evelyn looked doubtful, but thankfully, Daphne was saved from further questioning when Lee Jordan announced the teams' arrival into the stadium.
"He's here!" Exclaimed Astoria, excitedly standing up from her seat. And sure enough, both the teams were currently making their way into the stadium. Daphne's eyes were instantly glued on Axel, who looked quite dashing in his Quidditch gear.
But just when they thought the match was going to start, Jordan began to show the clip of Axel getting splashed with paint. Daphne once again closed her eyes. She couldn't watch it. And she closed Astoria's eyes as well. But Evelyn did see it quite clearly, and not for the first time.
"Honey, I do hope you've thanked the boy after this," she said, looking at Daphne.
Daphne was puzzled. "For coming with me? I did thank him."
But her mother shook her head lamentably, "You've so much to be thankful for to him. But in this case it's only because of you that he got splashed with all that paint."
What?!!!?!!?!?!!
"How is this my fault?!" Asked Daphne disbelievingly.
Evelyn opened her Magi-mirror and played the clip in slow motion. "Look here. He was already dodging the ball as soon as he caught a glimpse of it. The twins' shouts must have alerted him. But then look closely—" said Evelyn as the slow motion clip showed Axel turning his head to look at Daphne, who was standing right behind him, and then moving back to his original place.
"Did you see? He would have moved away if he weren't trying to protect you."
"How dreamy!" Astoria went star-eyed at Axel's display of chivalry. For her, Axel has always been a sort of hero, the person who gave her the magical cure to save her life.
Meanwhile, Daphne: "......."
He did that… for her?! Looking at the boy standing in the distance, Daphne's heart started to beat faster. A feeling of incredible sweetness welled up inside her.
"He always casually does these kind of things...And doesn't even mention them!" she complained.
Her mother patted her back understandingly. "It's difficult, right?"
Daphne put a hand on her heart, "It is." The debt on her increases yet again. "I hope there's nothing more," she murmured, her glistening eyes not looking away from Axel.
Evelyn looked at her daughter in pity. This lass still doesn't know the biggest one yet. Who freed them from Cyrus Greengrass?
The family of three remained in a comfortable silence, until the second clip ended. Only after the match was going to start did Astoria have a worried look on her face. "He will not lose, right?"
She was unwilling to see her hero lose and be a slave to sister Rose.
Daphne shook her head. "No way."
Astoria looked hopeful, "Then, will he punish those bad guys?"
Daphne nodded. "Of course."
"How do you know for sure?"
Daphne smirked, "Because he said so." For her, that was reason enough to be sure.
As soon as the match started, everyone else in the VIP box was looking at other players. The only ones paying attention to Axel were the Greengrasses. Astoria wanted to see Axel play, and Evelyn, like Daphne, was a Quidditch enthusiast. So she wanted to see just how good Axel is for her daughter to have such confidence in him.
As soon as the whistle was blown, they saw that while everyone was moving, Axel, on the other hand, remained completely stationary, with only his eyes moving. Then, as if a gun had been fired, Axel shot into a particular direction at a blurring speed.
"So cool!" Exclaimed Astoria.
Meanwhile, Evelyn, who knew more about Quidditch, looked at the scene with somewhat widened eyes. "Was… was that?"
Daphne nodded, her expression mirroring her mother's. "...Launching Boom! That was definitely a Launching Boom! But, I've never seen one like this before..."
Launching Boom is an incredible technique in which the players somehow manage to keep their brooms at one place while leaning down. They are essentially gathering an incredible amount of potential in their broom, not letting it turn into kinetic energy. And when they finally let go, the result is a launching Boom, which launches the player into a particular direction like a bullet. The technique is supposed to be a secret and only a few players are known to be able to perform it. And none of them are able to gather as much momentum as Axel.
Evelyn was still surprised, "He can actually perform a Launching Boom?! For Merlin's sake he's only 12! And where and when did he even learn it?" She questioned.
