Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One: The Nature Mage

Sirius Black knew there was more to the world than the English Ministry and Dumbledore would have them believe. 

Currently, the worried godfather was pacing in his kitchen, waiting. It wasn't enough that Dumbledore had basically been keeping him prisoner in his own house but he also had the gall to forbid him from contacting his godson. Neither of which were sitting well with him. He also knew that the headmaster had forbidden anyone from contacting Harry.

That did not stop Sirius from using methods other than owls and fireplaces to deliver messages. It had originally been Harry's idea for him to bond with Winky and use her to deliver their letters. The poor elf almost cried when Dobby brought her to him and he offered to bond with her. The other elf decided to bond with Harry and help him around his house in secret to make sure Harry's way too long list of chores were actually able to be done.

Sirius knew that Harry needed someone to talk to after the events of last year. Harry had been illegally entered into the Triwizard Tournament, resulting in almost the entire school turning against him. Including his so-called best friend. Harry and Cedric Diggory had been swept up by a portkey that someone had turned the Triwizard Cup into. They ended up in a graveyard. If it hadn't been for seeker reflexes on both their parts, Cedric would have been killed by that traitor, Wormtail. Cedric had been only knocked out, thankfully. But Harry had still been used in a dark ritual to bring back the Dark Lord. He had then been put under a crucio curse and then forced to duel the bastard that killed his parents. Yet, even after all of that, Dumbledore still sent him back to the Dursleys.

But Sirius was worried not just for his godson's emotional state, but also his magical state.

James had been certain that Harry was more than just a simple wand-user. He remembered that Harry's core had been a lot brighter when he was a baby. He was shocked when he secretly examined Harry's core in his third year. It was nothing like how it been when he was a baby. He knew something was wrong.

Harry's core made him remember a sweet couple from his past. Jax and Selena Gardna. They had been on vacation from Greece to see Big Ben. Sirius and James had run across them during a Death Eater fight. The couple had been a force, taking out a dozen of the dark wizards without breaking a sweat.

He figured they might know something about his godson's core since they seemed to have a similar sense to them as Harry's core.

Imagine his surprise when someone he never met had gotten and answered his letter. Not to mention that he actually showed up. He looked barely fifteen, the age his godson would soon be. He appeared, very surprisingly, in Number 12 in a swirl of flower petals and leaves.

The teen wore a hunter's style of clothes. He had on a bright white jean vest with tree and forest patterns on it in green. He also wore brown pants with white and green hunter's boots. Over his shoulders was a forest-designed half-poncho and half-cloak hybrid thing. He had midnight black hair with white and green streaks. On his wrists were tiger-eye and emerald cuff bracelets with an emerald rose pendant around his neck.

"You... You were not who I was expecting," was the first thing Sirius said.

His other thought was "how did this kid even get in here with the Fidelius Charm in place." He was either extremely powerful or extremely lucky and found an area of the house not covered by the charm.

"Well, you were trying to contact my parents, so you get me instead," the boy shrugged, his voice thick with an accent identical to the one's his old friends had.

"Your parents," Sirius raised an eyebrow.

He offered his hand. "My name is Krinos. Krinos Gardna. My parents were Jax and Selena Gardna."

Sirius was about to shake his hand when his choice of words struck him.

"Were," he asked.

"Excuse me," Krinos tilted his head to the side.

"You said that your parents 'were' Jax and Selena," Sirius said.

Krinos slowly lowered his hand and took an empty seat close to the member of the Black family. He got a look on his face that spoke volumes about how he was feeling about what was going to be said.

"My parents died," he admitted. "About ten years ago. I was five."

"Merlin, I'm sorry," Sirius gasped. "I didn't mean to bring up all those bad memories for you."

"You didn't know, it's not your fault," Krinos said.

"Not to sound mean, but do you really think that you'd be able to help me," Sirius asked. "You're only fifteen."

"Still smarter than most the idiots in this backwarder country," Krinos crossed his arms.

"Should I take offense," Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"You asked for help from citizens of a foreign country," Krinos pointed out. "Considering that ninety-nine percent of this country's magical community wouldn't even think to do that, you're already the smartest English person I've ever met."

"Yet the bar would be very low from what you are saying," Sirius guessed.

"Yep," Krinos popped the 'P.'

"You are not from here, but your English is perfect," Sirius noticed.

"My grandparents on my father's side were from America," Krinos explained. "So even though I was born and raised in Greece, I am fluent in both languages. It is the same with my sister."

"You have a sister," Sirius asked.

Krinos nodded. "Twin sister. Her name's Melody."

"I bet you both take after your parents," Sirius smiled at him. "They were quite the force to be reckoned with."

"How did you know them," Krinos asked.

"I didn't really know them, per se," Sirius admitted. "I met your parents about sixteen years ago. My Auror partner, James, and I had gotten into a tight spot against some Death Eaters and they helped us defeat them. Well, more like your parents defeated them all on their own. Do you know what Death Eaters are?"

"Sort of," Krinos says. "I know about Voldemort, as he was a dark wizard I learned about in World History class, but mostly we foreign magic communities do not pay much attention to Britain's mystical population after Grindelwald. They don't want another of their 'Dark Lord's' to almost break the Stature of Secrecy for the rest of us magical beings."

Much to his credit, Sirius did not even a bit offended on behalf of his home country. But that was mostly because it was his home country that locked him in a horrible prison for twelve years without a trial. 

"Death Eaters are what the followers of Voldemort were called," Sirius explained. "They believed the same propaganda that he spewed. That only those with all-magic families had the right to use, and have, magic. In other words, 'purebloods.' There had been a war going on with the Death Eaters and Voldemort constantly attacking and killing muggles and magicals alike."

"Muggles," Krinos was confused, then seemed to understand. "Oh, right. That is what you call mortals. In Greece, we simply call them 'mundanes."

"That is actually a much better word than 'muggles," Sirius admitted.

He always did think that the term "muggles" sounded like an insult to call mortals.

"We never would have had anything like that happen in Greece," Krinos said. "We've always been taught that magic is magic and that so-called 'blood status' means nothing. There are a few bigots here and there, but nothing too bad."

"James and I had been on patrol in Diagon Alley when the Death Eaters attacked," Sirius continued his story. "Your parents had been there the same day, apparently in London on a trip to see Big Ben but wanted to also explore the magical areas of the city. When they entered the battle, they took out almost all of them on their own. The two were probably the most powerful witch and wizard that I have ever met."

"The two did our family legacy proud," Krinos grinned. "The Gardna family is one of the most ancient, powerful, and noble lines of magical Greece."

"So, the Gardna's are pureblood, then," Sirius asked.

"We do not use terms like that back home," Krinos says. "They're demeaning and a source of bullying. We use other terms. First-generation is for those that are the first to use magic in their families or the first in many generations, but those are also called redeems. Second-generation is for those of one magical parent and one mortal parent. Third-generation is our own term for what you call 'pureblood."

Sirius had to admit, those terms were a lot better than what he grew up with. He was sure that if his blood purist family heard any of those Greek terms, they would have lost it. Especially his psycho mother.

"But you didn't send that letter to learn about my culture," Krinos crossed his arms and sat back in his seat. "You wrote that your godson needed help."

Sirius wasn't sure what to make out of this Greek mage. On one side, he was the son of two old friends. He knew for sure based on the same midnight back hair and silver eyes that he shared with them. But on the other hand, he was only fifteen and he did not think that he would be able to do anything. Yet, then again, he could have some tricks up his sleeves since he did not know much about him.

Most people underestimated Sirius Black. They thought that his stay in Azkaban had stopped him from maturing and growing up. Either that or his time with the Dementors made him slightly, or incredibly, unstable. They also thought that he was still nothing but an adult version of the prankster teenager that he had been during his Hogwarts years. The way that most of Dumbledore's Order of the Pheonix looked at him spoke volumes about how they felt being around a Black.

"Yes," Sirius decided the risk was worth helping his godson. "His name is Harrison Charlus Potter-Black. But he is known here as Harry James Potter."

Krinos raised an eyebrow. 

"And they changed his middle name why exactly," he asked.

"I have no idea," Sirius admitted. "I think it is mostly because they just thought that his middle name was his father's name so it just went from there."

"Okay," Krinos says. "But still, I do not know either name. I remind you that I am from Greece. I do not care for British things, same as every other magical community outside of this place."

Sirius decided to just let that go. Mostly because it was clear that he, and every other foreign person like him, did not care for Britain.

"Harry is an orphan," Sirius was still sad over losing them. "Voldemort went after his parents when Harry had been one. He killed them."

"Oh, dear gods," Krinos swore, his eyes wide.

"We still have no idea how, but Harry managed to defeat him," Sirius continued. "But after that Halloween night, Voldemort was left as nothing but a wraith."

"A wraith," Krinos was shocked. "Those things are dangerous. I've never run into one, thank the gods for that, but I know that they're really deadly."

"You have no idea," Sirius said.

"So, your country is falling apart over a disembodied wraith," Krinos asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Were you aware of the Triwizard Tournament that took place last year," Sirius asked the Greek mage.

"I may not go to the Delphi School of Mystic Arts, but I do know that the place was asked to take part," Krinos says. "It's a deadly tournament that pits three schools against each other with each school using one Champion to represent them."

"Well, things went sideways quite quickly," Sirius said. "Harry's name had somehow been entered and selected by the Goblet of Fire. He was forced to participate under the threat of losing his magic if he did not."

"WHAT," Krinos was on his feet again. "Why on Demeter's green earth would there be an artifact that could take away a person's magic!?!"

"I wish I could say that there was a good reason for it, but I can't," Sirius said.

"Taking away magic should be a crime," Krinos growled. "There is nothing like that in Greece. We may have spells that take away someone's magic, but that is only to punish them for crimes of the highest degree. But we have artifacts that contain the magic so that it doesn't just vanish into nothing. Their magic is returned once they have been deemed worthy of it again."

"You Greeks can be quite ruthless when you want to be, can't you," Sirius guessed.

"We fight demons every day, we kind of have to be," Krinos shrugged.

"I'm going to ask about that later," Sirius says. "Anyway, Harry had to fight a lot of things during the tournament. Including dragons, merpeople, grindylows, giant spiders, a sphinx, and who knows what else in that maze. Harry and another student had been abducted when the Triwizard Cup had been spelled to take them to a graveyard."

"Creepy," Krinos stated.

"Harry had been used in a ritual to bring back Voldemort against his will," Sirius continued. "And barely thirty seconds later he was forced to duel the man that made him an orphan."

Krinos had to wait a second for his brain to process all of that. But what made him tightly clench his fists was when Sirius told him about the duel. He knew that if he ever faced the people that killed his parents, it would not end well for them. His family motto was that their personalities had a calm and a storm and you do not want to mess with the storm.

"Okay, that has got to be the closest thing to a real-life origin story of a hero if I have ever heard one," he said.

"That's the problem most of this country has," Sirius says. "They see him as a hero one minute and are then calling him the next Dark Lord the next minute. They change their opinion of him every other hour based solely on whatever the paper says about him or because of things that happen that are beyond his control. He's nearly died every year he's been at school."

Seeing his frustration, Krinos laid a gentle hand on his and gave him a comforting smile. But then the pendant on his necklace flashed, making him release his touch.

"My parents didn't know that you were one of us, did they," he asked.

"What," Sirius asked, shocked and confused.

"The one thing that British magicals feared above all else," Krinos started. "What they see as monsters for simply being more powerful than them. Ones that can summon weapons out of thin air, can call a storm with a wave of their hand, can bring inanimate objects to life. All of that without a wand."

"I... I... I..." Sirius could not find the words.

"A mystic soul," Krinos said.

Sirius was undeniably shocked. He knew about mystic souls, being pureblood, but he never imagined this. But that did explain how a fifteen-year-old kid was able to get through all the wards, spells, and charms on the house. Mystic souls are very powerful beings that are rarely, if ever, affected by wand-user spells. The only spell that Sirius thought could affect them is the killing curse, but he was not completely sure.

Mystic souls are different. While having similar powers to Wiccans, theirs are a lot stronger and more in-tune with their hearts. Their abilities go far beyond what most would think. Powers such as nature's manipulation, telepathy, creature calling, shapeshifting, etcetera. Communities for them are run by Magic Councils, twelve elected officials.

Sirius had been shocked when he discovered his powers.

"Yes," he admitted. "I am a mystic soul."

"So, what are your powers," Krinos asked.

"James gave them the name of Wild Dog magic," Sirius answered. "I am able to channel different types of dogs or wolves with amazing results. Like each dog grants a dog-like elemental or mystical effect."

"Our kind never have done things half-way," Krinos chuckled. 

"By how you arrived, I say you have nature-based magic," Sirius guessed.

Krinos nodded. "Mine is known as Nature's Heart. A stronger and more magical version of nature manipulation. I can make any plant do what I want, no matter what it is."

"Wow," Sirius gasped. "That's an incredible power."

"Nature-based magic has sort-of been passed down in the Gardna family," Krinos says. "One Gardna every generation gets some type of nature magic. But not all of us. My sister, for example, has a type of music magic."

"Incredible," Sirius says.

"Is that what you might suspect," Krinos asked. "That Harry might be a mystic soul?"

Sirius thought for a second. He can not say that was not one of the things he was suspecting.

"Yeah," he answered. "As a baby, Harry's magical core was brighter than almost all the other cores I have seen in my life. But when I met him again as a teenager, his core was almost dull and lifeless. And the only other people with cores like him had been your parents. I have no idea what happened to his core."

"It sounds like someone bound his powers," Krinos guessed.

"You think someone would do that," Sirius asked.

"You must know that mystic souls are one of the most hated mystics in England," Krinos says. "Wand-users fear us and call us monsters because we're so powerful. They're paranoid about us, always thinking that we're out to get them when we have no reason to. Anything we ever do to them has been in self-defense. Either a parent would do that to protect their child... or someone else if they did not want a mystic soul running around this country."

Sirius immediately thought of Dumbledore. He would never put it past the man to bind Harry's powers so that he would still be seen as the strongest wizard in magical Britain.

"Do you think there is a way to unblind his abilities," Sirius asked.

"The way mystic souls come into their powers vary from soul to soul," Krinos says. "The powers of a mystic soul are only bound if they are so powerful that they could harm the very person that has them or those around them."

"That can happen," Sirius asked.

"A fire mage caused the Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin, USA in 1871," Krinos says. "At least 1,200 people died before his power was contained and they managed to bind his powers."

"I retract the question," Sirius said.

"Powers have come out in moments of happiness, anger, but fear most of all," Krinos said. "I hate to say it but if he is as special as you think he is and his powers have been bound for this long, he might need to break the binds himself."

"Are you sure," Sirius asked.

"If you don't mind, I will send my cousin to you," Krinos says. "I'm no expert on magic, but she is the closest mystic to being an expert that I know. And that says a lot considering I know a mystic soul that has the power to absorb knowledge."

"As long as you think she can help my godson," Sirius said.

"She'll come when you call," Krinos says. "Olivia always knows. We'll do everything we can to help."

The nature mystic soul vanished in another swirl of petals and leaves. Sirius was praying that he made the right choice.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: Some Sirius Thoughts

Sirius was trying everything he could to help Harry. His correspondents with Krinos had left him with some hope that he could do something. He learned a lot more about the mystic soul community as he talked with him with more letters and secret meetings. Not to mention all the books they sent him. 

He was never able to learn much about being a mystic soul beyond controlling his own powers. James, Lily, and Remus had fully accepted him, as did a few others he told, but there was no information about mystic souls anywhere in the Hogwarts or Black Family libraries. It seemed that magical Britain really did not want its citizens to learn anything about their fellow magical beings.

But being a mystic soul actually sounded amazing from what he read and what he was told. They had a deeper connection to magic and themselves, not to mention their families and each other. Krinos certainly had a very obvious connection to nature.

Mystic soul communities were certainly different from those that use wands. For starters, while they had a ministry of their own, it was known as the Magic Council. It was the same for every other mystic soul community in the world and not just in Greece. They're run by twelve elected officials, representing the twelve Olympian gods. They run the higher up levels of magical Greece, including how well the schools are doing and the safety of the students. The other parts of the government are run by the department heads at the Council's headquarters or by the Theós and Theá of the more powerful Greek families.

It was from one of Krinos' letters that he learned that Olivia, his cousin, was the most recent member of their council. The Magic Council is the main form of government in magical Greece. Olivia Gardna is the cousin of the Krinos and Melody. The daughter of the sister of Jax Gardna. She is a user of time magic, making her the biggest history buff in the world. She prided herself on being a well-knowledged girl that cares about her home.

And if he was being honest with himself, he thought Krinos would make a much better friend to his godson than either Ron or Hermione. Krinos seemed caring, empathetic, and he had learned that the Gardna family was known for being protective over their loved ones. Krinos also loved to talk about the friends that he's had for years, so he was obviously also very loyal. Olivia had to be the one to tell him how Krinos was top of his class every year at his school, so Krinos was also very humble about how smart he is. He was everything that Ron and Hermione weren't.

When the Weasleys and Hermione had first been moved into Grimmauld Place, Sirius had to stop himself from kicking them out right then and there. But that was really only because Dumbledore had moved then into his house without his permission. The desire to kick them out only grew the longer they spent in his house.

Mrs.Weasley had immediately started ordering everyone around as if they were still at the Burrow, where she was obviously in charge. And even as useless as Kreacher was, even Sirius noticed how annoyed and angry the house-elf was when the redhead mother started doing all the cooking and was ordering everyone she could to clean the house. As dirty that he knew his house was, Sirius was pissed at how she thought that she was in control of what rooms she could go into and what she could throw away. She even tried to throw away, what she called, "an ugly vase that is the biggest eyesore I have ever seen" when in reality, it was the sealed vase that held the ashes of Sirius's uncles. But it had been one of his favorite uncles that had not been as psycho as the rest of his family.

That was the worst of her offenses, but Sirius had to stop her multiple times from throwing away things she saw as useless junk but were actually priceless family heirlooms. Kreacher had been watching her like a hawk to keep her away from other heirlooms in the house. Plus, it was like she was not even a witch considering how clueless she seemed at identifying cursed objects. Sirius was getting tired of saving her and all the kids whenever they almost activated one of the objects. Like when Ginny tried on a robe she thought looked pretty and the robe tried to strangle her.

And that brought him to his complaints about the kids. Fred and George were probably the most well-behaved out of all of them. But Sirius did have a soft spot for them considering how Harry seemed very fond of them and that they were pranksters. It also helped that they actually seemed concerned about Harry's home life while no one else seemed to be.

Ron was definitely a person that Sirius did not think was a good friend for his godson. He will let Harry make his own choices, but that does not mean he can have his own feelings. To him, Ron was nothing but a lazy, jealous, bully that hated anyone that so much as looked like they had something he wanted. Mostly it was just money. But Ron, as well as his mother and sister but mostly Ron, also had an extreme hatred of anything Slytherin or anything else even remotely dark. Ron had found one of his brother, Regulus, old Slytherin robes from when he was in Hogwarts in an old closet and he had actually thrown them in the fireplace, saying that the world would be better without Slytherins in it. It was basically the views of Death Eaters but in reverse.

Plus, Ron did not seem to have any type of work ethic at all. His mother may have him do chores, but that was the only thing she made him do. He knew that Fred and George had been selling their pranks to earn money and they also told him how their brothers Bill, Charlie, and Percy all got jobs almost right out of Hogwarts. Ron, on the other hand, did not even seem to want to ever work at all. Whenever he wanted anything, he would demand it from his mum. Very bratty behavior was not fit for a fifteen-year-old boy.

Brat was certainly how he would describe Ginny. The girl that her mother doted on so much that she was basically under the delusion that she would get whatever she wanted simply because she wanted it. Sirius had caught her multiple times trying to get into his mother's room or his father's study, probably looking for any of the Black family jewelry that might have been left there. The joke was on her, though, because Sirius had Kreacher remove all the jewelry from the house and into the Black family vault before they even entered the house. And it was obvious to Sirius how she seemed to look down at everyone around her. Probably because of how her mother seemed to treat her like a princess, making her believe that she was actually better than everyone else. It didn't help when they first got here, the twins got a bigger room because there were two of them, but Ginny whined to her mother about how small her room was. So Mrs.Weasley forced the twins and her to switch rooms, even if Ginny did now have to share with Hermione. And Sirius was seriously thinking of putting the Drought of the Living Dead in her pumpkin juice if she did not stop complaining about everything.

Ginny also seemed to have a very unhealthy obsession with Harry. When she had forced the room switch with the twins, Sirius had a talk with the two when he went to secretly expand their room with a Space Expansion Charm. They told him how even before she even met him the summer before his second year, she would talk almost non-stop about him. She had the entire collection of Harry Potter Adventure books, even though all of them were fiction in reality, and had read all of them over two dozen times each. Sirius knew that she was a stalker just waiting to happen. He would have to talk with Harry about her when he finally gets to Number 12. If he said he was uncomfortable with her, he would help him stay away from her.

And this leads to his feelings about Hermione. In Sirius's opinion, she was worse than the two youngest Weasleys. If Mrs.Weasley believed that she was the boss in every household she stayed in, Hermione believed that she was the boss in life. There wasn't a day that went by when she was shoving her opinion in someone's face and trying to make them believe it too. She just didn't seem to care if people had different opinions as her. She actually believed that she knew best in everything, no matter what the subject. Whether it was about house-elves, the old ways, magic holidays, and basically anything that she sees as "purebloods hoarding knowledge." He was sure that if she had her way, even private family grimoires would be placed in public magic libraries. He knew that she had tried over a dozen times to break into the Black Family Library that was in the house. She was the main reason he placed wards to keep everyone out of it. Plus, no telling what kind of damage Dumbledore and Mrs.Weasley would do if they saw any books that they deemed 'dark' in the library.

She also seemed to actually believe that she was the smartest person in the room, no matter who was in it. Unless Dumbledore was in the room because she seemed to worship authority figures as if they were actual gods. He half expects to find a shrine to Dumbledore in her room if he ever goes in there after they all leave. If anyone tries to correct her to say something that she had not known about before, she will argue you them the around about why they were wrong or say that whatever she didn't know was fake or made-up simply because she didn't know anything about it. But Sirius knew that just because she can memorize what was in books does not mean she is actually as smart as she believes she is.

What probably annoyed him the most was the other thing that happened when they had all moved into his house. Dumbledore had taken him, Ron, and Hermione aside. He ordered them not to communicate with Harry at all. He says they need to give Harry time to heal after the trauma he went through at the graveyard as well as saying their letters could be intercepted.

Sirius thought that was a load of hippogriff dung and had told Dumbledore just that. He had argued for almost three hours with the old man until he just gave up and decided to secretly find another way to send letters to Harry without using an owl. They did, but no way was he ever going to try and tell anyone else since his house was crawling with so many people that almost seem to worship Dumbledore as a god.

But he had noticed that while he argued with the old man, both of his godson's supposed best friends had agreed right away. Neither of them tried to argue for their "best friend" at all. It was like they didn't care about him at all.

Fred and George certainly did. Sirius may not have told them about how he was sending letters, but they once walked into the room right as he was giving Dobby a letter to give to Harry. But instead of telling their mum or Dumbledore, they asked if they could use the elf to send their own letters as well. That was enough to tell Sirius that they were true friends of his godson.

But currently, Sirius had a plan. Another meeting of the Order of the Phoenix was about to start and he had made a plan with Krinos to finally get things moving.

Sirius had constantly been telling the Greeks how frustrated he was that the Order was basically doing nothing against Voldemort. All they did was keep an eye on known Death Eaters that had bribed their way out of prison and guarding something in the ministry that Dumbledore still would not tell them what it was. He was going to get them killed if he kept keeping all the important information to himself.

But from the meetings, he also knew which of the Order to trust and who not to. Being a Black made him a little paranoid, but his parents had basically slammed lessons of learning who to trust into him and his brother's heads growing up.

His cousin Andromeda's daughter, Nymphadora, seemed just as firmly up Dumbledore's butt as ao many others, so sadly he could not trust her. But her Auror supervisor, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was obviously a very loyal and smart man that looked just as annoyed with Dumbledore as he was about all the information he kept to himself. Sirius sadly could also not trust his own mentor when he had been an Auror, Mad-Eye Moody, because he never took anyone's side other than Dumbledore's. It seemed that was true for the other Aurors in the room, Emmaline Vance and Hestia Jones. Kingsley was the only one that seemed to have a mind of his own.

Other members of the Order that seemed to be trustworthy were the eldest Weasley boys, Bill and Charlie. They were not at as many meetings as others because of their jobs but when they were there, they always questioned why more was not being done. Their mother always silenced them when they tried.

Arthur Weasley, the patriarch of the clan, would be trustworthy if he ever learned to stand up to his wife and not let her control every aspect of his life that was not his job or his obsession with muggles.

Order members like Dedalus Diggle and Elphias Doge were two others that also seemed to think the sun shined out of Dumbledore's butt. And Mundungus Fletcher was nothing but a thief that should have been thrown into Azkaban a long time ago with how much he had stolen. Especially since a lot of it was not legal to have that he had stolen from some type of black market for magical goods.

Sirius did not really know what to make out of Hagrid or his old head of house, McGonagall. Hagrid was always on Dumbledore's side, but at the same time, he was also probably one of the people that cared most about Harry. And he could not blame Hagrid for being loyal to Dumbledore since the man hired him as a groundskeeper and currently the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Hardly anyone else would even think to hire someone not only expelled from Hogwarts but someone that is also half-giant.

And McGonagall certainly had her own mind and always made it known how she felt about certain things. But even with all that, she still would always end up agreeing with Dumbledore no matter what it was. Sirius also noticed how she seemed to like to place everything and everyone into neat little boxes for her to categorize. Like to her, Gryffindors always needed to be reckless and brave child soldiers, Ravenclaws needed to be know-it-all bookworms that saw books as gospel, Hufflepuffs needed to fade into the background, and Slytherins needed to be cold-hearted politicians and Death Eaters in training.

If it came down to it, Sirius would trust Hagrid a lot more than he would trust McGonagall.

That leads him to the Order member that he trusted the least and he would gladly roast a marshmallow over him if he was on fire. Severus Snape. Harry had already told him about Snape's abusive tendencies in class toward him, Neville, and basically anyone not in Slytherin. How he took points for breathing too loudly from other houses but gave points to Slytherin's for being on time to class. Sirius also doubted that Snape was actually on their side. Dumbledore may say he needs to act the way he does because he is a spy, but Snape hardly ever had anything to say during meetings. Almost everyone thought that he was giving Voldemort more information than he was giving the Order, but they would hardly ever voice it since Dumbledore would always say how he trusts Snape with his life. And with most stuck up Dumbledore's butt, they believed him or just didn't argue any further. Every time Snape would insult Harry whenever he was brought up in a meeting, Sirius had to force himself not to use the house wards to kick him out onto the street.

But tonight's meeting was going to be different. They were actually going to get something done whether Dumbledore wanted it to be done or not. He took Krinos's suggestion of sending Olivia over very seriously. The time mage was going to arrive in the middle of the Order meeting and slap as much sense as she possibly could into Dumbledore's sheep.

Plus, this was going to also start to get the ball rolling with Sirius's plan of helping his godson get the block on his magic broken. And call him a little selfish, but he wanted to know what type of mystic soul powers Harry had.

The Order sat in the kitchen of Number 12. Once again, Dumbledore was going on and on about needing to guard that thing in the ministry that Voldemort wants, yet still does not tell any of them what it is. Sirius could swear that he saw Kinglsey's eye twitch in annoyance when the headmaster did not tell them anything once again. But once Olivia got here, things were finally going to get done around here.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: Crashing An Order Meeting

"Now, does anyone have anything they would like to add," Dumbledore asked the group.

Usually, no one had anything to say and if they did, Dumbledore usually waved them off. It was like he actually believed that only he could come up with good ideas. Well, that was not going to happen this time. Sirius cleared his throat, bringing attention to him.

"I actually have found a very powerful allie that could be a great asset to the Order," Sirius says, shocking everyone else.

Snape scoffed. "As if you could ever do anything. You're as useless as ever, Mutt."

"Maybe you need to learn to shut your mouth before I shut it for you, Snivellus," Sirius glared at the Death Eater.

"My dear boys, stop fighting," Dumbledore says, not even bothering to scold Snape for his blatant insults. "Now, Sirius, how could you have found an allie when everyone outside this house believes you're a murderer?"

"Nice of you to bring up my illegal incarceration that you still have not done anything to correct, headmaster," Sirius said. "But just because people in this country believe that does not mean other countries believe it as well."

Most of the Order looked like they wanted to yell at Sirius for his backhanded comment about Dumbledore not doing anything to clear Sirius's name. But before they could, a portal erupted open behind the head of the Black family. It was a swirling vortex of blue and white energy. And out stepped a twenty-four-year-old woman.

Out of the portal came Olivia Gardna. She was in her regular outfit that Sirius had seen from a picture that Krinos had sent him of the Gardna family. The outfit was a knee-length white lace dress with a fuzzy blue and red poncho over her shoulders. She had curled her dirty blond hair and wore blue and red go-go boots. Over her eyes were a pair of blue shades with red rims.

"Wow, this place could really use a splash of color," was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

Sirius had to fight to keep himself from laughing. He may have not met Krinos's sister yet, but he had a feeling that she was just as sarcastic and sassy as her brother and cousin. The rest of the Order instantly shot to their feet and aimed their wands at the unexpected visitor.

But Olivia did not seem to be threatened in the least. She actually yawned and lazily flicked her hands at the Order. In an instant, all of them froze. But not in ice, more like they had suddenly been petrified but with no time to react at all.

"Wow," Sirius gasped, being the only one not frozen. "When Krinos said you could freeze people in time, I don't think I fully believed it until now."

"That tends to happen when people first learn of my powers," Olivia giggled. "Glad I could be your entertainment for this meeting."

"Is everyone in your family this sarcastic and sassy," Sirius could not help but ask.

"Pretty much, yes," Olivia shrugged. "Nice to finally meet you face-to-face, Sirius."

"Likewise, Olivia," he shook her hand.

"So, give me the lowdown of everyone here," Olivia said. "Be nice to know the names of the people I am going to try and slap some sense into. Can I actually slap some of them, please?"

"Slap, Snivellus as much as you like," Sirius smirked. "Anyway, the two redhead adults are Molly Weasley and her husband, Arthur. She is basically a banshee without a magical scream and he has a hard time standing up to her. The guy with lots of scars if Mad-Eye Moody. He was an Auror for more years than I've been alive but is also very paranoid. Then there is Nymphadora Tonks, Emmaline Vance, and Hestia Jones, all of them are Aurors that seem to think all things Slytherin and dark need to be against the law. The big black man is..."

"Kingsley Shacklebolt," Olivia interrupted him, much to his shock. "His son attends the same school as my cousins."

That was definitely interesting to know. He will have to ask Kingsley about that later.

"Okay," Sirius got his composure back. "The very big man is Rubeus Hagrid, groundskeeper, and Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts. He is also half-giant. Next to him is Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. She is the transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor while he is the potions professor, head of Slytherin, and downright horrible excuse for a human being. The one that you will be unfortunate enough to smell is Mundungus Fletcher. He is a known thief that is somehow not in prison. Dedalus Diggle and Elphias Doge are two that I don't know much about personally other than that they are normal wizards that believe that Dumbledore can do nothing wrong."

"Not the most normal of crowds you hang out with," Olivia commented, looking around at the group of people.

"That leads me to the last, and definitely the worst, Dumbledore," Sirius introduced the frozen headmaster. "Manipulator extraordinaire, world-class liar, and possibly one of the most annoying people you could ever meet."

"What a lovely bunch," Olivia crossed her arms.

"Wait until you unfreeze them," Sirius stated. "You'll need a headache potion after just five minutes."

"I can see why Krinos warned me before I came here," Olivia said. "You know, I could just unfreeze their heads if you want."

"You can do that," Sirius was shocked.

"Sirius, one thing you will need to learn about being a mystic soul is that we can do anything," Olivia smirked. "Well... anything relevant to our powers, anyway. You know what I mean."

Sirius nodded, understanding what she meant. With a twist of her wrist, Olivia flicked her hand at the Order and only their heads were unfrozen. Sirius really had to hold back his laughter when he saw their shocked faces as they tried to move.

"What the hell is going on," Snape yelled, struggling.

"There's something you don't see every day," Olivia giggled.

The Order had their attention brought back to her when she spoke.

"You did this to us," Molly gasped.

"Quite easily, I add," Olivia giggled again.

"Release us at once, young lady," Dumbledore ordered.

"Nope," Olivia popped the 'P.' "I was brought here to help, but I can not do that if you attack me without even thinking to ask questions."

"What did you even do to us," Arthur asked.

"I froze you all in time," Olivia said. "Your bodies, at least. Your heads are free, obviously."

"Impossible," most of the Order gasped.

"Anything is possible... when you're a mystic soul," Olivia smirked.

That bit of information hit the Order like a ton of bricks. Dumbledore's eyes seemed to widen in both horror and shock. Moody looked like he really wanted to hex her even more than before. Kingsley looked to be fighting laughter as he saw all their faces. The rest of the Order was either shocked, scared, or confused since they probably had no idea what a mystic soul was.

"This is a pensive-worthy memory for sure," Sirius laughed.

That was when the Order finally noticed that Sirius was the only one other than Olivia who was not frozen.

"Sirius, do something about this intruder," Molly ordered as if she had a right to.

"Why would I do something about her," Sirius asked, speaking as if he was talking to an idiot, which he was. "I invited her."

The Order was once again shocked. Sirius contacted a mystic soul to aid them. How did he even know any? There haven't been any seen mystic souls in magical Britain in decades. There were rumors of two of them being born into two "dark" families. But they were never confirmed.

"Good thing he did, because you are all looking pretty useless from what I've learned," Olivia snickered.

"My dear girl, you don't know what you're talking about," Dumbledore tried to scold her.

"Don't call me that," Olivia glared at him. "I'm not your 'dear' anything. I am Miss. Gardna to you, Dumb-as-a-door."

Sirius had to hand it to the Gardna family. They were probably the sassiest group of people that he had ever met and he loved it. Most of the Order did not share his feelings as they all looked greatly insulted by how she just insulted the headmaster. All of them but Kingsley and Remus, anyway.

"Olivia, here, obviously sees how what you are doing is not helping at all," Sirius says.

"As if you can talk, mutt," Snape sneered. "You're the most useless person any of us have ever met."

"At least I got us an ally," Sirius smirked. "You barely say anything at any Order meeting. Some spy you are, never getting any useful information."

"Here's some useful information for you," Olivia looked at Snape. "There is this amazing invention known as shampoo. You should try it sometime."

Sirius did not even hold back his laughter at that time. He nearly fell out of his seat he laughed so hard. Remus and Kingsley were not much better, but being frozen helped them stay upright.

"Oh, man," Sirius slowly got his composure back. "I love your family."

"Gardna's are known for being sassy," Olivia smirked. "By the way, Kingsley, you're son says 'hi' and we can't wait for your next visit."

"He speaks very highly of your cousins, Council Member Gardna," Kingsley smiled at her.

Olivia facepalmed. "I became a member of the council four years ago and I still forget that people will call me that outside of the other council members. Please, Kingsley, call me Olivia."

"Of course," Kingsley smiled again.

"Kingsley, you know her," Tonks asked.

"You have a son," Hestia gasped.

"Indeed, I do know her and I do have a son," Kingsley tells them. "His name is T'challa and he goes to school with Olivia's cousins."

"I like him for the single fact that he takes no nonsense from nobody," Olivia giggled.

"I understand that Sirius invited you, but how did he and why are you even here," McGonagall asked.

"How did you even get in here with the Fidelius Charm still in place," Emmaline asked, or rather just demanded an answer.

"I am a mystic soul," Olivia said. "You really think your pathetic wand-user spells have any effect on us? I easily used my powers to get past your silly little charm. As for why I am here, Sirius thought that I would be able to help you actually do something against your little dark lord."

"Little' dark lord," Tonks yelled. "He's the darkest wizard in the world."

"Again, to you wand-users," Olivia rolled her eyes. "All I would have to do to defeat him is flick my hands at him. Exhibit A."

To prove her point, Olivia noted a bowl of fake fruit that was used to decorate the table, even if the display also had no color to it. She flicked her hands at it and the bowl immediately exploded in a small explosion of fire and energy. The Order all looked shocked, getting even more scared of the blond girl.

"Maybe give them a little run-down of your powers, Olivia," Sirius said.

Olivia nodded. "My powers are known as time magic. Not only can I create portals to any time or place that I wish, but I can also alter time around anything I wish. You see that I can freeze objects and people in time, called molecular immobilization. What I just did to that bowl was speed up the time of it to the point of combustion, called molecular combustion. It is a very rare power that only shows up in select mystic souls every few generations."

Sirius could only smirk as he saw the envy shining in Dumbledore's eyes. While most of magical Britain hated mystic souls because they were simply afraid of them, he knew that Dumbledore hated them because even on his best day, he could never even hope to win in a fight against one. In his mind, he was the most powerful wizard in the world and anyone that threatened that status was an enemy to him.

"I always thought your family was very powerful," Kingsley complimented Olivia.

"Thank you, Kingsley," Olivia smiled at him.

"What do you mean, Kingsley," Tonks asked him.

