Chapter 22: Flying and Undercurrents

Chapter 22

It was Thursday and Axel was beginning to think that the hype of his duel had finally died down. 

[[Progress in 'Blend': 21%->26%]

[Progress in 'Presence Reduction': 17%->22%]

Along with that, he had made some more progress in his skills yesterday after training the given methods, though no new skill was unlocked yet.

As for increasing his power output, he did polish his cherub wand regularly. Yesterday, he had muttered a 'good job' to it after he had finally successfully pulled off the Levitation charm and was rewarded with a thrum of magic running upon its length. So, it seems that it was going loads better than his previous situation. 

With the help of the information, Axel had learned more about the proper use of his skills. He was soaking in that valuable knowledge like a sponge. 

Which is why, today, he found himself sitting on the Slytherin table along with the rest of the students.

He sat there, with a serene expression, as minute amounts of his magic slowly flowed through his body, blending him with his surroundings, and reducing his presence. 

'It's actually working,' thought Axel as he ate his food in silence, making his movements blending in with the other students, no making any move that'll be attention-grabbing.

It's not as difficult as it seems. He just has to make others think he is just another student, just eating his breakfast. He had covered his eye-catching hair with the Hogwarts hat which many students wear regularly. Along with a little help of his magic, anyone looking his way would just glance right over him.

Though, there was a problem. The progress had slowed down as those exercises weren't giving the same results.

To get new information, he'll first have to complete what he already has. And that can't be done unless he changes his diet. 

The things he was supposed to take, like eating ingredients of some magical plants and even things like hippogriff milk, how was he supposed to get them? 

'System, any idea?' He decided to ask the system. With 13% approval, it wasn't as useless anymore and Axel would get the information he wanted most of the time, like the time when Snape asked him questions. 

But, he doesn't want to get overly dependent on it, so he usually tries to handle any problem by himself first.

[You can order ingredients using BigOwl.]

'And where the fuck am I supposed to find this big owl?' 

[BigOwl is Magical Britain's biggest shopping platform. You can order almost anything and get it delivered to you in the shortest time.]

'Oh…' Axel got it now. He wasn't dumb. He had seen other students getting various things delivered as well. 

Though… 

'How do I order it? Do I write a letter?' 

[You can do that, or you can simply order it through your Magi-mirror. It'll take less time.]

'...The fucking Magi-mirror again?' Axel sighed. He did indeed have a Magi-Mirror. It came with the things Andromeda had given him. Though he had still not used any of them. 

But with the number of events being connected to it, it seems that he has no choice but to use it. 

While he pondered the conversation of some older Slytherins caught his attention. 

"So, you also got an invitation, right? Have you thought about attending?"

"Do you even need to ask? Of course I am. Did you see the spells she performed?" 

"Yeah, they were so Powerful! Do you think we can also do the same?" 

"Well, that's what she said, didn't she? She said she also used to be just a mediocre witch, right?" 

"Yeah, the only problem is all the restrictions and secrecy," 

"Well, but it does make sense, doesn't it? Nothing comes for free after all."

Axel was interested because they were talking about joining something that can increase their powers. But, as soon as he heard the word 'restrictions' his interest lessened a lot. Besides, he wasn't even invited, what's even the use of thinking about it? 

Axel simply picked up his bag and left. He had flying lessons today and he was getting late. 

He honestly still couldn't even properly get over the fact that wizards can actually fly. He had never thought that he'd be able to fly. And now he actually had a chance. 

If only his body wasn't in such a bad condition , he'd have been pretty excited about it. 

To find places to stay and to escape while he was being chased, Axel had picked up traveling through rooftops after much practice. He could have climbed over almost any building. That's why he was so confident in his escape after entering an Alley. 

When jumping through the roofs and seeing the ground below, used to give him the illusion that he was flying. So of course, he found the prospect of actually flying quite appealing.

It was just that with his current condition, he isn't sure how well he'll do.

Walking alone, he made his way towards the Quidditch pitch.

'Hmm?' 

Just as he stepped into the field, he felt his foot sinking in. 

Frowning, he tried pressing his foot further only to find the ground quite soft and bouncy. 

"The heck is this?" He muttered. Up ahead, he saw that the other students were also moving forward half-bouncing half-walking. 

"The whole ground has been enchanted with Cushioning magic to prevent injuries and death. Can you believe they used to play without this just a decade ago?" said a voice from behind him.