Daphne's gaze was transfixed on Axel, who was now waving his hand in the air. "Honestly, I'm also only finding it out now. But mom, there is... a bigger surprise waiting," she said, pointing at Axel's hand.
And by this time, Lee Jordon also noticed it. "IT'S THE SNITCH! AXEL HUNT HAS CAUGHT THE GOLDEN SNITCH! AND I THINK IT WAS BEFORE ANY OF THE TEAMS EVEN SCORED! Oh Merlin! Fastest Catch, Catching before any goal, smoothest catch, how many records has he broken?! Was that real skill? Or was it just a fluke?! That is the only question here!"
*CHEERS*
And just like that, the Slytherin supporters, who had been trying to hide themselves into the crowd, suddenly emerged forth, cheering for Axel in full force.
Axel looked at Rose Potter, who was looking at him like the apocalypse had come earlier, and a smile slowly formed on his lips. 'She saw,' he realized. Rose was actually chasing after the snitch at the time. But of course, you can't really catch up to it in the beginning of the match since it usually flies the fastest in the beginning, But since she was paying attention, Rose had actually seen how he had caught the snitch. And judging from the look on her face, it would seem that she didn't like what she saw.
"You brought this upon yourself," he muttered, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.
—Swish—
In that instant, Axel noticed a bludger that was his way by one of the twins. 'Not every time,' he thought, dodging it with leisure. He might as well have been yawning while doing it.
Lee Jordan continued his commentary, "Is it only me or no one else saw what just happened just now as well? Let's see the replay of the catch!"
The big screens showed Axel loading up the energy and boosting away in a straight line out of the view of the camera, too fast for it to follow. The view of another camera then showed Axel smoothly catching the snitch in slow motion.
And Jordan, also with more than half the audience went mad.
"HOLY SHIT! A LAUNCHING BOOM! A LAUNCHING-FREAKING-BOOM!!!"
"....JORDAN!" Even Professor Mcgonagall's response to Lee getting using the wrong language on an International broadcast was a bit delayed, showing that she had found his words extremely agreeable until she realized it was still wrong to say those words.
"But Professor! A launching Boom! And one with such speed! And then he was even able to capture the snitch in the middle of it! I am sorry, but I can NOT be blamed for my reaction!"
Axel frowned. He didn't know what he had done was such a big deal. You just need the right balance and dexterity to pull it off. Just don't let the broom move forward, like compressing a spring, and then you let go at once, going at a much higher speed. Easy peasy.
Lee Jordan continued. "And yes, after watching the replay, it has been confirmed that Axel caught the snitch before any of the teams had scored, and he also caught the snitch in record time: 11.2 seconds! The all-time international record is 65 seconds and Hogwarts' record, made by Rose just last year, is 3 minutes 20 seconds!"
While the crowd was re-watching Axel's first catch and the players had resumed their match, Axel was doing a count down. "55, 56, 57, 58,"
There was this annoying rule, that you can only start to rechase a snitch at least after one minute has passed since it was previously caught, you know, to let it properly disappear. So, Axel had been waiting.
"60."
*Boom*
And with that, another Launching Boom was used, this time much better than the previous one!
And emerging on the other side, Axel's hand was raised high in the air again.
"ARE YOU SHITTING ME RIGHT NOW?! ANOTHER ONE?!"
"... Jordan," she really couldn't blame Jordan.
"Sorry Professor, BUT AXEL HUNT HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH YET AGAIN! Has one minute even passed yet since the release of the snitch?! How many records did he break this time?!
It Has Been Confirmed, THOSE CATCHES AND SKILLS ARE NO FLUKES. WE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE WATCHING THE DEBUT OF A FUTURE QUIDDITCH LEGEND!"
As Axel released the snitch, a time-out was called by Captain Oliver Woods. A 100 point lead is not small. Gryffindor has essentially lost this match if the 3 Slytherins now protect the three rings while the rest try to stop Rose from catching the snitch twice. And that is not even taking into account Axel, who has caught the snitch twice in the first few minutes of the game. If they still want to win, a time-out is the right decision.