"Olivia is a member of the Gardna family," Kingsley explained after he got a nod from Olivia, telling him that he could explain. "They are a very ancient and powerful family that dates back to the time of ancient Greece. Mostly, they are known for being cool-headed but were also the fiercest of warriors when angered. Magically speaking, all generations of Gardna mystics have been known for how powerful they are. Jax and Selena, bless their hearts, were a very powerful nature witch and animal wizard when they were alive."

"Yes, that's my aunt and uncle for you," Olivia gave a sad smile. "They were both very powerful. Everyone in my family has been. My own mother and father certainly are even as they get up there in age."

"Your family sounds a lot more fun than mine," Sirius chuckled.

Olivia then looked at the Order, still frozen.

"Alright, you've all seen what I can do," she said. "I am going to unfreeze you and we are going to have a little chat. If you try to attack me, you'll be frozen again. Do I make myself clear?"

The Order reluctantly nodded. With a wave of her hand, they all unfroze. Moody looked to want to immediately attack her, but Dumbledore shook his head. The retired Auror grumbled as he sat down. Olivia sat down next to Sirius, him letting her sit at the head of the table. Kingsley sat down on her other side. The rest of the Order all sat back down as well.

"I asked Olivia to come because she has faced a lot of evil in the past so I thought she could help us against Voldemort," Sirius said.

Not to mention help his godson.

Olivia noticed most of them flinch at the sound of the dark lord's name. She only rolled her eyes as she saw that.

"As a mystic soul, I have been facing demons for years," she started. "Most of them were very powerful and have taken many lives in the past. Bounty Hunter demons, Mirror demons, Furies, Shapeshifter demons. You name it, I've probably fought it. I have also fought a number of warlocks, evil witches and wizards, as well we a good amount of evil creatures. Also, as a member of the Greek magic council, I have a wide range of law knowledge as well in case it is needed."

"The magic what," Arthur was confused.

"The Magic Council is the main government body in mystic soul communities," Olivia explained. "Made up of twelve elected officials, just like there are twelve Olympian gods. Other than us, there are also the heads of each department with their deputy heads as well as the council of the theós and theá for the families. Translated it means the god or goddess for each family, but it is just the term we use for the head of our family. I am not the head of my family, but I am the proxy until the real heads reach the proper age."

"That certainly sounds like a better system than our own ministry," Sirius says.

"It would definitely make it harder for officials to be bribed like everyone knows that Fudge is," Kingsley said. "Be hard to bribe over half of that council at once to get what you want."

"There had never been a case of corruption in the council for many centuries," Olivia says. "Everyone elected is chosen because they represent the noblest, honorable, and most kind-hearted people in the country. We make sure everything runs as smoothly as it can."

"Yep, definitely better than Fudge," Sirius said.

"So, tell me what you have been doing to fight against this... Voldemort guy," Olivia put her hands together and looked at them with a very serious expression, ignoring them flinching again.

"Well, we have been trying to get the word out of You-Know-Who's return," Tonks was the first to speak up. "Most people are not believing it and only listening to Minister Fudge telling everyone that there is nothing to worry about. Especially with the Daily Prophet saying that Headmaster Dumbledore is just a delusional old man and that Harry is just an attention-seeking brat."

"Recruitment is also down since few people believe," McGonagall added. "Miss. Tonks, the elder Mister's Weasleys, and Mr.Shacklebolt are the only new recruits that we could get." 

"So, you have corrupt politicians sticking their heads in the sand because they want to believe that things are all sunshine and rainbows," Olivia summarized. "Idiots. Well, have you done anything to prove them wrong? Show memories of Voldemort's return, capture one of his known followers and interrogate him, look through newspaper articles to see if they did anything in the mundane world?"

They all flinch at the name again. It was now getting really annoying to the time mage.

"Well... not exactly," Diggle admitted.

"What have you been doing," Olivia spoke in her 'don't give me any nonsense' voice.

"Our main priority is a guarding a very dangerous object in the ministry that Voldemort wants," Dumbledore tells her, everyone flinching at the name again. "Only he and Harry are able to get it, so we must keep it safe and out of Voldemort's hands. He may not want to be revealed as of the moment, but he will not stay like that for long. If he gets it, it could shift the entire outcome of this war."

"Ever thought about just taking it out of the ministry or simply destroying it," Olivia thought either idea was better than just guarding whatever it was.

"We can not do that," Dumbledore says, but did not offer any reason why.

"And why not," Olivia narrowed her eyes. "Either of those options would be a lot easier since Voldemort is still in hiding. It would also keep your members from endangering their lives by guarding whatever that object it."

"We just simply can't," Dumbledore once again did not offer any details.

"So, what I am hearing is that you're all just doing nothing useful at all," Olivia stated bluntly.

Most of the Order looked greatly insulted by her statement. But from what Sirius could see, both Kingsley and Remus seemed to be on the same page as himself. They all agreed with her. That the Order was not doing enough.

"You do not know what you're talking about," Molly glared at the time mage.

"I know plenty," Olivia says. "You are all on the defensive side of this war. You are only reacting and not acting. You have people that work in your Auror office. Have them work to get proof that there are Death Eaters out there so you can throw them in jail. You have respected teachers. Teach your students about the dangers of this world and have them able to defend themselves. You have access to the person that saw Voldemort come back. Send his memories to every newspaper in the country to reveal the truth. Actually do something instead of sitting on your butts and twiddling your thumbs. I've seen trolls do more than you people."

"You've known the family for longer than us," Remus whispered to Kingsley. "Are all of them as blunt and sassy as her?"

"This isn't even the sassiest that I have seen a Gardna be," Kingsley responded. "My son is best friends with her cousins and those two are about as sassy and sarcastic as a witch and wizard could be."

The Order was greatly insulted. They didn't even know this girl and she was already insulting everything they were doing and treating Dumbledore as if he was an idiot. Didn't she know that he was the great wizard alive?

"We are doing the best we can," McGonagall tries to make them sound competent.

"No, you obviously are not," Olivia argued. "You're basically doing nothing. As a time mage, I have seen more wars than most of you have had birthdays. Never have I ever seen anybody do as little as you people in times of war. Even if you do not want to go out and attack people, there are non-violent ways to get Death Eaters off the streets. Get proof of them bribing officials, convince the goblins to confiscate their money, arrest them for any crime you can prove that they are guilty of. Really, anything other than sitting on your butts like you've been doing." 

Sirius would forever remember this day. The day that someone finally gave Dumbledore and the Order a good verbal smackdown. But if anyone tried to insult her, it might result in a physical smackdown as well.

"I am in agreement," Kingsley said, shocking the Order. "We need to do more. Olivia brought up some good points. Like whatever we are guarding in the Ministry. Dumbledore, you said that only Harry or You-Know-Who could remove it. So Olivia's suggestion of having Harry remove it so that we can either hide it or destroy it is the perfect plan to keep it from You-Know-Who's hands."

"Finally, a British wizard with common sense," Olivia celebrated. "You do not meet them that often."

"As much as I want to keep Harry safe, he would be more than happy to do anything he could to help," Sirius says. "He has faced and defeated Voldemort five times. That is five times more than most others can say. Harry would gladly do anything to gain any type of win against him."

Dumbledore had to fight the urge to growl. This woman, Olivia Gardna, was throwing a giant monkey wrench into his well-constructed plans. She was ruining everything by making it look like they were doing nothing. But this was all part of his plans. He was the next Merlin and only he could make good plans. Everyone else just needed to follow his plans and then everything will be how they need to be. Once Harry died fighting Voldemort, he would step in to defeat him and gain the glory that was rightfully his. Then he could finally start ridding the world of all those horrible dark wizards and Slytherins. Light magic was the only magic that should exist. 

"We can not remove it," Dumbledore says firmly, fighting not to yell. "Leaving there will keep us one step ahead of Voldemort because we know that he wants it but would have to reveal himself to get it."

"That makes no sense," Olivia stated. "Just remove whatever it was secretly so that Voldemort still believes that it is there. It's not rocket science, people. Not everything needs to be so needlessly complicated. This is war, sometimes the most simple of plans are the best ones."

"My dear girl, we simply can not do that," Dumbledore provided no reasoning at all.

Olivia was about to argue some more when the nearby fireplace burst into flames. A woman's head appeared in the fire. Olivia could not help but stare at the head in the fire. Mystic souls did not have the floo, so this was the first time that she had ever seen it in action. And if she was honest with herself, it was one of the strangest things that she had ever seen. And that says a lot when she had seen some very odd things throughout all the time period that she had been to.

"Albus," Sirius recognized the voice and the face of Mrs.Figg, the squib that Dumbledore had watching over Harry since he was a baby. "Dementors were just at Private Drive and attacked Harry and his cousin."

"WHAT," Sirius yelled.

"Things have just gotten a lot harder than we needed them to be," Olivia thought to herself.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: Picking Up Harry

Sirius had half a mind to storm Private Drive and bring Harry to Number 12 himself. The other half of his mind wanted him to strangle Dumbledore with his own beard. He was just about ready to scream at everyone that they were meant to keep Harry safe yet this had just happened right under their noses.

It was not soon enough after Figg flooed them that Hedwig flew into the kitchen. Letters were delivered to Sirius, Remus, Ron, and Hermione.

In the letters to Sirius and Remus, Harry explained what had happened and begged them to get him out of there. He said that his uncle was angry about the attack and he did not feel safe. Harry never specifically said anything about abuse, but both Sirius and Remus were sure he was being abused, so this just made them want Harry out of there even sooner. Sirius looked at Olivia and she seemed to get the silent message that he sent her.

After the letters had been distributed everyone had started shouting out again. They were all panicked. It really annoyed Sirius just how these people acted. They didn't seem to care about Harry most of the time, but whenever anything happened they acted like he meant the world to them. Did none of them realize just how blatantly fake they seemed to be to anyone who bothered to look?

Olivia quickly stood up as the others started to panic. If there was one thing that being a mystic soul has taught her, is that you need to remain calm in any situation you face. You can't panic when going against demons or it is more than likely that you will die. Plus, she was a time mage. She needed to make decisions quickly or any disaster could cause all of time to come undone.

Sirius summoned some parchment and quill and quickly wrote out a letter telling Harry to stay where he was and that he was doing everything he could to get him out of there. He begged Harry to be patient with him just a little bit longer, swearing that if the others didn't move quickly enough then he would be coming for him. Remus added his agreement with Sirius's plan. Sirius also wrote to expect someone that he never met and gave some small details about Olivia in order to make her known to his godson

With that done Sirius and Remus went and stood around the table and waited. Dumbledore had left to get to the ministry to deal with anything else that could cause problems. He would be arriving back at Number 12 soon. Others had left as well, probably going to the ministry as well to see if Dumbledore might need to use their positions there.

Molly was going on about how Harry shouldn't have had to deal with something like this, he was only a little boy. That got her looks from Sirius and Remus, who knew that after everything that Harry had been through, a little boy was the last thing that he was. McGonagall, Arthur, Hestia, and Emmaline were talking about what the ministry was going to do and what Dumbledore would do in response. 

Fred and George and the other three kids were standing near the door. After all the panic started, the kids had all entered the door since the ministry employee Order members left it open when they had left. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were quietly talking with each other, Harry's letters to his supposed friends were ignored.

Dumbledore then returned.

"What's going on? Dementors, how could that happen," was asked by more than a few people in fearful voices when they saw him.

"Arabella, if you would explain what you know," Dumbledore waved to the crazy cat lady that was sitting nervously at the edge of her seat.

She had come with Dumbledore when he had come back.

"Just after 9 o'clock Mr. Tibbles, one of my cats, came to warn me that something was wrong," she explained. "After finishing cutting the lawn Harry had gone inside for dinner, Mundungus, who was supposed to be on guard duty, figured he would be inside for the rest of the night so he popped off to meet with one of his suppliers. And we all see where he is right now."

Sirius glared at the thief. He did find it odd that he was here and not watching over Harry when they had been having their meeting. But he had thought that Harry had just been being watched over by another Order member since Dumbledore did not like Harry not being watched.

"I will deal with him later," Sirius angrily thought as he glared at him and Dumbledore.

"I was warned when Harry left the house again and went out looking for him," Figg continued. "I wandered around the neighborhood trying to figure out where Harry would go. I eventually found them, but I only got there in time to see Harry force the creatures away from himself and his cousin. I escorted them both home and then reported right to you."

"This never would have happened if Harry was with people that actually cared about him," Sirius growled.

"Not now, Sirius," Dumbledore shushed the fugitive.

"You should know headmaster, my position is now known," Fig says. "Harry knows I was assigned to watch over him by you. I would have tried to make up some other excuse, but there just wasn't any time and I was so shocked by what had just happened." 

The woman finished her report with a dejected look, she felt like she had failed, Harry was never supposed to know about her. That was what Dumbledore always told her. Harry was to be kept in the dark about her or he might try and get answers from her that he was not allowed to have.

"Thank you for the report, Arabella, I fully understand your actions," Dumbledore tells her. "As much as I might wish that your position was still secret it was more important to get Harry to safety. I will just have to make a few adjustments to account for this change. Now that everyone knows what has happened I can inform you that Cornelius has ordered Harry's expulsion." 

It was like there was an explosion in the kitchen as everyone started shouting. Dumbledore had to set off a few loud bangs with his wand to get everyone's attention. 

"I should not be surprised that even the government here is full of idiots," Olivia muttered, Kingsley trying not to laugh as he stood next to her.

"Thankfully I was able to get to the ministry quickly and remind them that they didn't actually have the ability to expel a student from Hogwarts," Dumbledore said. "Harry will instead be facing charges of underage magic, but I will handle it to ensure he isn't punished."

Sirius tried not to growl when he saw how everyone relaxed at this. These people really were fools. Didn't they understand just how that man was manipulating the situation? If the ministry followed the law then Harry wouldn't be punished, either way, he had every right to defend himself. Not to mention that there wasn't all that much he could do, over the last month Dumbledore had lost almost every position of power he had once held, all he had left was his position of headmaster.

"I will help him, Sirius," Olivia tells the jungle dog mage. "I may not have as much sway here as I do in Greece, I know how to work around idiotic politicians."

"Good, because that is pretty much every member of the of the ministry," Sirius says to her.

"I am going to need a headache potion again, aren't I," she asked.

"You have no idea," Sirius responded.

Dumbledore was off on another topic by the time the two turned their attention back to the rest of the Order.

"Alastor, if you would please work up a plan to bring Harry here. I think it would be best if he stayed here for the rest of the summer," his eyes twinkled as almost everyone in the room started offering to be a part of the team to get Harry. Harry will probably want to spend a few more days with his family after this shock, so I would recommend you take a few days to plan. I figure 2 or 3 days will be enough for both you and him."

"HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST WHAT LITTLE SANITY YOU HAD," Sirius was on his feet and shouting at the man before he even realized it, taking pleasure at the shock on the man's face at being talked to in such a way. "Mad-Eye, you have less than 24 hours to have my godson here. If Harry is not sitting next to me at breakfast by tomorrow then I will be going to get him myself. And I will not be bringing him back here when I do. I think Harry might enjoy the chance to be like any other kid and do a bit of traveling for his holidays. Since Olivia seems to have a lot of common sense, unlike most of you, maybe Greece would be a good choice to bring Harry. He deserves to have a good summer vacation."

Olivia had to admit it, she liked seeing someone else calling out such blatant stupidity. Plus, it helped that she agreed with Sirius. Even from little they had told her about Harry, telling her that Harry should be able to tell her things himself, she could tell that leaving him at his relative's was a horrible decision. And considering that she had never met him before and knows that, that says something.

"Are you threatening to kidnap Harry, you have no right..." Molly snarled as she shot to her feet.

"I have EVERY right." Sirius snapped back. "Harry is my godson. I, and only I, have any legal right to decide where he stays. It would seem trusting the Headmaster was a mistake, one I have no intention of making again. Not now or ever again."

"How dare you..." Molly started before Dumbledore himself interrupted her.

"Sirius, my boy, I understand that you are worried, but this is going to take time..." Dumbledore hated being questioned.

"Are you kidding me," Sirius threw his arms up. "You just said that Harry was attacked. Those vaunted wards you go on and on about have clearly failed. Maybe that might have something to do with the fact that you claim they are powered by blood and love, even though there is absolutely no love for, or from, Harry in that hell hole. You said Harry would want to spend time with his relatives! Every time Harry has ever talked about them, he has preached how much he hates them. He doesn't want to stay with them, he wants to get out of there as fast as humanly and magically possible. Alongside that, it means that Harry's location is compromised. And your response is to leave him in an unsecured area after an attempt on his life? What else am I supposed to think except that you have completely lost it!"

"I wish I had some popcorn," Olivia thought to herself. "Anyone talking down to these buffoons is more entertaining than any show on television."

"Sirius is right. He could have been a little more... diplomatic, but he is still right." Remus added as soon as Sirius finished, unlike his friend he kept his tone calm, although his eyes kept flashing amber as his wolf reacted to his cub being in danger. "This was most likely done by someone in the ministry since they are the ones that currently have control of the dementors. Now, whoever it was might be satisfied with Harry being charged, or they might not. Even if they are, and don't try to attack him again, there is no doubt that Fudge will at some time mention this to the likes of Malfoy who will scurry back to his master. If Malfoy learns anything about this he will easily be able to get Fudge to give up the address and then Voldemort will go after Harry too."

There were more than a few shrieks, as there always were whenever Voldemort's name was mentioned, but these were quickly overtaken by the panic as those at the table realized just how much danger Harry was in.

"The wards are still working fine, my boys." Dumbledore tried to placate Sirius and Remus as he couldn't have them working the rest of the Order up. "Harry was attacked after he had left the house. So long as he stays within the house he is protected. No Death Eater can pass the wards."

"You can't honestly expect Harry to remain a prisoner in that house with those muggles, do you," Sirius glared at the headmaster. "How have Harry's words not reached you, yet? Harry has said time and time again that he hates it there. He doesn't ever even call it home. He calls it Durzkaban because to him, it feels just as bad as he thinks Azkaban would. Does that seriously not ring any alarm bells for you!"

Alarm bells certainly rang in Olivia's head. Her fingers twitched as she felt the urge to blow something up with her powers. Children were sacred to mystics. It was not just a law in the magical world, it was their way of life to treat every magical child like they were nothing less than a blessing from Lady Magic herself.

Before there was anymore shouting and arguing, Kingsley decided that there was enough of that and whistled. It was loud enough to make the arguing stop and for all of the attention to be turned to the tall Auror.

"I do believe that we are wasting time," he stated, his deep voice booming around the kitchen. "Sirius, with your permission, I will go and collect Harry with Olivia and Remus. We will make sure he is safe."

"I would be more than happy to help," Olivia smirked but kept her hands ready in case she needed to use her powers.

"Please, Kingsley," Sirius was now very thankful for him being in the Order. "If I know Harry, he will be both angry and extremely anxious by the time you get there. Approach with caution."

"We will, Sirius," Kingsley says.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Remus said.

Dumbledore saw him losing control, especially since two of his Order members were openly ignoring his order for them to wait to pick Harry up. He needed Harry at Private Drive in order to keep Harry beaten down and starving for love. It was the best way to have control of him.

"My boys, Harry needs time..." he tried.

"What Harry needs is to be safe," Sirius cut him off. "Harry knows to expect those that he doesn't know, but he still will be on high alert after what just happened."

"It's one of the reasons why I chose Remus to come with us," Kingsley said. "Harry knows him so it will make it easier for him to relax around us."

"We will just need to act quickly," Remus says.

"Well, do I need to remind you, people, that I can create portals," Olivia said. "And it is impossible for my magic to be tracked. What's Harry's address, Sirius?"

"He lives at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging in Surrey," Sirius tells her.

Olivia nods and waved her hand. A portal opened up behind them. Ignoring Dumbledore's protests, the three of them stepped through.

*****

Harry was furious as he sat in his tiny room. This was just another crappy summer in a series of crappy summers. After having to watch Cedric almost die and the rebirth of the monster that murdered his parents, Harry had once again been shipped off back to Durzkaban. At least he had Sirius and Remus writing to him. He thought he would have lost his mind without them. 

Ron and Hermione didn't even seem to try to let him know anything. Instead, they only ever talked about was themselves. It was also clear that they were together. Harry tried not to get too angry, but the resentment had been steadily growing with each letter. He almost even stopped writing to them completely because of how they responded. 

In the end, Harry was just angry. After everything he had been through, he was once again being treated like a kid, and he hadn't been a kid for a very long time.

Now Harry was once again locked in his room. His aunt and uncle had been furious when Harry had managed to get Dudley in the house and learned about what had happened. Not that he completely understood why since it was only because of him that they did not have a soulless shell of a person for a son. He had gotten a howler from the ministry telling him he had been expelled from Hogwarts. When he had sent letters to everyone who had been writing to him this summer, only Sirius and Remus had written him back, but he had kinda expected that.

Thankfully he had been informed that he wasn't completely expelled in another letter, but was going to have to defend himself to the ministry. It was just another thing he was going to have to deal with. He was going to have to talk to Remus and Sirius about getting some more in-depth information on the laws in their world since the law books he had were just a basic overview and didn't have detailed information on underage magic laws.

But all of his thoughts were put on hold when a swirl of blue and white energy appeared in his room. He instantly had his wand in his hand and aimed it at the portal. Shocked would be one hell of an understatement when a woman he had never met before, a tall black man that oozed authority, and his old Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher walked out of the portal.

"Hello, Harry," the woman smiled at him, not bothered by the wand aimed at her chest. "My name is Olivia. I believe Sirius told you that I was coming."

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: Harry Arrives

If you had asked Harry yesterday if a woman would ever appear in his room after walking out of a swirl of blue and white energy, he would have looked at you like you had suddenly grown two heads. But that was before that actually happened. And the fact that she knew his name, and apparently also knew Sirius, just added to his shock.

"Who are you," Harry demanded, not moving his wand away at all. 

"Like I just said, my name is Olivia," Olivia still smiled. "I am not here to hurt you."

"I have no reason to believe you," Harry glared at her.

"I could tell you a great number of things that could make you trust me," Olivia says. "But how about Remus just take things from here."

The werewolf understood what she means. If she were to say anything that she learned through her powers or through Sirius, Harry would question her. And they did not have the time for that. They needed to get out of there as fast as possible before the muggles woke up or the ministry came to do who knows what.

"Harry, she really is trustworthy," Remus says. "And this is Kingsley Shacklebolt. He's another friend."

"How do I know it's really you," Harry now aimed his wand at Remus.

"I like this kid," Kingsley said. "Moody would definitely be proud of how caution he is."

"My nickname is Moony, your dad was Prongs, Sirius is Padfoot, and the traitor is Wormtail," Remus tells Harry.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Harry lowered his wand and put it away. He quickly hugged Remus, holding him tightly.

"I don't have to stay any longer, do I," Harry asked.

"There is a reason my portal is still open," Olivia smirked.

"Seriously, who are you," Harry still did not know anything about this woman other than her name.

"You'll learn more about me as we try and fix the very broken system of this country," Olivia says.

She walked back through her portal.

"She's not from around here, is she," Harry asked Remus, having noticed her accent.

"She's from Greece," Remus tells him. "Sirius contacted her because she, like myself and Kingsley, do not see Dumbledore actually doing much to counteract Voldemort."

"I like her already," Harry snickered.

He grabbed his trunk and Hedwig's cage and followed Remus and Kingsley through Olivia's portal. Since she had gone through already, Harry did not see much reason to think that it was a trap. Plus, Olivia also seemed to have the same mischievous look in her eye that Sirius and Remus always had. Like they knew how to cause trouble and get away with it. But Harry was also glad to finally get away from the horrible muggles that he was forced to live with.

*****

Harry stumbled out of the portal. Olivia caught him before he could fall onto the floor.

"I apologize for that," she smiled at him. "My portals can be a little hard to get used to when you're a first-time user of them. Most people I know use their own methods of teleportation, so I tend to forget about those that have to use my portals."

"It's fine," Harry tells her. "They are definitely a lot better than portkeys and the Knightbus. Both of those make my stomach want to jump out of my body."

"I will never understand wand-user ways of transportation," Olivia shook her head.

Harry will have to remember to ask her about that. She said "wand-user" but he always thought that wands were the only way magic could be done. Especially since he had heard that wandless magic was very rare and very hard to do. But it also made him remember that from the moment he saw her come out of her portal, there was no wand in her hand. She could have put it away before using her portal, but something told him that was not the case.

"Harry," Sirius said, gaining his attention.

Harry looked behind Olivia. "Sirius."

Harry was almost instantly in his godfather's arms, hugging the life out of him and holding on so tight that not even a crowbar would be able to separate them. Sirius was the first adult in his entire life that had shown how much he cared for Harry Potter and not the Boy-Who-Lived or the son of Lily and James Potter. Sirius cared because he was his godfather and genuinely loved him.

Harry was also glad to see that Sirius had been taking better care of himself now that he was in a house of his own and not hiding inside of caves or abandoned shacks. He now looked clean, freshly shaved, and better dressed. Harry knew that Sirius was doing everything to make himself into the person that he believed that he deserved. That he did not deserve a mostly insane fugitive godfather that could not even take care of himself. Harry nearly broke down when Sirius had told him that everything he did was for him in one of the letters he sent to him.

"I missed you, pup," Sirius holds him.

"I missed you too, Sirius," Harry still did not let go.

Olivia smiled as she watched the two. This was how her cousins treated her. She was nine years older than Krinos and Melody, so she had been fourteen when their parents had died. But even at such a young age, she took care of them as best as she could with her own parents as well. To lose your parents was a horrible thing, especially at a young age. You feel like you never got to know them properly, like you can hardly love any other adult because it makes you feel like you're replacing your parents, like you don't know what else to do with your life without their love and encouragement. But as she looked at the scene of love between godfather and godson, she knew that those two were going to be just what they needed for one another.

"Harry, dear," Mrs.Weasley looked to also be expecting a hug, but Harry remained in his godfather's arms.

Mrs.Weasley's eyes slightly twitched in irritation. She did not like Sirius and she never would. He may be innocent, but a fugitive was hardly the most appropriate guardian for Harry. Sirius was obviously unstable and not fit at all to care for a child. He also was very immature and would constantly use those incredibly childish nicknames, insults she assumes, for Professor Snape. He also was almost always arguing with Headmaster Dumbledore. He was the greatest wizard alive and did not deserve any backtalk from a nobody like Sirius Black. Plus, Dumbledore agreed with her about how Sirius was not a fit guardian for Harry and never will be. He needed people that would keep him on the right path and not rebel against those that clearly know what is best for him.

Harry knew that Mrs.Weasley believed that she had the right to mother him. She believes that she has the right to mother everyone. But that was one of the things that Harry did not about her. She was completely overbearing and never let anyone share their opinions without screaming what she believes should be their opinions. She was like Hermione in that regard. Like she could not handle that other people have different opinions than her own and constantly shoved her beliefs and opinions down their throats to force them to think like her.

He also did not like how she obviously played favorites with her children. She always treats Ron, Ginny, and Percy different from Fred, George, Charlie, and Bill. She babies them all, but also never stops berating the twins, Bill, and Charlie for almost everything about them. Like constantly telling Bill and Charlie to cut their long hair, to take jobs at the ministry, and to just settle down with a girl. With the twins, it is like they can never do anything right in her eyes. She is always yelling at them for one thing or another. She also had no faith in their dream of opening a joke shop. The twins work day and night, from weeks to months, testing dozens of versions of their pranks for their shop, and yet she ruins it whenever she destroys their joke products when she finds them.

"You must be starving, pup," Sirius said. "I doubt those muggles fed you as much as you deserve, so let's get some meat on those bones of yours."

"While I still have bones," Harry chuckled. "Never know if someone else will pull another Lockhart and remove all the bones in one of my body parts again."

"That man should never have been a teacher," Sirius shook his head. "Whoever hired him must have been either drunk or doing drugs since he was clearly incompetent from everything you told me, pup."

"The only thing that Lockhart knew how to teach was how to run away," Harry snickered. "Also, never unleash a cage of Cornish Pixies in a classroom."

"As I said, incompetent," Sirius shook his head.

He leads Harry into the kitchen, the other kids and other Order members still there. Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley were the only adults there that were not Weasleys. All the other members had left for one reason or another. Hagrid, Snape, and McGonagall probably all went back to Hogwarts.

Sirius sat at the head of the table as he had been. Harry saw that Ron and Hermione left a seat open between them with Ginny across from the seat. He knew that was meat for him, but he smiled as he sat in the seat on Sirius's right. Remus sat down on his other side while Olivia sat on Sirius's left.

Mrs.Weasley looked to want to start cooking, but Olivia beat her to it.

"Harry has arrived and is at this table, so set this scene with all that is able," Olivia cast.

Small flashed erupted over the table and food instantly appeared. Everyone gasped as it all appeared in from of them. Harry noticed that a lot of it was his favorite food. Such as Yorkshire pudding, steak pie, cheddar cheese scones, and roast pork with apple sauce. There were also dishes that he had always wanted to try but they were not served at Hogwarts nor did he ever get to eat it at the muggles. Like pizza, chicken tikka masala, chicken parmesan, and a big plate of American-style cheeseburgers. There were also plenty of different sodas to drink as well.

"Wow," Harry gasped, looking at Olivia. "How'd you do that?"

"Don't eat any of it," Hermione ordered in her 'bossy know-it-all' voice. "The laws of Transfiguration says that food can not be made."

"Not when it's my magic," Olivia smirked. "Wand-users can not conjure food, but my kind certainly can. Quite well, I add."

"This is the second time you've said 'wand-users," Harry said. "What do you mean by that? Aren't wands the only way to use magic?"

"My kind, others like me, are known as mystic souls, Harry," Olivia explained. "My people are born with a different magical core that is what gave us our name. We are known to have special powers that make us more powerful than those that use wands. There are no two mystic souls in a single generation that have the same powers. A lot of us do, however, have powers handed down through our families. My family, for example, has had a lot of mystic souls in it that have powers over nature."

"What about you," Harry was intrigued by what she was saying. 

"I am a time mage," Olivia says. "Which means that I have powers over time. I can manipulate the time around others, travel through time using my portals, and I can even view events of the future and past through time windows."

"That's incredible," Harry gasped. "But what about all this food?"

"Mystic souls use different types of spells than wand-users," Olivia explained. "Mostly it's just two lines that happen to rhyme. It's why we can never read poems out loud. You never know what would happen if you do."

Sirius, Harry, Remus, and Kingsley laughed at that. Sirius and Kingsley certainly have experienced that downside before.

"Did Sirius tell you about what I would like to eat," Harry started piling food onto his plate.

"I actually didn't, pup," Sirius tells his godson.

"It's all in the wording of the spell," Olivia says. "With how I worded it, the spell automatically summoned what you would want to eat. It's all part of the wonder that is being a mystic soul. Hehe."

"You are quite the intriguing person, Olivia," Harry said, savoring the pizza that he was eating.

"I try," Olivia giggled.

Hermione huffed. "You should not lie like that. Wandless magic is rare and it is impossible to do it so effortlessly."

Olivia turned to look at the bushy-haired girl, narrowing her eyes.

"There are plenty of mystic souls that would be very much in their right to curse you for insulting them like that," she said. "This may be wandless magic to you. But to me, it is simply the magic that I use. Just because you do not believe in my powers does not make them any less real."

Harry smirked into his soda as he took a drink. Finally, someone standing up to Hermione's annoying belief that she is always right. It got on his nerves more times than he can count. It was about time that someone let her known that she is not always right. Not that she will listen to whoever is telling her that since she only ever listens when it is something that she wants to hear.

"So, I take it from your accent that you're not exactly from around here," Harry regained Olivia's attention.

"Correct, young mage," Olivia giggled. "I was born and raised in Greece. The mystic soul community is quite large in my country. The United States, Egypt, Italy, and Japan also have their own flourishing mystic souls as well. But we are just as common as wand-users."

"I am surprised I haven't met any already, then," Harry says.

"Well, you probably know by now that your ministry is filled with corrupt idiots that care only about themselves and other rich 'purebloods," Olivia said, Harry nodding. "Mystic souls have been born here, but since your ministry is so corrupt, they are usually either killed or have left the country soon after discovering their powers."

"Since they are always so afraid of those with power, it does make sense that they would be so paranoid about mystic souls," Sirius says. "Taking you as an example, Olivia, you could probably wipe out the entire Auror force on your own. No offense, Kingsley."

"None taken, Sirius," the Auror shrugged. "I do have to agree with you. Especially since Fudge has been decreasing the Auror Department's budget every year since he was elected. There's barely enough for all of us to be paid."

"Like I have been saying, corrupt idiots that care only about themselves," Olivia stated. "I'd vanquish them if it wouldn't be considered murder."

"So, Sirius," Harry turned to his godfather. "What is this place, anyway?"

"This is the London townhouse that my family owns," Sirius tells him. "This is where I grew up. Unfortunately, you will probably have to deal with my mother's screaming. Her portrait is hanging by the stairs and she tends to wail louder than a banshee whenever anyone wakes her up."

"Oh god, I hate banshees," Olivia complained. "Their screams give me such headaches."

"You've met banshees," Harry's eyes widen.

Olivia nodded. "I had to deal with them quite a bit when I was younger. Since they are attracted to those in deep sorrow, I had to fight them off after my aunt and uncle were killed."

Sirius's eyes widened in realization. "Krinos?"

Olivia nodded again. "He was with them when it happened, so it affected him more than Melody and myself."

"One, I am sorry for your loss," Harry says. "Two, who are Krinos and Melody?"

"They're my cousins," Olivia explains. "Krinos and Melody are twins, about your age actually. Krinos can control nature and Melody has powers over music."

"They sound cool," Harry would be more than happy to gain some actual friends.

"I am sure they would be more than happy to meet you," Olivia smiled.

"Anyway, Harry," Sirius got Harry's attention back. "Dumbledore has been using the house as headquarters for his group of anti-Moldyshorts people. Known as the Order of the Phoenix."

"Sirius Black," Mrs.Weasley yelled. "Harry is just a boy. Dumbledore said not to tell him anything that he does not need to know."

"Well, since he is going to be staying here for the rest of Summer, he should know why people keep coming and going," Sirius tried hard not to smirk as he gave her the perfect reason to tell Harry.

"So someone actually is doing something about that psycho," Harry thought that nothing was being done at all.

Olivia scoffed. "I wouldn't call what these idiots were doing as doing something about him. I've seen rock trolls move more than they do. It's why Sirius contacted me. So things can actually start getting done."

"Oh, Merlin," Harry shook his head.

If he was honest with himself, Harry would have been more surprised if something was actually being done. But he was pretty much used to the adults in his life never doing anything until it was too late. Or they simply never doing anything at all. It drove him crazy since he was usually the one picking up their slack, and that always put his life in danger. Why did he have to protect the Sorcerer's Stone? Why did he have to kill the basilisk? Why did he and Hermione have to travel back in time to save Sirius and Buckbeak? It is the adults that should be protecting their kids and students, not the other way around.

"But I am more than happy to lend a magical hand," Olivia smirked. "If I can spend most of my life vanquishing demons, one dark lord will be easy enough."

The Order members left in the house plus most of the teens were visibly annoyed or angry at Olivia. There was her constant insulting of what they were doing against Voldemort, even if her words say that they are not doing anything. They were also upset over how she treated Dumbledore like he was an idiot when they all knew that the man was basically the next Merlin and did not deserve to be treated like that.

Harry was getting more and more curious about Olivia. She certainly took no nonsense from anybody and definitely held nothing back when speaking her mind. Plus, her powers sounded really cool.

He was looking forward to getting to know her and her family.

Chapter Text

Chapter Six: Forming A Plan

"So, Sirius, why is this house so dirty, anyway," Harry looked around the still pretty filthy kitchen as they all ate.

"That bloody house-elf that was supposed to be taking care of this place lost his mind," Sirius shook his head. "He hasn't been doing anything since my parents died while I was in Azkaban. He has even been taking orders from my mum's portrait."

"I take it you never got along with him just like with the rest of your family," Harry guessed.

"He is a Black house-elf," Sirius scoffed. "That, pretty much, means that he could be as insane and evil as the human members of my family."

"I am suddenly very glad that I have not met any Black's beside you, Sirius," Harry said.

"Actually, Harry, you will find that most wizarding families are related in some way or another," Sirius tells Harry.

"What do you mean," Harry was curious.

"Well, as you know, a lot of the pureblood families want to keep themselves as 'pure' as possible," Remus says. "So they tend to only ever marry other purebloods. But that also lessens the number of purebloods that are not related to each other. They tend to think that marrying their second cousins is more acceptable than marrying a half-blood or a muggleborn."

"Take your father and me as an example," Sirius said. "James was actually my second cousin since his mother was Dorea Potter nee Black, who was my... great aunt, I think."

"So that means we are related as well," Harry thought that Sirius was just his godfather.

"It certainly does, pup," Sirius smiled and patted Harry on the shoulder. "And if my memory of the Black family tree is correct, we are also distantly related to the Weasleys because I think Arthur's mother is Cedrella Weasley nee Black. The Blacks have married into almost every other pureblood family in Britain." 

"With so many magical relatives, I should never have been sent to those horrible muggles," Harry grumbled.

Olivia eyed Harry as she took a drink. From what Sirius had told her and from what Krinos has managed to put together, Harry did not have the best home life. Sirius had told her that Harry had immediately jumped at the chance to live with him moments after he had learned that his godfather was an innocent man. That instantly rang alarm bells inside his head. He had thought that he was a murderer barely half an hour before and yet he still was so eager to live with him when he learned of his innocence. He may be his godfather, but Harry still did not really know him. So his instant excitement spoke volumes about his home life.

