“It’s quite long and thick. I’ve never seen one like this.”

“What next?”

“Next, I’m going to shake it. When it leaks the sap, I’m going to collect it.”

“Do it gently!”

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“It’s coming!”

“Hm… this juice is actually quite delicious. I love it.”

After curfew, in the abandoned Greenhouse, Axel and Daphne were on the ground…. collecting the ingredients that Axel needed for his diet.

While picking up the magical herbs, Daphne also highlighted a few features about them as well as the correct ways to harvest them, which would help Axel find them in the future.

The whole time, she no longer asked him personal questions. The whole time, Axel was at a bit of a loss.

She hadn’t asked much, just the most obvious question about how he got injured. In return, she had shared almost too much.

And yet, he had to reject her, since the information was related to murder. Axel could tell that she was angry, and yet, she was helping him pick the ingredients while giving instructions so meticulously.

But, Axel thought about the Black sisters and hardened his resolve.

Daphne seems to be completely fine, but so was Andromeda, and the Orphanage keeper.

He looked at Daphne, who looked so innocent, so weak, and so kind. She was Cyrus’s daughter, yes, but she seems to be the exact opposite. Can she really be bad?

‘It’s just better to keep a distance. After all, I can’t know for sure. Definitely not so fast.’ He decided.

But still, for some reason, right now, picking up ingredients with her, he felt peculiar. It was a feeling he had hardly felt for a long time.

How to say it, less burdensome? Less bored? He couldn’t quite tell. But, he wanted to find out. When she was herself, talking without restraint, Daphne had a way of making you feel that way.

…

The next day, they had History of Magic Ravenclaw. Usually, the Ravenclaws always come late for the classes but this time, it was the Slytherins who were delayed, courtesy of McGonagall who punished all the class for the mischief of a few Slytherins.

“Hey, Hunt.”

While walking towards Professor Gorski’s class, Axel almost lashed out when someone put a hand around his shoulder.

The person who did it was even more surprising. It was Arnold Smith, another Pureblood Slytherin. Arnorld is from a Wealthy American Family which has recently shifted to Britain.

Axel knows because the guy is quite popular, having the holy trinity of looks, background and academic excellence, making discussions about him quite common on the Slytherin table in his absence.

“What is it?” Asked Axel, trying not to sound annoyed at having extra weight on his shoulders. Maybe this type of close is common in Americans and he is not trying to get a beating.

“I have seen, you seem to know Daphne Greengrass quite well?” He asked with a smile.

“Not too well. We are acquainted,” he said, not knowing where this was going.

“Really? I’ve never seen her smile so often though. You aren’t trying to pursue her, are you?”

Axel shrugged off his hand, but the boy once again put it on his shoulder. The difference in their height and body weight made Axel curse the malnourished phase of his life. Axel was not short for his age, but Arnold was taller.

“I’m not,” he answered, rolling his eyes. “Why are you asking all this?”

Arnold scratched his head sheepishly. “Well, I really like her. I’ve liked her since I first saw her at a ball. Do you think you could introduce us?”

“Fuck off. Do you think I’m a pimp?”

The hand was shrugged off again, and this time, Axel didn’t let him get close again.

Axel really didn’t expect Arnold to ask him this of all things. The boy’s intentions would have been obvious, if they were older. But they were 11! And even though wizarding children mature faster, he still thought that the guy must have a screw loose.

“I knew you were lying when you said you were just ‘acquainted’.” Arnold snorted as he finally stopped smiling. “Listen to my advice and stay away from her. Have you looked at yourself? Which part of you deserves her friendship?” With that, he stormed off.

Axel was left walking alone, confused by the series of events. But then, things became clear. Who even wants her friendship? Isn't she the one who came to sit with him every time?

Though, Axel won’t say he disliked the company, and he wouldn’t reject her from sitting with him just because of a jealous idiot’s warning.

‘Would it even come to that though?’

Thinking of yesterday night, Axel wondered if Daphne would even want to sit him anymore. He had been so rude to her, not even sharing back one percent of what she shared with him.

He had yet to explore that strange feeling he felt when hanging out with her, but it doesn’t seem like he will get the chance to.

Due to his slow walking speed, he was among the last to reach the class, and when he got and looked towards his seat, his jaw hardened.

Arnold Smith had put his bag on his desk, chatting with Daphne while standing over.

Daphne shook her head and pointed at the empty seat beside her, saying something. Axel couldn’t hear her due to the distance, but it seemed like she was inviting Arnold to sit, since Arnold went behind the desk and started to sit, a smile on his face.

Seeing this, Axel didn’t know why, but his steps stopped. When he thought of Daphne talking relaxedly with Arnold, telling him everything about herself, his brows furrowed involuntarily.

‘Which part of you deserves her friendship?’

The words echoed in his mind. It’s true. Arnold can be better in all aspects needed for friendship. And Axel doesn’t even intend to be friends with her. Then, isn’t this how it naturally should be?

*Thump

The sound woke him up. Axel looked back and realized that Daphne had thrown Arnold’s bag to the ground, attracting a lot of attention.

