HP: The Arcane Thief

Chapter 45: The Philosopher's Stone

"Mr. Hunt. Just out of curiosity, could you tell me your father's name?" He asked, surprising him. But... What surprised him more was the Legilimency probe he felt right after.

"!!!!"

Axel tried not to show how surprised he was. This time, he was really caught off guard since from what he could observe, Gorski didn't seem to have ill-intensions just a moment earlier. Plus, Legilimancy… is rare. Very rare.

But, he wasn't really worried. The system will always prevent any sensitive information from leaking.

Axel casually broke eye contact, thus breaking the connection, as he answered the question,

"I never knew my father, Professor. But I believe he was a muggle named Ethan Hunt," replied Axel, making up a random name. It would be an impossible mission for Gorski to get anything out of this.

"Oh… is that so?" Uttered Gorski as he looked at Axel pensively. "Well, your face looked familiar. And you have the same surname as a man I knew in the past, so I asked,"

Axel shrugged,

"Not a problem. May I leave now, Professor?"

Gorski still seemed to be in deep thought,

"Yes, of course…. Thanks for your help, Mr. Hunt. I hope you enjoy your Holidays."

"Likewise, Sir," replied Axel as he started to leave, still on guard.

"Oh, and Mr. Hunt?"

Axel paused.

"Do be careful. Your name and appearance might attract the... wrong sort of attention…" said Gorski, sounding ominous for some reason.

….

"What the fuck was that about?!" Exclaimed Axel as soon as he was out.

"System, what did he want to know?!"

[Basically, Jakub Gorski wanted to know if you are related to Tristan Hunt or not. Your appearance and surname would suggest you are.]

Axel's brows furrowed,

"Why would he want to ask that?" He asked.

[Gorski is a member of a mysterious organization. Your dad stole something very important from them and escaped. Gorski wanted to know if he passed it on to you.]

Axel shook his head ruefully.

"How the fuck would I have anything that valuable? They left with me nothi—" he paused as his hand went to his neck.

'It can't be, right?' He thought as a blurry scene of the cross-shaped pendant being placed around his neck came to surface in his mind. It was the only thing they had left him.

[Yes, that is precisely the object your dad stole.]

Axel clenched his fist around the pendant,

"So… that's why Gorski told me to be careful," he muttered. They'll come for him as soon as they discover the clues relating him to Tristan.

Axel took out the pendant and stored it in his pouch.

"So, what the fuck is this thing? Why is it so important?" He asked finally.

[Information Restricted.]

"The fuck? Why?!"

[That object is the key to fighting Voldemort and the key to obtaining powers. It's the most important piece that you can use against Voldemort. That is why direct information is restricted. It would be too big an interference to directly tell you its use. If this level of interference was allowed, then the Akashic Records would not have to go through the trouble of slowly helping you become strong on your own.]

Axel sighed. It is never easy with the system.

"So what the fuck am I supposed to do?"

[Special Quest Activated:

Go after the members of the Mysterious Organization and extract the information on using the key.

Rewards: ???]

"...." He was left with hundreds of thoughts.

Another special mission?! But damn, it does make sense. If the system can't tell him then the only other people who can will have to be the ones who had it in the first place.

So… those were the people who killed his so-called parents, huh? He is supposed to go after them, if he wants to know the powers of this key. And...even if he doesn't go after them, they are going to come after him anyway as soon as they notice the obvious clues.

Whatever the case, there's one thing that's absolutely clear now. He HAS to get Healed as soon as possible.

...

At night, Axel opened his eyes as soon as he felt the disturbance. He was currently on the third-floor corridor, waiting for the right opportunity.

He had assessed Dumbledore's skill level and his final decision was… stealing the stone from Dumbledore would be too difficult and tricky with only one year of learning magic.

That's why he has a different plan.

This other person, whoever it is, clearly has much more preparation, experience, and resources than him. So, Axel has decided to hitch a ride, so to speak.

And right now, it seems that the person is here.

'Well, let's go fishing,' he thought as got ready. With the SP he had gained from his stealing spree from Slytherin Dorms and girls' dorms, he had bought some more important skills aside from the Traceless Thief.

[True Invisibility: Gives the ability to be invisible. You can also make anything with your physical contact Invisible. You can also cast it on others with their consent.]

[Soundless: Nullifies Sound. You can even chant spells soundlessly. You can also cast it on others with their consent.]

[Erase Scent: Once mastered, not even the best of predators can detect your scent.]

These skills could also be performed using the normal spells given in books, but not to the extent he could do with the system's method. Plus, they weren't that expensive. And they were faster to learn using the system's method. So, Axel would say that it was a good bargain.

As waited, the outline of the person became clearer as they became visible to Axel.

"So, it IS you!" he muttered, still under [Soundless] and other stealth skills, his grip on his wand tightening as he saw who the thief was.

It was Umbitch.

Axel had high suspicions from the start that it was her. That was one of the reasons why he didn't take revenge on her yet. If he killed her, then who would steal the stone for him?