"Everyone wishes things were that simple," Olivia sighed. "As a member of my country's magic council, I see a lot of court cases involving families."

"What's a magic council," Tonks asked.

"It's the main government body of mystic souls communities all over the world," Olivia explained. "All mystic soul communities are run by their own magic councils. We are made up of twelve elected officials, representing the original twelve Olympian gods. I was twenty when I was elected, making me the youngest ever mystic soul to be a part of any council."

"That sounds a lot better than the idiot we currently have as minister," Kingsley grumbled as he ate. "He would rather stick his head in the sand than even consider that there might be a problem out there."

"Probably why your 'newspaper' has nothing on Voldemort in it," Olivia guessed.

"Not even just Voldemort," Kingsley says. "He's been like this ever since he was elected. It doesn't matter is if it about evil wizards, magical creatures, or even muggles. If there ever is a problem, he sticks his head in the sand and pretends that it's not there until it goes away. He is a peaceful times minister, so he has no clue how to handle actual problems. He's more concerned about lining his pockets, and his allies', with as much gold as he can."

"And here I thought that no one could be as bad as Bagnold," Sirius shook his head.

"Your previous minister, I am guessing," Olivia said.

"Yeah," Sirius says. "She was the minister during the last war. She might not have been the most competent, but she was the only one brave enough to be the minister at the time since all other possible candidates were too afraid of Voldemort to be in a seat of power."

"She did make a few good decisions, though," Remus remembered. "Like when she gave the Aurors permission to use more offensive spells against Death Eaters instead of just stunning or disarming them. It made fighting a lot easier."

"Back home, the Guards always have the right to use the necessary force," Olivia says. "But that is only if they see no other way. It usually results in some type of fight since magical criminals are not known for going quietly."

"Guards are your version of Aurors, right," Harry guessed. "Your form of magical police?"

"Right," Olivia answered. "Our current head of the Guards is Redus Guard. Yet there is no connection to him and the actual founder of the Guards. He has the power to create force fields and other protective shields."

"That's so cool," Harry said.

"Mystic souls come in all shapes, sizes, and powers," Olivia tells Harry. "No two mages in a single generation share the same powers. There are those with similar powers, but never that are the exact same."

"That is quite interesting," Remus said. "Has it always been like that or is it all just a coincidence?"

"Lady Hecate grants us our powers, so it is by her design," Olivia says. "She is the goddess of magic, after all."

"I take it that Greek magicals are very close to their gods," Sirius guessed.

Olivia nodded. "We are a very traditional community but also know how to blend our traditions into modern life so that we are not stuck in the dark ages like some magical communities. We celebrate the sabbaths, honor our gods, but we never forget what time period we live in."

Sirius knew what she meant when she was talking about magical communities stuck in the dark ages. She mostly meant magical Britain. Krinos certainly had gone on a lot of rants about how most of the other magical countries thought that magical Britain was about two centuries behind the rest of them in terms of magical advancements. 

Hermione not so silently huffed and turned away from them. Sirius knew it was because she was one of those bigoted muggleborns that thought that the old ways were barbaric and should just be forgotten about. Someone like Olivia, who came from a country where their version of the old ways were practiced by everyone, annoyed the bookworm. She was one of the reasons why muggleborns are looked down on by purebloods in magical Britain. It's because she comes into a world that she is now a part of and does nothing to adapt to it and expects the world to adapt to her instead. She makes no effort to learn magical culture or traditions and is always saying that the muggle world is better.

"Since you are a time mage, it's probably a little harder for you, right," Kingsley asked, chuckling into his coffee. "You spend a lot of time in other time periods."

"You have no idea," Olivia sighed. "Not to mention I have to be careful about how much of an impact I make in the time period that I am in. Too many unforeseen consequences can occur from what first appears to be a simple act. I had a run-in with Blackbeard and I pretended to be a greatly feared pirate to get him off my back and when I got back to the present, I was somehow now the mascot for an American brand of rum." 

"You wouldn't happen to have a bottle of it on you, would you," Sirius asked, smirking.

"Sirius," Remus playfully slapped his shoulder, making Sirius laugh.

"What," he laughed. "Rum is a lot better than fire whiskey to me."

"You are a strange bunch," Olivia stated.

"Nothing wrong with that," Harry chuckled. "Who wants to be normal when you can be magical?"

"As my cousin would say, being normal is vastly overrated," Olivia giggled. "I do have to agree with him on that, though."

"I am now really curious about your cousin," Harry admitted. "I'd love to meet him."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Olivia smirked. "Krinos and his sister, Melody, would both be happy to meet you."

They finished dinner soon after and packed up all the leftovers into the cold box that was enchanted with a freezing charm for the freezer and a cooling charm for the fridge. Harry had yawned, so Sirius sent him up to bed. He had some things to discuss with Olivia and Remus, anyway. He wanted to wait after they did some more planning before they brought Harry into the fold and told him what they were up to.

Kingsley, Tonks, and Moody all left to go to their own homes while Mrs.Weasley sent the rest of the kids up to bed as well. She did think that it was late and that it was time for bed.

As Harry got up, Sirius had whispered to him where his room would be. Dobby had already brought his trunk into the room and made sure that only he, Sirius, Remus, and anyone invited by them could enter it. Dobby might not be the sanest house-elf in the world, but his loyalty was something to admire.

Harry was definitely looking forward to having his own room. When Mrs.Weasley had told him that he would be sharing with Ron, he was very glad when Sirius told him that a separate room had been prepared for him. He had barely gotten any sleep because of constant nightmares, night terrors, and the pain in the scar. So being in the same room with Ron's foghorn snoring would not have helped him at all. Besides, both of his supposed best friends had shown that their loyalty to him was fickle at best and non-existent at the worst. And being in the same room as Ron would give him even less privacy than he already had since Sirius had told him that Order members had been spying on him at Private Drive on Dumbledore's orders. 

Harry had never been so glad that he had a room all to himself. One that was actually a decent size instead of Dudley's second bedroom that was mostly just his broken stuff. Sirius had also told him that his room was on the family floor of Grimmauld Place. The building was actually seven floors in total. There were five floors above ground, a basement, and a sub-basement. The two top floors and the sub-basement were all invisible to those outside of the family. They would never know that they were there even if the door or stairway to them was right in front of their eyes. 

The top floors also held the two-story family library. The one that was on the normal floors had to be unlocked to stop all of the complaints from Hermione and because Dumbledore and Mrs.Weasley would also not stop badgering him about what types of books were in the library. So he had Winky move all of the "dark" books to the family library. The only ones he left in the downstairs library were plenty of history books, the leftover school textbooks that used to belong to him and Regulus, and other "normal" books. It served as a way to keep Dumbledore away from Black family magic books but also annoyed Hermione since there was nothing interesting in there for her to read. Didn't stop her from continuously looking around the library in hopes of finding something that was even the least bit interesting.

After Harry went into his room, Sirius let Olivia and Remus onto the family floor. They were only able to come up with his permission, which was how Remus also had his own room on the family floor. The three of them gathered in the family library for extra privacy.

"Can I just say that insulting those egotistical British wizards probably added years onto my life," Olivia giggled. "That was so much fun."

"I would be offended, but as a fellow mystic soul, I'm obligated to be on your side," Sirius smirked.

"Very true, Sirius," Olivia crossed her arms and snickered.

"I take it that you two have already started forming a plan," Remus guessed as they all sat in different chairs in the room.

"I'm a time mage," Olivia reminded. "I always need a plan or a lot worse things could happen than me becoming a mascot for rum."

"Olivia and Krinos have been working on things on their end of the country," Sirius explains to Remus. "We needed to find a way for Harry to become surrounded by those that will protect him while also keeping Dumbledore out of the loop of what is really going on. And that is only the beginning since we are still trying to find a way to unbind his powers."

"That would require a bit of planning," Remus leaned back in his chair.

"There are plenty of mystic souls back home that could help Harry with his powers," Olivia says. "Healers, alchemists, potion masters, even some that literally have the power to control magic energy."

"I'm not trying to be insulting, but I can see why most wand-users are terrified of your kind," Remus stated.

"Trust me, even we know that we can be scary," Olivia said. "I once saw my cousin, Krinos, turn a demon into a tree. That had other demons running away from him for a solid month before they got up the courage to start trying to kill him again."

"I can see why that would scare them," Sirius said.

Demons typically avoid magical Britain, for reasons that nobody in the mystic soul community ever understood. So Sirius never had to deal with any of them. It also helped that most of his training with his mystic soul powers happened at Hogwarts in abandoned classrooms. The wards around the school would have kept out any demons that tried to attack him or the school.

"What do you guys think of the first part of your plan," Remus asked. "Surrounding Harry with protectors?"

"Well, Dumbledore has been failing to gather allies since he has no actual proof that Voldemort is back," Olivia says. "If I can make it seem like other mystic souls would help him, the hope of getting powerful allies will force him to agree with me."

"What does that have to do with protecting Harry if any allies you get would be forced to continuously go on missions for Dumbledore," Remus saw a flaw already.

"We all know that with the ministry sticking their heads in the sand, they would stop all obvious attempts of Dumbledore to gather allies," Sirius explained. "So we will be tricking Dumbledore and the ministry by making the ministry think that it is a simple field trip while Dumbledore will think that it is an ally collecting trip."

"I'm... not following," Remus admitted.

"Crystal Rose," Olivia said. "My old school and the current academy where my cousins attend. We make it so the ministry thinks that the students are going there for a year of foreign education combined with keeping Dumbledore out of Britain for a while. Dumbledore will also be lead to believe that the teachers and older students would be willing to help him against Voldemort."

"It might be a bit of a longshot, given how the ministry feels about mystic souls, but we have to try," Sirius says. "We do plan on keeping that detail away from the ministry when the field trip is getting approved, but it will get back to them at some point. We just need to make sure that the trip can not be canceled and that Crystal Rose is properly protected from them."

"You want to take a school filled with wand-users to a school of mystic souls all the way on the other side of the continent," Remus summarized the plan.

Olivia nodded. "Mystic souls are very protective of each other. If Sirius is right about Harry being a mystic soul that has had his powers bound, we will do anything to keep him safe. Untrained mystic souls have been known to cause disasters."

"Like that fire that Krinos told me about," Sirius guessed.

"Like the weather mage that caused Mount Vesuvius to erupt and destroy Pompeii," Olivia deadpanned, causing both men to gasp.

"Mystic souls are that powerful," Remus could not help but stare at the time mage.

"You have no idea how powerful we can be," Olivia said.

"Merlin," Sirius gasped.

There were a few moments of silence before they all got their composure back.

"Are you sure that Dumbledore won't be able to just do to your school as he does in Hogwarts," Remus helped them see any possible flaw in their plan. "He has been manipulating people for over a hundred years. I am not doubting the intelligence of those in your school, but even some of the brightest people at Hogwarts have fallen to his manipulations."

"I would never send anyone to Crystal Rose if I was not one hundred percent sure that they could take care of themselves," Olivia stated. "I have already had a number of meetings with the staff and headmistress. They are all aware of his manipulative tendencies and will all be sure that they stay on their toes around him."

"Krinos has also made it clear that those outside of magical Britain are far more likely to not fall for Dumbeldore's 'kind grandfather' act," Sirius says. "And honestly, I see no reason to doubt him."

"Once he is in the school, Harry will be surrounded by other mystic souls," Olivia says. "They will make sure that not only that he is safe but also learns to think for himself and not try so hard to fit into the 'Boy-Who-Lived' image that so many try to force onto him."

"I also hope for some good food for him," Sirius crosses his arms. "Harry is way too skinny for a kid his age. He obviously needs a full medical check-up to see what types of potions he will need to fix any damage that those horrible muggles have caused."

"I watched Harry a lot when I was teaching in his third year," Remus admitted. "In the beginning, he would eat smaller meals and work his way up to more full-sized portions. But nearing the end of the year, he would decrease the amount that he ate. It was like he was preparing himself for a time that he would not be able to eat very much."

"I will ask Kingsley to help," Sirius stated. "As an Auror, he will know some healing spells. That might be enough until we can get Harry to a real healer. And not someone like Pomfrey, who only ever does anything when Dumbeldore tells her to."

"We have some healing mages as Crystal Rose that could help," Olivia offered.

"So now all we have to do is convince Dumbledore, the ministry, and the school board to allow the trip," Remus said.

"If it helps, that black book of Black family blackmail has to be around here somewhere," Sirius said, looking around the library as he did.

"That can be plan B," Olivia says.

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven: Godfather-Godson Bonding

Harry did not know when was the last time that he had slept as well as he did that night. There was no nightmare, no uncomfortable mattress, no night terror that caused him to wake up screaming, no Dursleys waking him up at the crack of dawn to start him on his mountain of chores, nothing. And the room he was in was not that bad.

It was about a third of the size of his dorm at Hogwarts, which made it a decent size since his dorm was made to house five boys at once. While the room could have used a splash of color, it was a nice shade of green on the walls with a few pictures here and there. There was also a Slytherin rug that was somehow still soft to the touch. The bed was also very comfortable with blankets as smooth and soft as silk. It was a canopy bed with a king-sized mattress. They also had a Slytherin color scheme to them, but Harry had actually always liked the color silver. There was also a big desk, a large wardrobe, and even two bookshelves. Harry figured whoever this room used to belong to was probably quite the good student in his days.

While most of the colors and decor he would want to change, Harry was sure that Sirius would let him. Even if he wanted the room to be entirely pink.

Sirius was the only adult that Harry knew that he could trust with anything and everything. The one adult that never let him down. He sent him letters even when Dumbledore ordered a mail/information block on him. He told him stories about his parents when no one else in his life even attempted to. He gave him the first-ever bit of family love that he had ever felt. He treated him as just Harry Potter, his godson, and not as Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived. And most of all, he listened when he would talk to him. Most others he met would just be pretending to listen and then just force their own opinions down his throat without even trying to listen to what he thinks himself. Sirius never pretended. He actually listened to his opinions and anything else he had to say and was actually interested in what he had to say. 

Harry was also now very glad to not only be away from the Dursleys but also finally be getting some information out of people. Olivia seemed like a good person that actually wanted to do something against Voldemort. She also talked about demons and he really wanted to ask her about them. They sounded dangerous and since he was Harry Potter, that usually meant that they would endanger his life at some point. It seemed that was usually the natural order of things when it came to his life.

And this whole thing about her being a mystic soul also sounded really intriguing. He didn't know what they were, but they sounded very interesting. Olivia described herself as a time mage, so he wondered if other mystic souls were like her or were different.

Out of curiosity, he opened the wardrobe. He was shocked by the nice clothing inside of it. There were a few Slytherin robes, which he expected given the carpet. There were also silk shirts, velvet coats, nice pants, and a variety of amazing cloaks. There were even some dress shoes and dragonhide boots on the floor of the wardrobe. Whoever this room belonged to before, he had some very expensive tastes in clothing.

There was a knock on his door as he was looking inside the wardrobe.

"Come in," Harry said.

"Hey, pup," Sirius smiled as he came in.

"Morning, Sirius," Harry smiled back.

"Had a good sleep, I hope," Sirius said.

"First time in months, actually," Harry sighed. "How have you been, Sirius?"

"I am much better now that you're here," Sirius smiled at Harry.

"Is Olivia still here," Harry asked. "I wanted to ask her some questions."

"She had to go back to Greece," Sirius answered. "She will be back, maybe with one of her cousins, but she still has responsibilities as a council member."

"She can just pop back and forth between here and Greece just like that," Harry was curious.

"Portal creation is part of her powers," Sirius tells Harry. "While she mostly does portals to different time periods, she can use them for teleportation as well."

"I really want to learn more about being a mystic soul," Harry was very intrigued by her powers.

Sirius called that a very good step toward their plan to unlock Harry's powers. Sirius did not want to force Harry to be what he did not want to be. If he did not want to be a mystic soul, then he would not force the unlocking of his powers. But it also wasn't like they knew what his powers would be anyway. They could be powerful or even something non-violent. But what mattered most to him was that he did only what he knew that Harry would want and what would make him happy.

Sirius then noticed that Harry had been looking in the wardrobe.

"You seem to have taken a liking to my brother's clothes," Sirius says, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You have a brother," Harry was shocked.

"Had," Sirius corrected, a little sad. "Regulus joined Voldemort right out of Hogwarts, certainly making my parents proud. All I know is that he died while in service to him. I don't know if he made Voldemort mad or he was just on a dangerous mission, but he died because of Voldemort and that's all I know."

"I'm sorry," Harry sits next to Sirius. "I didn't know."

"I didn't expect you to," Sirius comforted his godson. "Regulus was my little brother and as much as I loved him, our parents were not the nicest people and would never have let both of their sons not take the dark mark."

"Your mother is that large portrait above the stairs, right," Harry asked.

"Unfortunately," Sirius sighed. "I warn you that when anything wakes her up, she screams louder than a banshee."

"I feel a headache forming already," Harry chuckled.

"Trust me, you will get one," Sirius said, he then went over to the wardrobe. "You know, you would look really good in these."

"In your brother's clothes," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Kreacher used to be Regulus' nanny elf," Sirius says. "He has an almost obsession with my brother. So all his clothes are still as nice as the day they were originally bought."

"Would he mind," Harry asked.

"He probably will, but he is still a nanny elf at heart and I don't think he could stand seeing you in those rags you currently call clothing," Sirius said.

"They're Dudley's," Harry rolled his eyes. "I think the Dursley's would literally rather die than actually buy me something new."

"Remind me why you keep telling me not to go over and kill those worthless muggles," Sirius clenched his fists tight.

"Because killing people is wrong and I am not going to let you be sent back to Azkaban," Harry tried not to give in to the temptation to sic his godfather on his relatives. "Besides, we both know that karma will come after them at some point."

"Karma can not work fast enough," Sirius stated.

Harry then started looking through the wardrobe.

"So, was anything planned for today," he asked his godfather.

"Molly, as usual, will be having most of the others cleaning after breakfast," Sirius tells him.

"Did she even ask if you wanted them to clean the house," Harry did not like that Mrs.Weasley seemed to think she could rule over this house like she did at the Burrow.

"She didn't, but it wasn't like Kreacher was doing any cleaning before I let the Order use this place," Sirius shrugged.

"My guess is that Winky would be very territorial if you allowed her to be known," Harry chuckled.

Sirius and Harry both knew that it was better to keep Winky and Dobby a secret until they had no other choice than to show they had house-elves. Both were mostly doing it mostly because they did not want to deal with any rants about "house-elf slavery" from Hermione, Mrs.Weasley, or anyone else that was ignorant about house-eld magic.

In truth, house-elves need to be bound to a wizard or a wizard family in order to stay as sane and stable as they could. Dobby might not currently be the most sane of house-elves, but he was definitely a loyal one. But most house-elves start to slowly go insane and lose control of their magic if they remain free for too long. And if they are not bound soon, then their loss of magical control would kill them. 

But people like Hermione, despite her reputation as the so-called brightest witch of her generation, never even thought about that. She never bothered to do any research into the bonds that elves have with their masters or families. She never even thought that the elves would need to be bound in order to stay alive. She believed that something was a problem and decided to do something about it without even trying to see if it was actually a real problem or not. In Harry's point of view, he would look into something to help with abused house-elves. That way they can happily be bound and not just bound to stay alive. What use was living for over a hundred years if you're miserable and abused the entire time. Everyone deserves a happy life or things will go south for them.

"Do you think it would be a good idea to let Winky start doing work around here," Sirius asked him. "She loves working and really has only been delivering letters for me."

"Ask her," Harry shrugged. "Besides, I will love seeing the looks on Hermione and Mrs.Weasley's faces when they see that you have another house-elf. One that you bound yourself, I add."

"They would probably lose it even more if they ever find you with Dobby," Sirius chuckled.

"We will probably both need some headache potions," Harry snickered.

Sirius then got up and pulled out some things from the wardrobe. He gave them to Harry.

"Try these on, pup," he smiled. "I think it's time for you to finally dress in clothes that fit you."

"Thanks, Padfoot," Harry smiled back, going into the bathroom to change.

It took a few minutes for Harry to come back out after he changed and got ready for the day. Sirius had chosen a nice silver silk shirt with navy green pants that matched with it. He also wore black shoes with it.

"For a Gryffindor, you sure chose a very Slytherin outfit for me," Harry chuckled.

"Most of my brother's clothes are silver and green," Sirius laughed. "But we will get you some new clothes that you can pick out yourself at some point."

"Could it be with Olivia," Harry requested. "I want to ask more about mystic souls."

"Let's go to the library, then," Sirius offered. "The family library is on this floor and I am sure there must be something on mystic souls in there."

Harry actually perked up at the sound of a library. Throughout his time at Hogwarts, Harry has always made himself appear dumber than he actually is. Part of his act was because he suspected that an independent and smart boy was not what the people would want in their "Boy-Who-Lived." Plus, there was also how he did not want to lose his friends and both Ron and Hermione affected his grades in their own ways. With Ron, he never cared about his grades or schoolwork and would goof off the entire time. And with Hermione, she prided herself at always being the smartest person in the room with the best grades. Both of them he had feared he would lose if he showed how smart he was. 

But since they chose their side and it wasn't his, he no longer cared if his good grades would upset them. It was really their own fault for their lack of loyalty, anyway.

Sirius happily showed Harry to the library. It was just down the hall and around another corner. The library was not exactly hidden considering the large wooden doors with a bunch of runes carved on them. The doors also had large ring handles made out of silver that is pulled in order to open the doors.

He pulled them open and showed Harry inside. Harry almost gasped as he saw the large library. The room definitely showed that it could be accessed on both top floors considering that two different sets of spiral staircases that lead to the second level of the library. The walls were lined with many bookcases as well as other cases that were not on the walls. There were so many that the library could almost be considered a maze of bookshelves. There was also a nice sitting area with a burning fireplace. Perfect for reading a book with a comforting fire and a cup of hot chocolate.

"Hermione would be so jealous," Harry smirked as he looked around at the family library.

"I do have to warn you, pup," Sirius says. "As this is the Black family library, some of these books can contain some very dangerous information. The only reason you can even come in here is because you have Black blood in your veins."

"Okay, Sirius," Harry knew that Sirius would know more about this place than him.

"But this thing might help you," Sirius directed Harry over to a metal stand thing that looked like what could hold up music sheets for a singer or band member. "This stand is enchanted to act almost like a magical version of Google."

"You know that Google is," Harry raised an eyebrow, looking at his pureblood godfather.

"Your mother wanted to have a computer when she and James moved in together," Sirius smiled as he remembered. "So she did teach your father and me how to use it."

"Wouldn't being near magic cause the computer to explode or something," Harry asked.

"Your mother learned that when magic is used directly on it that it would, but just being in a magical household would not mess with the technology," Sirius said. "She definitely was the smartest witch of her generation."

Harry chuckled as that was probably a jab at Hermione. His mother definitely seemed to fit that title more than the bushy-haired know-it-all did even when they come from different generations.

"So, I take it that you can ask this stand for a book and it summons it from the library," Harry guessed.

"Correct, pup," Sirius said. "It can be a specific book or even a number of books that mention the subject that you request. Try it."

"Cool," Harry went up to the stand. "Mystic souls."

He requested it as he placed his hand on the stand. It took a few seconds, but multiple books lit up on their shelves and floated toward the stand. About a dozen books in total landed near or on the stand. Harry picked up the nearest book to him.

"Mystic Souls Around The World," he read the title. "Sounds like just the book I need."

"Olivia and her cousins are only from Greece," Sirius smiled at his godson's curiosity. "So that book can give you an insight to mystic soul communities outside of their home."

Harry smiled as he went over to the sitting area with a few of the books and sat down by the fire. It may be summer, but reading by the fire was just so comforting. Sirius grabbed a few books and sat down as well.

"You were the one that brought Olivia here, weren't you," Harry suddenly asked after a few minutes of quiet reading.

"What was that, pup," Sirius looked up from his book.

"Olivia," Harry repeated. "She was only here because you got her here, didn't you?"

Sirius smiled. "You always have been able to read me, pup. Yes, I was the one that originally invited Olivia here. As a pureblood, I knew that mystic souls existed, so I went to the only two that I knew about. Olivia's aunt and uncle. I did not know that they had passed on, so my letter ended up with their son instead. Krinos was the one that got me into contact with Olivia. I think we both know that she will be a lot more helpful than Dumbledore."

"I couldn't agree more," Harry said. "Plus, it was nice to finally meet a person in politics that wasn't just a corrupt and money-hungry moron."

"You just described every British politician to a 'T,' pup," Sirius laughed.

Harry went back to reading his book. He started at the chapter about Greek mystic souls in order to learn about Olivia and Krinos' culture. He was amazed by the pictures that were included of Crystal Rose Academy, the school for mystic souls in Greece. He read about how the place was known as the top mystic souls school in the world and that students came from all over the globe in order to attend. The school itself was hidden from muggles and was outside of Athens. The school was disguised as the ruins of an old Greek castle and anyone that tried to go near it were immediately sent away as the wards would make them think they had a date, or doctor's appointment, or that they left their bathtub running, anything that would make them turn around. The wards spread for miles, so there wasn't a muggle anywhere near a hundred miles from the school.

"Their school looks incredible," Harry says. "And the name itself, Crystal Rose, is beautiful."

"Quite the coincidence given what Krinos's own powers are," Sirius chuckled. "When I met him, he showed me that he could control nature."

"Guess a school with a name like that would be perfect for him," Harry grinned.

"You will learn a lot about mystic souls, pup," Sirius says. "Some of it good, but those in magical Britain are known to hate them. The way they all reacted to Olivia at last night's meeting spoke volumes about how they felt even without saying it."

Sirius was going to tell Harry about his Wild Dog magic at some point, but he was going to wait for the right time. He trusted his godson, but he was hoping for more when he was able to use his own powers to help Harry train with his when they were unlocked.

"Why are wizards here so prejudice," Harry asked. "Dark families hate muggleborns, light families hate 'dark' families and Slytherins, and now everyone hates mystic souls. We all have magic and that should be the only thing that matters regardless of where it comes from and what type it is."

"I wish everyone thought like you, pup," Sirius sighed. "My own family has been known as dark for centuries. We certainly have plenty of Death Eaters in our tree."

"I guess you would be considered the white sheep in the Black family," Harry joked.

Sirius laughed. "You have no idea. I was the first to be sorted into Gryffindor in centuries. Not to mention that I befriended muggleborns, half-bloods, and purebloods alike in my time at Hogwarts. My mother blasted me off our family tapestry when I ran away the summer after fifth year to live with your father and his parents."

"You knew my grandparents," Harry had heard nothing about them before.

"Dorea and Charlus Potter," Sirius smiled as he remembered the two. "They were more my parents than my birth ones ever were. Charlus was an Auror and probably considered to be the best that there ever was. During Grindelwald's reign of terror, he once took out twenty of his followers before he was too injured to continue and was forced to get medical attention. Good thing that Dorea was a healer and still has a plaque up at St.Mungo's to honor how many lives that she had saved. They died of Dragon Pox a few months before you were born."

"They sound like wonderful people," Harry smiled, a little sad that he would never be able to know them.

"They were," Sirius wiped a tear from his eye. "You could never meet any kinder people than them."

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's alright, pup," Sirius said, comforting him. "You deserve to know about them just as much as you deserve to know about your parents. They're your family."

"So are you, Padfoot," Harry smiled at his godfather.

Sirius gave his hand a squeeze, showing that he felt that way as well.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight: Heart Of... No... Flower Of Gold

Harry spent a lot of time reading in the family library. He was beginning to think of the family floor as his safe space. Everyone else was just getting on his last nerve and driving him crazy. He was ready to get out his wand and start rapid-firing spells at the next person that irritates him.

If it wasn't Ron or Hermione trying to order him to forgive them over them not writing him, it was Ginny following him around like a lost puppy, or it was Mrs.Weasley trying to order him around as if he was her child. The only ones at the house that weren't trying to annoy him to death were Sirius, Remus, Fred, and George.

He was especially happy when the twins would take him aside to tell him about their rising joke business. The money that he had given them from the Triwizard Tournament had been exactly what they needed in order to really get their business off the ground. Before, they had been selling their pranks while in Hogwarts, helping students get out of tests or classes that they did not want to take. But what Harry loved most about that was how the two were so sneaky that even though the professors "knew" that it was the twins doing all of that, there was never any actual proof. The twins made him smile no matter what he was feeling and that was something else that he loved about them.

Sirius would pop in every once in a while or he would just be sitting in another chair reading right next to him. That was another thing that he loved about Sirius. He did not try and pry into his life. He did not interrogate Harry about his feelings or his trauma. He was just simply there. He did not do anything except be there when Harry felt like he wanted to talk. Nobody else ever treated him like that and Harry would forever be grateful to Sirius for that.

Harry was currently in the family library once again. He wanted to read more into mystic souls and their culture. He was already almost done with his third book about them. The one he was reading at the moment was called "Mystic Soul Schools Worldwide." It was all about the different schools that mystic souls can go to all over the globe. He read how the most popular schools were Crystal Rose in Greece, Accademia Olimpica Di Incantesimi in Rome, Guardianes De Secretos in Spain, the House of Mystery in America, and the Aladdin Academy for Magical Beings in India. They were the top five schools for mystic souls in the world.

House of Mystery, Crystal Rose, and Guardianes De Secretos were all even founded thousands of years before Hogwarts was. It was incredible that there were magic schools around for so long. There were no pictures of the schools, but Harry did not doubt for a single second that they were probably even more amazing than Hogwarts. Sure, Hogwarts was an ancient castle that was right out of Camelot, but other places had their own unique architecture that was specific to them. Like the Taj Mahal in India and Shiku/temples in China.

"Curious about my people, are you," Harry heard behind him.

The sudden voice made Harry nearly jump out of his skin. He turned around and saw a kid his age standing there with a smirk on his face. Harry immediately took notice of how he had the same silver eyes as Olivia.

"I am guessing that you're Olivia's cousin," Harry closed his book as he looked at the other teen.

"That's me," he smiled. "Krinos Gardna's the name, and nature magic is my game."

He offered his hand and Harry shook it. He just met him and he already liked Krinos's playful attitude and general kindness.

"How did you get in here, anyway," Harry asked. "Sirius told me only family members could get on these floors and into the library."

"Sirius, as head of the Black family, is allowed to invite people outside the family onto these floors if he wishes," Krinos explains. "It is the same as the library. I am also not able to read any of these books unless he personally hands me one of them to read."

"I guess I will need to study up on wards," Harry said. "Especially family wards from what I have been learning about the Potter family."

"It is the same for most magical families," Krinos says. "Like how the Gardna family has a family spellbook that has dozens of protection charms, spells, and curses on it. They are all meant to keep those without Gardna blood from touching it. As a nature mage, I was unable to add to the spells, but I can still touch and read the book."

"Nature magic, huh," Harry was curious.

"That is my mystic soul power," Krinos smiled as he took a seat next to Harry. "The proper name for my magic is Nature's Heart. I can make nature do whatever I wish by my will alone. From the time that I was little, nature has always done what I have wanted it to no matter what it was."

"That's incredible," Harry gasped.

"Nature magic has been in my family for generations," Krinos said. "Generally, one Gardna every generation is born with some form of power over nature."

"Talk about flower power," Harry commented.

Krinos laughed. "If I had a drachma every time that I heard that pun, I'd never have to work a day in my life."

"I take it that drachma is your version of gallons," Harry asked. "We use gallons, sickles, and knuts over here."

"Drachma might have gone out of style for mundanes, but we still use them in the magical world," Krinos said.

"Mundanes," Harry tilted his head to the side. "Oh, that must be what you call muggles. I admit, your word sounds a lot better than 'muggles."

"Well, mundane is also used to describe something really normal," Krinos says. "And it's basically the motto of magical Greece that being normal is vastly overrated. Haha."

"More people need to think like you," Harry chuckled. "My muggle relatives want to be as normal as possible. They refer to the magical world as for nobody but f..."

Harry stopped himself before he could say too much. Krinos seemed like a good person, but he still just met him. He was not about to start spilling his guts to someone who was essentially a stranger.

"In magical Greece, we generally stay away from mundanes," Krinos changed the subject, not prying into Harry's business. "We believe that while first-generation mages need to be trained, the magical and mundane worlds need to stay separate."

"First-generation," Harry was confused.

"We do not use terms like 'muggleborn, half-blood, or pureblood' back home," Krinos says. "They're demeaning and a source of bullying. We use other terms. First-generation is for those that are the first to use magic in their families or the first in many generations, but those are also called redeems. Second-generation is for those of one magical parent and one mortal parent. Third-generation is our own term for what you call 'pureblood."

"Those actually seem like a lot better terms than the ones we use here," Harry said. "I guess that the differences between wizards and mystic souls are plenty."

"I've always loved being who I am," Krinos smiled softly. "There is nothing like being a mystic soul. We feel so connected to magic and those around us. There are even those that are known as magical clans. Types of magic that are different, but related to one another in a different way."

"What kind of magical clans are there," Harry asked, loving that he was learning about mystic souls from a mystic soul.

"There are two main clans, but there are others," Krinos explained. "The first is known as Enchanted Gen magic. There are ten gems that are all crystal elemental magic. Sapphire ice, ruby fire, emerald earth, amethyst air, pearl water, diamond light, rose-quartz nature, tiger-eye animals, opal sound, and tourmaline electricity."

"Wow," Harry gasped. "Those sound so cool. I have never heard of any type of magic like that before. I know that there are potions that can be used to create gems, plus there is alchemy, but never gem-focused magic."

"There are many types of unique mystic soul magic," Krinos says. "The other clan is called the Mystical Nations. It is many types of species of a magical realm known as Cray. There are twenty-three of these species. Royal Paladin, Gold Paladin, Shadow Paladin, Neo Nectar, Oracle Think Tank, Aqua Force, Great Nature, Spike Brothers, Dark Irregulars, Pale Moon, Gear Chronicle, Megacolony, Nova Grappler, Dimension Police, Link Joker, Angel Feather, Genesis, Kagero, Nubatama, Tachikaze, Murakumo, Narukami, and Bermuda Triangle."

(AN: They are based off of the clans of the card game and anime Cardfight Vanguard. I do not own them.)

"That is certainly a lot," Harry was mentally trying to file away all this information into his brain. "All those types of magic sound incredible as well as unique."

"Each of them are special in their own way," Krinos smiled. "Even with clans, they are be connected but there is also a lot of differences between them."

"The magical world is very different in other places," Harry realized. "We only ever learn about local history and magic. And by history, I mean the goblin rebellions and wars. Our History of Magic teacher is not the best."

"We have a history class for local history, but we also have an International Magic class back home," Krinos says.

"We could definitely use one of those," Harry crossed his arms. "Sometimes I feel like the egos here are so big that it's like the politicians and teachers actually think that there is no other place that is worthy to learn about. It drives me crazy."

"I may still go to school, but I leave politics to my cousin," Krinos chuckled. "There is a reason why Olivia is the youngest person to ever be made a member of the magic council."

"Just based on the politicians here, she might be the first good one that I have ever met," Harry said. "I met Minister Fudge a few times, and my impressions of him have changed every time. When I first met him, he told me that I was not facing charges when I had a burst of accidental magic that blew up my aunt Marge like a balloon. Then, I met him at the end of my third year and he took the words of a spiteful bastard as truth and refused to believe that Sirius was innocent of the crimes he was accused of. The last time I met him, he had a criminal have his soul sucked out of him before any investigation could be done and refused to even entertain the idea of Voldemort being back."

"We never had a council member like that," Krinos says. "They are all elected after a previous one retires. But things are very different for us since anyone that wants to run is not allowed to do anything other than what they do in their day-to-day lives."

"What do you mean," Harry was confused. "Like they are not allowed to run campaigns? No posters, charity drives, or anything else that could be like a 'vote for me' kind of thing?"

"Correct, Harry," Krinos grinned. "By the way, what was up with all the drama I saw before I came up here? They're all freaking out over not being able to find you."

Harry groaned. "They're all being idiots, that what they are."

Krinos chuckled. "I don't doubt that they are idiots, but why are they?"

"I have been spending a lot of time up here since only Sirius can invite people up here," Harry explains. "But since they all think they need to always control everything I do every second of the day, they panic whenever I am out of sight for more than five minutes."

"If you ever need to really hide, we could always go outside and I could turn you into a tree," Krinos suggested, chuckling.

"If they keep annoying me, I might actually take you up on that," Harry smirked, then caught on to what Krinos had said. "Wait... you can actually do that?"

"I've done it to a demon, so a wizard is probably easier than that," Krinos chuckled again.

Harry stood up. "I will be asking about what demons are in the future, but I have to go calm down the idiots."

Krinos laughed as he stood up as well.

"This, I have to see," he grinned.

Harry kept the book he was reading in his hand as the two of them left the family floor to the regular floors. He did not think that it was a book that would be considered dangerous enough to warrant a problem with the Order, but he was mostly bringing it to annoy Hermione that he was reading a book that she had not heard of before.

It was nearing lunchtime, anyway. So the two of them headed into the kitchen. The yelling started pretty much right away.

"Harry James Potter," Hermione shrieked. "Where have you been?"

Harry could have sworn that Krinos mumbled something along the lines of "What a harpy" under his breath. He had to fight not to laugh.