“Didn’t I tell you the seat is occupied?” She asked, fixing Arnold with a cold gaze. She glanced at the front and caught sight of Axel. The cold look was gone instantly. “Why are you so late? Come sit already,” she said, patting the seat.

Axel stood there for several more seconds, before mechanically walking over and sitting down. There was no way. If he rejected Daphne after all this attention, even he would feel second-hand embarrassment for her.

“How do you save a seat for me everyday?” She asked as he put his bag on the desk. “I’ve had to reject three guys so far who wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Axel glances at her, askance at her delusion. “…Do you think anyone else would want to sit with me?”

Usually, Slytherins always arrive first. And no one really wants to sit with Axel, which he appreciates very much, leaving the seat empty. He just couldn’t understand why Daphne doesn’t understand this.

“Why would they not?” Daphne looked even more confused than him. “You are fun to hang out with. Well, let’s not mention the guys, the girls in my dorm have been talking about you since your duel. It’s quite annoying to be honest.”

“That…” Axel sighed as he recalled that. Apparently, in the duel, he had shown off some things that are supposed to be difficult for others, making him popular due to the algal recorded memory. “I shouldn’t have done it.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Daphne looked at him quietly. “You don’t like attention, do you?”

“I don’t.”

“Why?”

“There are reasons. But even without them, the most basic one is that I don’t like dealing with people.”

“But why?”

Axel gave her a look. “You seem to have a lot of questions today?”

Daphne turned her head, looking innocent. “Almost got him talking,” she muttered in a low voice, clicking her tongue.

But still, she was satisfied since she got him to talk more than one word answers on something personal.

“I have a genuine question though,” she began, turning to him again.

“Were the questions till now fake?”

“No, but this one I’m asking with real concern. Do you need more ingredients? I mean the ones that can’t be found in the Greenhouse.”

“I do. But I should be able to get them from the Bigowl. Why do you ask?”

Daphne shook her head. “Don’t buy from there. The prices are heavily inflated, to be honest. At least the plant-based ingredients, I can get you any of them for free.”

??

There it was again, being helping without making any demands. Axel closed his mouth in a line. “No need. I can pay.”

Daphne still looked unconvinced. “Are you sure? I mean, the ingredients we picked yesterday weren’t cheap. Were your parents rich or something?”

Daphne was one of the few people who knew Axel was an orphan, since it was revealed in the train. So, she understands that it might be difficult for Axel to pay for his own treatment.

“I’ll make my own money,” said Axel stubbornly.

It’s not something innocent people will understand, but there’s a difference between stealing from those who deserve it and taking things as charity. Axel doesn’t dislike the former, but he hates the latter.

Things don’t exist as black and white. The black color has many shades. The shade you choose determines your future and the kind of person will be. Axel can accept being a thief, but not a beggar.

“Okay, but how are you going to make money? You are a student.”

“That… I’m figuring it out.”

Daphne sighed.

“Why are you worrying so much? I still have enough to buy the ingredients for a few months. ”

…

Time Skip_

HALLOWEEN

Two Months had passed since the start of the new term and Hogwarts had settled into its usual schedule, except for some crazy things from time to time.

This year, there were a few noteworthy students at Hogwarts.

First of all, there was the Girl Who Lived who had surprisingly managed to get into the Gryffindor House Quidditch team in her first year.

And then there was the Mafia Prodigy, who's attending her third year at Hogwarts. She is usually staying locked up in her room doing some kind of Magical experiment or she'll sometimes visit the Dueling Arena where there are always students dueling and a healthy amount of audience watching. She had an undefeated record in the Arena.

Aside from these two, there were several others like Alaric Malcolm: the head boy, the Weasley Twins, who are very famous for their prank videos, and some other students with high Status from other magical communities.

But interestingly enough, there was one student who had become unintentionally notable for being very… un-notable.

Yes, Axel hunt had initially become famous after his video of a duel that had gone viral which showed his extreme dodging skills, giving the illusion that he could see the future. But when the curious students had tried to find out more about him, they were surprised to find… nothing!

They couldn't find any information on him. And except for his classes, he is rarely seen outside. The only people he's ever been seen associating with are Rose Potter and her friends.

Another reason for his fame was, apparently, some young witches seemed to have taken a liking to him after seeing the duel. Axel's face value is not low, considering that he was chosen by the Cherub feather core war. But he still hadn't expected this.

And right now, the person in question, being quite unaware and uncaring of all this, was on his way to attending his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.

[Progress in 'Blend': 26%-39.9%]

[Progress in 'Presence Reduction': 22%-35.4%]

[Progress in 'Arcane Acrobatics: 5%-14%]

[Progress in Pain Tolerance: 57%-60%]

In the past two months, Axel had definitely made good progress in his skills considering the fact that the rate of improvement slows down the further you improve. He had even unlocked some new skills as well and unlocked some further information about on the existing ones.

Though, the progress he was really happy about was with his body and wand.

At first, he had only ordered the diet supplements in small amounts since he couldn't bring himself to fully trust in the system.

Only after getting checked up at the hospital wing before and after consuming the diet and confirming that there were no side effects did he fully commit to spending his money.