"No," Axel didn't even glance behind as he began walking/hobbling forward on the bouncy ground. 

Rose frowned. She didn't like being ignored. Though she could understand it since she was the reason why he was treated like that in the Potions class. 

She had even protested at that time when Snape had forced Axel to make Potions, but it had only resulted in point loss for Gryffindor and more trouble for Axel. So, she had given up after the first try after noticing Axel's warning glare and realizing that she was only making it worse. 

'Though this, it's different!' 

"Hey!" She yelled, catching up to him. 

"You might not know this, but I'm the best flier at Hogwarts. And you're rejecting my offer for help," she said in annoyance. 

Rose didn't know why, but now, Aunt Bella had also joined Aunt Andi in pestering her about Axel. 

Has he been taking his food regularly? Are the teachers going easy on him after Andromeda's notification? Does he have friends? Is there any girl getting too close to him lately? 

Things like that.

And, her threats were also real. "If you ever tried to bully him, I'm banning Quidditch from Britain."

This one had really left her terrified.

Now, Rose was dying to know what had Axel done to achieve this in so little time. Though she was already sure interrogation wouldn't work on this guy. She had tried and look how good that turned out. He has even stopped acknowledging her presence. 

Axel glanced at her with a raised eyebrow,

"You're good at Flying?' He asked.

Rose's face lit up. 

'See? I knew he'd stop ignoring me after hearing that.' 

She nodded with pride.

"Yep, I've been flying on brooms since I was very young. Sirius even gifted me a real broomstick when I was four!"

Axel nodded, looking rather impressed.

"Well, good for you," he said in a deadpan before moving on. 

"...?"

When she heard Axel's reply, Rose's face turned red in anger, somewhat matching her hair. 

She was expecting him to be at least a little bit impressed with that. 

'Does he not believe me?' She thought in anger.

There was a limit to how much she could take. Stomping her foot in anger, she left with a huff. 

After she had left, the bored look in Axel's eyes vanished as he looked in her direction with a calculating look. It seems his guess was right. 

"She's all bark," he muttered. He had been testing her out for a while now and it seems that his assumptions were right. She will not do anything to him. She hadn't shown any real intent to take action against him.

That's why he's been rude to her recently. Otherwise, he'd have continued to remain polite until the day he took his revenge. 

He went over to the middle of the pitch where students were gathering up. Unfortunately, it would seem that Malfoy had managed to get out of the Hospital wing by now and was currently glaring at Axel. 

"I bet he can't fly with his crippled body," Axel heard him say clearly enough that many others heard it as well. 

He sighed. Would it kill this guy to use his brain? Why can't he comprehend that antagonizing him will get him nowhere? Just how spoiled is he to not know any fear?

'It seems like I'll need to have a word with his mother.'

Axel simply ignored the guy and went to stand in front of a broom. 

Soon, their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Axel looked at his broom. It looked to be in a fairly good condition. It also had two attachments to put your feet on. On its tail, the words Nimbus 3000 were written. 

"A Nimbus 3000? It's been a while since I last saw one," Axel heard one of the students say. 

"Yeah, brings back nostalgia, doesn't it?" Another student said.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

"UP!" everyone shouted.

"UP!" Axel also tried with all his effort. 

*SNAP*

'Fuck!' Axel winced in pain when his injured hand was slapped hard with the handle of the broom.

The sound was loud enough for even the rest of the students to hear. 

'Damn it, why?!' Axel questioned when he noticed that he seemed to be the only one whose broom hit his hand so hard.

[Axel, the command didn't need magic to activate. It only needed intent and authority.]

'Oh,' 

Axel didn't know that. He had thought it was yet another spell and had put in the usual effort he puts into his command. 

'But still, why was it so fast?' He asked.

[If an average person is putting in 50% intent in their spell, you are putting around 500% intent to extract your magic. If only comparing the intent as in this case, then you have become much superior to others due to your superior talent and practice.]

'Oh, got it,' 

"Are you alright kid?" He heard Madam Hooch ask him. She was looking at him peculiarly, as if she also found this occurrence strange.

Axel nodded.

"Good. Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two — one— *PTWEEEE*

Axel mounted his broom. He noticed that it had Cushioning charms on it as well so that it's comfortable to sit without busting your balls. On the whistle, he kicked off the ground hard, as hard as his feet could carry him. 