Harry chose to ignore the know-it-all and took a seat next to Sirius. His godfather smiled at him and gave him a plate of pizza that was still leftover from when Olivia had conjured it when Harry had first gotten there. They had leftovers for days with how much Olivia had created with her spell. Krinos sat on his other side.

"I have never had pizza before I came here, and I don't think that I will ever be able to live without it now," Harry savored the cheese pizza.

"Well, magical beings have a higher metabolism than mundanes," Krinos smirked. "So it is easier for us to eat things like pizza more often."

"Don't ignore me, Harry Potter," Hermione yelled.

"Maybe if you spoke like a normal person instead of yelling, I would answer you," Harry didn't even look at her as he said that.

He took another bite of his pizza, smirking as he knew that Hermione was probably turning red in the face.

"I asked where you have been," Hermione growled through clenched teeth but did not yell. "We have been looking for you for hours."

"Not very well, apparently," Harry said. "I have only been in the library, reading, since this morning."

The fact that he purposely left out that he had been in the family library only made it more fun as he messed with his wannabe puppet masters.

"Why would you ever want to be in a library, mate," Ron was still tired from being forced to look for Harry for so long. "It's so boring."

"Because I want to be, plain and simple," Harry said. "I wanted to read more than school textbooks, so I went there right from my room."

"No, you didn't," Ron argued. "You didn't even come into our room at all."

"I went to my room," Harry said.

"Since Kreature actually bothered to keep my younger brother's room clean all this time, I gave it to Harry," Sirius says, having his own bowl of leftover chicken tikka masala.

"Why would you do that," Mrs.Weasley glared at Sirius. "Harry should be sharing with Ron. Harry, dear, I am sure that you will be much happier with Ron."

"I am happy right where I am," Harry did not budge. "I sleep in the same room as Ron for the entire school year, so there is no need to make me suffer through his snoring for longer than that."

"I don't snare," Ron protested.

"Yes, you do," responded Harry, Fred, George, and Mr.Weasley.

"I would actually like getting some sleep, and last night was probably the first good night sleep that I have had in weeks," Harry said.

"If you need help with that, I could bring you some enchanted poppy pollen," Krinos offered. "Poppies normally make people sleepy when they smell then, so enchanted poppy pollen is like a sleep-aid that also blocks bad dreams. And it's non-addictive, so there is no need to worry."

"That sounds great," Sirius smiled at Krinos. "We have Dreamless Sleep potions, but they are highly addictive, so they can only be used once or twice a month at most."

"I will grow a pot for you," Krinos looked at Harry. "I will make sure you have enough blossoms to last until you return to your school."

"Thanks," Harry smiled at the nature mage.

"Who even are you," Ginny demanded to know.

"Are you two the only non-bossy people in this house," Krinos asked Harry and Sirius.

"Remus and Kingsley are not very bossy, but they are currently not here," Sirius shrugged. "So, the answer to your question is technically 'yes."

"Why am I not surprised," Krinos rolled his eyes. "The magical beings in this country have bigger egos than that demon of fear I faced last year."

"His powers seem straight forward," Harry commented.

"Demons have always been straight forward," Krinos says. "They are beings literally made out of pure evil. They have no souls. They kill without remorse and for no other reason than for the pleasure of the kill. It is part of a mystic soul's duty to take care of them. We protect innocents from being killed."

"You're putting the statute of secrecy in danger by doing that," Hermione screamed. "That's against the law."

"Wow, you're rude for interrupting our conversation like that," Krinos scoffed at her. "Besides, we keep to the shadows and use our powers only to vanquish demons and then vanish as if we were never there."

"You guys are almost like superheroes," Harry grinned at him.

"Well, we aren't from Gotham, but we try," Krinos smirked.

"But to answer your question, Ginny," Sirius looked at the annoying redhead female. "This is Krinos, he is Olivia's cousin and the reason why I was able to get into contact with her in the first place."

"You sell yourself short, Sirius," Krinos tells him. "You are the first British person that I have ever met that would ask for help from another country's magical community. So you are definitely more helpful than most others in this stuck-in-the-eighteenth-century country."

"Probably the best description of this place that I have ever heard," Harry mumbled.

"Just be patient and everything will work out in the end," Krinos grinned as they knew of their plans for the future.

"Maybe you can teach me more about your own powers, Krinos," Harry looked back at the nature mage.

"I would be more than happy to, Harry," Krinos smiled at him.

"I have the perfect place for you, then," Sirius grinned.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine: Setting The Plan In Motion

"You have a garden in your house," Harry could not help but raise an eyebrow. 

"Well, it's not exactly in the house, but it is surrounded by it," Sirius said. "But it's not like I spend any time in it. It's also not like there has been anyone in the house to take care of the garden for the last twelve years."

"With me around, there is no need for anyone or anything else," Krinos chuckled.

"Just prepare yourself for a horrible graveyard of plants," Sirius said.

"I can not wait to see your powers in action, Krinos," Harry smiled at his new friend.

"I will try not to disappoint," Krinos smirked.

Sirius had led his godson and the Greek nature mage up to the second floor of Number Twelve. Turning the opposite way of the bedroom hallways. Unfortunately for Harry and Krinos, they were followed by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. While Harry wanted to try and salvage his friendship with the three, but they still needed to learn that he was not going to just forgive and forget every time they wronged him.

While he may have forgiven both of his best friends, both Ron and Hermione still do not seem to get what they did was wrong and hurt him. 

First was in his third year when Sirius had sent him his firebolt. When Harry gets his Firebolt, which Sirius sent but none of them knew for sure, she went right to McGonagall instead of asking Harry to do it himself. And she did it behind his back and he almost lost a gift from his godfather. You could argue that she was trying to look out for him, but she could have looked out for him by not going behind his back and talking to him. Harry had just wanted to forget about the broom for a bit and have fun with his friends, but Hermione did not even wait an hour before she betrayed his trust and went to McGonagall.

And did he even have to explain why he was wary of Ron? The dude betrayed him last year and spent over a month being nothing but a giant bully toward him and anyone that did not believe that he did not place his name in the goblet. He even wore one of those pathetic "Harry Potter Stinks" badges. Ron has always been so obsessed with fame and money that he forgets that Harry only got his because his parents were murdered and he survived a murder attempt. He barely even said that he was sorry and has been acting like he never did anything wrong at all.

And in terms of Ginny, he had done plenty of thinking while locked up at Durzkaban. He discovered that she was incredibly selfish. When he reflected on his second year, he remembered everything that both Voldemort's memory had told him and things that he had happened at certain times. Harry had the diary for about a month before Ginny had stolen it back and yet another month had passed before Hermione and Penelope had been petrified. All she had done was just go back to writing in a book that talked back to her. And according to Riddle, Ginny had known that something was wrong with her and that she was involved along with the diary. But even after being out of its influence, she still did nothing. She was so selfish about her own chance of getting expelled that she was willing to let lives be put in danger.

Sirius led them to a wooden double door. Opening them, there was a metal gate on the other side of them. But they could all easily see the dead vines twisted around the gate metal bars.

"It hurts my heart already and I can barely see anything," Krinos dramatically placed a hand over his heart.

Harry patted him on the back while chuckling.

Sirius then pushed the gates open and they all entered a courtyard-like area filled from wall to wall with dead plants. Trees, bushes, flower bunches, vines, and even a vegetable and fruit patch were all nothing but dark brown, gray, and even black plants. There were also a couple of benches, tables, chairs, and a fountain with a raven statue on it. All of them were covered by the dead plants that had obviously had grown out of control before they had died. The ceiling over their heads was a glass dome similar to what would be over a greenhouse.

"Your family doesn't go halfway, does it," Harry chuckled as he asked his godfather.

"I never said that they didn't," Sirius laughed.

"Now, this really hurts my heart," Krinos held his hand over his heart again. "But I can fix this to look brand new once again."

"I have been waiting for this," Harry was excited.

"I can not believe that you believe in something so fake," Hermione huffed. "He is our age so that only makes it more impossible for him to be able to use wandless magic."

Krinos simply rolled his eyes and let his magic do the talking for him.

"Nature's breath," he cast.

He put his right hand up to his mouth and blew over it as if he was blowing something off of his hand. Shiny green dust flew off of his hand, also seeming to come out of his mouth. 

Turning around the garden, he spread his magic dust all over the area. As the plants were hits by the dust, they almost instantly sprang back to life. The plants all turned their natural colors once again. Trees turned golden brown with bright green leaves. Bushes turned a brilliant green as well. The vines, fruits, and vegetables all gained their life back as well. The entire garden was returned to its former glory.

"Wow," Harry and Sirius gasped.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny just looked annoyed. Hermione looked to want to explode as she saw the "Impossible" magic being done.

"Nature has always been what I love the most," Krinos smiled as he then made another tree grow with a wave of his hand.

"Thank you, Krinos," Sirius thanked the Greek mage. "The garden has never looked better."

"It was my pleasure," Krinos smiled back. "My plants also last for years, so that will make it easier for these to be taken care of."

"Your powers are incredible," Harry looked at all the revived plants. "You literally bend nature to your will."

"It took me years to master my powers and they still grow in power until I turn eighteen," Krinos says.

"Your magic definitely is different from ours," Harry sat down on one of the benches. "Your magic reaches its maturity at eighteen instead of seventeen. You also obviously will have different classes in your school compared to our own. They would have to be different since they can't have general classes because mystic souls do not share the same types of powers."

Krinos nodded. "True, mystic souls do not share the exact same powers. We do, however, share similar abilities that work with similar elements."

"So if you take your powers, for example, others can work with nature but work with it differently," Harry says. "Like you work with all plants, but others can work with just flowers while others work with just trees."

"Exactly," Krinos was impressed by the amount of knowledge that a wand-user figured out about his people. "I have a few friends that also have their own versions of nature magic. My friend Lily has Nature's Enchantment magic, which allows her to mix enchantments with plants. There is also my friend White, who has Nature's Beast magic. It allows him to shapeshift into animals that have been fused with plants."

"Definitely is so different from what can be done with a wand," Harry said.

"Honestly," Hermione huffed. "Harry, you can not believe such obvious lies."

Krinos snapped his head in her direction. His eyes momentarily glowed as he tried to suppress his desire to turn the annoying girl into poison ivy. But then he might get complaints from a certain someone over in Gotham about disrespecting plant life by turning such a horrible girl into a plant.

"Hermione, he just showed us two things that he could do with his powers," Harry said. "He is a mystic soul. They don't need wands."

"My god, Harry," Hermione complained, rolling her eyes. "It's obviously some kind of trick since wandless magic is rare. These mystic soul people don't exist."

"One is standing right there," Harry pointed at Krinos. "And his cousin, another mystic soul, helped rescue me from Durzkaban."

"They obviously are using things like power amplifying potions or amulets," Hermione argued, as stubborn as ever. "That is the only way they could do things like the things they did."

Harry could not help but notice that Krinos seemed to subconsciously reach up and touch the emerald flower pendant that was around his neck. He was not going to ask about it with the others around, but he made sure to remember to ask about it later.

"You are lucky that I am from Athens and not from Sparta, little miss delusional," Krinos glared at the bushy-haired know-it-all. "I know a lot of people cursed for things not as offensive as insulting the entirety of the mystic soul community like you just did."

"Don't talk to her like that," Ron glared back at the nature mage.

"I will talk to this idiotic girl any way that I wish," Krinos crossed his arms. "She should not pretend to know anything about my people when she clearly knows nothing at all."

"How dare you," Hermione screamed at him. "I am the brightest witch of my generation."

"In Britain, maybe," Krinos countered with a smirk. "Considering that I have female friends back home that can bend water to her will, turn into any animal that she wishes, conjure fairy tale elements from an enchanted book, and many others, you are nothing but a single grain of sand compared to them."

Harry was of two minds at that moment. His first one was all about wanting to meet Krinos's friends. They all sounded extremely powerful and their powers certainly sounded amazing. They would probably be as fun to be around as Krinos himself. His other mind was actually thinking that Hermione was getting what she deserved. She always acts so high and mighty because of how smart she is and now she has met someone that is finally not putting up with her horrible attitude.

"Don't speak to Hermione like that," Ginny yelled.

Krinos's eyes glowed again. The plants around him moved. Vines grew to a giant size and thorn-covered vines snaked close to them. Both sets of vines grew and moved to be around Krinos, almost looking like they had grown right from his back.

"And what makes you think you can stop me," Krinos asked, his arms crossed. "I am a mage of nature inside of a garden. This is my domain and I doubt you pathetic wand-users can do anything against me in here."

As much as Harry wanted to see what would happen, he would rather not have his new friend become a murderer on the day that they met. He would rather be alone with him anyway since he obviously could not trust the other three to keep their opinions to themselves.

"Just leave, guys," Harry told the three annoyances.

"What," the three yelled.

"How can you even possibly think that we would leave you alone with him," Hermione screamed. "Look at him! He's dangerous!"

"He is only reacting to you insulting him and his people when you called them fake," Harry glared at his supposed friend.

"We are still not leaving you along with him," Ron yelled. 

"Leave or I will finally get to see how mystic souls use their magic in offensive ways," Harry did not mind the idea of forcing them out of the garden.

"It would be my pleasure," Krinos had on a sinister smirk, the vines creeping toward the trio.

The look on the nature mage's face and the approaching vines were enough to get the three to leave.

"Olivia said that she was coming by for a bit, so I will be with her and Remus in the kitchen if you need anything," Sirius told the two.

"Alright, Sirius," Harry said.

Sirius closed the gate behind him as he left, knowing that the paranoid people that were his family had charmed the gate with a silencing charm to activate when it was closed. So his godson and Krinos were perfectly able to freely chat now.

He went back to the kitchen, which was thankfully empty except for himself and Remus. Mrs.Weasley was probably somewhere else trying to clean this disgusting house. He swore to himself that when he cleared his name and got custody of Harry, he was going to get them a much better house to live him. And currently, a house in Greece sounded like a great idea.

But as Olivia stepped out of her portal and into the kitchen, they had a plan that they needed to get started.

"Headmistress Jiwe and all the teachers have agreed to a field trip being hosted by Crystal Rose," she told the two men as she sat down.

"Do they know the real purpose," Remus asked.

"They do," Olivia nodded. "Headmistress Jiwe has had a few run-ins with Dumbledore while at gatherings for worldwide school headmasters/mistresses. She hates him and is definitely willing to help us pull the rug out from under him."

"I now really want to meet her," Sirius stated. "Thank her for us."

Olivia giggled. "I will pass on the message. How is it going on your end?"

"Dumbledore hasn't been by, so we have not had a chance to try and trick him," Remus admitted.

"But we have gotten other Order members into agreeing that having mystic soul allies would be great for the Order," Sirius says. "We have been adding a few lies about Voldemort killing mystic souls in the last war, so your kind would be more open to our side than his."

"Very clever," Olivia nodded in approval. "They will never know that none of us would ever fall against a wand-user, even if he is a so-called dark lord."

"I am beginning to really enjoy your smack talk against all wand-users," Sirius chuckled. "No offense, of course, Moony."

"From the point of view of a mystic soul, I get why she smack talks us," Remus chuckled. "I mean, have you met Fudge and those that he personally employs?"

"The man ordered a 'kiss on sight' for me even when I still have not received a single trial," Sirius said. "You don't need to meet him to know that he's an idiot."

"It's people like your minister that make my cousins question why I chose to go into politics," Olivia stated.

"What can you do," Sirius shrugged. "There is always be idiots in the world, no matter what you try to do."

"Considering the people in this Order, I believe that," Olivia said. "They should call themselves the Order of the Sheep since all they seem to do is follow their precious Dumbledore. They are the sheep and he is their shepherd."

"There is no way that Britain would survive the amount of sass and sarcasm that comes from your family if you guys lived here," Sirius laughed.

The floo suddenly came to life and out walked Dumbledore himself.

"Speaking of said shepherd," Remus mumbled under his breath.

"Ah, Miss.Gardna, welcome back," Dumbledore greeted the time mage.

To the untrained eye, Dumbledore was his usual kind grandfather self. But Olivia was a politician and easily saw through the mask that he was wearing. He was irritated with her being there since she had done nothing but question and argue with him since the moment that she first got there. But since he was here now, probably to try and manipulate Sirius or Remus, they were able to get the rest of their plan in motion.

"Geia, Mr.Dumbledore," Olivia greeted back, purposely not calling him 'headmaster' or 'professor' since he was never her teacher or headmaster.

"Did you need something, headmaster," Remus asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"Molly sent me a letter," Dumbledore said, all three of the others resisting the urge to roll their eyes. "She was concerned about how much time Harry was spending alone. You know that after everything he has been through, he needs his friends."

"Strange that you say that now, yet you were the one that forbid all of us from contacting Harry for almost a month," Sirius crossed his arms as well. "So all of a sudden he needs his friends. Make up your mind, Dumbledore."

"You know that owls could have been intercepted, Sirius," Dumbledore tried not to look annoyed with the fugitive. "Now that Harry is here, he needs his friends."

"Harry can make his own choices, headmaster," Remus said. "If he wants to spend time alone, or in the library, or with his friends, then he is allowed to."

"That reminds me, I will need to talk with him later," Olivia says. "I can help him with his hearing at the ministry since I know the most about the law."

"That is not nec..." Dumbledore tried to say.

"That sounds great, Olivia," Sirius said, interrupting Dumbledore, which he was happy to do. "Thank you."

"Of course," Olivia smiled, then smirked as she decided to move toward manipulating the manipulator. "Given mystic soul history with this country, it would be my pleasure to stick it to your pathetic ministry."

Olivia's mention of a bad history between mystic souls and magical Britain intrigued Dumbledore so much that he forgot about how offended he was at Sirius interrupting him the way that he did.

"Bad history," Dumbledore asked, curious just like they wanted him to be. "What do you mean, Miss.Gardna?"

"I did a little more research since the last time that I was here," Olivia rather enjoyed that he was falling for their trick. "Your little dark lord might have done it in a cowardly way, but he still managed to kill a few of my people. Mystic souls that were simply being magical tourists as they had been visiting magical Britain during your war. Voldemort somehow found them and would have his Death Eaters fire killing curses at their backs. He never let them even fight back. Guess he would rather be a coward than face down a mystic soul in a fight."

Olivia almost smirked as she saw that the headmaster was actually believing her tall tale. He fell for the lie, hook, line, and sinker. Guess this is what happens when you get an ego as big as his, you lose brain cells.

"I see," Dumbledore got that annoying twinkle back in his eyes. "Your people must be very angry that they lost some of their own to Voldemort."

Inside, he was celebrating. Maybe this was the opening that he had to make it known even to mystic souls that he was a lot more powerful than them. He was the strongest wizard ever. Stronger than Merlin, stronger than the Hogwarts founders, stronger than everyone. And he was going to prove it to even mystic souls.

"Some of them were even former students of my school, Crystal Rose," Olivia continues tricking the headmaster. "Headmistress Jiwe is most upset about losing students that she helped to nurture and come into their powers."

They could see the hamster wheels in Dumbledore's mind turning. The three shared looks that silently celebrated how they were fooling the old man.

"Would your headmistress and her fellow mystic souls be willing to help us," Dumbledore asked, thinking that he could use them to further his own agenda.

"The ministry watches you like a hawk, headmaster," Remus said. "You leaving the country would look like you trying to gain allies from other countries. They would never allow that."

"Makes me wish for the days where students were able to go on field trips for certain classes," Sirius sighed. "I still remember that one trip we took to a magical creature reserve when I was taking Care of Magical Creatures in my fifth year."

Unlike Dumbledore, whose manipulations were about as subtle as a bull in a china shop, they were very good at tricking him. They were actually subtle. The old man looked at Olivia as he asked the question that they had been waiting for.

"Does your old school accept foreign schools for field trips," he asked.

The three had to suppress their smirks at a job well done.

Chapter Text

Chapter Ten: I Hate Politics

"You wouldn't know anything about winning a trial against egotistical politicians, would you," Harry asked Krinos suddenly.

The nature mage froze as his hand was halfway up to picked an apple from a tree he had just turned into an apple tree. He then looked at Harry.

"I might need some more information," Krinos requested.

"Well, you know that our ministry is not exactly the best," Harry says.

"The entire magical world knows how corrupt the British ministry is," Krinos said. "Even those on Gotham make fun of how corrupt it is and they have had two crime families feuding in their streets for decades."

"I've never been to Gotham, but I think I would prefer any place over here," Harry admitted.

"Trust me when I say that we would happily welcome you to Greece," Krinos smiled at him.

"You have no idea how much I would love to accept that offer," Harry sighed. 

"Do you want to talk about it," Krinos asked, softly. "My friends and sister have often told me that I am an excellent listener."

"Ironic, given that plants do not have ears," Harry awkwardly chuckled.

"You're stalling, Harry," Krinos said.

"I know," Harry sighed again.

Krinos placed a comforting hand on Harry's. He gave the most comforting smile that he could.

"My parents were killed right in front of me when I was five-years-old," he tells Harry.

"What," Harry gasped, looking right at the nature mage.

"In Greece, things are quite different in terms of who will become the head of their family," Krinos explains. "Our government has a special council of the Theós and Theá of the more powerful Greek families. Think of it like the lords and ladies of your country."

"Okay," Harry nodded as he followed everything that Krinos was saying.

"Every family is different with how they handle who leads the family," Krinos continued. "Some follow the traditional patriarchy, which a man being the head of the family, while others go with a woman leading them, which is a matriarchy. Others just go with whoever is the oldest child, regardless of gender, while some have their own traditions."

"Like what," Harry was glad to be learning, but wondered what this had to do with his parents' deaths.

"Well, I know that the Apolla and Huntress families both make magical twins the heirs of their families," Krinos says. "And then there is how the headship of the Gardenia, Domino, and Solaria families goes to whoever marries first. Some families even have the heirs of their families be whoever gets certain powers."

"I don't know much about stuff like that for here, but maybe I should learn about that as well," Harry says.

Krinos nodded and then continued. "My parents had made Melody and me co-heirs of the Gardna family. Olivia is our proxy until we come of age. But making the two of us the heirs also meant that our parents passed over our older brothers, Red and Black."

"They named them after colors," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we don't know how Melody and I escaped that pattern," Krinos said. "Red and Black were actually passed over because even at that age, they were extremely abusive toward Melody and me."

"Oh, Merlin," Harry swore.

Having experienced plenty of his own abuse at the hands of the Dursleys, Harry knew what it was like to be hurt by your own family. If he wasn't being beaten by Vernon or Dudley, then he was being screamed at and pushed around by Petunia. Not to mention the countless number of chores that he had to do to an unachievable level of perfection or he was beaten and had his food privileges taken away until he completed them the way that they wanted them to be done.

So he sympathized with Krinos over having to live with people that obviously seemed to be just as bad, or even worse, than his relatives. They were probably worse considering they were magical, so that meant they could torment Krinos and his sister worse than how the Dursleys treated him.

"Red had the power of earth manipulation, meaning that he could bend rock and stone to his will," Krinos continued. "Black was able to control shadows. The two actually believed that they were more powerful than anyone else in the entire family. I mean like they believed themselves to be the most powerful Gardna's in history."

"Gess, talk about egos," Harry pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Tell me about it," Krinos rolled his eyes. "They would constantly use their powers to torment Melody and me. We would have to place protective spells on our bedrooms to keep them from attacking us at night. Red once threw Melody off a cliff while we on a family hike and he caused an earthquake right under her feet. Black once created snakes out of shadows, venom included, and sent them after me simply because I grew a garden at the snap of my fingers."

"Dear Merlin," Harry swore. "Your brothers sound like the most insane people that anyone could ever meet."

"No one but their fellow prisoners will ever meet them now," Krinos said.

"What...What did they do," Harry was sure that he was not going to like the answer to his question.

"They were really jealous of Melody and I getting to be the heirs of the family instead of one of them," Krinos says. "As I said, they truly believed that they were the strongest Gardnas to ever be born into the family. It was a couple of weeks before my and Melody's sixth birthday. Our parents were going to start teaching us about how to be the best heirs we could be after then. Melody had been with Olivia and her mom during that afternoon while I had been with our parents. Red and Black hated that and they took their anger out on our parents."

"No," Harry's eyes widened in horror.

"It wasn't even accidental or emotional magic or them losing control," Krinos looked to be holding in his tears. "They did what they did because they wanted to. They killed our parents. They would have killed me as well if my magic didn't lash out in pain and anger. They were sent to Tartarus prison before they were even teenagers because even to this day, the prison guards still say how they are always trying to plan to escape for no other reason than to kill us."

Hearing leaves and other plants moving, Harry looked around. The plants were reacting to Krinos's emotions. They were wilting and turning dull and lifeless. It was definitely obvious to Harry that Krinos's powers were tied to his emotions and feeling so sad was causing all of this to happen.

But, Harry also understood why Krinos had told him that. He was opening up to him as a way to help make him more comfortable so that he could open up to Krinos. It was a very heartwarming gesture that Harry greatly admired.

Placing his hand back on Krinos's, Harry looked at him as the nature mage wiped the tears from his eyes.

"My life has always been about fighting for survival in a world that does not appreciate anything that I do," he said. "I've had to deal with possessed teachers, cursed broomsticks, giant spiders, mountain trolls, a sixty-foot basilisk, soul-sucking dementors, bullying teachers, mother dragons, psychotic mermaids, Death Eaters, and have dealt with Voldemort four times in the past."

"I know I've faced demons, but you are barely even fifteen," Krinos looked horrified. "You should not have faced all of that."

"Tell that to the people of this country," Harry scoffed. "One minute I am a hero that they want to save them from everything that puts them in danger, and the other minute I am the next dark lord that they need to torment and constantly beat down. Everyone around me is constantly changing their opinion of me based almost entirely on that rag known as The Daily Prophet and events that I have no control over. They hardly ever even try to actually ask if I have actually done anything. I have saved Hogwarts every year that I have attended and nobody ever cares that I do."

"If you excuse me, I am going to go out and turn all those people into trees," Krinos pretended to get up to leave.

"I would not disagree with you doing that," Harry sighed. "Other than my third year, nearly everyone at school has turned their backs on me every year. In my first year, I was trying to help a friend avoid charges of illegally having a dragon. I, along with Hermione and my friend Neville, were deducted 50 points each even though it was only our first time being caught after hours. In my second year, they all feared me because I was revealed to be a parseltongue, someone who can talk to snakes, and they all believed that I was the heir of Slytherin and attacking muggleborn students. And last year, everyone but a few believed that I entered the Triwizard Tournament just to have more fame and fortune, bullying me relentlessly because of either lying about entering or stealing glory from the Hufflepuff champion."

"Loyalty and trust are two of hardest things to gain but the easiest to lose," Krinos said.

"Tell me about it," Harry crossed his arms. "I have never done anything but help them but they turn on me faster than a merry-go-round gone wild."

"Now that is a metaphor I have never heard before," Krinos tried to make light of the situation.

"I just want to be normal," Harry clenched his fists tightly. "I want to be a regular wizard that doesn't have to constantly worry about whether he was going to live for his next birthday. I don't want to have to always test those around me to see if they will betray me in the future or not. I just want to be me."

Krinos looked at the frustrated and sad teenager. This was not something that anyone his age should have to go through. Even for a wizard, he had his life put on the line more times than probably anyone else in magical Britain put together. He definitely didn't deserve to always be looking over his shoulder to see if someone would be trying to kill him. Mystic souls might be constantly fighting demons, but it was their choice and a part of their way of life. They also loved that with every demon they vanquish, that meant another innocent life would be saved.

There is also the ridiculous lack of loyalty shown to the teenager in front of the nature mage. To treat him as a hero one minute and a villain the next was a completely horrid thing to do to a teenager. Equality was a big thing at Crystal Rose, given that they even have children with creature blood attending, so they would not even react that much even if one of their schoolmates was famous in any way. Sure, there were popular students and students that were avoided, but that was based more on personality and how they got along with others than anything else.

"I will help you any way that I can," Krinos promised the glasses-wearing teen.

Harry gave him a soft smile. "I appreciate that more than you could ever know."

"So, tell me more about the politics in this country," Krinos sits back in the chair he was in and crosses his legs over the knee. "It will help me help you form a plan of defense for your hearing."

Harry nodded as he did understand that other than the corruption, Krinos would not know how the ministry here works. He might know the basics because of Olivia being involved in politics, but that was probably it.

"As you know, the ministry here is very corrupt," Harry said. "The only time things ever get done is through bribery, threats, or someone in charge being extremely selfish."

"Sounds like these people would literally faint if they saw how functioning the magic council is back home," Krinos chuckled.

"Probably," Harry shrugged. "Other than that, I know that a meager part of the ministry is the Wizengamot, which is the governing body of all the lords and ladies of magical Britain."

"Does the Potter family have a seat on the Wizengamot," Krinos asked.

"I truthfully have no idea," Harry admitted. "Sirius has just started teaching me this stuff to help me with my hearing. Especially since we are both sure that Minister Fudge and his lackeys are going to try something that will make the decision that I am guilty before I even arrive."

"Okay, Olivia will definitely be a great help, then," Krinos says. "She has had a lot of meeting with a lot of different types of politicians. Slapping egotistical and corrupt politicians with her power of common sense is basically more life-giving to her than oxygen."

Harry had to laugh at that. Olivia totally seemed like the type of person that would get a kick out of showing up corrupt politicians and beating them at their own game. She would be even better at the game than them because she beats them without even having to stoop to their level and break the law. Harry was starting to like her more and more with every single new thing that he learns about her.

"So, I am guessing that even though she is a council member, Olivia is still your proxy for your and Melody's seat," Harry guessed.

"Yeah," Krinos nodded. "Though, we might keep it that way even when we come of age."

"Why is that," Harry asked, curious.

"For the simple reason that we hate politics," Krinos sighed. 

"Doesn't everyone," Harry joked.

"Meh," Krinos did a 'so so' hand gesture that meant that it may or may not be true.

"What about if a member of the magic council is also the head of their family," Harry asked, suddenly curious about that.

"The Council of House Theós and Theá is a separate part of our government than the magic council," Krinos explained to him. Only the head of the magic council is actually involved with them and not allowed to hold their own family seats at the same time."

"So even if they are the head of their family, they would have to use a proxy if they are also the head of the magic council," Harry guessed.

"Correct, Harry," Krinos smiled at how quickly he picked up knowledge. "Olivia is still allowed to be our proxy since she is not the actual head of the family, so she is allowed to be our proxy. You're a lot smarter than you let people know, don't you?"

Harry nervously chuckled as he reached up and scratched the back of his head, a nervous twitch that he had developed.

"You can say that," Harry admitted. "My muggle relatives are not the nicest people and it just would not be 'normal' for someone like me to do better in school than their idiot of a son."

Krinos could tell that Harry was not saying everything about what was going on at his relative's home. Especially given that he always seemed to call them his "muggle relatives" and never referring to them as his family. But he would allow Harry to tell him more as he got more comfortable telling him.

"Mystic souls all believe in keeping magic and mundanes separate, anyway," Krinos says. "We do not think that the worlds should ever mix beyond mortal parents that fully embrace their magical child."

While not wanting to say it out loud, Harry agreed with Krinos. He knew that people like Hermione's parents and Seamus's dad were muggles that were open to magic, but that was not the same for all muggles. His own relatives being prime examples of that. There was a reason why the Statute Of Secrecy existed. It was meant to keep mystics safe from mortals, not the other way around. The proof was certainly in horrible events like the Salem Witch Trials.

"I had to learn quickly to not ever do better than Dudley," Harry continued his story. "It was actually a lot harder than you'd think because I've met rocks smarter than that moron."

"Considering the rock trolls, stone mages, and enchanted talking rocks that I have met, I believe that," Krinos chuckled.

"I just got used to having to hide how smart I was and by the time I realized that my relatives wouldn't care about my magical grades, it was too late," Harry said. "Everyone had the image of how their precious 'Boy-Who-Lived' was in Hogwarts and anything that destroyed that image would have caused chaos. Plus, I admit that I hade been desperate for friends that I would do anything to keep them."

"Ron and Hermione, I am guessing," Krinos said.

Harry nodded. "From the moment I met those two, it was obvious that both of them had very different issues. With Ron, he has made it clear that he only cares about Quidditch, food, and chess pretty much in that order. Grades and school are number zero on his list of priorities. It is a miracle that he actually passes his classes at all."

"No kidding," Krinos snorted. "From what I have seen of him, he has the intelligence of a fish with breath just as bad."

Harry actually laughed at that. It was definitely an unspoken rule in Gryffindor that if you wanted to actually keep your meal in your stomach to never look at Ron when he is eating because it is so disgusting that you would never be able to keep yourself from throwing up. He had the table manners of a rabid dog. No offense to Sirius and his canine form, of course.

"And Hermione, don't even get me started on how she feels if anyone does better than her in class," Harry rolled his eyes. "She actually believes that she is the smartest person in the entire school, not just our year. And if anyone does better than her in any class, no matter what class it is, she immediately says that they are cheating. And her only reason to accuse them of cheating is simply because they were doing better than her."

"You need better friends," Krinos said. "I apologize for being blunt, but you really do need better friends."

Harry sighed. "I think that I actually agree with you on that."

Chapter Text

Chapter Eleven: Olivia Showing Who Is Boss

Harry slowly opened his eyes as he groaned, the magical alarm that Sirus set up for him going off. Waking up the morning of his hearing was probably one of the most stressful mornings of his entire life. He wanted nothing more than to pull the covers back over his head and go back to sleep. But he knew that he couldn't.

Krinos and Olivia were basically godsends to him the last few days. 

Krinos was like a breath of fresh air and not even just because of his powers over nature. He had this calming nature about him that made it easier to focus on the law books that they were looking through. And they really needed to know these things in order to keep Fudge and his lackeys from ambushing Harry with expelling even through illegal means thinking that he would not know that it was illegal in the first place.

Olivia also had also been a big help. She was not just knowledgeable about the law, but she could be considered a law prodigy. She was able to learn really quickly even when it was the laws of a different country than her own. Plus, she was also able to use the system just as easily as she did her powers to get what she wanted in a legal way. It was certainly a nice change from how others usually use illegal means to get what they want, but she does not do that. Everything she did was for the right reasons and getting it through the right way. 

She certainly was also good at finding laws that may have been either forgotten or ignored that would be of great help to him. Plus, there was also the flaws in some of the existing laws that would also be of great help to them. The loopholes that they could use in order to help Harry keep his wand and not be expelled. She also kept her eyes out for loopholes that others could use in order to get Harry in more trouble than he already was. But she was going to make sure that things went as smoothly as magically possible.

Krinos had actually explained that the reason she was so good in a courtroom was not even because she was a member of the council. Before she became a member of the council, she had actually been a lawyer that worked in a big firm that the council actually employed when they needed a prosecutor for any trials that they held. Olivia winning a lot of cases with her knowledge, justice-focused attitude, and noble heart was what helped her gain the votes that she needed to be elected as a council member.

Sirius had also been a great help even before they had gone full into the research needed to help with Harry's trial. Since Sirius was from one of the oldest magical families in Britain, he knew a lot about other pureblood families just from what his parents forced him and his brother to learn growing up.

So he had been teaching his godson about the legacy and the power of the Potter family. How they were about a thousand years old, even going back to the time of the Founders, and were greatly admired for always doing what was right for their family. They had started out as just a family of pottery makers but grew over time. They had family members that were potters, duelists, enchanters, politicians, teachers, Quidditch players, business owners, farmers, wand crafters, magical zoologists, and even magical fashion designers. The Potter family was large and proud. They could have been their own private army if they wanted to be.

But that changed during the number of wars where dark lords tried to take control. And since the Potter family has always been about equality, anyone that followed any of the dark lords saw them as a threat. So with each war, the Potter family shortened until only the main branch had been left. And it was thanks to Grindelwald and Voldemort that Harry was now the last of his family. Grindelwald had been the one that killed off James's uncles and aunts, then his own parents died of Dragon Pox, and that left him and Lily to be killed by Voldemort.

So, Harry and Sirius had been looking into Harry claiming the title of Lord Potter in order to help him gain a foothold into the ministry and the Wizengamot. If Harry were to get his family title, he could also get much-needed power. Also, they hoped that if he was able to claim the lordship, it would also give him emancipation. It would give him power in the ministry as well as help him get away from Dumbledore's manipulations.

Olivia had been helping to also handle all of the illegal things that the ministry had been doing to try and keep up their delusion that Voldemort was not back. It seemed something that she was a little too excited about. She just looked a little scary as she had on a Cheshire Cat smile at the thought of suing egotistical politicians. Especially after she took one look at the Daily Prophet and immediately needed a headache potion for the migraine it gave her. She described the so-called newspaper as "nothing but a waste of time that I would rather use to start a fire if I ever went camping."

Sirius certainly agreed with her.

To also prepare for his future lordship, Sirius had also given Harry a book on all the laws of magical Britain, not just the justice system-related laws for when they were preparing for his trial.

As Harry read it, he had thought the book was more like a horror story than a book of laws. It was horrible and he could hardly imagine that any human being could do things like this to other people regardless of who or what they are.

There were just so many laws that restricted the rights of others that were not purebloods. Like for werewolves, it was illegal for them to get a job where there was contact with the general public, which was most jobs. There were also laws that forbid them from marrying and having kids. Vampires also all had the same laws against them. But there were also laws that stopped them from hunting for blood and stopped people from donating blood to a vampire. It was basically illegal for them to eat. Since vampires only needed about a bottle of blood a week, they did not need to kill or turn someone in order to feed.