And after two months of various exercises, practicing various techniques, and completely emptying his pockets, the results were now starting to show.

His originally skinny body now looked in a much better shape. But, the real improvement was inner improvement. The training of the Arcane Thief Class wasn't focused on gaining a bulky or muscular physique. It was focused on getting him the fastest, most flexible body with more inner strength than superficial bulk.

Now, even if his movements weren't as fast as before he was injured, he was still much better than his previous completely crippled self and his technique was better than ever before.

Though, there still wasn't much noticeable improvement in his hands' condition.

As for his other improvement, it was with his wand.

After two months of caring and coaxing this girlish wand, his bond was now strong enough that his magic was almost as powerful as an average first year. This was already quite an improvement for Axel whose Lumos used to be the weakest in the class and always fluctuating.

His Occlumency was also going swimmingly well, but even if he's a genius, he can't be expected to achieve in months what others have spent years, decades, and even their lives he was close.

He walked into the DADA class, ignoring anyone who was looking at him, and went straight to the last seat.

Since DADA was with Raven, Daphne was, as always, sitting with him in the last seat.

"So, the phantom boy has once again decided to grace us with his presence, huh?" She asked, teasing him with the name that was being used for him these days.

Axel rolled his eyes in exasperation as he took his seat beside her.

“Don't make me cringe. I have told you already that I am usually there. It's just that people are too blind to notice me," said Axel truthfully.

With his current skills, none of the students can see him as long as he doesn't want them to. Though he does purposefully show himself in the Slytherin dorms in front of some small groups of students now and then, so that they know that he's staying in the dorms.

Daphne rolled her eyes at him as well.

"Yeah, I totally believe you," it might not look like it, but she was also being serious. She'd sometimes forget he was sitting right beside her until she sees him again.

In the past two months, Axel and Daphne had gotten used to sitting together in their common classes. Though since Daphne had many other friends as well, she'd sometimes sit with them.

Even after two months, Axel had still refused to acknowledge her as a friend.

"We're not friends. We're just acquaintances who are on friendly terms," he'd say to whoever who ask.

Axel was quite clear that people's minds were quite complicated and can change anytime. This girl calls the other girls from Ravenclaw her friends but she's always bitching about them to him behind their backs.

Is this friendship? Then no thanks, he doesn't need it.

Sitting there, Daphne went back to read her book while Axel took out his wand to practice.

Thrum*

"Yeah, good morning," he murmured to the wand. By now, he was quite clear on the fact that what he was doing wasn't crazy at all. This thing was almost alive. Even that creepy old man at the wand shop had said that wands have a mind of their own.

Daphne gave him a peculiar look from the side. At first, she had thought he had something wrong with his head but she had seen his wand acting like a person in person. So now, all she could think was it might be nice to have a wand like that too.

'Treats it better than he treats me,' she thought with some resentment. She had already given up trying to figure him out by now. She couldn't understand a thing.

She had almost given up on getting him to open up about himself. She just sits with him because she can just observe him if she's bored. Talking to him is interesting, he's always training, and it's quite a novel experience seeing him making progress with each day.

"You know, seeing you try so hard every day makes me feel like a lazy piece of shit," she said casually.

Yep, this was another effect of Axel’s company. Daphne had become fluent in using bad language. This was just her small way of showing a middle finger to her dear father who might be observing from hell. To hell with his perfect pureblood lady bullshit.

Hearing her words, Axel turned to look at her with a bored expression.

"I fail to see how this is any of my concern."

“...”

With her cheeks heating up in embarrassment, Daphne silently wrote down this line as well among the many others.

This polite way of cursing was also something she wished to learn.

Soon Umbridge had arrived, making her presence known with her annoying "hem* *hem*

Once again, there was nothing interesting in her class. She only let the students read the chapters in her class and ask her if they have any doubts.

'This lazy toad.'

Axel somewhat hated her, but he still made sure to steer clear of her. His instincts always warned him against her.

Especially considering how some of the students who had protested had gotten detentions. Axel never saw them dare to even let out a peep from the next class.

He practiced covertly with his presence hidden while Daphne read her book.

"Those who have attended the extra classes. Congratulations on your improvement. And those with invitations who haven't yet attended, please do reconsider after looking at the improvement of those who have attended."

Umbridge even called for a demonstration, with a dummy ready.

"Mr. Malfoy, would you kindly show how much you've improved in the last two months?

Malfoy, who came out looking quite pompous, nodded with a smirk. He cast a look at Axel before looking back at the dummy.

"Expulso!"

BAM*

The Dummy hit got thrown back with such force that it hit the wall behind.

The whole class was astonished after seeing this.

"I think I'll reconsider going after this. If even that idiot can improve, then it might be worth the restrictions," said Daphne in shock.

Daphne was the only one among Rose's group who had gotten the invitation. Only the dark Pureblood families had gotten one.

Axel shook her head immediately, his expression quite severe.

"Don't go. It's not worth it," he said, his eyes actually looking at the system notification on the system interface in front of him that was blinking red.

[Dark Magic detected.]

'What is this woman doing?!'