Today, Umbitch was wrapped in a heavy Dark Cloak and to his surprise, she was actually Floating!

He watched in surprise as the flying bitch suddenly sped up as she flew right past the Notification and Alarm wards that Dumbledore had installed.

"Fuck!" Exclaimed Axel in irritation as he realized what she was doing.

He had expected her to subtly avoid or disarm the Notification ward, but the bitch bulldozed right past it.

It would seem that even she didn't have a solution to that ward. She either didn't detect it or just didn't care. Umbridge was going to speed-run the entire thing so that she can escape before Dumbledore arrives.

"Wait for me, you Bitch!" Yelled Axel as he followed on his broom, the Valentino knife in one hand while his wand in the other.

Umbridge seemed to have gone beast mode Tonight as Axel saw her power through the obstacles and traps.

The door at the far end was blasted open and a Three-Headed Dog was killed with three bursts of green lights as Umbridge yelled out the spell continuously.

She then proceeded to roughly navigate through all the obstacles, making things very easy for Axel, who only had to follow.

"Damn, is it going to be so easy?" He muttered as he saw her take down two trolls one after another. He had already gotten past a lot of obstacles without having to do anything. Umbridge was doing great but…something didn't add up.

"These obstacles…" he muttered. Why does it feel like they've been designed for kids? They certainly weren't what he was expecting after looking at the level of wards placed at the entrance. Axel felt like he could get past them on his own easily.

The next room had a piece of paper and some potions and the room was surrounded by Black flames. He thought that Umbridge would check out the paper and potions. But, to his surprise, she didn't even glance at those things as her cloak wrapped around her completely and she plunged directly through the fire.

"No!" Axel didn't have the time to think much. His ride is leaving him stranded here.

[Arcane Eyes]

Having no choice, he activated his Arcane Eyes to look around the room. This fire couldn't burn endlessly without any source. And sure enough, he found the fuel buried in the ground.

Axel cut off the source and the fire suddenly vanished.

"...It really is child's play," he muttered as he rushed into the next chamber.

'Thank god she's still here,' he thought as he found Umbridge standing in front of a Mirror. To his surprise, she wasn't rushing through this one.

'Is this it?' He thought. It would seem that this was the place where the stone was hidden.

""It's inside…"" he heard an eerie voice say. And Axel got goosebumps on his arms. He saw a dark silhouette emerging from Umbridge's chest.

Umbridge went down to her knees,

"My lord, what shall I do?"

""Foolish woman! It's your job to figure it out! If I could be corporeal then the Stone would have long been in my possession!"" Said the voice in anger.

"Y-Yes my lord!" Umbridge bowed, right after which she began trying out different methods to try and get the stone out of the mirror.

A few minutes passed as Umbridge tried out everything and Axel was getting impatient.

""Dumbledore!!! I knew that old man wouldn't make it so easy!"" Axel heard the silhouette rage as time started to pass.

""We're taking the mirror with us,"" he said, making Axel move. It seems that this was his cue to take action.

Axel relaxedly raised his wand to point it right at Umbridge. Though, before he could do anything, he heard rushed footsteps from behind.

"Umbridge! Stop!"

Axel, the Silhouette, and Umbridge all turned their heads in unison at the unwelcome intrusion.

"SON OF A—!" Axel cursed out loud when he saw who the new guests were.

One of them was Rose Potter.

But, there wasn't much of a problem with her presence. He had already warned her earlier. After that, if she still had a death wish, she was free to come. But...

'What the fuck are YOU doing here?!' He almost yelled as he looked at Daphne who was also present beside Rose.

It would seem that the others really had taken his advice and given up on the stone except for Rose Potter, who had rushed in anyway. But… what is Daphne doing here despite agreeing to not go?!

It had to be noted that these two were NOTHING, in front of Umbridge. They stood no chance and Umbridge won't show them any mercy.

Axel punched the air in frustration. He couldn't understand why she would do this. Daphne is usually a smart and logical girl who would disdain to do these Gryffindor-ish acts. She wouldn't do anything so suicidal.

Unless—

Axel's eyes widened as he realized. Yes! That's it! How could he have been so blind to not see it?! Daphne is usually smart and logical, unless it's about her sister!

The Philosopher's Stone! Its Elixir can grant the drinker Immortality!

Astoria is dying and all methods to save her have failed… except this one! And when Daphne heard about this news, she must have thought of getting it for her sister! She usually wouldn't have been so impulsive, but it was probably her only shot!

Axel recalled how excited she had been when she first told him about the Stone! She seemed much happier that day now that he thought about it. But he had been too busy and self-absorbed to notice that. On the other hand, she was the one worrying about him and now she was in danger because he hadn't noticed it.

""Hahahahahaah…"" A dark chuckle was heard as a face became visible in the dark Silhouette.

""Rose Potter… daughter of that mudblood… we finally meet,""

****

A.N.: It's time bois! Next Chapter: The Revelation, Lily Potter

POWERSTONES!!!! Please do send!

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