And that was not even touching about the laws against muggleborns. The worst law was probably the law that forbids any muggleborns from owning a shop, store, or even a restaurant in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. And since all businesses already there are family-owned, they don't hire anyone outside the family. So most muggleborns were out of luck for a job unless they get hired at Hogwarts or the ministry. Hogwarts does not hire assistants or apprentices, so they would be stuck with jobs like secretary, maintenance, janitor, or any other low paying job.

There were no laws that stopped muggleborns from actually getting the more higher-paying jobs, but that was more the unspoken law since all those that handle promotions are those that believe in blood purity.

It drove Harry crazy how no matter how much people like Dumbledore preach about equality, they don't even bother to actually do anything about it. He knew that Dumbledore had been kicked out of his Chief Warlock position over the summer because of how he preached about Voldemort's return, but he did not do much even when he was Chief Warlock. He keeps saying he wants equality among all magical beings, but never once did anything to actually make it happen. He put forth no laws to make muggleborn or creature lives easier, there were no motions to remove the laws that make their lives harder, and some of the laws against creatures even had unanimous votes to get them installed. 

But Harry did notice the laws that the "Light" section of the Wizengamot got through were almost all about destroying the old ways or just making them illegal. They believed that it was either black magic or just out of style. There was also the reason that it was probably the only thing they ever did to try and make muggleborns more comfortable. But at the same time, that was all they did. If anything, that only made muggleborns bigger targets because of how those types of laws piss off the blood purists in power.

He knew that this was the reason why magical Britain had two dark lords in a single century. Because no one has the common sense to figure out that it was because they all refuse to change. Werewolves, vampires, and other creatures join the dark because they are promised better lives without the law restricting everything that could make them want to live as normal lives as possible. Purebloods join because they do see the continuous destruction of their culture the more people try to "make muggleborns more comfortable." The dark lords say what appeals to them, which is anything better than what the current system gives them. 

But right now he had to focus on his current issues with the law. He forced himself out of bed, having woken up at six in the morning in order to have plenty of time to make it to his appointment with Madam Bones at eight. Especially he was sure that Fudge or any other of his lackeys tried anything, which they were all sure would happen.

He made his way to the kitchen so that he could try to eat something even with how nervous he was. He was relieved to see that Olivia was already there and that Sirius and Remus were also awake. Mr. and Mrs.Weasley were also there, but he just took his seat across from Olivia and next to Sirius.

"Harry, dear, let me make you some breakfast," Mrs.Weasley was about to make him a big breakfast.

"No, thank you, Mrs.Weasley," Harry said.

"Here, pup," Sirius gave his godson a plate of plain toast. "This will probably be one of the few things you would be able to keep down on a day like this."

"Thank, Sirius," Harry took the plate and smiled at his godfather, neither of them acknowledging the huff that Mrs.Weasley let out.

"It's okay to be nervous," Remus reassured the teenager. "But we will make sure that everything goes fine and that you will keep your wand and place at Hogwarts."

"And if those corrupt idiots do manage to expel you, the Greek schools will be waiting with open arms," Olivia giggled and winked at Harry.

Harry smiled at Olivia's attempt to lighten the mood. Plus, every law he had learned about was making staying in magical Britain look like a mistake.

(AN: I would like to point out that there is no shade to mortal Britain. It is a lovely place that my sister-in-law is actually from, so I hope I do not accidentally insult actual British people.)

"Arthur will take you to the ministry when he goes there for work, Harry dear," Mrs.Weasley says, but it sounds more like she is making an order.

"There is no need, Mrs.Weasley," Olivia said. "As his lawyer, I will be the one taking him to the ministry."

"Which I still greatly appreciate, Olivia," Sirius thanked the woman again.

"Of course," Olivia said. "Anything to drive egotistical politicians up the wall. Hehe."

"That is not necessary," Mrs.Weasley did not like the thought of someone so disrespectful to Dumbledore around Harry. "Albus will..."

"Do nothing," Olivia interrupted her. "I read that pathetic excuse of a newspaper. He has lost all sway that he has in the ministry. Plus, when dealing with the law, you need to be a tiger. He would not do what is necessary. I, on the other hand, have no problem beating those egotistical narcissists into a bloody pulp. But with my words and not my fists."

"Does everyone have violent tendencies where you're from," Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Avoid the mystic souls from Sparta," Olivia tells him. "There is a reason why the sacred god of that city is Ares."

"Thanks, Olivia," Harry was grateful that such a ruthless lawyer was on his side.

"Really, Harry, I don't think Albus would..." Mrs.Weasley was cut off again.

"Harry wants her as his lawyer, Olivia is really skilled, so just deal with it, Molly," Sirius said.

Harry ate as much toast as his nervous stomach would allow before going back to his room and choosing the best outfit from the closet as he could. He figured that a nice silk shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes would be a much better choice than the four-sizes-too-big hand-me-downs from Dudley were.

He met Olivia in the living room and she opened up a portal for them to walk through.

*****

The two walked out of the portal, into some type of giant fireplace. Sirius had told him that the first place he would end up would be The Atrium. 

It was a large hall with fireplaces up and down both long walls. Down the left-hand side of the hall were gilded fireplaces that witches and wizards used to arrive at the Ministry. The right-hand side contained gilded fireplaces as well, and these were used for departures. The floor was polished dark wood. The ceiling was peacock blue with golden symbols moving across it. The Fountain of Magical Brethren was halfway down the Atrium. A group of golden statues, depicting a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf, spouted water into the surrounding pool of water. At the end of the Atrium was a set of golden gates, next to which was a security stand. 

"If this place was not filled with idiots, it could actually be considered quite amazing," Olivia said.

Harry had to agree with her.

Olivia and Harry walked through the ministry. Harry kept his head down, using his hair to hide his scar. It seemed to help them not be recognized by anyone. Not that Olivia would have been recognized unless there were people from magical Greece at the British ministry for some reason. 

Thinking that it would be good form to arrive early, Olivia knocked on the office door of Madam Amelia Bones at about 7:15. But before she could even hit the door with her knuckles a second time, the door opened to reveal the head of the law enforcement department. Only, she looked like she was about to leave.

"Mr.Potter," she actually looked confused to see him.

"Yes, that would be me, Madam Bones," Harry nodded politely.

"Hello, I am Olivia Gardna," Olivia shook the woman's hand. "I am Mr.Potter's lawyer. We are here for my client's hearing."

There was a moment where Madam Bones was shocked, but she soon put on her mask. What she uses to make sure that she always looks stern and serious even when she is annoyed, happy, or pissed off during a trial. She was usually annoyed or pissed.

"Nice to meet you both, but I was actually on my way to Mr.Potter's hearing," Madam Bones says.

"But we were informed that it was a simple hearing in your office," Olivia stayed as professional as she could.

They had expected something like this to happen, but that did not mean it still did not annoy them.

"I got an owl half an hour ago," Madam Bones tells them. "His hearing has been moved to a full trial in Courtroom 10. It starts at 7:30."

"And why was neither I nor Harry informed of this," Olivia crossed her arms. "We received no owl or letter about the change in location or time."

Madam Bones looked to also be noticing the illegal actions taking place that day. 

"I will look into it as soon as I can, but we must get to the courtroom before we are late," she said.

As they walked, it was clear to all of them the plan that had just failed. Harry's meeting had been supposed to take place at eight but was moved up with no letter to inform Harry of the change. That would mean if they showed up only a few minutes before eight like what probably would have happened if Mr.Weasley had taken him to the ministry with him, he would have been late to the meeting or missed it entirely. They would have immediately found him guilty.

Another reason that Harry was really thankful for Olivia. She seemed to be ten steps ahead of the ministry before they even planned their next illegal action against him.

When they entered the courtroom, it was certainly dark and dreary. A large group of people sat in the courtroom. There were about fifty of them, all, as far as he could see, wearing plum-colored robes with an elaborately worked silver W on the lefthand side of the chest and all staring down their noses at him, some with very austere expressions, others looks of frank curiosity.

In the very middle of the front row sat Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Fudge was a portly man who often sported a lime-green bowler hat, though today he had dispensed with it; he had dispensed too with the indulgent smile he had once worn when he spoke to Harry. Madam Bones took her seat at his left. On Fudge's right was another witch, but she was sitting so far back on the bench that her face was in shadow.

As much as he tried to hide it, Fudge hated that Harry made it on time and also that he obviously brought a lawyer.

Fudge soon started. "The accused being present — finally — let us begin. Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir," said an eager voice that Harry knew who it belonged to, seeing Percy Weasley sitting there.

"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August," said Fudge in a ringing voice, and Percy began taking notes at once, "into offenses committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley —"

"Council Member Olivia Gardna," Olivia prided herself that she interrupted the walking bowling ball of a man. "Heir Potter's lawyer."

There was a murmur among the gathered people when she referred to Harry as Heir Potter. It seems most were under the impression that Harry was unaware of his heritage.

"Yes," said Fudge again, shuffling his notes. "Well, then. So. The charges. Yes."

He extricated a piece of parchment from the pile before him, took a deep breath, and read, "The charges against the accused are as follows: That he did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle, on August the second at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offense under paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under section thirteen of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy. You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?"

"Yes," Harry said.

"You received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?"

"Yes, but —"

"And yet you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?" said Fudge.

"Yes," said Harry, "but —"

"Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic outside of school while you are under the age of seventeen?"

"Yes, but —"

"Knowing that you were in an area full of Muggles?"

"Yes, but —"

"Fully aware that you were in close proximity to a Muggle at the time?

"Yes," said Harry angrily, "but I only used it because we were —"

Madam Bones cut across the minister in a booming voice. "You produced a fully-fledged Patronus?"

"Yes," said Harry, "because —"

"A corporeal Patronus?"

"A — what?" said Harry.

"Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than vapor or smoke?"

"Yes," said Harry, feeling impatient and annoyed at how he is continuously interrupted. "It's a stag, it's always a stag."

"Always?" boomed Madam Bones. "You have produced a Patronus before now?"

"Yes," said Harry, "I've been doing it for over a year —"

"And you are fifteen years old?"

"Yes, and —"

"You learned this at school?"

"Yes, Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, because of the —"

"Impressive," said Madam Bones, staring down at him. "A true Patronus at that age . . . very impressive indeed."

Some of the wizards and witches around her were muttering again; a few nodded, but others were frowning and shaking their heads.

Olivia was getting seriously annoyed at how no one was letting Harry get more than a few words out. Madam Bones even interrupted him and she was probably the one with the most honor in the room. Guess even the honorable people can be a pain in the behind.

"It's not a question of how impressive the magic was," said Fudge in a testy voice. "In fact, the more impressive the worse it is, I would have thought, given that the boy did it in plain view of a Muggle!"

Those who had been frowning now murmured in agreement, but it was the sight of Percy's sanctimonious little nod that goaded Harry into speech.

"I did it because of the dementors!" he said loudly before anyone could interrupt him again.

He had expected more muttering, but the silence that fell seemed to be somehow denser than before.

"Dementors?" said Madam Bones after a moment, raising her thick eyebrows so that her monocle looked in danger of falling out. "What do you mean, boy?"

"I mean there were two dementors down that alleyway and they went for me and my cousin!"

"Ah," said Fudge again, smirking unpleasantly as he looked around at the Wizengamot, as though inviting them to share the joke. "Yes. Yes, I thought we'd be hearing something like this."

"Dementors in Little Whinging?" Madam Bones said in tones of great surprise. "I don't understand —"

"Don't you, Amelia?" said Fudge, still smirking. "Let me explain. He's been thinking it through and decided dementors would make a very nice little cover story, very nice indeed. Muggles can't see dementors, can they, boy? Highly convenient, highly convenient . . . so it's just your word and no witnesses. . . ."

"I'm not lying!" said Harry loudly, over another outbreak of muttering from the court. "There were two of them, coming from opposite ends of the alley, everything went dark and cold, and my cousin felt them and ran for it —"

"Enough, enough!" said Fudge with a very supercilious look on his face. "I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure would have been a very well-rehearsed story —" 

"How about you shut up and let my client finish," Olivia snapped at Fudge. "Keep interrupting him and I will have no choice but to bring charges against you for obstruction of justice."

Most of the court gasped at her audacity. No one had ever talked to the minister like that before. Madam Bones was slightly smirking as someone was finally not putting up with the minister's awful attitude. 

"Thank you, Olivia," Harry smiled at the Greek witch. "As I have been trying to say but have been continuously interrupted, it was a normal day before the skies went dark, it got suddenly cold, and two swooping figured flew down from the sky and attacked my cousin and me. After being attacked several times by dementors in my third year..."

"Now see here," Fudge tried to interrupt again.

"One more interruption and I will sue everyone in this room for everything they got for trying to stop justice from being handled," Olivia yelled at him once again.

"Really, Minister," Madam Bones rolled her eyes. "Let the boy speak."

"As I was saying, I knew what dementor attacks felt like after being attacked several times in my third year when dementors were stationed at Hogwarts," Harry continued. "So I told my cousin to run, but he ran right into one of the dementors. He nearly had his soul sucked out before I managed to chase both dementors away with my Patronus charm."

"And according to Subsection B of the underage magic laws, all acts of self-defense are deemed a proper reason to use magic outside of school," Olivia says. "And there is also no breach to the Statute of Secrecy as Heir Potter's cousin is fully aware of magic existing."

"Look, while I am sure you are a good lawyer," Fudge looked at Olivia like she was an idiot. "But the dementors are under ministry control. So whatever tall tale this boy has told you..."

"I have viewed my client's memories of the event in a special pensive that prevents any tampering with the memory," Olivia gave her best glare to the minister. "My client is willing to show this entire court his memory, take a vow that he is telling the truth, as well as also take truth potion."

"Enough of this nonsense," the other woman next to Fudge snapped. "This boy is obviously just an attention-seeking liar. Expel him already."

Olivia nodded to Harry. If they wanted to try this the illegal way, then they were going to make it impossible for them to do so. Harry stood up and took out his wand.

"I swear upon my magic and my life that everything I said was true," Harry said. "Expecto Patronum!"

The end of his wand lit up and the silver stag patronus lept from the wand and started to gallop around the courtroom. Many were amazed at the sight of such a young boy accomplishing the spell while others looked pissed that now there was nothing they could do to expel him.

"Now that that matter has been settled," Olivia said, taking some papers out of the bag that she brought with her. "You have been served."

She handed the papers to the minister.

"What the bloody hell is this," Fudge demanded, shooting up from his seat.

"It's a lawsuit for slander, defamation, and use of a minor's name without permission of his guardian," Olivia did not even try to hold back her smirk. "My next stop is to that rag attempting to impersonate a newspaper, the Daily Prophet, to give them their lawsuit. But keep trying to slander my client and you will see just how ruthless a Greek witch can get in the courtroom."

She basically sashayed out of the courtroom with a flip of her hair. Harry had to force himself not to laugh as he followed her out. The looks on the faces of those egotistical politicians would give good dreams for weeks.

The two walked right past Dumbledore as he looked about to enter the courtroom. But he was about five minutes too late. But his habit of always arriving late to things worked in their favor for once.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twelve: First Sign Of Powers

"He got off. He got off. He got off," Fred and George sang after they heard about Harry getting off from his charges.

They danced around the dark-haired boy, much to the enjoyment of Harry and the annoyance of their mother. Olivia, Sirius, and Remus stood at the side of the room, smiling as they watched how much Harry enjoyed Fred and George's antics.

"It's so sweet how much those two obviously care for Harry," Olivia tells the two men.

"Since the day I met Harry, it has always been clear that he has the biggest heart," Remus said. "Despite how he grew up and little love was shown to him, his capacity to love is boundless."

"He is probably the most selfless person you could ever meet," Sirius said. "He cares more about others than he ever will himself."

"The more I learn about him, the more I question his home life," Olivia says.

Remus cursed under his breath. He should not have let that slip about Harry's home life. Harry always made it known how much he hates the Dursleys, but he hardly ever gives any actual details about his life with them. All he ever says that they make him do a lot of chores and that they hate magic. He does not talk much else about them. He and Sirius were both aware that it was most likely that he was being abused. Most abused children do not share their abuse with others because they had basically been conditioned to believe that no one would ever help them.

Harry has spent years with those horrible muggles and even though he is aware that what they were doing to him was wrong, he had always failed to actually get help. And it did not help that in almost every situation he had with adults, they had proven themselves untrustworthy to him. From the neighbors and primary school teachers that looked at him and never suspected abuse, choosing to instead believe the lies the Dursleys told about him, to even the teachers at Hogwarts that never did anything against bullying or discrimination. Sirius, Remus, and Olivia were probably the only adults that he actually trusted. But telling others about the abuse they go through was a lot harder than non-abused people think.

"Harry does not like to talk about his relatives," Sirius tried to steer Olivia away from the subject.

"Sirius, I know a victim of abuse when I see one," Olivia tells him.

"Did Harry..." Sirius tried to ask but stopped himself.

He knew that even if he trusted Olivia, Harry would not reveal anything on purpose to someone he only met a week ago. But he might have said something by accident or just reacted to something in a way that made her suspicious. Sirius certainly noticed things that Harry did that told him more about the abuse that Harry suffers.

Like how he almost subconsciously jumps whenever a sudden loud noise happens. The first time that Harry had heard his mother's screaming portrait, he basically had jumped five feet in the air. There was also how Harry hated having anyone approach him from behind. Remus was in the family library with him once and tapped him on the shoulder to ask if he was hungry. But he had done that from behind and Harry had jumped away from him and looked to be reaching for his wand as if he needed to immediately defend himself against something... or someone.

"I worked a lot of cases when I was an assistant lawyer," Olivia said. "And if a case is serious enough, the magic council also deals with family court cases or abuse accusations. Child abuse is a lot more common than people like to believe."

"It is," Remus had been a teacher, even if only for a single year, and he hated the idea of more children out there being abused.

"Modern statistics say that roughly 6.6 million children every year are abused but only 3.6 million of those children actually have their cases investigated," Olivia hated reality sometimes. "And over 90 percent of those children are abused by someone in their own family or at the very least by someone they know."

Sirius and Remus were definitely both horrified by that bit of information. That certainly beat out Dumbledore's usual point of view of "family always loves each other." But they all knew that was more of his excuses to keep ignoring the obvious problem with Harry's relatives.

It certainly hit Sirius since his own parents had definitely been horrible to himself and even to Regulus. Sirius was the white sheep of the Black family and that put a target on his back for his blood purity-obsessed parents. If they were not hitting him with stinging hexes or low-powered bludgeoning curses, they were using bone-breaker curses or even the cruciatus curse. They were not going to let themselves have anything less than the perfect death eater children. And it certainly got worse once he had been sorted into Gryffindor and not Slytherin. They would skip their usual punishment charms and hexes and go straight for their favorite dark curses. Regulus saw what they did to him and tried his best to be everything that they wanted him to be. Sirius could never blame his brother for that. He would always blame his parents for the death of his precious little brother.

Sirius knew that if he had not run away and started living with the Potter's the summer after his fifth year, his parents would probably have killed him once he refused to join the death eaters. His only real regret was that he left Regulus behind and could do almost nothing to help him. Especially since with how both Bellatrix and Narcissa were still in Hogwarts as well, they would immediately tell his parents if he tried to approach Regulus during Hogwarts. That would only make life worse for his brother.

"It must be hard when you get cases like that," Sirius says to Olivia.

"I think the hardest thing is when the children are nothing but collateral damage between divorced parents," Olivia sighed. "There was once a case where a pair of twins were being fought over by their divorced parents, but it was not even because their parents loved them. It was proven that they wanted custody of the twins just so the other would not have them."

"Merlin," Remus gasped. "What kind of horrible people would do that to their own children?"

"Members of the Bronze family," Olivia huffed. "A family of hot-heads that care nothing about each other and only themselves."

"So, the entire family is bad," Sirius thought they sounded almost like Greek versions of the Malfoy family.

He would compare them to his own family, but the Blacks were more known for dark magic and general insanity. The Malfoy family were the ones known for their selfishness. Combining the Black and Malfoy traits is what created the spoiled brat known as Draco Malfoy. He was selfish, but Sirius definitely saw some Black madness in his eyes when he saw him while sneaking around Hogwarts in his dog form.

"Not everyone in the family is bad," Olivia says. "Generally, the Bronze family are masters of Enchanted Ruby magic, which is a powerful form of fire magic."

"Not the best combo if they are a family of bad apples," Remus said.

"But as I said, there are those that are not as bad as the rest of them," Olivia says. "My cousins have a friend named Mason back home. He is a member of the Bronze family, along with his parents. But he and his dad are actually alright people. The mother... story for another time."

"Noted," Remus nodded.

"Guess even mystic souls are not exempt from being able to abuse children," Sirius says, seeing that even such powerful people are still human. 

"Sadly, human nature prevents such perfection from existing," Olivia sighed. "There will always be people that abuse others just like there will always be those that are good, evil, or neutral. We may be magical, but we are still human."

"Human for the most part, anyway," Remus growled.

"You know, there is no shame in being a werewolf," Olivia tells him. "There are a number of students at Crystal Rose that are werewolves, cat creatures, and basically any other were-creature that exists."

"Really," Remus was shocked as he had barely been allowed to go to school and that was only because no one knew he was a werewolf.

"Creatures of all kinds attend Crystal Rose as well as every other mystic soul school in the world," Olivia says. "Just the friends of my cousins include two harpies, a werewolf, a butterfly girl, a bumblebee boy, a were-snake, and a shapeshifter. And that is only those off the top of my head."

"I hope our plan works just so I can meet these people," Sirius said. "Well, helping Harry is my number one priority, but you can not blame me for wanting to meet more of you people."

"No, I can not," Olivia giggled.

"Alright, ENOUGH," Mrs.Weasley screamed to finally get the twins to stop their little concert.

Harry pouted a little as the twins stopped their "He Got Off" song and just settled on either side of him. But he certainly was preferring them over any of the other school-age kids in the room at the moment.

"Thanks for the help, again, Olivia," Harry smiled at the time mage.

"It was my pleasure," Olivia smiled back. "Anything to stick it to egotistical politicians that only use their positions to further their own agendas. Justice means everything to those on the magic council."

"Be it from putting away criminals to vanquishing demons," Krinos said.

His sudden appearance made most of them jump nearly jump out of their skin. Krinos snickered as he brushed some leaves and flower petals out of his hair.

"You always did enjoy doing that," Olivia giggled.

"It's something I picked up from Madison," Krinos chuckled.

"Who," Harry asked, always liking to hear about Krinos's mystic soul friends.

"She's a friend back home," Krinso explained. "She originally came from America but attended the Japanese mystic soul school before transferring to Crystal Rose. Part of her magic allows her to turn invisible, so she likes to sneak up on people a lot."

"I remember reading about the Japanese school," Harry said. "It's it a combat magic-focused school, right?"

"Yeah," Krinos said. "Senshi No Kokoro is known for the warriors that graduate from there. Their houses are named after their most well-known graduates. Beowulf, Achillies, King Arthur, Atilla the Hun, and Robin Hood."

"But wouldn't all of them be from different eras in time," Harry was confused.

"One of their founders was actually a time mage like me," Olivia explained. "He had also had the ability to look at a person and watch their specific history. So when they opened the school, he used his powers to find five warriors from different time periods. He had them all attend at the same time, and that was why all of them were such great fighters when he had returned all of them to their correct times."

"And since the world has not gone all to hell, it is obvious that it did not affect the timeline," Krinos said.

"Oh, I get it," Harry says. "All of them had to train for each of their destinies, so that was the loophole that the founder used in order to bring all five of them together."

"You catch on quick," Olivia smiled. "I knew I liked you."

"Nice to see you back, Krinos," Sirius smiled.

"I knew that Harry's trial was today, so I wanted to hear about how much Olivia was able to yell at the idiots in your ministry," Krinos chuckled.

"You were that confident that she would be able to help him," Remus raised an eyebrow.

"My cousin has been practicing law for almost as long as I have been alive," Krinos smirked. "She has known that she has wanted to go into law since she was ten. I had no doubt at all that she would be able to help him."

"She was definitely the best person to help me," Harry said. "And when she called me 'Heir Potter' it looked like some of them were about to wet themselves."

"They probably thought you were as ignorant as they believed anyone raised by muggles would be," Sirius said.

"I still do not like that word," Olivia crossed her arms. "Muggles.' What a degrading word."

"There is a reason why mystic souls prefer to use the term 'mundanes," Krinos said.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Harry turned back to the twins. "You guys have to see the garden that Krinos brought back to life. It's amazing."

"Not some of my best work, but I appreciate the compliment anyway," Krinos chuckled.

Harry just took a hand of each of the twins and basically dragged them up the stairs and to the garden. Krinos chuckled again and with a nod of permission from Olivia and Sirius, he followed after the three boys.

Harry took Fred and George into the Black Family Garden. Harry had always liked the twins. They were probably some of the best friends that he has ever had. Even when he was being bullied and attacked over people suspecting him of being the Heir of Slytherin, the twins had made the entire thing a joke to cheer him up. They had playfully bowed to him, jokingly called him the heir, and would even pretend that they were his evil loyal servants. They made him smile even when almost everyone else was running away from him.

The way that they knew when to take things seriously and when they could make everything a big joke was probably what he liked most about them. They always made him smile no matter what else was going on in his life.

"Bloody hell," Fred gasped as they saw the garden.

"Incredible," George followed up his brother's gasp.

"I told you that it was amazing," Harry laughed at their reactions.

Krinos soon joined them in the garden, happily sitting down on one of the chairs. He snickered as he looked at the three boys.

"You three going to make out for what," he asked as he noticed the three looking at each other.

Harry, Fred, and George all immediately blushed and took a step away from each other. Krinos snickered again.

"I suddenly feel pity for any boy that your sister dates," Harry tells Krinos.

"Hey, I could have said something a lot more embarrassing than what I just said," Krinos shrugged and smirked.

"You are a very odd person," Fred stated.

"And that says something coming from us," George added.

"Meh, I've been called worse," Krinos shrugged.

They were all soon interrupted by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny barging into the garden. They did not look any happier than they did during Fred and George's little song. Hermione looked especially annoyed. She had probably heard that Harry had not accepted any help from Dumbledore, nor was there any chance given for Dumbledore to even attempt anything as well. Even Olivia and Krinos knew that she worshipped authority figures and they barely even knew her.

"Harry James Potter," the know-it-all almost instantly yelled when they got into the garden.

"Here we go again," Fred groaned.

"I have a headache already," George pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Does she ever stop yelling," Krinos asked, only getting head shakes in response.

"What, Hermione," Harry was annoyed already, not wanting to deal with the complaining of his so-called friends again so soon after his trial.

"Why did you not let Headmaster Dumbledore help you," Hermione yelled. "He would have helped you loads better than that fake."

"Excuse me," Krinos got back onto his feet.

"I had asked Olivia to help me," Harry tells the bossy girl, crossing his arms as he did. "She has years of experience as a lawyer and as a member of her country's magic council. Dumbledore is not even on the Wizegmont anymore."

"It's Headmaster Dumbledore," Hermione continued to yell. "The headmaster is the greatest wizard of all time and he would have helped you much more than she did." 

"Dumbledore did nothing," Harry yelled back. "He was not even in the room when Fudge and his minions had tried to steamroll me and declare me guilty without even trying to listen to me. They only wanted to listen to the voices in their heads and the voices that give them more gold in their vaults."

"How dare you say that about him," Ginny screamed. "He is loads better than that Greek nobody."

"I dare you to continue insulting my cousin," Krinos growled, his eyes glowing green once again.

The plants started to react around them. Fred and George, having not witnessed his powers before, were both excited and nervous at the same time.

"If you get your heads out of Dumbledore's butt long enough, you will see that he would not have been able to do anything," Harry yelled at the three.

If the three had not been insulted before, they sure were now. Harry had never felt freer, though. He was letting out some of his pent-up rage against the headmaster. He had grown up since he had been held prisoner at Durzkaban. He was no longer the golden boy that the headmaster wanted him to be. He certainly was never going to see him as anything less than the selfish narcissist person that he was. He found child abuse acceptable and that alone made him hate the headmaster.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! HOW DARE YOU," Hermione screamed once again.

"Yep, I have a headache," George said.

"I think the whole house does," Fred says.

Krinos was still trying not to lose control as he still remembered their insults against Olivia. They were lucky he didn't vanquish them right then and there.

"HEADMASTER DUMBLEDORE IS A MILLION TIMES BETTER THAN THAT LYING FREAK," Hermione screamed.

Krinos was really about to lose it that time. Even Fred and George looked like they were about to start yelling at the three in defense of Olivia. All of them missed the flash in Harry's eyes.

But they did not miss when the glass dome over their heads shattered when a bolt of lightning came shooting into the garden and struck between Harry and the annoying trio. That certainly got their attention.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirteen: Change Of Weather

The shattering of the glass dome was heard all around Number 12. The sound of multiple feet was heard as they came rushing up the stairs and toward the garden. The kids all stood there, silent as they were shocked both literally and figuratively. Even Krinos was gobsmacked and he was used to these types of things.

Sirius, Remus, Olivia, Mrs.Weasley, and Mr.Weasley all came bursting into the garden. There was a very noticeable scorch mark on the ground as well as the shattered glass all around them and the small fires where the lightning had touched. Small fired burned on the ground, one of the nearby trees, and a bush.

"What is the name of Merlin, Morgana, and the founders happened in here," Mrs.Weasley screamed at the top of her lungs.

"A lightning bolt came out of nowhere, mum," Ron tells her.

"It destroyed the roof and nearly got us," Ginny added.

"Of course such a selfish person like her would make it all about them without even mentioning Harry or me," Krinos thought.

Sirius and Remus pushed past Mr. and Mrs.Weasley, heading right to Harry to check and see if he was okay. Olivia ran right up to Krinos to check on him.

"Pup, are you hurt," Sirius started patting Harry all over to see if there were any spots that hurt his godson.

"I'm fine, Sirius," Harry laughed a little as some of the spots that Sirius tested tickled him a bit. "You can stop seeing if I am hurt, now."

"Relax, Padfoot," Remus had to basically pull Sirius off of Harry since he was still worried for his godson.

"I can not help but worry," Sirius says.

Olivia, after making sure that her cousin was not injured, looked at the scene around her. There were not two things that she was sure of. One, that Krinos was probably slightly pissed that his brand new garden was ruined. And two, that there was definitely some form of magic at work since there had been no rain or rainstorm predicted for that day. She looked her cousin right in the eye.

"Skéfteste ti skéftomai," she asked him in Greek. Translation: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

"An skéfteste óti o Chári eíche mia ékrixi apó mystikistikí psychí mageía, tóte nai," Krinos responded. Translation: If you are thinking that Harry had a burst of mystic soul magic, then yes.

"Aftó pou synévi gia na ton kánei na antidrá étsi," Olivia asked. Translation: What happened to make him react like that?

"O Nkréintzer sás apokálese psémata," Krinos answered. Translation: Granger called you a lying freak.

Olivia growled as she stole a glare at the bushy-haired bossy girl. Sirius and Remus noticed the glare right away. That also made them notice that Harry also looked just as upset at his so-called friends as Krinos and Olivia seemed to be.

"What happened, Pup," Sirius asked Harry.

"While I may not know about why the lightning came, I think it was just karma punishing Hermione," Harry crossed his arms as he glared at the know-it-all. "Guess karma doesn't like it when she calls someone a 'lying freak' based entirely on her own opinions."

Krinos growled again, his eyes glowing green.

"Hermione," Remus scolded the girl. "Just because you do not believe in the power of mystic souls does not give you the right to insult Olivia like that."

"But she has to be lying," Hermione looked ready to explode. "Wandless magic is rare so that means that mystic souls are fake."

"Wandless magic is rare for wand-users, Hermione," Sirius tells the annoying girl. "But mystic souls are entirely different types of witches and wizards from those that use wands. To you, it is wandless magic. To them, it is simply the magic they use since they have never had the need for wands."

"They have been around for just as long as wand-using magical beings have," Remus said. "Any pureblood or magical-raised half-blood would tell you the same thing. Mystic souls are known in magical communities."

"Probably the only exception to not needing a focus to our magic would be the difference between heart and holder type mystic souls," Olivia says.

"Huh," the Weasley twins 'duh'ed.

"Heart-type mystic souls are witches and wizards that use magic that flows through their bodies," Krinos explained. "Holder-type mystic souls need focuses in order to use their magic. They do not use wands, but they have been known to use amulets, keys, weapons, and even clothing for their magic."

Harry had to hide his smirk as he saw Hermione's eyes twitch with annoyance. Even when there were mystic souls that needed objects to use their magic, they still did not use wands. That has definitely got to annoy the hell out of her. He knows that he should not take pleasure in the annoyance of another, but she knows how much he despises the use of the word "freak." And even with that knowledge, she still used that word. Shows how little she cares about his feelings, so that pretty much gave him permission to not care about hers. Even if it was for a second.

"Sorry about the garden, Krinos," Harry apologized to the nature mage.

"Well, not like you can control how karma works," Krinos shrugged, keeping his theory about Harry's powers to himself and Olivia. "If you want, I can always make an attempt to make contact with Olympus for you. After all, Adrestia is the minor deity of revolt and equilibrium between good and evil. In other words, he is the god of karma."

"Just be careful when you try," Olivia tried not to giggle. "You might accidentally contact Nemesis since she is the goddess of revenge."

"Revenge is not justice, though," Harry pointed out. "A lot of people mistake revenge and justice as the same thing, but they are really completely different."

"You are wiser beyond your years, Harrykins," Fred chuckled.

"You need to show that more," George added.

Harry blushed a little as he was complimented by the twins. Krinos made sure to remember that since it would definitely be fun to tease his new friend about his obvious crush on the two redheads. Well, it was obvious to everyone but the two youngest redheads, the annoying bossy girl, and the adult redheads.

"I can fix all of this up easily, anyway," Krinos smirked. "I am not a nature mage for nothing. Nature's breath."

He blew his magical breath once again. The enchanted pollen flowed over all of the burned areas, putting out the small fires and bringing the plants back to life. And since he was fixing one of the trees anyway, he just changed the tree into a mango tree while he was at it.

"Mangos," Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"I have a friend back home who is from Hawaii," Krinos shrugged. "He got me addicted to them. Not like it is a bad thing, anyway."

He chuckled as he picked a mango from the tree.

Hermione huffed again and glared at the nature mage. She was still in denial about his powers even when this was about the third time that she had seen them being used. And each one being done without a wand. Krinos just rolled his eyes as he saw her glaring at him again. That girl really just needed to get over herself and see that she does not know everything about everything.

"Yeah, White was always a very unique individual," Olivia giggled. "Ironic that he comes from Hawaii and yet he hates both coconut and fish. Haha."

"I can not blame him," Krinos shivered. "I despise fish."

"Remind me to never take you to a fish and chips shop while you are here," Harry chuckled as he looked at Krinos.

Considering that the glass dome above them was still broken, they all left the garden. They would all wait a while just in case of another lightning attack. There would be no use in repairing the dome if it was just going to be destroyed again if there was more lightning.

Much to the frustration of Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Mrs.Weasley, Harry soon disappeared again as he went back up to the family floor so that he could do some more reading. His trial may have come and gone, but that did not mean that he was going to stop learning. Because of all his chats with Krinos, a person that was his age and actually listened to him, Harry did not want to hide who he was anymore. He was not going to pretend to be their precious "savior" or their "Gryffindor Golden Boy" anymore.

He had actually always been intrigued by international magic. Sure, there were wand-users and mystic souls all over the world, but that did not mean there were not traditional types of magic or abilities common in other countries. It was almost like how there were samurai in Japan, ninja in China, animal-themed warriors in Mexico, and the Valkyries of Norway. Maybe these warriors were all based on magic users that each country had.

Meanwhile, Sirius gathered in his room with Remus and Olivia. They needed to discuss what could have happened in the garden.

"So, you and Krinos believe that Harry caused the lightning," Sirius summarized when Olivia translated the rest of what the cousins had talked about.

Olivia nodded. "Magic comes from emotions, so it was only natural that his anger and protective nature would cause such a thing to happen."

"I thought that Harry's mystic soul magic was blocked," Remus said as he looked at Olivia. "How could he access any of his powers?"

"I remind you two that mystic souls are some of the most powerful beings on the planet," Olivia says. "As Harry grows older, the stronger his powers get even when they are blocked. And since wand-user magic was used to block them, that makes it easier for Harry to get bursts of mystic soul magic when he gets emotional."

"Harry always did have more accidental magic when he was a baby," Sirius remembered from before James and Lily were killed. "Before his parents died, Harry had used magic a lot more than most magical babies his age could do."

"What were the things that he would do," Olivia asked. "Might give some clues to what his mystic soul power could be."

"Well, Harry had always been a calm and quiet baby," Remus says. "He was also very low maintenance. He could summon his own toys, conjure blankets if he was cold, or make a room cold if he was hot."

"He once even levitated me into the air and put me into his crib next to him when he didn't want me to leave after I visited them one time," Sirius chuckled at the memory. "It was like I had been picked up by a burst of wind before the wind gently let me down into the crib."

"Wind, you say," Olivia was in deep thought.

"You think he might have some type of wind magic," Remus guessed Harry's power.

"Considering you also said that he could make a room cold, plus the lightning bolt from earlier, I think it is more likely that he has storm magic," Olivia says. "Harry might be able to have the power to control the weather."