While the Gryffindor team was still planning, the Slytherin team swarmed Axel like he was their saviour, which he kinda was. After Lee's Commentary and those clips, it was everyone's ass on the line if they did not win. Especially for Patricia, the Captain, who would be the one to take all the blame. This was no longer just a game of Quidditch for her. Her whole career and reputation as a politician was depending on this match now.
"Axel!"
So as soon as the whisle for timeout was blown, Patricia was the first to arrive on Axel's side, almost lunging off her broom to hug him, which Axel avoided by backing away.
"We have already won the match! I love you so much right now Axel!!!! I could give you anything you ask!!" She exclaimed, opting to grip his hands instead. If she couldn't lead the other team members to defend this win that had been handed to them on a silver platter, she didn't deserve to be a Captain. The rest of the Slytherin team also agreed. They all seemed satisfied with the situation right now.
Axel looked at the scoreboard, which now showed 10-100 in favor of Slytherin and his fists clenched. "Not enough," he muttered, shaking his head. "Nowhere near enough."
To draw the Organization's attention, this was nowhere near enough.
And neither was it enough to satisfy this twisted desire for revenge inside him.
He didn't know what it was like, to be ridiculed and laughed at by thousands of people right to your face. And by even more than that number who were laughing while watching this broadcast. Well, turns out, it's fucking humiliating, and infuriating. Axel had thought that this would not affect him, but it did. And now he feels the need to show everyone exactly who it was they were laughing at.
Even though he had this urge, he would suppress it if the situation doesn't allow it, but right now, the situation not only permits him, it actually demands him to go further.... To go wild... To have free reign.
"I can hold back a little less today," he murmured, a grin slowly spreading across his face, which spelt doom for the Gryffindor team. Activating his senses, he decided to listen in on what they were planning.
*Beeep*
As soon as the break was over, the Gryffindor team seemed to have completely changed its course of strategy.
Looking around, he saw the twins and some of the other team members circling him closely, looking at him like hawks. And Rose was circling him in a wider circle.
He knew what they were planning. Launching Boom requires you to stay facing in a particular direction for a few moments before shooting off. And the direction you'll go is the direction you're facing, no turns possible. So, every time you do it, you are essentially declaring the location you're going to go, and in his case, also the direction of the snitch.
So, as soon as he starts loading up the energy to perform it, they would know the direction and one of them would block him, while Rose goes for the snitch. It's impossible to change direction at that speed. No one has been able to do it.
So, since it's impossible to change direction, he would inevitably crash into the person who had blocked his path. With a collision at that speed, he won't be able to continue the match, and Rose would get the snitch.
A very Gryffindor strategy, in which one of them is going to sacrifice himself for the team. Only, who said Axel always needs a Launching Boom to catch a snitch in the first place? And… who said he can't break their strategy, even while using a launching Boom?
[Arcane Eyes]
Activating Arcane Eyes on low burn, Axel quickly caught sight of the snitch. Then, he quickly calculated the speed and direction of his launch while loading up power in his broomstick.
"He's doing it! Everyone, follow the plan!" Shouted Woods, thinking everything was going according to his keikaku. The guy might as well have been popping an evil smile while at it.
With everything done, Axel shot into a particular direction at an incredible speed, and just according to the plan, one of the twins, George Weasley, valiantly came into his path right before the second Axel had launched himself.
*Booom*
For a moment, the Gryffindors thought they had done it, and the Slytherins realized that they had been too late to understand the Gryffindors' strategy.
But then, they saw Axel appear on the other side of George, his hand held high in a familiar gesture, with the Golden Snitch safely held within his grasp.
*CHEERS*
"WHAT?! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! I THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING TO CRASH! I NEED A REPLAY!" Exclaimed Jordon, mirroring everyone's thoughts.
Meanwhile, casually sitting on his broom, looking at the snitch struggling in his hand, Axel clicked his tongue. "Who told them to assume I can't turn at that speed?"
…