He had read the instructions from the system already since it was so basic information. He slightly raised the handle… or atleast, he tried to. His crippled hands were shaking non-stop, completely disrupting his flying.

The broom was radically changing directions as well since his hands weren't steady at all! Yet, he was somehow able to keep balance without crashing down like anyone in his position would.

At this moment, a system notification sounded as well, further distracting him. He was also aware of Malfoy's jeering laughter.

"Alright, fuck it," 

At this moment, Axel simply decided to fuck all instructions and simply let go of his hands. 

Even though the rest of his body isn't in a good condition, it's good enough that it doesn't randomly twitch and shakes. It moves in the direction he wants it to move. And apparently, that was more than enough for him.

!!!!

Those who had seen him had thought that he won't be able to stay on the broom a moment longer. But, as soon as he let go of his hands, his broom suddenly stop moving in mid-air, as if someone had paused the video. 

'Well…' 

With his broom now levitating steadily, Axel looked at the broom in slight surprise. He tried steering it left and right using just his legs and found himself flying wherever he wanted with just a slight shift in his legs. 

'Ah… was this supposed to be that easy?' He asked himself as he finally looked around at others. 

It was a mess. Many were lying on the ground, many were flying around here and there with no control, and many weren't even able to stay in their brooms without falling. 

'Well, apparently not,' 

Sitting completely at ease while watching Madame Hooch whistling her lungs off, trying to get the students to listen, Axel finally looked at the notification which had come just now. 

[Congratulations. You have unlocked a new skill: Arcane Acrobatics. 

A thief must have nimble and dextrous movements. Helps you increase your balance, maneuverability, and nimbleness and adds grace and finesse to your movements.

Current progress: 5% (Original 20%)]

'Well, what is this 5% and 20%, system?

[You had gained 20% mastery in this skill with your years of training. But, due to your injuries, your performance has decreased. You can't do rapid physical movements, but your balance, grace, experience, and practice are still there and you have high maneuverability and balance while flying a broom without using your hands.]

'Hmm… well, it's better than nothing,' he decided after some pondering. 

Down on the ground, Rose sighed in relief when she saw Axel stabilizing in the air. She was stuck here helping out Neville who had fallen from his broom. 

She could have saved him, of course, but she was too focused on Axel who looked ready to fall at any moment. 

She had already been worried this would happen since Axel's hands were too unsteady. But the guy had thoroughly rejected. When his broom became uncontrollable, Rose saw what was most likely the end of the world for her: Quidditch being banned from Britain. 

Thankfully and surprisingly, as soon as he took his hands off the handle and controlled the broom with the rest of his body, everything seemed to have changed 180°.

That guy had managed to fly the broom even with his hands like that, meanwhile…

"H-Hey Rose! Please help me out! I-I think I'm stuck!" 

Meanwhile, Neville had still not gotten over his fear of heights. 

***

Dolores Umbridge stepped into her office after passing through several wards. She hadn't learned them herself. She was just granted the ability. 

Once inside, she opened her cardigan and pull out a locket hanging in front her of the neck. 

She opened the locket which was empty inside. 

"My Lord, I have confirmed. The stone was indeed transferred here," she said to the locket with her eyes closed. 

At first, there was no response. But soon, an obscured face slowly appeared on the surface of the open locket. The only thing that was clearly visible was the frightening red eyes.

A hint of a smile seem to appear on the face. 

"Good," came a raspy voice, though it had a smoothness to it at the same time to contrast it. It sounded terrifying yet charismatic at the same time.

"But focus on the other task more. We'll need as many people as we can get," it said. 

Umbridge bowed her head,

"Things have been progressing smoothly, my Lord. I am propagating it as much as I can here."

"Good, perform your tasks successfully and you shall be rewarded."

Umbridge knelt down on the ground in glee, "Thankyou My lord! I shall not disappoint you!" 

"Is that all you have to report?"

Umbridge hesitated, 

"My Lord, about the girl…" 

The voice paused for a few seconds.

"Leave the girl alone for now… I have plans for her."

Umbridge bowed, 

"Yes my lord."

***

A.N.: Yep. You got that right. It's the same locket. As I said... there are way in which he can influence the world.

I need all the POWER STONES you give. Come on, guys! This shit ain't easy to write.

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Next chapter title: Time Skip