That was certainly a shock to the two adult males in the room. Sure, mystic souls were known to be very powerful, but controlling the weather was an amazing power to have. Especially given that the only wand-user in history that was said to be able to even slightly manipulate the weather was Merlin himself. There were tales of how he could summon dust clouds and wind storms in battle even when he had been just a teenager.

"Harry will definitely need to be trained if he really does have a power like that," Remus says.

"It is a good sign that his power is showing," Sirius said. "It means that his body and magic are breaking through the block on their own. While he may require help to fully unblock his powers, this is still a good sign that Harry is on the right track."

"We will have to be careful, though," Olivia warns the two. "Magic in the hands of teenagers is dangerous enough, add in the sudden ability to control the weather with an untrained teenager controlling them and you get a very dangerous combo."

"Are there any other weather or storm mages at Crystal Rose that might be able to help him," Sirius asked her.

"Not exactly like him," Olivia says. "As I have said that no two mystic souls in the same generation have the same powers. But mages that can control water, nature, air, and even sound would be able to help him."

"Sound," Remus was confused.

"Well, thunder is as much sound as it is the weather," Olivia shrugged. "Just ask my cousin Melody, who is a music witch."

"We will need to prepare more for when Hogwarts goes to Crystal Rose," Sirius says.

The other two nodded in agreement.

"Krinos has been spreading the news to all his friends at Crystal Rose," Olivia says. "Once they all meet Harry and form their own opinions, they can be the loyal friends that he deserves."

"Form their own opinions," Remus raised an eyebrow. "Are they not taking Krinos at his word that Harry is a good person that they would like."

"Krinos has the trust of all his friends, but we are not going to force them to participate with the plan," Olivia explains. "They deserve to see if they like Harry on their own before they put their life on the line. We would be dealing with a dark lord and a fake light lord when we are doing this, you know."

Sirius nodded. "I understand, Olivia. While Remus and I want Harry to be safe, neither of us are willing to put more children at risk."

"Unlike Dumbledore," Remus growled. "He started recruiting Sirius, James, Lily, and I into his Order of the Phoenix when we were all still students."

"Okay, I know that mystic souls of many ages fight demons, but that is all kinds of messed up," Olivia did not like the sound of that. "We fight them because we want to and because we do not want to die. We are not recruited by someone else."

"Not to mention how he always uses his position to make himself seem like everyone owes their loyalty to him," Sirius snarled. "Look at Hagrid. Dumbledore knew that no one would want to hire someone that was half-giant, let alone someone expelled from Hogwarts. So he gives Hagrid a job and that pretty much turned the man into Dumbledore's biggest supporter."

"We know that he cares about Harry, Hagrid does have a really big heart, but he would never hear anything against Dumbledore even with a mountain of proof," Remus added.

"I don't think I can ever come to this country and not get a headache," Olivia groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Let's just pray that our plan works," Sirius said.

"It better," Olivia says. "Because when I was making the plan work on my side, the council made it clear that it was war against magical Britain if any mystic soul was killed or greatly injured by anyone from here."

Both men gulp at the thought of that. If it did come down to war, magical Britain would have no idea that it would basically be their doomsday. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Fourteen: Birthday Blow Up

To say that Olivia was weirded out when she got a message from Sirius asking her and Krinos if there was such thing as mystic souls with baking magic would be the understatement of the century. And that says something considering that she had been to a lot of different centuries.

Sirius was lucky that there was a two-hour time difference between Britain and Greece. But that did also mean that Sirius had been calling her when it was only six in the morning back in his country. Why he was up at that time, she was about to find out.

Since Krinos had gotten Harry a birthday present anyway, she decided to bring him along with her. He could have gotten to England on his own, but traveling together was more convenient than traveling separately.

When they got back to Number 12, imagine their surprise to see the normally not-panicking Sirius Black in a complete mess. It was like a tornado had struck inside of the kitchen and destroyed every bit of food that they had. There were over a dozen dirty bowls in the sink as well as dirty whisks, spoons,  butter knives, and spatulas. There were also broken eggs on the floor and countertop as well as butter melting on the floor from the room temperature. Flour was also everywhere and empty bags of sugar were scattered about as well.

"What in the name of Demeter, Hestia, and Priapus happened in here," Krinos swore.

Naming the goddess of agriculture/food, the goddess of home/cooking, and the god of animal and vegetable fertility spoke volumes about how much a disaster the kitchen was. Especially since as Greek magical beings, they never used the names of the gods in vain like others would. Swearing with their names was pretty common where they were from. They did not consider it taking their names in vain the same way a person that goes to church can still say "oh my god."

They saw Sirius frantically taking a, what was probably supposed to cake, cake out of the oven. It looked really burned and was smoking.

"I think we are about to find out," Olivia said.

The frantic man quickly put the burned cake on the closest counter to him. Then he turned around and saw the two mystic souls standing there.

"I don't think I have ever been so happy to see you two in my life," he looked so relieved.

"Uh... Sirius," Olivia approached him slowly as if he was a wild animal about to attack. "Mind telling us what in the wide world of witchcraft is going on here!"

"What is going on is that I found out that just because I can cook does not mean that I know how to bake," Sirius exclaimed.

"I am both confused, worried, and a little amused," Krinos stated.

"Okay, how about you turn off the oven, sit down, and try to relax," Olivia tells the fugitive. "You're going to give yourself a nervous breakdown."

Sirius took a deep breath before turning off the oven and all three of them sat down at the table. Well, sitting in the few remaining chairs that did not have a layer of flour on them. Sirius did end up face-planting right onto the table as he groaned in frustration.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but are you okay," Krinos asked.

"I was just trying to give Harry a more memorable birthday," Sirius did not even take his head off of the table.

"Oh, I get it," Olivia said. "You wanted to bake Harry a birthday cake, but failed miserably."

"I think that with how this kitchen looks, he failed more disastrously than miserably," Krinos looked at all of the baking ingredients on the floor.

"Not helping, Krinos," Olivia told her cousin.

"Hey, I'm a Gardna, so being sassy and sarcastic is pretty much in my blood," Krinos chuckled.

"This definitely explains why you were asking if there were any mystic souls with baking powers," Olivia could not stop herself from giggling.

"You are both enjoying my suffering a little too much," Sirius looked at them as he moved his head to be laying sideways on the table.

"Well, you're acting like this is the end of the world," Olivia giggled again. "Ever thought of consulting a cookbook or something?"

"I was always able to cook really well," Sirius finally took his head off the table. "When I first ran away from my parents to live with James and his parents, I would actually cook for them just to show my gratitude for them letting me stay. Charlus and Dorea constantly tried to tell me that I did not need to, but it was better than taking advantage of their kindness. I once even made a full Sunday roast dinner for them and yet I can not bake a single cake."

"Well, baking and cooking are different things," Krinos says. "There are even some people that can bake but are actually terrible at cooking. Basically the opposite of your problem, Sirius."

"But, unfortunately for you, there is no such thing as baking magic," Olivia tells the man.

"There are those that use their powers to help them in the kitchen, but not specifically culinary magic," Krinos says. "Such as those with telekinesis moving pots and pans around or those with fire magic using it as their heat source. That second one usually does not end well for those that do not like their meat on the well-done side."

"Oh, Merlin," Sirius complained, looming ready to face plant into the table again.

"The closest that we could probably get to a baking or cooking mage is probably Wyatt," Krinos says. "But the food he makes is not exactly the most edible of cuisine."

"What does he do to it," Sirius could not help but be curious.

"Wyatt is an Alchemy mage that specifically deals with mystical herbs and spices that change regular food into spells, curses, and other magical things," Krinos explained. "He has specific spice and herb 'families' where each influences a different magically affected area. The body, the mind, emotions, time, the elements, you get the idea."

"That actually sounds very cool," Sirius was getting more and more relaxed as they talked.

"Only when he actually can control what the food does," Krinos says. "Wyatt can sometimes go a little overboard and usually ends up blowing up a few cauldrons a week when experimenting. Plus, there was the one time this jerk stole a drink Wyatt had made called Noteworthy Horchata. He wanted to play a prank on a girl that rejected his request for a date. He ended up accidentally using the drink on the whole school when he put the drink in the special cauldron in the kitchen that magically sends it to all the goblets in the dining hall."

"Why would a cauldron, like that, even be in the kitchen," Sirius raised an eyebrow and actually thought that would be a cool thing to have used for pranks back in his own days at Hogwarts.

"It's for when there is a contagious illness going around," Olivia tells him. "Whether it is a serious one or just a simple one that could take students out of class for a day or so. The cauldron is used to quickly spread out the proper medicine to either help those infected or to vaccinate those not infected yet."

"The wannabe prankster even had no idea what the drink would even do," Krinos continued. "He didn't even read the card that Wyatt usually puts with his dishes to remind himself what each dish does. What the Noteworthy Horchata ended up doing was turning the entire school into one giant musical for a day."

"The drink made everyone sing," Sirius could not stop himself from laughing.

"You laugh now, but you were not there," Krinos said. "You try learning in class when the teachers can not finish a sentence without bursting into song."

"It's not like you can complain much since most of your classmates describe you as having the voice of an angel," Olivia smirked at her cousin.

"It's a blessing and a curse since now they want me to sing at every holiday event at Crystal Rose," Krinos shook his head.

Olivia snickered as she knew that her cousin really could sing really well. And as much as mystic souls stay away from the mundane world, they did enjoy plenty of mundane music. Krinos tended to lean more toward pop and country music, being a fan of those like Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton. Krinos had more of a natural talent with his voice, even some calling it extraordinarily since he was able to sing so many different types of songs with ease. Melody might be a music mage, but she preferred to play instruments than sing. When she did sing, it was usually duets with her twin brother.

"I just wanted to make Harry's birthday really special," Sirius said. "He has not had a proper birthday since he turned only a year old. I am his godfather, so I know that he would appreciate it if I was the one that made him his cake. Plus, I know what he would want in a cake and in a birthday meal. Mrs.Weasley would want to do it all, but she would not even bother to do any of Harry's favorites and just do what she wants to."

Olivia and Krinos both rolled their eyes at that. That woman got on both of their nerves with how she always wanted things done to how she wants them to be done. She does not listen to anyone but herself and does not seem to care if anyone wants to do anything in another way. She was extremely selfish in that regard.

"We can still help you," Olivia tells Sirius.

"Really," Sirius looked at the two with hope.

"We're no pastry chefs, but we know our way around a kitchen," Krinos says. "But first things first. Gotta clean up this mess."

He proceeded to cast a spell to clean up the whole kitchen at once.

"Let the object of objection
Become but a dream
As I cause the seen
To become unseen."

When he finished the spell, a wave of magic seemed to flow right over the kitchen. As the ave passed over everything, it all became clean in an instant. The whole kitchen was spotless in seconds. There was no sign of any mess in the least.

"Much better," Olivia grinned.

"I really need to read more mystic soul spellbooks," Sirius said.

"Our spells are both simple and yet complex at the same time," Krinos says. "That is what makes them so difficult."

"Anyway, what did you have in mind for Harry's birthday feast," Olivia asked.

"I have a few ideas," Sirius gave them a Cheshire Cat smile, making the mystic souls both worried and excited.

*****

"PADFOOT," Olivia and Krinos heard screamed from the floor above them.

Remus soon came walking down from the family floor. He was chuckling, making the two of them very curious.

"What happened up there," Krinos asked.

"Sirius decided that the perfect way to wake up Harry for his birthday was to change into his grim form, jump onto Harry's bed, and start licking his face," Remus chuckled again.

"Why am I not surprised he did that," Olivia giggles.

"Sirius loves Harry more than anything else in the world," Remus softly smiled as he looked back up the stairs to the family floor. "Those two not only deserve each other, but they also need each other."

Olivia and Krinos could not agree more. The two had been through a lot and if there was one thing that mystic souls appreciated, it was those that kept their good hearts even after hardships. It was a hard thing to do, especially if you have nearly died.

It took a few more minutes for Harry and Sirius to come downstairs. Both were dressed and Harry had cleaned up the dog saliva that had probably been all over his face.

"Hey, Krinos," Harry smiled as he greeted his new friend and saw the present in his hands. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"I'm a nature mage, so get used to my generosity," Krinos chuckled. "I'm the fruit tree that never runs out."

"Please tell me that there is fruit in that box," Harry jokes, making Krinos laugh.

"Maybe next time," Krinos grinned. "Happy birthday, Harry."

"Thank you, Krinos," Harry gave him another smile.

"We also have a surprise for you in the kitchen, pup," Sirius was definitely looking excited.

He put his arm around his godson's shoulders as they all made their way down to the ground floor. Everyone else was either just getting up or still getting ready for the day. Fred and George were the only other ones that were already up and about, ready to celebrate their friend's birthday.

Entering the kitchen, Harry's jaw dropped. Years of starvation at the Dursley's with most of his "meals" being cold and canned soup, stale bread, some water, and maybe some slices of cheese if he was lucky could never have prepared him for the feast in the kitchen. There were two giant cheese pizzas with some sweet Italian sausage, a big pot of chicken curry, fresh naan and ciabatta bread, a platter of American cheeseburgers, and a finish of a big bowl of chicken caesar salad with a second bowl of a classic red and green cabbage slaw.

But the real showstopper was the cake that Sirius nearly had a panic attack over. It was a three-tier chocolate fudge cake with raspberry cream frosting and a strawberry jam filling. Each tier was decorated with tempered chocolate collars as well as chocolate raspberry truffles.

Harry looked just about ready to burst into tears as Sirius hugged him from behind. There was something about what he was seeing that told him that it was his godfather that had done it all for him, even if he did probably have some help. There had never been anyone that had done anything like that feast for him. All Sirius ever did was prove again and again how much he cared about him.

"It's all for you, pup," Sirius tells him.

"Thank you, Sirius," Harry smiled brightly at his godfather.

He gave him a big hug. Probably one of the sweetest scenes that most of them have ever seen.

"I will do anything for you, pup," Sirius says into Harry's hair as they hug.

"Awwwww! So cute that it makes my sweet tooth hurt," Krinos chuckled.

"Please, your sweet tooth is sweeter than an entire chocolate factory," Olivia playfully rolled her eyes. "Nothing can make it hurt."

"Way to ruin the joke, Liv," Krinos rolled his eyes.

It was soon that the rest of the house started to wake up and then come down for breakfast. As they all came into the kitchen, they were all shocked at the feast that had been prepared. Fred and George, who actually had presents for Harry in their hands, were the first to recover as they then hugged Harry and wished him a happy birthday. Krinos giggled a bit as he gave Harry a wink as he blushed while the twins hugged him. Harry blushed even more, playfully glaring at the nature mage. Did Krinos care, not in the least.

But it did not escape the mystic souls that neither Ron, Hermione, or Ginny had presents for Harry as they came in. Sure, they could just be keeping their presents for him in their rooms to give to him later, but they had a feeling that was not the case.

All three of them had displayed nothing but selfish behavior since they had both met them. So, it was reasonable that they were probably also selfish long before they had met them as well. One was a human garbage disposal that wanted everything given to him on a silver platter. The other was a know-it-all with a superiority complex that wanted everything to be her way or it was the wrong way in her world. And the last was a silly little stalker girl that wanted her life to be a fairy tale and everything to go her way and acted like it was some big conspiracy against her when it didn't go her way.

So yeah, Krinos and Olivia doubted that any of them had gotten any presents for Harry. If anything, the three were so selfish that they probably believed that their "friendship" with Harry was enough of a gift to him.

"WHO DID ALL THIS," Mrs.Weasley screamed like a banshee when she came into the kitchen.

"And now I have another headache," Krinos said, quickly pulling out a headache potion and downing it.

"Can I have one too," Olivia asked, Krinos handing her a potion. "Thank you."

She downed hers as well. They both knew that this was gonna be another very annoying rant by the banshee lady.

"Let's see who could have done all of this," Sirius sarcastically looked around the kitchen. "There's the kids that hardly get up before ten, the godson that I would never let do all of this, the werewolf that would have made all of this out of chocolate, the mystic souls that do not have cooking magic, and the... oh wait.. the owner of this house that is allowed to cook in his own kitchen."

"YOU DID ALL THIS," Mrs.Weasley continued to scream.

"Merlin, Molly, there is no need to shout," Remus rubbed his ears, as being a werewolf gave his heightened senses.

"What, you actually think telling her that would stop her," Olivia raised an eyebrow. "It's never stopped her before."

"No kidding," Krinos shook his head as if he had swimmer's ear.

"Of course I did this," Sirius talked to her as if she was an idiot, which she was. "It's Harry's birthday and he deserves all the food that he has told me that he has never gotten to try, but he wants to try."

"Well, get rid of it," Mrs.Weasley ordered. "If you made it, we'd probably all be poisoned!"

"Hey," Harry protested. "You never even had Sirius's cooking. Remus told me how much my parents and grandparents loved his cooking. I trust their taste buds and will gladly eat anything Sirius makes for me."

"I would even eat fish if Sirius was the one that cooked it," Remus says. "And I hate fish more than I hate those laws against werewolves."

A few of them raised their eyebrows at Remus but just decided to let that go.

"Krinos and Olivia helped a lot," Sirius added. "But that was more because as much as I can cook, I can not bake to save my life."

"So, that burned smell I got when I first came in here wasn't just my imagination," Remus chuckled.

"Get rid of it and I will make us something actually edible," Mrs.Weasley continued to order them.

She was even more angry as she found out that Krinos and Olivia had helped Sirius. She actually looked at the food as if it was about to come alive and attack all of them at any second.

"It's his birthday and Harry should choose what is done," Krinos says. "I do not understand why anything other than what he wants should matter when it is his birthday."

"Nobody wants to hear the opinion of a mystic soul monster," Mrs.Weasley basically growled at the nature mage.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment. And it wasn't even Olivia's fault. Everyone seemed to freeze after Mrs.Weasley so bluntly insulted not only Krinos but his entire kind as well. After seeing the plants being controlled by Krinos, plus the lightning bolt, even the annoying trio did not say anything against Krinos.

Something in Harry snapped as he heard that.

"How dare you," he yelled at Mrs.Weasley. "Just because he is a mystic soul, doesn't mean he is a monster. Krinos is one of the kindest and most amazing people I have ever met. He has so much power, and yet he uses it to help people. There is nothing about mystic souls that makes them monsters. Being afraid of their powers does not mean they are bad people. You are always shoving your opinions and your desires down everyone's throat to make them do anything you want and I am so sick of you doing that. So for once in your life, shut up and leave them alone!"

Harry stormed out of the kitchen after blowing up like that. Sirius was up and out before anyone could say anything else. It was godfather duty time.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifteen: A True Friend

Harry slammed the door to his room when he got back up to the family floor.

Hedwig, who had been taking a nap, screeched when her owner/friend had so loudly and angrily came back into the room. She took notice how Harry was both upset and angry over... something. Sometimes, she curses that she can not talk to him since she was an owl. All she could do was provide some silent comfort. So she flew out of her cage and landed next to Harry as he sat on the ground with his back against his bed.

Harry started to pet her, almost unconsciously, when he felt her next to him.

Hardly anyone knew, but Harry would always go to Hedwig whenever he just needed to talk. He could not understand owl speak, but Hedwig was more a friend than she had ever been just an owl. And even while Harry could not understand her, he knew that she understood him and was actually listening whenever he talked.

She was everything that he wanted in a human friend. She was loyal, knew how to listen, and certainly never judged him on things out of his control. He would always go to her to either be soothed by her gentle "Who's" or just to rant about how unfair that the world was sometimes. He went to her a lot during his second and fourth years when he was attacked a lot over being a parseltongue and a Triwizard champion.

"I don't think that I will ever understand it, Hedwig," Harry says as he pets her. "People are so quick to judge others just because they are different. It would be so much easier to just accept everyone for who they are without any issues at all. Anyone that doesn't is just stupid."

Harry had spent his entire life being called a freak by his relatives. And it was for no reason other than just because he was a wizard. But even after years of knowing that he was a wizard, Harry was always so amazed by magic and all of the things that it came with. Like, if not for the giant spiders in the forbidden forest, he would go in there more to talk with the centaurs or to check in on the unicorns to see if they were okay after Voldemort had been hunting them in his first year. And even though the dragons and merpeople terrified him while he was doing the tasks for the tournament, they were still very amazing creatures. He always thought that Charlie Weasley had an amazing job since he was around such incredible dragons all the time.

Magic did not make him a freak. Magic was an incredible thing that held some of the most amazing things that he had ever seen. Flying on brooms, meeting magical creatures, traveling in the blink of an eye. Magic was the farthest thing from freakish and anyone that saw something wrong with being magical was the real freak.

There was a knock on his door, making Harry look up from where he was blankly staring.

"Come in, Sirius," he said.

His godfather came into his room. Sirius could easily see just how angry and sad that Harry was. Even behind glasses, his eyes told him everything he needed to know. He sat down next to the now-fifteen-year-old.

"That was some speech, pup," he tells Harry.

"Krinos's powers are beautiful," Harry said. "You saw the garden that he created. He bends nature to his will and yet while he is so powerful, he does not act like he is invincible or a god. He's confident, but not cocky. But he has also done nothing to them to earn them calling him a monster."

"I am not excusing what Molly called him, but I am afraid that is how mystic souls are normally treated by wand-users, pup," Sirius put his arm over Harry's shoulders to comfort him. "When I was still in Hogwarts, there had been a rumor going around about a member of pureblood family finding out that she was a mystic soul."

"Do you know what happened to her," Harry looked at his godfather.

"As I said, pup, it was only a rumor," Sirius reminds him. "I have no idea if it was even true. You attend Hogwarts, so you should know how a new rumor is basically started every week. Sometimes twice a week."

"Okay, true," Harry shrugged. "I once heard a rumor that Peeves used to be a lawyer before he died. Considering how he acts, I would never believe that."

"You'd be surprised how different ghosts are to how they were when they were alive," Sirius said. "I think there is a town in the United States that has a very large ghost population."

"I will ask about that later," Harry said.

"Let me show you something, Harry," Sirius says.

Sirius had always planned on telling Harry about his powers. It was probably the best way that he knew to help Harry get even more comfortable with the idea of being a mystic soul. Plus, it has been a long time since the Black family lord had used his powers. It was too much of a risk to use his abilities while in Azkaban. Even as a mystic soul, his powers would not have been able to keep the large number of dementors at bay long enough to escape.

"What," Harry was curious but still a little nervous.

"Canine Heart, come to me trusted ally," Sirius cast.

A blue light formed in the palm of his hand. Sirius threw the ball of light in front of them and in a flash, a little puppy appeared. But this one was an adorable pug made out of light. But even as a being made out of magic, the puppy acted as if it really was alive. It cutely barked, wagged its tiny tail, and stuck its tongue out as it sat on the ground and breathed.

Harry's jaw hit the ground as he looked at the magical creation. Even Hedwig was shocked enough that she was completely silent. And as an animal, that was not a very common thing. Harry looked at Sirius with shock, curiosity, and disbelief.

"You're a mystic soul," he said, shocked.

"I was about nine years old," Sirius tells his godson. "My parents had just begun their 'training' to make sure that I end up in Slytherin. We both know how that didn't work, but that didn't mean they did not try. After a few torture curses during one session, I ran to the nearest park in order to try and give myself time to heal."

"Sirius," Harry did not know his family was this bad.

Harry had experienced the torture curse first-hand when Voldemort used it on him in the graveyard. To refer to it as total agony would be the understatement of the century. And the sheer thought of Sirius's own parents using it on him, and possibly his brother as well, multiple times was a horrible thought. And even for a famously dark family, it was a horrible thought that parents would do that to their children.

"I had always liked dogs," Sirius softly smiled. "Long before I was able to become one. And that day, I had what I thought was a burst of accidental magic. I made a little black lab puppy appear. It was like a comforting guardian of sorts. As I grew older, I discovered more of my powers. Your father, James, called it Wild Dog magic. He, your mother, and Remus were the only ones that I ever trusted to know what I was. I do not know the full extent of my abilities, but I was able to train enough in secret to have control over what I could do."

This was certainly quite the story. Harry knew that Sirius was close to his parents, but that level of trust must have been very hard to come by since being a pureblood would give him first-hand knowledge of how mystic souls were treated by wand-users.

The pug puppy jumped into Harry's lap, making Hedwig fly off of Harry. Harry was even more shocked at how real the puppy felt even when it was made out of light. But it felt like an actual living and breathing creature. Even its fur felt real.

"Sirius," Harry gasped. "This is incredible."

"That was your father's reaction as well," Sirius chuckled. "I think that if I could permanently summon one of my dogs, your father would have asked me to make one for him to have as a pet."

"Yeah, that sounds like dad from everything you and Remus have told me," Harry chuckled as well.

"You used to love my dogs when you were a baby," Sirius tells him. "Whenever I would come over, you would always be like 'uppy uppy' as your way to try and get me to summon a puppy for you."

"Well, glad to see that I have not changed that much," Harry grinned as he pets the pug in his lap.

"Your mother actually always loved my powers as well," Sirius says. "She always was more of a dog person than a cat one. She took you shopping once before you all went into hiding and she wanted you to pick out a stuffed animal. She tested a stuffed cat toy on you to see if you'd like it. You threw it clear down the aisle and was like 'I 'ant 'uppy.' Made it clear to Lily that you were definitely a dog person like her and James."

Harry laughed at the story. No one ever really told him anything about his parents beyond that he looked like his dad but with his mum's eyes, that his dad was a star Quidditch player and good at Transfiguration while his mum was good at Charms and Potions. Sirius was probably the only one that actually told him about his parents as people and not some characters that most of the wizarding world thought of.

"I guess this is why you're a lot more open to Krinos and Olivia helping us," Harry said.

"It is partially why," Sirius admitted. "But I would have accepted their help even if I was not a mystic soul. I was never against them in the first place, but being one of them only made it easier to understand how they feel and what they go through on a daily basis in order to keep their powers in check."

"I can actually tell that Krinos tries really hard to keep his powers under control," Harry laid his head on his godfather's shoulders. "He told me what happened to his parents. I was forced to remember bits and pieces of what happened to mum and dad because of the dementors, but Krinos remembers everything that happened to his parents clear as day. I can't imagine going through something like that while also having to keep powers like that under control. It must be so hard for him."

"I can see why you would feel like that," Sirius said.

"But Krinos has not done anything to them," Harry started to rant. "Just because he is powerful does not mean he is a monster. Just because people are different, does not mean that gives others the right to hate them. Krinos has told me about the demons that mystic souls face. If mystic souls face those evil beings on a nearly daily basis, then it's the ones that hate them that are the monsters and not the mystic souls."

There then was a sudden knock at the door. Since it was the family floor, both of them knew that only someone with permission would have been able to come up onto the floor and be knocking on the door.

"Come in," Sirius said.

Krinos opened the door, standing mostly in the doorway.

"I hope that I am not interrupting anything," he said.

"Not at all, Krinos," Sirius tells the teenager as he gets off the floor.

Krinos quickly spots the puppy of light in Harry's lap. It would be hard to miss it since it did glow like a lit candle, adding to the comforting feels of having a puppy in your lap.

"Is that a part of your powers, Sirius," Krinos asked, finding the magical creation utterly adorable.

"I did tell you that James called by powers Wild Dog magic," Sirius chuckled. "Summoning dogs like that is a part of my magic."

"It is adorable," Krinos sat down next to Harry and gave the pug a few pets.

Harry looked at his godfather. There was a silent message between them as Harry told Sirius something without even saying it.

"I will leave you two to talk," Sirius said.

He left the room, leaving the nature mage and his godson alone.

"I'm sorry about what Mrs.Weasley said to you," Harry immediately apologized to Krinos.

Krinos shook his head, waving off the apology.

"Do not apologize for the words or actions of another," he said. "If you always apologize for what others do, you will never stop apologizing."

"How old are you," Harry jokes. "No way that someone my age is that wise."

Krinos chuckled. "Mystic souls have always been wise, no matter the age. Plus, I have a friend who has the power to absorb knowledge from any source that he holds his hands over."

"I wonder what would happen if he tried to use his powers with a computer," Harry said.

"We keep him away from those," Krinos says. "There is no telling what would happen to his brain if he absorbs too much at once. He once absorbed the biggest dictionary in the Crystal Rose library and it gave him a headache that lasted an entire week."

"Yicks," Harry cringed at the thought of a headache lasting that long.

The ones he gets from his scar are painful enough.

"None of us care about what people say about mystic souls, anyway," Krinos reassured his friend. "We deal with hate and fear a lot. When you are as powerful as we are, you get used to people being afraid of you. Wand-users do not understand us more than others, so they are often always afraid of us."

"What people do not understand, they fear. And what they fear, they try to destroy," Harry remembered that famous quote.

"Exactly," Krinos said. "We have learned to deal with the hate that we received. There is nothing we can do to change the minds of people that do not want them changed. The ones that are too set in their states of mind and ways of life. Like most of the magical people of this country."

"I will never get why they do not change," Harry says. "Not everything is as perfect as they pretend it to be. Not changing their ways is why two Dark Lords rose to power in a single century. There is such an extreme level of prejudices on all sides. The dark hates muggleborns, the light hates dark families and Slytherins, most people hate magical creatures, and there is a general dislike of anyone that even tries to change the way that things are."

"Wow," Krinos could not stop himself from facepalming. "No wonder this country is known across the world to be two centuries behind everyone else."

"Really," Harry did not hear many foreign opinions since Krinos and Olivia were the first people he officially met for, other countries since he did not really spend any time with the students from Drumstrang or Beauxbaton the previous year.

"My friend Abby is a history buff, but for global history," Krinos explained. "She has compared dozens of countries against each other to compare cultures, advancements in technology, architecture, and many other things as well. Literally everywhere she has ever studied has been more advanced than magical England."

"I wish I had as many friends as you seem to have," Harry sighed. "All I've ever had were Ron and Hermione. I can probably also consider Neville and Luna as friends, but it is so hard to tell who to trust nowadays."

"Well, I fight against evil demons every day," Krinos placed a comforting hand on Harry's. "Loyalty is an important part of mystic soul culture. You never have to worry about me leaving you, Harry."

"You have no idea how much that would mean to me," Harry said.

"Nature's enchantment," Krinos cast. "Trumpet flower."

A few vines grew around the room. From the vines bloomed beautiful angel trumpet flowers. They all glowed and soft music began to fill the room. Harry looked at Krinos in shock as the nature mage then began to sing.

"We sign our cards and letters BFF
You've got a million ways to make me laugh
You're lookin' out for me, you've got my back
It's so good to have you around."

"You know the secrets I could never tell
And when I'm quiet you break through my shell
Don't feel the need to do a rebel yell
Cause you keep my feet on the ground."

"You're a true friend
You're here till the end
You pull me aside
When something ain't right
Talk with me now and into the night
'Til it's alright again
You're a true friend."

"You don't get angry when I change the plans
Somehow you're never out of second chances
Won't say "I told you" when I'm wrong again
I'm so lucky that I've found."

"A true friend
You're here till the end
You pull me aside
When something ain't right
Talk with me now and into the night
'Til it's alright again."

"True friends will go to the end of the earth
Till they find the things you need
Friends hang on through the ups and the downs
Cause they've got someone to believe in."

'A true friend
You're here till the end
You pull me aside
When something ain't right
Talk with me now and into the night
No need to pretend
You're a true friend
You're here till the end
Pull me aside
When something ain't right
Talk with me now and into the night
'Til it's alright again."

"You're a true friend
You're a true friend
You're a true friend."

The music ended and the flowers and vines disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared. 

"My sister always said that the best way I know how to communicate is through music," Krinos grinned.

"Your voice is amazing," Harry was impressed by the song.

"Thanks, Harry," Krinos chuckled. "I just thought that a song like that is what you deserve. You deserve true friends, Harry. How people have treated you in the past is not okay. I am here for you, Harry."

"Thank you, Krinos," Harry had never been so happy to hear something like that in his whole life.

Chapter Text

Chapter Sixteen: Preparing To Leave

The rest of the summer was probably a lot better now that Harry had made it an art form on how to avoid all of the annoying people in his life. Even if he was not on the family floor or in the family library, he was able to find the best places to hide from the people that were seriously starting to annoy him. And by people, it was really just Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs.Weasley. Sirius, Remus, Olivia, and Krinos were probably the only other constants in Number 12 and he had no reason to avoid any of them.

But Harry did meet Auror Kingsley one day when Sirius introduced him to the black man. And he was glad to meet him. Especially since Kingsley had been another person that actually told him things about his parents, as he had been a couple of years behind them in Hogwarts. Kingsley would also sometimes tell Harry about when Sirius was young as well since Sirius had actually been who trained him to be an Auror before he had been illegally sent to Azkaban.

(AN: As much as I like the actor that played Kingsley in the movies, I imagine him more as being played by Shemar Moore. So, please picture him as Kingsley, thank you.)

Harry liked Kingsley and he was certainly a nice difference from being surrounded by the usual Gryffindors and former Gryffindors. Kingsley told him about how he had been a Ravenclaw and how it was totally different than Gryffindor. In Gryffindor, it was usually always so loud and full of activity. In Ravenclaw, they were usually more quiet and private than anything else. Plus, it seemed that in both Ravenclaw and Slytherin, they got their own rooms once they were older. And even in their younger years, they would only have one roommate.

Harry certainly wished that was a part of Gryffindor. As much as he liked having friends around, like Neville, he also really liked his privacy and rarely ever got it when he was in the common room or in the dorm. And given how much Ron had been getting on his nerves lately, he would definitely rather room with just Neville.

Harry also knew that the time that he had spent with his godfather during this summer was probably the happiest that he had ever been in his life. Sirius always made sure that he knew how much that he loved him even when he did not actually say it. It did not matter if it was just by talking about his parents, or by teaching him how politics in their country works, or even just by being in the same room with him while not trying to bother him or get him to talk. 

There were many things that Sirius has done for him that made it known how much he cared about him. He escaped Azkaban to protect him from Pettigrew. He lived off of rats in caves just so that he would be near him. He returned to a house that he obviously hated and had experienced extreme trauma inside of just so that he could provide a house to protect him in. He got in touch with Krinos and Olivia to actually get something done about Voldemort in order to protect him. He had done more to protect him than everyone else in the wizarding world combined.

And he did it for Harry Potter, his godson. Not Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, or Harry Potter, the Chosen One. He did it because he loved him with no strings attached. He was the first person that Harry felt in his heart would never treat him differently because of his scar.

But now, he had to leave his godfather because it was time to get back to Hogwarts. A place that Harry was really praying would not have life-threatening events this year. Not that he had much hope for that actually happening. First year was a possessed teacher, a cursed broom, the dark lord killing unicorns, and a three-headed dog. Second year was a giant basilisk, a ghost with moaning issues, giant spiders, and Hagrid getting sent to Azkaban for no other reason than the ministry "needing to be seen doing something." Third year was probably the least dangerous even with a death eater posing as a rat and dementors flying around the school with a werewolf as their DADA teacher. And then, of course, there was fourth year and dealing with a bloody deadly tournament, dragons, psychotic mermaids, a maze that kept trying to kill him, and the resurrection of Voldemort.

But he knew that the chances that he had at an uneventful year were about a million to one. Plus, he was not exactly known for having the best luck. The only one that came close to his amount of bad luck was Neville, even if most of the things that go wrong for him were because of his lack of self-confidence. Harry vowed to be a better friend to Neville so that the kind Herbology expert could grow more confident in himself.

Currently, Harry was packing his trunk. Sirius had found his brother's old trunk when he had been cleaning the family floor. He changed all the Slytherin stuff on the trunk to Gryffindor and gave it to his godson. Something Harry was very grateful for since the trunk was very cool.

The trunk had multiple magical compartments, each one containing everything he needed for school. There was a compartment that worked as a walk-in closet, one that was a potions lab, one that was a library, one that was a Quidditch changing room where he also kept his broom, and there was also a forest/jungle room that Hedwig loved to hang out in when she was not hunting or delivering a letter. Sirius had told him that Regulus had really loved animals, something that Harry had in common with his godfather's brother.

He was packing away his books when there was a sudden THUD outside of the trunk and someone swearing in another language. He came out of the trunk and saw Krinos rubbing his head as he was lying on the floor.

"Uh... Krinos," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Note to self, never floral swirl into a place protected by blood magic," Krinos groaned from the floor. "That was a very rough landing."

"I am guessing floral swirl is your way of teleportation," Harry chuckled as he fully climbed out of the trunk.

"Yeah," Krinos got off the floor. "I basically vanish in a swirl of petals and leaves. Annoys my sister when I do it near her because she always gets leaves stuck in her hair."

Harry did see that there were now flower petals and leaves on the floor when his room had been clean before he went into the trunk.

"So, what brings you by," Harry asked. "I am leaving for Hogwarts soon."

"I wanted to see you guys off," Krinos smiled at his friend. "I know most people here are annoying, so I figured you wanted someone sane to be around you."

Harry chuckled again. "Thanks, Krinos. That would be nice. Especially since Sirius can not go out without the threat of someone calling the Aurors on him."

"Olivia is working on helping him just like she helped you," Krinos tells him. "It's just moving slower since it was so long ago and she can not mess with the timeline too much."

"As much as I want Sirius to be free, I don't want to ask so much of you guys when you've already done so much," Harry says.

"Harry, we want to help you guys," Krinos softly smiled at his friend. "Even if the relationship between mystic souls and magical Britain has been burned to ash for almost a thousand years, we would never abandon anyone that needs our help if we can give it. Besides, taking down egotistical politicians is basically more life-giving to Olivia than oxygen."

Harry laughed. "She is really good at what she does. The look on Fudge's face when she handed him the lawsuit over his slander of me will forever be the highlight of my year."

"Olivia may have been young when she joined the council, but she is known as the Courtroom Shark when she goes into lawyer mode," Krinos snickered. "In the courtroom, she is one of the deadliest people there. She has never lost a case."

"If she was so good in the courtroom, why did she join the council," Harry was curious.

"Because she knew that with her law knowledge and family history, she could do more good on the council than as a lawyer," Krinos explained. "Since she joined the council about five years ago, she has pushed a lot of great things to happen. Like adding an exchange program between Crystal Rose and the Delphi school so that mystic souls and wand-users can get along more in our country. She has also gotten more laws passed to help the Guards deal with discrimination, child abuse, and domestic violence. Helps the Guards when they work with more than just adults that know when things are wrong."

"If she worked at the ministry, she would have eaten them all alive," Harry laughed.

"That, or she would have banished them back to the ice age," Krinos smirked.

"I am both terrified of her and also very much in awe of her as well," Harry stated.

"As a mystic soul, I deal with things a lot scarier than my cousin," Krinos snickered. "Like my sister for example."

Harry laughed again. Krinos always had a way to make him smile and laugh even when he spent his days mostly being annoyed because of the number of people always trying to control everything he says and does. But whether it was because of how he was a nature mage or not, Krinos was just so down-to-earth and funny. He was so easy to talk to and the best part about him was especially that he actually listened to him when he talked. There were so few people in his life that actually did that. But just as Krinos had previously sung to him, they were true friends.

As he laughed, Harry playfully slapped Krinos on his upper left arm. He was surprised when Krinos actually flinched and his face formed a look of pain.

"I didn't hit you that hard, did I," Harry asked, worried that he might have hurt his friend by accident.

"No, Harry, it's not you," Krinos said.

Krinos took the short sleeve of his shirt and pulled it up, flinching again. Harry's eyes widen as he sees a lot of bandages wrapped around Krinos's upper arm. And after he showed Harry his arm, Krinos lifted his shirt and showed Harry his bandaged left side as well.

"What the bloody hell happened to you," Harry swore as he gasped.

"I got on the wrong side of a demon's fireball, that's what happened," Krinos put his shirt back down.

"Must have been a powerful demon given that you tell me a lot about them and how rare it is for them to ever actually hit you," Harry said.

"It was more because of their numbers than anything else," Krinos said. "Swarm demons travel in groups. Plus, they are known to be like the hydra in the way that when you vanquish one of them, two more appear."

"So, were you guys ambushed or something," Harry asked.

"Or something," Krinos responded. "It was just a normal day on Olympian Way, which is one of the magical alleyways in Greece where we can buy magical goods, but someone accidentally caused a magical energy explosion that took down the protective enchantments that keep demons out of Olympian Way."

"Yicks," Harry stated.

"Demons are always trying to break into the alleys, so the place quickly turned into a full-on battlefield," Krinos said. "It's a good thing that we do not have the same underage magic laws as this country does. If we did, it would have been a massacre considering how many teens go there without their parents."

"Well, I am glad that you're okay," Harry says. 

"Thanks," Krinos said. "I would have been completely healed since I do have a friend with healing magic, but she had to be called to Lady Hestia Hospital to help out the other healing mages with the worse injuries. So, these enchanted bandages will do for now. I'll be fine in a few days."

"If I was better at potions, I would help with a burn-soothing potion," Harry tells his friend.

"I'll be fine, Harry," Krinos said. "That tumble I took earlier when I floral swirled in did not exactly help the pain, though."

"Here," Harry went to one of the drawers in the deck that was in his room and pulled out a potion from it. "Sirius has been giving me potions to help me recover from my... relatives. This is a pain relief potion, so it should numb the pain."

"Thanks, Harry," Krinos took the potion from him and quickly drank it. "It is always better to get it over with when drinking potions."

"So true," Harry says. "If anything, there should be ways around that. Like, I know that sugar crystals, like processed or refined sugar, make potions useless, but there is nothing said that natural sugars and flavors would make potions stop working."

"I'm a nature mage, but I am no potions expert," Krinos tells him. "Maye give me a bit more info here since I'm lost."

"Well, most food has some type of natural sugar in them," Harry explained. "Like fruits are naturally sweet and even some vegetables are a little sweet as well. So, maybe if they were used on more potions, it would make them taste better as long as the fruit also adds something to the potion as well."

"So, like if you are making an energizing potion, for example," Krinos was seeing just how much Harry had been hiding in terms of his intelligence.

"Well, since lemon and raspberry are both natural tart and sour fruits, they would both be useful for those types of potions," Harry says. "But, lemon zest would not be helpful since it would have natural oil from the skin of the lemon. All in all, natural sugars from fruit and vegetables would help make potions more edible."

"That would definitely be very helpful to anyone in need of a potion even if they have a strong gag reflex," Krinos chuckled. "You say you are not good at potions, but what you just said shows that you definitely are more than you think you are, Harry."

"I actually love potions, but it is the teacher that is the main problem," Harry sat on his bed.

Krinos went over and sat next to him.

"Isn't your potion teacher that guy called Snape," he raised an eyebrow. "I never met him before, but I do like Sirius's nickname for him. Snivellus. Haha. That's funny."

Harry could not help but chuckle as well, also liking the nickname that his father and Sirius had made for Snape back in their Hogwarts days.

"Yeah, that would be him," Harry says. "Snape is probably the worst teacher in the history of teachers. Even worse than the teacher whose hair I once turned blue because she was letting my cousin beat me up for no reason."

"Okay, I will ask about that last part later," Krinos said. "What makes him such a bad teacher, if you do not mind me asking."

"I do not mind at all, and I do love ranting about that greasy-haired adult bully," Harry said. "The thing about Snape is that he does not even teach. He puts a recipe on the board and walks around the classroom insulting everyone that is not a Slytherin. Not to mention that even when someone outside of his snakes gets a perfect potion, he never gives them a good grade on it just because they are not a Slytherin."

"Okay, I can see why that would make him such a horrible teacher," Krinos says. "I am no expert, but I know my way around a cauldron. Plus, my friends Celest and Weilan are both potion masters in their own rights. And even my friends Wyatt and Charlotte are both really good at potions as well."

"It gets even worse," Harry glared at the wall as he thought of the potion professor. "He favors his Slytherins so much that even when he watches as they throw random ingredients into the cauldrons of other students, he does nothing. And if the ingredient causes an explosion or makes the cauldron melt, he blames the person working on it instead of the Slytherin student sabotagers."

"That is wrong on so many levels," Krinos said. "Potions are one of the most temperamental things in magic. One wrong ingredient, turning the heat up too high, or even adding too much or too little of an ingredient could cause someone to die if the potion reacts badly enough."

"Snape wouldn't care unless it was one of his Slytherins that got injured," Harry says. "A Slytherin could get away with murder as long as they kill a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw. He might even give them points for the act."

"And he is not in jail, why exactly," Krinos raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"Because for reasons that he will tell nobody, Dumbledore trusts Snape and nobody ever questions him," Harry grumbled.

"I am suddenly very glad to be a mystic and not a wand-user more than I have ever been before," Krinos says. "I have turned a demon into a tree in the past, want me to do that to Snape?"

"And punish every other tree in the world by making that death eater one of them, not a chance," Harry said.

"Fine, but let me know if you ever want him out of the way," Krinos smirked. "I can do it and never even leave a trace that he was ever even near me."

"I like you more and more every time you visit," Harry laughed.

There was a knock on the door. Sirius came in once Harry gave him permission.

"It's time to go, Harry," he said. "Oh, hey, Krinos."

"Geia, Sirius," Krinos greeted back.

Harry sighed. "Back to Hell-warts, I go."

Chapter Text

Chapter Seventeen: We're Going On A Trip

Harry walked down the stairs as his trunk had been shrunk and was now hidden in his pocket. It had a function where it could grow and shrink whenever certain passcodes were said to it. He was no actually doing any of the magic since the trunk itself was enchanted, so it was very useful if the ministry tried another of their underage magic schemes on him again. 

Sirius and Krinos walked behind him. None of them were really ready to deal with what was probably more headaches about to be given to them by the annoying trio and the banshee that two of them call a mother.

As Sirius watched his godson make his way down the stairs, he hoped that something would come out of all of the planning that he, Remus, and Olivia did. Harry meant everything to him and he would do anything and everything that he could to keep him safe and happy. He was not about to let anything happen to him when he was able to do something about it. Crystal Rose would hopefully be the place where Harry could finally get time to be himself with no looming threat of death hanging over his head.

Mystic souls might deal with demons a lot, but that was nothing compared to a thousand-year-old basilisk, a hundred dementors, a Hungarian Horntail, and a possessed teacher with a second face growing out of the back of his head. So, even if any demons get into the school, it was still safer for Harry than Hogwarts has been the past four years. Especially if the other mystic souls were able to unlock his powers. He was definitely looking forward to seeing Harry becoming a master of weather magic if Harry wanted his powers unlocked.

"Welcome back, Krinos," Remus smiles as he sees the nature mage walking down the stairs as they all come down to the ground floor.

"Thanks, Remus," Krinos smiled back. "Just thought to pop in make sure Harry was alright. With the idiots that run this country, they might not like how Olivia sued them over their slander against him. They might do more than just send dementors after him."

"So, you actually think that it was someone in the ministry and not Voldemort," Sirius asked the nature mage.

It had not been discussed at length, but Sirius, Remus, and Olivia had not been sure who had actually tried to kill Harry this time. Voldemort would easily have been the number one suspect had it not been for the fact that he had just returned a few months ago, so they doubted that he would have the strength to gain control over the dementors again. Plus, there was no way that he would let anyone or anything other than himself kill Harry. 

And since the ministry had been slandering Harry all summer, it made sense for one of the more corrupt ministry officials to try and use the creatures to try and "shut Harry up." And even when they had failed, the underage magic trial was another chance for them to get Harry out of the way. Whoever did it just did not count on Harry knowing the patronus charm or that he would have a very good lawyer for the trial.

"I just do not think that making a move on Harry so soon would be Voldemort's style if he wanted to keep himself secret," Krinos says. "If Harry, his biggest target, were to be killed, then that might prove that Harry was telling the truth about his return."

"That is a very logical train of thought," Kingsley said.

Kingsley, Mad-Eye Moody, and Tonks were all there to escort them all to King's Cross to make sure that they, mostly Harry, were safe from any other attempts on his life. Though, only Kingsley looked to actually care about Harry while the other two were more focused on everyone but him.

"As a mystic soul, we usually figure out what demons we are dealing with by looking at their victims," Krinos explained. "So, logical detective work is what most of us are used to."

"You seriously need to stop telling such tall tales," Hermione glared at the nature mage. "Mystic souls are not real. Magic without a wand is impossible!"

"I see that she is still delusional," Krinos barely even acknowledged her existence. 

"Annoying isn't it," Fred said.

"And impossible to get used to," George added.

"She should be thankful to have not met my sister, yet," Krinos stated. "Melody does not take insults hands down. The last demon that insulted her was thrown off a cliff by her sonic scream."

"Even knowing that, I still want to meet her," Harry tells him.

"Melody has that effect on people," Krinos chuckled. "She also says that she can't wait for when she was able to meet you as well."

"Considering that you say that she is like a real-life siren, I look forward to it," Harry said. "I love music."

"I will make sure to tell her that," Krinos smiled.

"Now, as much as I like you two being such good friends, Harry really needs to get to the Hogwarts Express," Sirius tells them.

The blatant way that Sirius just ignored everyone else that needed to get going as well was not missed by Harry. But other than Fred and George, it was not like he really cared about anyone else that much considering how annoying and rude they have been. Especially to Krinos and Olivia.

"Oh, that's no issue," Krinos smirked.

"Uh oh," Remus recognized the look of mischief in Krinos's eyes.

Sirius was fast enough to change into his grim form when he saw Krinos about to raise his arms up. Though, he knew that Krinos was slower on purpose to give him the time needed to change. And then, with a raising of his arms, everyone vanished in a swirl of leaves and flower petals.

*****

Their sudden appearance on the platform was definitely noticed by other parents that were there to see their children off to Hogwarts. But it was not like a swirl of leaves and flower petals is one of the most subtle things in the world.

Harry was close to falling but was caught by Fred and George. Having taken to apparating a lot around Number 12, the twins were not as disoriented as everyone else. But Harry did quickly get his composure back and noticed where they were. Krinos had teleported everyone that wanted to go to the platform directly onto it.

"Wow," he gasped.

"You're welcome," Krinos smirked again.

"Okay, you are officially now one of my favorite people ever," Harry grinned, happy to have now experienced mystic soul magic being used on him.

"Aw, you flatter a boy," Krinos teased him.

"Harry," the glasses-wearing boy heard nearby, turning to see his friend Neville looking shocked as other people on the platform.

"Hey, Neville," Harry greeted his fellow Gryffindor.

"When did you... How did you... Huh," Neville was speechless and could not find the right question to ask.

"Well, you have another friend around, now, so that is my cue to leave," Krinos stated. "I am not about to hang around and get another headache from that banshee and the annoying trio. Peace out, suckers."

Giving them the peace sign, he then vanished in another floral swirl. Neville was speechless once again as he looked at Harry.

"I will explain everything, I promise," Harry tells him.

He then turned to Remus, Kingsley, and Sirius. The latter still in his dog form. Sirius whimpered a little bit as he now had to say goodbye to Harry again after only having him around for a little over a month. Plus, Hogwarts has not exactly been the safest place in the world for Harry these past few years.

"Don't worry, Padfoot," Remus gave his friend/dog a pat on the head. "Harry will be fine."

"I will stay safe just for you, Snuffles," Harry softly grinned as he used his teasing nickname for Sirius's dog form. "I will see you during the holidays."

"We look forward to that, Harry," Remus smiled back at him.

Harry gave his godfather and honorary godfather a hug each. But it was obvious to both men that one of the last things that Harry wanted to do was let go of either of them. But he had to do it eventually, so he let go and then followed Neville onto the train. The twins soon followed the two on.

The rest were still barely getting their composure back after Krinos had floral swirled them to the platform. And it was not like Sirius, Remus, or Kingsley could blame the nature mage for high-tailing it out of there before they did get their composure back and started to yell at him for what he did. But, it was entertaining to see all the annoying people looking like they were about to throw up. They deserved it for how they had been acting all summer.

"You've known Krinos and his family for longer, Kingsley," Remus turned to their Auror friend. "You think that they can really help us pull this plan off."

Kingsley nodded. "If there is one thing that would perfectly describe the Gardna family, it would be their pure and honorable hearts. They always do the right thing, especially when others always do the easy thing."

Sirius barked a few times, trying to get across that he believed in the family as well.

"I am not doubting them, but more like how difficult this plan is," Remus says. "Dealing with both Voldemort and Dumbledore is not exactly easy."

"Then it is a good thing that to mystic souls, the hard way is also the most fun way," Kingsley smirked.

He flashed his eyes at the man and dog, telling them both something about Kingsley that they did not know before. But it did make them more relaxed since they now knew that he knew exactly what he was talking about. He had personal experience.

Harry, Neville, Fred, and George soon all found a compartment to sit in soon after the train got moving once all the students were on the train and it got to eleven in the morning. It was mostly empty expert for a single blond girl that was reading a magazine upside-down. She looked sweet and innocent, so none of them were really bothered by her. Plus, the twins seemed to know her.

"Hey, Luna," they both greeted her as they came in and sat down.

The blond lowered her magazine, smiling at the twins.

"Hello, Fred, George," she greeted them back. "I see you have brought me some company. Greetings, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom."

Harry and Neville exchanged looks at how this girl already knew who they were even without even introducing themselves to her. 

"Relax, you two. Luna's cool," Fred said.

"She's lived close to the Burrow her whole life," George added.

"Plus, she is like us," Fred smirked.

"Just lets all the crazy come out," George snickered.

"You two say crazy, I say seeing things in ways that others do not," Luna sweetly smiled, talking in a dreamy tone. "I am glad you seemed to have gotten rid of the nargles, though."

"Might not last for long," Fred commented.

"They always find ways of coming back," George says.

"Just take the peace when you get it," Luna tells them. "The nargles will be busy until there is nothing new left to talk about."

Harry and Neville had no idea what was being said, nor did they know anything about nargles, but Luna did seem like a very sweet girl. Plus, Harry did not know why, but Luna gave off this aura of warmth and trustworthiness that was very different than what he had been feeling all summer around his so-called friends.

Neville was the one that broke the silence. His curiosity over what he had seen on the platform won over his need to ask Luna what the heck she was talking about.

"Harry, what happened out there," he asked his friend. "How did you guys appear in that swirl of plants and then that one guy vanishes in another swirl of it?"

"His name is Krinos, Neville," Harry starts explaining. "He is a mystic soul."

Neville's eyes widened. Harry had figured that as a pureblood, Neville would know that they existed. He had just not been sure if his friends had been just as against them as most of the others that Krinos and Olivia had come across at Sirius's house.

"I am surprised that any dared to come into Britain," Neville says. "Mystic souls are generally hated by almost the entire country."

"From how you sound," Fred started.

"We take it you do not agree with them," George finished.

"No, I don't agree," Neville says. "There have been a few mystic souls in the Longbottom family tree and I know that there is nothing to fear about them. The ministry and most people here might think that they are monsters out to destroy us, but those people are dumber than trolls."

Harry had never seen Neville so outspoken before. Neville was usually so shy and timid that speaking his mind was not something that Harry thought that Neville could even do. But it seems that the topic was so important to Neville that he had actually forgotten about his normal personality for a minute.

"Well said, Neville ol' boy," Fred patted the Herbology expert on the shoulder.

"Very well said, indeed," George patted him as well.

Neville blushed, having just realized just how outspoken that he had just been. But he did not take back anything that he had said.

"I do agree with you, Neville," Harry says. "Krinos and his cousin, Olivia, have been visiting a lot over the summer and I have grown very fond of them. Krinos especially."

"Mystic souls should never be ridiculed or hated just for being who they are," Neville says. "They are born as mystic souls just as we are born as wand-using wizards. There is nothing wrong with them. They are just powerful, that's it."

"People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer," Luna says. "Andrew Smith said that and I do agree with him."

"Exactly," Neville agreed with Luna.

"The Lovegood family is also known for being very accepting and have also had mystic souls in our family tree as well," she says. "My mum was one."

"She was," the twins gasped.

Luna nodded, shocking the twins. Neither of them had any idea that Pandora Lovegood had been a mystic soul. They had both loved Luna's mum. She had been more of a mother to them than Molly ever was. Pandora was a sweet and kind woman that saw the beauty in everything. She had accepted them and their pranking ways while Molly basically hated them for it. The twins had spent almost every dinner with the Lovegoods since Pandora was both a great cook as well as such a loving person. They had been devastated when they learned about her death when one of her experimental spells went wrong. And while they could not go over to the Lovegood house as often, they still spent time with Luna when they could.

"Mystic souls are a lot more common than most in this country would like to think," Neville says.

"No kidding," Harry says. "Krinos is actually amazing and Olivia even helped me get out of trumped-up charges that the ministry tried to place against me for underage magic. She also sued them and the Prophet for their slander against me."

"I wondered why they had not written about you in a month," Neville said.

"Olivia really does great work," Harry smirked. "Anyway, Krinos is a nature mage and he can do just about anything with his powers over nature. That was how we got here and how he left. He calls it floral swirling."

"I thought the sight was beautiful," Luna smiled. "The flower knows what he is doing and hopes to help the weather mage unlock who he really is."

Harry and Neville gave her another look, but they were not gonna say anything. They were starting to get that Luna just talked like that and it was just the way she was.

"So, how did you guys..." Neville was just about to ask when he was interrupted.

Ron and Hermione, who had probably just finished Prefect duties, had come into the compartment. Harry did not miss the look of annoyance that Ron sent at Luna. He obviously had a very different opinion of her than the twins did.

"What are you doing here, Loony," Ron asked and insulted her at the same time.

"Ron," Harry glared at his supposed best friend. "Don't call Luna that! She has not done anything! Apologize!"

Ron did not. He just looked shocked that Harry actually told him to apologize before he glared at the ground and grumbled as he sat down. Harry rolled his eyes, used to Ron not accepting when he has done something wrong, and turned back to Neville.

"You were saying, Nev," he asked.

"Oh, right," Neville remembered his question. "How did you meet Krinos?"

Hermione huffed but got no attention other than some side glances from Neville and Luna.

"Krinos and his cousin are friends of my godfather," Harry left out that Sirius was his godfather, not wanting to scare his friend. "They came over to visit and have been helping with all this Voldemort stuff as well as just generally being great company. Krinos's nature magic is amazing and he even grew an entire garden with just a wave of his hand."

"Yeah, mystic souls have always been powerful," Neville says.

"Don't tell me that you believe all that fake stuff too, Neville," Hermione huffed again, annoyed. "Magic without wands is impossible. Mystic souls are fake and that boy needs to stop lying about having these powers."

"Hermione," Harry was getting so tired of her not accepting that she was wrong. "You may not believe in mystic souls, but that does not make them any less real. So stop trying to shove your beliefs down the throats of those that do not believe the same thing as you. Krinos is a mystic soul, Olivia is a mystic soul, there are entire communities of mystic souls. So, just stop trying to convince us that they are not real when that is not true."

Hermione could only just stare at Harry, having never been talked to like that by him before. And even if she had started talking again, Harry was just gonna ignore her for the entire train ride.

*****

And Harry actually did ignore her for the entire ride on the Hogwarts Express. Even when she tried to talk to him, which was mostly to yell at him for "daring to talk to her like that," he acted like she did not exist. That only made her angrier, but he did not care. He just talked with Neville, the twins, and Luna for the rest of the ride.

And after arriving at Hogwarts and getting to the Great Hall, he had to wave goodbye to Luna as she skipped her way over to the Ravenclaw table. He definitely now understood some of what she had meant. Nargles must have been her own way of describing bullies or just general annoyances. So, when she had mentioned nargles on the train before, she had been talking about Ron and Hermione.

Harry was certainly going to be spending a lot more time with Neville, the twins, and even Luna this year. They were showing to be better friends than Ron and Hermione had been. 

As they all sat down and the first-year students were sorted, Harry looked over at the Hufflepuff table. He soon spotted Cedric, who was now going to be in his last year of Hogwarts. Cedric caught Harry looking at him and he smiled at the younger boy. Harry smiled back, glad that they both had managed to survive what had happened at the graveyard.

After the new students were all sorted, Dumbledore stood up to make his beginning of the year speech as usual.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, students old and new," he said. "I have a few announcements to make before we begin the feast. First, I would like to introduce you all to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Delores Umbridge."

He motioned to the teacher's table and they all saw a woman dressed entirely in pink. But she also had a face that looked as if she was part-toad or frog. She looked to be trying to smile sweetly, but the look in her eyes said that she probably hated children even more than Filch did. And that says something.

"I know that creatures and humans can have children together," Harry whispered to Neville. "But could one of her parents actually be a toad?"

Neville had to try very hard not to burst into laughter. He may be the future Lord Longbottom, but that did not mean that he actually had to like the employees at the ministry.

"I also have some very exciting news to share as well," Dumbledore continued.

"Oh, bloody hell," Harry complained.

He could also see that Cedric had gone a little pale as well. The last time something "exciting" had happened at Hogwarts, they both nearly died.

"Hogwarts has been invited to another school for the year to learn magic through their eyes," Dumbledore continued. "This is a very unique and amazing opportunity for us to learn the magic of another culture as well as see how things are different from how we do things at Hogwarts." 

The students all started to mutter to each other and whisper. Something like this has never happened at Hogwarts before, so no one knew what to make of it or even how to really react. The Ravenclaws were glad for the chance to learn more, the Hufflepuffs wanted to make sure they did not offend those in another country, the Slytherins wondered about the laws and politics of the other country, and the Gryffindors were ready for any challenges ahead.

"The way that things will work is that you will all attend classes with the other students and the teachers will also be going to classes as well that go with their own classes that they would be teaching here," Dumbledore continued. "This is the perfect opportunity to make new friends, learn new magic, and bond with a fellow magical community."

And, in his mind, it was also another place where he could collect other soldiers to fight in the war while he would still collect all the glory after Harry died fighting Voldemort or he took care of the Potter brat himself.

"Next week, the school will send the transportation needed that will bring us to their school, where we will be living and learning for the next year," Dumbledore keeps going. "Your parents, as well as the ministry, have all already given their approval, so there is no worry about that. I know that you will all enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get more knowledge, friends, and skills for the future. I also know that you will all be on your best behavior once we arrive there as well."

Harry rolled his eyes, knowing that Hogwarts was more a school of bullies and sheep than witches and wizards. If a student was not being a bully, they were following a bully. the number of actual good students that he has met, he could count on one hand and was not afraid to cut off fingers. Not that you can really expect the students to be any better when Snape was probably the biggest bully of them all and he was supposed to be a teacher.

"Now, I know you all are wondering which school you will be attending for the year," Dumbledore says. "Well, Hogwarts has been invited to the Greek magical school of the Crystal Rose Academy of Mysticism."

There were even more mutterings and whispering of the students. Most of them had not a single clue as to what school Crystal Rose even was. But Harry already knew, and his eyes widened when he heard the name.

"Oh. Bloody. Freaking. Hell," he swore.

"You alright, Harry," Neville asked him.

"Do you know anything," Fred started.

"About Crystal Rose, mate," George finished.

"That's Krinos's school," Harry tells the three in a whisper. "It's where he and his sister go and where Olivia went to school as well."

"So... you're saying... Crystal Rose..." Neville could barely get any words out.

"Crystal Rose is a school for mystic souls," Harry says.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eighteen: A Lesson On Mystic Souls

Harry was not sure if he was nervous or excited or wanting to rip out his hair out of frustration. While he wanted to see Krinos's school, he did not think that it was a good idea for all of Hogwarts to go to Crystal Rose as well. From the short time that he had seen interactions between wand-users and mystic souls, he knew that there was no getting along between them. 

Plus, Harry also worried about what would happen between them once those like Draco Malfoy or even Ron and Hermione opened their mouths and say something that they should not say. Hermione certainly did not know how to keep her opinion to herself when it came to how she does not believe that mystic souls exist. Krinos may be able to keep his temper in check, but that probably was not the same for every student at Crystal Rose.

And with the large number of students that probably attended there, there were certainly many things that could go wrong. And with the demons that Krinos had told Harry about, there were also some life-threatening things that could happen as well. Not that he thought that any demon would be able to get past Krinos and his plants.

But yet at the same time, there was also the opportunity to learn and see such amazing things. Harry wanted to see more of Krinos's nature magic, not to mention finally getting to meet his sister, Melody, with her musical magic. He bet that she could probably sing just as amazing as her brother. He loved music and wished that there were ways that he could listen to it at Hogwarts. Especially since the only music that was at Hogwarts was the Frog Choir and the school song at the beginning of the year. Neither of which was the type of music he thought was actually good. He preferred muggle music to it all. And given Krinos's choice of song, he figured that was his preferred choice as well.

Plus, he also wanted to actually see what the castle looked like. The pictures in the books that he had been reading were not the best. The most he could tell was that it was a very large building with a lake close by and forest surrounding it. But yet it also was obviously different from how Hogwarts looked even if the landscape was similar. 

He wanted to learn so much about the magical school and its students. Just from meeting Krinos and Olivia, he already knew that the school produced some amazing students.

The school had their usual feast before everyone was sent off to their common rooms and dorms for the night. All anyone could talk about was the field trip to Crystal Rose. Since almost no one had ever heard of the Greek school, they were all curious about it. And those that did know about the mystic soul school did not seem to be sharing that detail. Probably out of fear of what that bit of information might cause.

The Gryffindor students were all gathered in their common room. None of them could even think about going to bed when there was so much to talk about. Hary was worryingly talking with Neville and the twins. He and the twins had seen the hostility toward mystic souls with their own eyes, from the twins' own mother and younger siblings no less, so they knew that something could and probably would go wrong.

"Okay, I know that Dumbledore is a few cards short of a deck, but has he actually lost his mind," Harry whisper yelled at his three friends. "Why would he ever think that Hogwarts going to Crystal Rose would be a good idea?"

"It certainly can not actually be about helping students learn," Fred says.

"Yeah, Dad and Bill have both said how he has been removing classes since he became headmaster," George said.

"There used to be classes for Magical Art, Alchemy, Law, Languages," Fred listed.

"Spell Crafting, Healing, Enchanting, and even a Magic Studies class like the opposite of Muggle Studies," George added to the list.

"But the classes slowly started vanishing once Dumbledore came into the headmaster position," Fred said.

"As if he does not want students to actually learn anything worthwhile," George says.

"Well, that might explain why he keeps Snape on staff," Harry scowled as he mentioned his most hated professor. "That horrible excuse for a teacher pretty much ruins potions for three-quarters of the school."

"Hopefully Crystal Rose has a good potion professor," Neville says. "One that does not end up becoming my boggart."

"Okay, the fact that a teacher was a student's boggart, a creature that only turns into a person's worst fear, that alone should have raised some red flags," Harry said. "If a teacher is a student's worst fear, then that teacher obviously needs to be fired. Snape should never have been a professor is this is how he acts."

"Why Dumbledore even keeps him around is anyone's guess," Fred crossed his arms.

"He's the only one that even trusts Snape," George pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No one else does, but they follow that old man like sheep that follow their shepherd," Fred says.

"Quite annoying when all your life all you hear is about the 'great and powerful Albus Dumbledore," George complained.

"And then you meet him and all you actually get is a manipulative old man that thinks he's a god," Fred scoffed.

"A manipulative old man that people blindly trust," George grumbled.

"Something tells me that the Crystal Rose students are not going to be as easily manipulated as he would want them to be," Harry smirked. "I mean, have you met Krinos?"

The twins chuckled at that. Krinos definitely had a good head on his shoulders. Plus, he was also very independent and would most definitely never treat anyone with respect until they earn it. You can like him all you want, but getting him to like you back is when things get difficult. Krinos probably only took a liking to Harry so easily because of hearing things about him from Sirius so much until they actually met and he saw that those good things were true.

But if there was also one thing that they knew about Krinos, it was that he took no nonsense from no one. He was one of the sassiest and most sarcastic people that they have ever met, second only to Olivia, who was probably the sassiest person ever born. They had a feeling that Melody was probably just like her brother and cousin, a master of sassy and sarcastic speaking. Magical Britain would probably never survive three people as sassy and sarcastic as the Gardna family.

"Who's Krinos," was suddenly heard by the four boys.

They all jumped a little by the sudden appearance of the three Gryffindor chasers, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell. The three girls were all like big sisters to Harry and they treated him like their little brother. They were probably some of the few people in Gryffindor that Harry was completely comfortable with along with Neville and the twins. 

Everyone else was on thin ice because of how they treated him since he got to Hogwarts. Turning against him in his first year because of the 150 points being taken away by McGonagall. Thinking he was a rising dark lord in his second year because of how he was a parseltongue. Not to mention how very few of them actually believed him when he said that he did not put his name in the goblet of fire the previous year. He was so done with most of them since their loyalty was fickle at best and nonexistent at worst.

Katie had been the one to ask the question.

"Hey, girls," Harry smiled at the three chasers.

"Hello, Harry," Angelina smiled back.

"Hey, Harry," Alicia grinned.

"Hi, Harry," Katie gave her usual soft smile.

"How much did you three hear," Neville could not help but ask, having always been one that hates it when people eavesdrop on his conversations, even if it was mostly Hermione that does that.

"We did not mean to hear anything, but he caught the name as we were coming over to say hi," Alicia admitted.

"As long as you did not mean to eavesdrop," Harry says, knowing how much Neville does not like those that eavesdrop.

"So, who is this Krinos you were talking about," Katie asked again.

Harry saw no reason to keep Krinos secret. Especially since they were going to his school the next week, so they would probably meet him anyway. Plus, what harm would there be in trying to make sure that a full-out war between the mystic souls and the wand-users did not break out the second they get to Crystal Rose. And Harry doubted that the wand-users would win given that Krinos alone could probably turn most of them into trees with a wave of his hand. 

"Krinos was someone I met the twins and I met over the summer," Harry says. "He was visiting from Greece and is actually a student at Crystal Rose."

"Wow, talk about coincidence," Angelina says as the three girls sit next to the four boys.

"Yeah, coincidence," Harry shares a look with Neville and the twins.

The four of them all knew that a coincidence this was not. Dumbledore was definitely planning something and the students at both Crystal Rose and Hogwarts were simply just getting caught in the crossfire of this very deadly feud between Voldemort and their headmaster. It was definitely not fair for so many kids to be caught in the middle of what was basically a war between Dumbledore and Voldemort, not light and dark. 

"So, do you guys know anything about Crystal Rose since you met a student from there," Alicia asked them.

"Well, Krinos told us about how special his school is," Harry says, not knowing how to bring up the whole 'mystic soul' thing.

"Special how," Angelina asked.

The boys all shared a look. Neville was okay with mystic souls, but they all knew that not everyone would be like him and Luna. There were probably more students that would be like Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Mrs.Weasley. Hating on mystic souls for any reason that they can think of. But they had to start somewhere and if everyone just goes in blind, that is when things could go wrong the most.

"What do you three know about mystic souls," Harry asked the three girls.

That was certainly a question that none of the chasers had been expecting. Sure, Harry was not exactly the most normal of seekers that they had ever known, especially given that he nearly swallowed the snitch in his first Quidditch game, but that was still something they never expected him to ask.

"Well, my parents work in the Department Of Magical Transportation at the ministry," Angelina says. "So, I have heard about mystic souls a little bit from them whenever they have to reject portkeys or floo network connections to countries with thriving mystic souls communities."

"I once had a friend that could talk to animals," Alicia admitted. "But my parents took me away from her when they caught me playing with her. They grounded me for a week and ordered me to never go near her or 'their kind' ever again."

"Oh, Merlin," Neville swore.

They all then looked at Katie, who had not yet answered the question. She just shrugged in response.

"I'm a half-blood," she tells them. "My dad is a police detective in the muggle world while my mum is a witch that writes quite a popular series of transfiguration and charm books. I don't know what mystic souls are."

That made sense to the boys. Katie would not know given that she probably had to grow up in a muggle town because of her father's work. And with a mum that wrote books for a living, especially on subjects that did not involve knowledge of mystic souls, she would not have taught Katie about them either. Or even have known that they existed.

"Mystic souls are witches and wizards like us, Katie, but they have different magical cores that their kind get their name from," Angelina tells her friend. "They are born the same as we are, but their magic is a lot more different than the type we use."

"Do they use more powerful spells or something," Katie asked. "I thought that the only way to use magic would be with a wand. Or maybe a staff since Merlin was said to use a staff instead of a wand."

"Not exactly," Harry says. "Krinos, along with other mystic souls, are all born with extraordinary abilities. Mystic souls have powers that range from a very wide range of capabilities. From summoning monsters, to shapeshifting into animals, to controlling time, to almost anything you can think of."

"If you take Krinos for example," Fred started.

"His magic is that he controls nature," George finished.

"Wow," Katie gasped. "That's incredible."

"Not everyone thinks so," Alicia sighed. "As I told you, my parents did not like that I made friends with a mystic soul even when I had only been five at the time. That type of opinion is shared by most of magical Britain. I know it is not the same in other countries, but it is very widespread here."

"Alicia is right," Neville spoke up. "Mystic souls are hated and viewed as monsters by most of magical Britain. But that is really only because they are scared and paranoid because of how powerful they are. There have been a few mystic souls in the Longbottom family, so I would never think that about them."

"The ministry has always been paranoid about those that even appear more powerful than them," Alicia shook her head.

"That would certainly explain about all the laws that are against werewolves, vampires, and other magical creatures that can think for themselves and also do magic," Angelina says. "Even without magic, they are powerful. With magic, they could be serious threats if they wanted to be. So, the ministry does everything they can to take away as much power from them as they could."

"It's pathetic, really," Harry growled. "They are all so corrupt that they think anyone with power wants to take over. They never even consider the possibility that they just want to live normal magical lives and that they do not want to rule over anyone."

"And who wants to bet that Umbridge woman is here to do something about Harry," Fred crossed his arms.

"It is pretty obvious that the ministry sent her since she is also Fudge's senior undersecretary," George added.

"Great," Harry rolled his eyes. "Just what I need right now. The ministry still going after me even after being served a lawsuit for slander as well as a magical restraining order from Olivia."

That certainly made the three chasers shoot their heads in Harry's direction. They had no idea that any of that had happened. But it was not like Harry had given them the full run-down of everything that had happened that summer.

"What," they all gasp at once.

"Okay, this is gonna be a long night," Harry sighed before he got to explaining to the three girls what had happened.

To say that they were furious would be an understatement. The boys were all a little worried if they would actually storm out of the castle to raid the ministry.

Would any of them stop the three if they did? No. Would they grab some popcorn and watch the show? Hell to the yes.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nineteen: Arriving At Crystal Rose

Now, out of all of the things that have happened at Hogwarts, this field trip to Crystal Rose was actually one that Harry was dreading the most. Krinos was powerful on his own and he has also said that his sister, Melody, was able to bend music and sound to her will. If everyone at their school was as powerful as them, then that could not end well for a lot of the students at Hogwarts. 

Hogwarts, Harry had sadly discovered during his first year there, was like a breeding ground for bullies and brats. Krinos had already shown that he had a low tolerance for bullies, bigots, and anyone that tries to yell at him in general. And if others at his school were just as intolerable toward those types of people, then it was likely that there would be a blood bath on the first day at the school.

And Harry was willing to bet the entire Potter family fortune that one of the first students to open his mouth would be Malfoy since he never learned to shut his mouth no matter what was going on. It was why the fake Moody had turned him into a ferret in the first place, because of Malfoy's language and him trying to curse Harry in the back. 

Harry found it very ironic that none of the teachers ever protect their students from bullies, and yet it was a Death Eater in disguise that had been the only one to ever punish a bully. All the other teachers either never see the bullying happen, are willingly blind to it, or take part in it like Snape. 

In Harry's own opinion, he thought that the really only good teacher at the school was Flitwick. Not only was he one of the kindest and most helpful teachers at Hogwarts, but at the start of each class on the first day of the year, he tells all his students what hours he will be in his office in case any of them have questions or have trouble understanding their homework. He was pretty much the definition of the phrase "Small but mighty." Plus, Harry had to give props to the professor for having the patience to deal with Seamus and his constant fires whenever the Gryffindor messes up his charms. And he does that a lot. How Seamus was able to able to set his feather on fire with a botched levitation charm was beyond Harry.

All the other teachers were either useless or just did not seem to do anything other than teach subpar classes. McGonagall never did anything about bullying even when she was a witness to it. Plus, she was the cause of his bullying when she took away 150 points in his first year just for being out after curfew. It was his first time caught after curfew and she took that many points from him, Hermione, and Neville. It was completely unfair, especially since she only took 20 off of Malfoy.

And with Sprout, he had actually liked her until he saw that she was just as judgemental as all the others in the school. She had treated him coldly in his second year after it was discovered that he was a parseltongue. And she also had treated him very badly in his fourth year after his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire. Not even Cedric standing up for Harry and telling his house that he believed that Harry did not enter his name changed anything. Most of the house still bullied him over it.

Then you come to the useless teachers. Binns and Trelawney. Binns was a ghost that did nothing but drone on and on about the goblin wars, goblin rebellions, and basically every other historical event that centered around his hatred of the goblins. Something of which there was not a lot of, so he basically was "teaching" the same stuff every year and putting the students to sleep every class. And with Trelawney, she was probably almost as big of a fraud as Lockhart. She was no seer and she definitely had no right to teach a subject that could not even be taught to those that had no seer, oracle, or fortune-teller blood in them. Not to mention that basically every time that she sees him, she constantly predicts his death.

But this leads to probably the biggest problem in all of Hogwarts. Snape. Snape was nothing but an adult bully that cared more about his grudge against a dead man than he did about being an actual teacher. If he was not insulting the students of the other houses, he was taking points from them or giving detention for things like breathing too loud or smiling. And yet with his Slytherins, he is praising their work non-stop or giving them points for things like showing up on time or greeting their teacher. It was no wonder most students hate Slytherins when their head of house acted like that.

Snape was probably the worst person on the planet to be a teacher. All he did was put a recipe on the board, tell them to get started, and then walk around insulting them while praising his Slytherins. Not to mention how he treats both himself and Neville. For crying out loud, Neville's boggart was Snape and if a creature that transforms into a person's worst fear turns into a teacher, then red flags should immediately be raised.

It was no wonder why people avoid Slytherins when their head of house acts the way that he does. It is because of those like Snape and Malfoy that make it hard for others to get to know the Slytherins that are not like them when those two always prevent it. And since they do, that's what makes people rely so much on the stereotypes of Slytherin being the house of darkness and evil. 

He did wonder what the teachers would be doing if the students would be taking classes at Crystal Rose. Not that most of the teachers actually ever did much in general, but would they just be doing nothing all year? He did not know. He just hoped to actually learn something at school for once.

As the day for Hogwarts to go to Crystal Rose arrived, there was certainly a buzz of activity around the school. There were a lot of students that were excited to see a new school. But those were also the students that did not know about mystic souls. And for those that did know about Crystal Rose being a school for them, they were either quiet about it or looking upset about having to be around beings that they hated.

Harry sat in the twins' dorm, his shrunken trunk already in his pocket. He watched the twins and Lee packing up their things as he chatted with them.

"I still don't like this," he tells them. 

"Neither do we, Harrykins," Fred agreed with him.

"But we can't do anything about it," George says.

"Your family is supposed to be all about light, and yet your own mother, Ron, and Ginny were all against Krinos and Olivia," Harry said. "If supposed light wizards hate them, then this is gonna be a disaster."

"Maybe it won't be as bad as you think," Lee was ever the optimist.

The twins, with permission from Harry since they did not think anyone else's opinion on things mattered, told Lee about everything going on. The Order, Harry's home life, the mystic souls, everything. Did they know that their mother and Dumbledore would never want them to tell Lee these things? Yes. Did they care for a second about what they thought and wanted? Hell to the no.

"Lee, as a half-blood, you do not know how much most wand-users hate mystic souls," Fred tells their friend.

"It's even worse than how Death Eaters treat muggleborns," George says.

"Merlin's beard," Lee swore, not knowing that it was that bad. "And Dumbledore still thought that it was a good idea to have a field trip there?"

"Dumbledore only does what Dumbledore wants when it benefits one person. Dumbledore himself," Harry growled. "He probably thinks he can manipulate the students of Crystal Rose to be like a private army for him."

"Something tells us that that is not happening," Fred says.

"And that something being everything Krinos did over the Summer," George said.

"Plus a little common sense as well," Fred added.

"Yeah, that too," George nodded in agreement with his brother.

"I personally can't wait to see what the students do if any of the bullies here try and pick on them," Harry snickered. "They will be in for the shock of their lifetime."

"Didn't Krinos also say that he had a friend that could bend ice to her will," Fred remembered.

"I bet she will not take any nonsense from anyone and will freeze anyone that tries with her," George chuckled.

"Sounds like that girl would get along with Daphne Greengrass in Slytherin," Lee says. "She is not called the Ice Queen of Slytherin for nothing."

"I never interacted with her, but I have seen her always glaring at Malfoy while hanging out with both Blaise Zabini and Tracy Davis," Harry says.

"The Greengrass, Zabini, and Davis families are all known to be neutral," Fred says.

"They have never sided with the light or dark in centuries," George added.

"Even if there have been rumors that the Malfoy family has been trying for years to force the Greengrass family to sign a marriage contract with them," Fred says.

"Makes even more sense for Daphne to hate Malfoy so much since her family must be really annoyed about having to constantly refuse," George said.

"It's Malfoy," Lee scoffed. "He thinks he is Merlin's gift to both wizardkind and womankind."

"He has got to be one of the most pathetic people that I have ever met," Harry crosses his arms. "If he is not bragging his blood status or his family's money, he is throwing temper tantrums that a five-year-old would be jealous of or threatening to sic his father on them."

"My father will hear about this," the three older boys all taunted the blond peacock.

They all laughed after hearing the taunt.

"Exactly," Harry says. "Malfoy is a coward, hiding behind his father just to get what he wants because he knows that he can not get it alone."

"That certainly explains why he bribed his way onto the Slytherin Quidditch team," Fred says.

"Because he had no way to get on it otherwise," George said.

"I just felt bad for the former seeker for their team," Harry says. "Terence Higgs is what I think his name was. He was not really that bad of a bloke. He did not cheat like the rest of his team."

"Maybe that was one of the reasons why Flint allowed Malfoy to replace a good seeker like Higgs so easily," Lee suggested. "Because he wanted someone that was willing to cheat like the rest of them."

"There really are a lot more decent Slytherins than people care to admit," Fred said.

"I could not agree with you more, brother dear," George nodded.

"Actually, now that houses have been brought up, does Crystal Rose also have houses for students to be sorted into," Lee wondered out loud.

"From what I have read, they do," Harry tells the Quidditch announcer. "Unlike the four houses at Hogwarts, Crystal Rose has seven. Unicorn, Siren, Winter Wolf, Dryad, Dragon, Griffin, and Mermaid. The book I used did not say anything about what each house's qualities are, though."

"Well, we will probably get to learn when we get there," Fred says.

"And maybe since we are staying for the year, also get sorted into their houses as well," George was excited for that.

"That does make sense for how they would deal with housing so many students for the year as well," Lee said.

"Always the logical one," the twins chuckled.

Harry smiled at the three of them. He always did think that some of the best people in Gryffindor, the ones that have not turned against him at the drop of a hat, actually seemed to belong in other houses. The twins could be in either Slytherin or Hufflepuff if they wanted to. Lee was certainly a Ravenclaw in Gryffindor colors. Neville would also fit much better in Hufflepuff as well. 

It was soon time for everyone to start leaving their dorms and head outside. Harry left the seventh-year dorm with the twins and Lee. As everyone was leaving Gryffindor Tower, Ron and Hermione, unfortunately, joined the four as they left the tower as well. Harry ignored their demands to know where he had been. He had been growing really sick of them constantly demanding to know where he is, what he was doing, and who he was with. Their need to control almost every aspect of his life was utterly exhausting to deal with. And they were not very subtle with it either, so he had no idea how he had not noticed it earlier. 

If he had to guess, it was because of how the Dursely's treated him. He grew up with no love at all. So, it made sense for him to have latched onto the first people to show him affection because of how starved for love that he had been. It was why he cared so much about Hagrid and why he so easily forgave Ron the previous year. He valued his friendships. Obviously, a lot more than either of his supposed best friends did since they followed Dumbledore's orders to not contact him with no fight at all.

Once the entire school was outside, Dumbledore and the rest of the teachers all stood in front of them.

"Now, students, our transportation to Crystal Rose Academy will arrive shortly," Dumbledore informs them. "I remind you all that we will be in a different country with different types of people. So, be respectful of their ways and do not cause any trouble."

Harry rolled his eyes as he heard all this. Dumbledore may be saying those things, but it was not like he actually would enforce anything that he was saying. Dumbledore liked to appear as if he was a good headmaster, but his school was a breeding ground for bullies and brats and he probably knew it as well. Not like he ever did anything to stop actual bullying, usually going with the "slap them on the wrist and tell them to not do it again" before sending them on their way. It was ridiculous.

Students were whispering, each wondering how they would get to this other country. Many were thinking of how the Beauxbatons and Drumstrang students arrived the previous year. They were looking at the sky and the lake to see if anything was going to show up.

"What do you think, Harry," Neville asked his friend.

"I honestly don't have any idea, Neville," Harry responded. "With the number of powers at Crystal Rose, there could be almost anything that they could send to get us to Greece."

"Maybe it will just be a simple portal or magical doorway," Neville suggested.

"It could be any number of things, and all of them make me excited to see what it could be," Harry grinned brightly.

And as if one cue, the ground started to shake. Many of the students either fell or held onto each other for support. A lot tried looking around for what could be the source of the sudden earthquake. As Harry did, he caught sight of Luna. Surprisingly, she was not shocked at all and actually seemed to act as if the shaking ground was more like a nice massage. She was a very unique girl and Harry wanted to get to know her better.

The shaking grew a little before plants started to rapidly growl behind where the teachers were standing. Vines shot out of the ground, twisting each other into tight braids The vines had sprouted from two different places and they ended up joining together directly at the center of the point between where the two different vine groups had grown. The ground stopped shaking once the vines stopped growing. Flowers then bloomed around the vines. Roses of all different colors with one giant red rose at the very top of the vine arch.

"I think we just found out how we are getting there," Neville stated.

"This has Krinos written all over it," Harry chuckled.

"Wow, it's incredible," Neville looked at the arch with such amazement since he was the Herbology expert of the school. "Krinos must be really powerful."

"He really is," Harry smiled.

The flowers on the arch then began to glow. The area of the arch "doorway" then lit up with a big swirl of blue and white magical energy. The whole thing was obviously a portal.

"Well, this is obviously the welcome mat that Crystal Rose has sent us," Dumbledore says. "Follow us, students."

"Dumbledore, you can't be serious," Umbridge protested right away. "This type of magic is impossible. It has to be some type of illusion."

But Dumbledore ignored her as he and the rest of the teachers went toward the portal with the students following after them. Umbridge had to quickly go with the teachers when she realized that no one had listened to her and that she would be left behind if she did not go now.

Everyone walked through the portal after the teachers went in first. It was definitely a very odd feeling. It was as if walking through a bright wind tunnel for a few seconds before they would feel like a wave of energy wash over them as they came out the other side of the portal.

"Wow," most of the students gasped as they entered the grounds of Crystal Rose.

Harry could easily see why the school is often called one of the most beautiful parts of magical Greece.

There was a large castle with a forest on one side and a lake on the other. The forest was made of oak, pine, cherry blossom, and willow trees. There were all types of animals running free in the trees and on the grounds. The lake looked so clean you could probably see your reflection. There were sea and water animals playing in the water. The castle was the most amazing part.

The castle was about three times the size of either Hogwarts in England or Ilvermorny in America. The whole castle was made of silver cement blocks that were glistening with protective enchantments. The windows were lined with gold bricks. In front was a large set of doors made from maple wood. There are a few towers and also a few turrets coming from the roof of the castle. There are statues of different magical creatures dotted around the whole building as well. There were large stables on one side of the castle and the top of a glass dome near the back of the castle.

All in all, it was a truly beautiful sight.

After the last student came through the portal, it closed behind them. Which was probably a good thing to do to stop anyone unwanted from using it to get access to the mystic soul academy.

In a swirl of leaves and petals came probably the one person that Harry knew would be able to handle this crowd. Krinos.

"Geia, students and teachers of Hogwarts," the nature mage greeted them all. "Welcome to Crystal Rose Academy of Mysticism."

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty: Touring Crystal Rose

Harry had almost burst in excitement as Krinos appeared in his most Krinos-like way. Not even trying to hide his mystic soul powers and presenting himself fully as who he was. Nothing in Harry's mind made him doubt that Krinos would be able to handle any of the students and staff if they tried to cause any problems. And if they tried anything, they would most likely get slapped by a vine or punched by a tree. And if he was being honest with himself, he wanted to see at least one of those things happen. Especially to Snape or Malfoy.

And that was not even his first thought as a lot of his brain was actually still focused on the amazing scenery around them. It was breathtaking. Crystal Rose was easily one of the most beautiful places that he has ever seen in his life. The castle itself, the lake, the forest, all the statues, and even the greenhouse and the stables that could be seen at the back of the school also appeared to be very stunning. He could not stop thinking about how lucky Krinos and the other mystic souls were to live and go to school in such an incredible place.

Plus, it was also like he could feel the magic in the air. It felt so freeing, so calming, and it felt like his heart had gotten a hug. It just felt... like home.

Plus, it did also help that Krinos was there and he had already been showing that he was a better friend than the, what Krinos had named, Annoying Trio. And how, he would finally get to meet Krinos's sister, who he had been curious about since Krinos first mentioned that he had a twin. Plus, he said that Melody was a music mage and he loved music. He could not hear it much at Hogwarts since it was just the Frog Choir that was around and he did not think that they were really any good. And he never did get why anyone would think frogs could make good music. No disrespect to Professor Flitwick, of course, since he did run the Frog Choir.

He did still worry about what would happen once it came out that it was a mystic soul school. No way any of the students would take anyone insulting their school and fellow mystic souls lying down. And as entertaining as that would probably be, he did not want Crystal Rose to deal with the British ministry causing trouble for them because British magical people did not know when to shut up.

It honestly did surprise Harry that no one was freaking out yet. Especially given that Krinos had just appeared in a swirl of leaves and flower petals. You would think that someone would have put two and two together about Krinos's powers when he does not even try to hide them. Not that he even should since they are really amazing. He expected that there was going to be one massive explosion once they learned about the mystic souls. Especially from Umbridge since she was most likely one of those ministry idiots that wanted only pureblood wand-users to exist in the magical world.

Krinos stood in the front of the group, not phased at all by the number of them. In fact, he looked more like he had been expecting more students and staff than the number that actually showed up. But, he had a job to do and nothing was going to stop him from doing it. Plus, he wanted to verbally slap these idiots if they dared to try and insult his home or his people.

"My apologies, my boy," Dumbledore started.

"Let me stop you, right there," Krinos was having no nonsense at all. "I am not 'your boy,' so do not refer to me as such. I am Mr.Gardna to you."

Harry and the twins really needed to stop themselves from laughing as they saw the shocked look on the students, staff, and especially Dumbledore's faces. No one had ever talked to Dumbledore like that and yet here was a teenager of all people saying these things to him. Not to mention that he was the first-ever person to stop Dumbledore from referring to him as "my boy" since he calls almost every guy he comes across that. Something that Harry actually found very creepy.

"Well, you can't say that Krinos pulls back any punches," Fred says.

"He would not be Krinos if he did," George chuckled.

"Too true," Harry nodded in agreement.

"Now, let us begin your tour," Krinos says as he turns around to lead the way toward the school.

"An adult should be leading us, not a child," Umbridge said in a very annoying tone.

"I am more than capable," Krinos says. "You will soon find that every student here is just as capable as any of the teachers. After all, we are not your average witches and wizards."

"And why is that," McGonagall asked.

Harry could have sworn that he saw a smirk flash on Krinos's face. It was like he knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to reveal what Crystal Rose really was. What types of witches and wizards are actually taught at the school. He knew that most of them most likely did not know about Crystal Rose, so he was the perfect person to drop that bomb on them.

"Because Crystal Rose is a very special school," Krinos said, turning back to them. "Welcome to Crystal Rose Academy of Mysticism. School for mystic souls."

It was like a switch as he flipped inside of each of them. The muggleborns might not know what mystic souls were, but most pureblood and magic-raised half-bloods knew what they were. Sure, there were those that saw their magic as just magic, but there was a vast majority of them that hated those that were very obviously more powerful than them. The paranoia was very real.

If there was one thing that Harry and his real friends knew, it was that most of the students and even staff basically shared a single brain cell that was barely in use. It usually took a straightforward answer for any of them to get anything right.

"Why in the name of Salazar Slytherin would you allow us to be put in danger by coming to this so-called school," yelled out Draco Malfoy.

"They'll kill us all before we could draw our wands," Zacharius Smith shouted.

"They're nothing but monsters," Ron yelled, making Harry scowl at his very bigoted former friend.

"They will be the death of all of us," screamed Cho Chang.

"They can't be trusted to not use this as a chance to destroy us," Marietta Edgecombe screamed.

"Freaks," was yelled by someone that was shown to be a Gryffindor.

Harry had to hand it to Krinos. He and his people were being insulted, but he did not lose his temper. It was probably because he knew that something like this was going to happen once he informed them of what type of school that they were now at. 

"Now, I get that you all have been raised to think that mystic souls are some monstrous people that are out to get you all, but let me just say that anyone that believes that are all idiots," Krinos stated.

"I can see why you are friends with him," Neville tells Harry, chuckling.

"Krinos takes no prisoners when he verbally slaps them," Harry says. "He really knows how to shut people up, even if for a little while."

"How dare a creature like you talk to upstanding purebloods," Umbridge snapped at Krinos.

"You call me a creature and yet you look like the unholy combination of a toad and a very ugly human," Krinos threw back at her.

Okay, there were a lot of them that had no chance to do anything but to burst into laughter. Krinos was right, after all. Many of the students, even ones that also hate mystic souls, could not help but laugh when something that funny was said. And the fact that Krinos somehow kept a straight face when he said it made it even funnier.

Umbridge obviously did not like it. It especially being shown with how red her face had gotten. It did not help that Flitwick, Hagrid, and even Madam Pomfrey were all with the other teachers and staff trying very hard not to laugh. Madam Pomfrey, Filch, and even Madam Pince the librarian had come with the rest of the staff since otherwise, they would have been all alone at Hogwarts.

"I like Krinos more every time that we see him," Fred said.

"I could not agree more, brother of mine," George agreed.

"I just hope that we can actually get the actual tour going before the sun sets," Harry says. "Not that I don't love hearing Krinos's sassy comebacks, but I really want to see the rest of the school."

"Yeah, me too," Neville agreed with Harry.

"I can see you eying their greenhouse from here, Neville, so I know which place you want to see," Harry snickered.

"You are the one that told me that Krinos is a nature mystic soul," Neville said. "You can not tell me that and expect me to not be excited when I see a greenhouse at his school."

"Okay, point made," Harry shrugged.

Krinos could tell that things were gonna get out of control and as much as he liked insulting the idiots of the British magical world, he had better things to do than deal with these headache-inducing morons. He wanted to meet friends of Harry's that were not idiots and he also wanted him to meet his friends as well.

So, he took his index finger and thumb, putting them together, and then inserted them into his mouth. He let out a loud whistle that probably would have shattered any glass that was close to him. Harry thought that he was lucky to still have glasses that did not shatter from the shriek-like whistle.

"Okay, obviously you people need a lesson in reality," Krinos says. "One, mystic souls are not out to get you and will only attack in self-defense. Two, you are all a bunch of idiots. Three, the fact that we agreed to let you come here even knowing how you feel about us shows that we have bigger hearts than all of you combined. Four, you are all morons. Five, magic is magic no matter the type that people use or where it comes from. And six, you are all complete utter idiots."

"Seriously, I love this kid," Fred laughed.

"He's a riot that could rival even our sense of humor," George also laughed.

"The fact that he can so casually throw insults at an entire school with no fear at all shows that he really does not care who he verbally slap and how many he slaps at once," Harry said. "Like how Olivia spoke to them all when she handed both Fudge and the Daily Prophet those lawsuits for their slander against me."

"So, that's why they stopped printing those horrible stories about you," Neville had been confused why those articles had so suddenly stopped.

"Krinos said that his family has always been powerful," Harry explains to Neville. "The Gardna family is about four thousand years old and is known for their powerful, kind, and protective members. One of the most powerful and ancient mages of magical Greece was actually a Gardna."

"Wow," Neville gasped.

"No kidding," Harry chuckled.

"Now, before you lot make me lose any more brain cells, let's get this tour going," Krinos said.

Now, none of them tried to say anything and those that did were just ignored. Having been reminded that they actually did permission to be at the school must have brought them back to how it was both Dumbledore and the ministry approved of the trip. It occurred to none of them that the ministry did not know what type of school that Crystal Rose was nor that Dumbledore did not care about their education when he set this trip up.

Krinos took full advantage of how he was aware of things that they were not. He did like the look on the pink toad's face when she was silently screaming about how the ministry did approve of this trip. Proof that they were not as smart as they thought they were. Sending a school of wand-users to a mystic soul school without even learning the type of school that Crystal Rose even was.

"Well, he certainly knows how to keep control," Neville says as everyone started following the nature mage to the school. "Of both all these people and his own emotions."

"We are probably just lucky he hasn't turned anyone into a tree, yet," Harry stated.

"Why was there a 'yet' in your sentence," Neville looked a little nervous now.

"Hey, it would not be one of us, so you have nothing to worry about, Nev," Harry patted his friend on the back.

"If it would be anyone," Fred started.

"It would probably be our annoying little brother," George says.

"He did just call mystic souls monsters," Fred said.

"But then there is also the know-it-all and our creepy little sister," George added.

"Not to mention the bleached peacock known as Malfoy," Fred says.

"Many annoying people he could do that to," George finished.

"Has anyone ever told you two that listening to you talk is like watching a tennis match," Harry told the two of them.

"By many many many muggleborns," the twins answered.

That made the two other wizards laugh. Fred and George had always been like a human version of a tennis match. Their twin talk was very entertaining and only really annoyed those that did not know the twins as well as others did.

Getting closer to the school, it was easier to see just how beautiful that it was. The school itself looked as if it was brand new and not as ancient as Hogwarts looked sometimes. Plus, there were also statues dotted here and there of magical creatures. At the entrance of the school, there were statues of seven different magical creatures.

"Crystal Rose has seven houses," Krinos explains. "Each one is represented by a magical creature that is a representation of one of the original elements of magic. Dragon for fire, Siren for sound, Mermaid for water, Unicorn for light, Dryad for earth, Griffin for air, and Winter Wolf for ice. As per the agreement made when we accepted you all here for the year, you will each be sorted into one of the houses so that the dorms have enough room between all of them to house you all."

The seven statues of the creatures were all very well-made and they were not even presented in a way that would show if any house was favored over the others. They were randomly placed and seemed to be more sorted around the front door by size than house importance. From left to right, the order of the statues was dragon, siren, dryad, unicorn, mermaid, winter wolf, and then griffin. The two biggest statues are on the ground next to the entrance with the smaller ones around and over the entrance.

"What are the qualities of each house," a Ravenclaw student asked.

Krinos was glad that someone was brave enough to ask questions. It made it easier to go from one topic to another instead of trying to force everything out as if he was a museum tour guide that had to pretend like everything was going fine even if they were not.

"Unicorn house, for the pure, kind, and gentle," Krinos explained to them, listing off the traits that the house stands for. "Dragon house, for the strong, brave, and a little bit of a temper. Mermaid house, for the wise, adaptive, and patient. Griffin house, for the loyal, cunning, and chival. Siren house, for the creative, outgoing, and ambitious. Dryad house, for the hard-headed, witful, and secretive. Winter Wolf house, for those of a cool mind, free soul, and fierce spirit."

Already there was talk among the students about who would be sorted into which house. Each house even had similar elements to those at Hogwarts, but there were more houses and the traits were more spread out. Plus, Griffin, Dryad, and Siren all had qualities that were mostly associated with Slytherin house, and most did not want to share anything with the "house of evil and death eaters."

"I think you would do good in either Griffin or Mermaid, Neville," Harry tells his friend.

"Really? Thanks, Harry," Neville blushed. "I think you would do good in Winter Wolf, Dragon, or even Siren."

"And what about us," the twins asked at once.

Harry and Neville shared a look as they thought for a minute.

"Griffin," they both answered at once.

Griffin had the perfect house traits that Harry would always associate with the twins. They were both as loyal as anyone could be, their pranks showed how cunning they both were, and they also showed that the saying "chivalry is dead" was not true at all. Though, Harry also thought that they could also go into either Dragon or even Mermaid as well. The two were brave and strong, but yet were also smart and could adapt as well.

"Crystal Rose was founded over four-thousand years ago by those known as the Olympian Mages," Krinso continued to act as their tour guide. "They were twelve witches and wizards that were said to have been blessed by the twelve Olympians themselves. They were also said to be the most ancient families in all of Greece. Theseus Marvel, Perseus Aurora, Sirius Lion, Pandora Royal, Calliope Gardna, Andromeda Hearth, Achilles Hero, Atalanta Vanish, Orpheus Ambrosia, Adonis Forest, Persephone Floros, and Daedalus Mallas."

That was a shock to most of the Hogwarts students. Hogwarts was only a thousand years old and the thought of another magic school being open for so long was such a far-out thought to them. Plus, it was definitely something new for a school to have twelve founders since that would have made things harder to decide on the classes, houses, and students selected to come since there were a lot of conflicting opinions.

"Calliope Gardna," Luna asked. "So that would make you a descendant of one of the Olympian Mages?"

Krinos smiled at the blond. She was obviously a very smart girl that noticed things that others did not.

"Yes, I am," he answers her. "There are actually a good number of students and even staff here that are descendants from the Olympian Mages."

"Wow," Harry gasped.

He knew that a descendant of a Hogwarts founder has not been actually seen for a long time. Sure, Voldemort was said to be the heir of Slytherin, but other than being a parselmouth, there was no actual proof that he was. And with Zacharius Smith, who always brags about being a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff, there was also no proof from him as well. So, there was not a real case of a founder's heir for a long time.

Krinos then opened the doors into the school and everyone walked in behind him. The inside was just as amazing as the outside. Incredible white walls with tapestries and pictures on them, floors with elegant carpets covering the floor, high ceilings with amazing chandeliers, a ton of doorways leading to different corridors, super tall windows like the ones in the Great Hall back at Hogwarts, and there were dozens of students all over the place.

The students took notice of them, but most just soon went back to their own business and did not pay them much attention. What was definitely also different from Hogwarts was how the students all openly used their magic and it did not even matter that they were not in class. One boy was even juggling fireballs while one girl was flying above their heads with actual butterfly wings coming out of her back.

"Crystal Rose houses students from all over the world," Krinos continues to explain about his school, paying no mind to all the magic around him since he was used to it. "There are special wards around the school campus that work as translation spells all over the campus. We all speak the language that we understand while that is also the language that we hear as well. Such as how I am speaking Greek right now, but you all are hearing me speak English since that is the language that you all understand."

Most of the students nodded while those like Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle all seemed to be needing more explanation since they were as dumb as rocks.

As Harry looked around, amazed by all that he was seeing, he locked eyes with Krinos when he looked back at their "tour guide." Krinos winked at him when he did.

"This is going to be a very interesting year," Harry stated with a smirk.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-One: Mystic Souls Aplenty

Walking around Crystal Rose was almost like walking into a fantasy world. It was incredible in so many ways that it was actually hard to describe. There was so much to see, so many people to meet, and so much to experience. Plus, the magic around them felt amazing. It was like nothing that any of them had ever felt before. Hogwarts had been a school for over a thousand years and not even it felt as magical as Crystal Rose did. But, did any magic school match up to a school that was over four thousand years old? Probably not.

"Well, are you people going to just stand around like statues," Krinos raised an eyebrow as he looked at the group of students and staff. "The tour is over. Go and mingle. An announcement will be made that will tell you when you will need to go to the Main Gallery for the welcoming feast."

It had been like the "On" button had been pushed for the wand-users. At least the shock that they had gone under was useful for keeping them quiet when they had learned about all the extraordinary things about Crystal Rose. Such as descendants of their school's founders still walking the halls as well how old the school really was.

The students had already proved to be far from normal magic-users. Even from the few students that were actually using their powers instead of just sitting or walking around being regular teenagers, the powers around were very cool. Especially the kid that was juggling fireballs.

"Well, you don't see that every day," Harry said.

"Unless you actually go to school here, of course," Fred chuckled.

"Yeah, that is probably completely normal to them," George laughed.

"Yes, yes it is," Krinos said as he walked over to the four boys.

"Hey, Krinos," Harry smiled at his friend.

"Geia, Harry," Krinos greeted back in his native tongue.

"How are you able to say that," Neville asked, curiosity getting the better of him before he even introduced himself. "If the wards around the school work as translation spells, how can you say anything to us in your actual language?"

Krinos chuckled at Neville's curiosity.

"Simple words can be... ignored is not the best word for it but it is technically a word that works for how to describe it," Krinos says, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "It's just that little words like 'hi' or 'excuse me' can be overlooked by the wards because of how simple they are. It's why those from Hawaii can still say 'aloha' and those from France can still say 'excuse moi' as well."

"Magic does as magic wants," the twins chuckled.

"I could not have put it better myself," Krinos grinned. "Magic can sometimes seem to have a mind of its own. Well, considering that Hecate is the goddess of magic, I guess it does have a mind of its own. Haha."

"Your school is amazing, Krinos," Harry tells him. "I have never seen anything like it in my life. Not even Hogwarts is this grand."

"Thanks, Harry," Krinos smiled at his friend. "Crystal Rose has about one to two thousand students at one time, so we have to go big, or too many potential students would have to go home."

That was another shock to the Hogwarts students. They had never thought a school could hold so many students. Hogwarts only had a few hundred students at most and their numbers were not the best given how many families had been whipped out during the two wars that happened in the last century. Between Voldemort and Grindelwald, a lot of families had either gone extinct or had been decreased to just a few members like Harry was the last Potter and Susan Bones only had herself and her aunt left for the Bones family.

"How can so many students fit into one school," Neville was shocked.

"Magic," Krinos stated. "Our dorms and the classrooms magically expand to accommodate for the number of students in the school. It's another part of the wards around the school."

"Your founders really thought of everything, didn't they," Fred asked.

"We are not sure if such things are a part of Hogwarts," George added.

Krinos shrugged. "We might not know everything about them since they are from so long ago, but they thought of a lot to make sure the school was the best it could be for mystic souls."

"Speaking of which..." Harry let the question hang in the air.

"Yes, Harry, you will now be able to meet my sister," Krinos chuckled since he knew that Harry had been dying to meet Melody.

"Yay," Harry cheered a little, showing that even a fifteen-year-old could be adorable.

It made the others all laugh. Harry rarely got to act in such a way since the idiots of magical Britain all wanted him to act like he was some great hero even when he was just a teenager. And they would always turn on him or treat him horribly if he did not act in the way he was "supposed" to act. Something that really annoyed those that truly knew like Fred and George since they knew that Harry would much rather be playing with animals, flying on his broom, or helping them invent their pranking spells and potions than risk his life saving the ungrateful people of his home country.

The real Harry, who he was rarely ever allowed to be, was just a teenager that wanted to relax and have fun with his life. He did not need to have his life constantly put in danger because the adults in his life hardly ever react. Harry was the one that saved the school from Voldemort-possessed-Quirrell, the basilisk, and many other threats as well. It should be the adults doing all of that, not him.

"Melody should be with some of our friends out back," Krinos says. "We can meet her there and you guys can also meet some of our friends as well."

"From what you have told me, almost the entire school are your friends," Harry chuckled.

"I would not go that far, but I certainly do like to think we have a lot of friends," Krinos smiled. "The only ones that we truly do not get along with are sexist brats like Tommy Reverse and egotistical bullies like Aurora Alexis."

"Well, there are always people like that around," Fred says.

"Bullies and brats will always be around, nothing we can do about it," George added.

"No kidding," Harry agreed with them. "I left the muggle world to go to Hogwarts when I was eleven, thinking the magical one would be better. But then I met people like Malfoy and Snape, who are some of the most horrible people on the planet."

"Mystic souls do not use the word 'muggle' to describe non-magical beings," Krinos says. "We use the term 'mundanes."

"Got to admit, that does sound better than muggles," Neville admits. "Muggle' can be easily used to insult them while 'mundane' is not that easy."

"Technically, mundane is usually the term to describe something as 'normal," Krinos made quotation marks with his fingers. "But we have a saying in the mystic soul community. That being normal is vastly overrated."

"Only makes us like you even more," Fred laughed.

"Gotta love people that let all the crazy come out," George chuckled.

"Some people call it crazy, we simply call it being who we are," Krinos said.

Krinos then started to lead the group through the school so that he could introduce them to his sister. But that did not mean that he actually left the rest of Hogwarts without them being watched. The other students of Crystal Rose as well as the staff were all going to be on high alert the entire year to make sure that they did nothing to harm anyone. Plus, he also was able to look through the eyes of nature whenever he wanted to. There were always plants and flowers around since Crystal Rose with the number of different nature mages attending the school, so he would be able to spy on them whenever he wanted.

The four Hogwarts boys were even more amazed as they walked through the school and saw even more students. Each one seemed even more magical than the last. There was a girl that they saw changing from one animal to another in the blink of an eye. There was a boy that looked to literally be absorbing knowledge from a book that he had his hands hovering over. There was even a teenage centaur walking around the school. You definitely could not find any of these types of kids at Hogwarts.

It showed them all just how Hogwarts was lacking in terms of their school. Like, Hogwarts maybe have had students like Remus, Hagrid, and Flitwick at points in time, but they were the only creatures to ever be allowed at Hogwarts. And yet at Crystal Rose, they could see a number of creature students like the centaur boy. If those types of kids could so easily use magic, then they should be able to attend Hogwarts just as much as other magic schools. They easily blamed the fact that they did not attend Hogwarts on those like Dumbledore and the ministry, both of who would never want creatures to even appear to have equal rights to wand-using wizards.

It made them a little jealous that Krinso got to go to a school like this, but it was not his fault that he was born a mystic soul while they were not. And even if Harry could feel some type of connection between him and the school, it was not like he was a real student since they were just visiting for the year. He would give anything to be able to stay at such an incredible school.

"Hey, Krinos," Harry pointed to one of the students. "Who's that?"

He was pointing at a boy that had falcon wings coming out of his back. He looked to be staring out of a window while using his wings to be hovering above the ground.

"That's Hawk Ventus," Krinos says. "He is actually one of the students here that are half-harpy, which is why he has wings. His magic is that he is able to summon different weather storms using his wings and then be able to control them. It's called Harpy Storm magic."

"Wow, that's incredible," Harry gasped.

Krinos smiled as he knew that Hawk would be able to help Harry when they were able to unlock his magic. They thought that Harry's magic was that he could control the weather, which is normal Storm magic. So, Hawk's weather powers would make him the perfect teacher, given their similarities.

"And what about her," Fred pointed at another student.

"She certainly looks unique," George added as he pointed as well.

Looking over, the rest of them saw that the twins had been pointing at a female student that seemed Chinese given her style choices, her eyes, and how she also had a traditional Chinese comb in her hair. Like what you would see from the movie Mulan. Her hair was also in three ponytails tied at the top of her head with the comb at the beginning of the middle ponytail.

"That is Weilan Breeze," Krinos tells them. "She is a mermaid mage from Honk Kong. Whenever she touches water, she becomes a mermaid. But even when not in her mer-form, she can still manipulate water, freeze it, boil it, and even turn it to gel or glass."

"I sure hope she is better-looking than the mermaids back at the Black Lake at Hogwarts," Harry commented.

That made the rest of the boys shiver, remembering the second task of the tournament the previous year. Krinos just raised an eyebrow at that, telling himself that he would need to remember to ask about that later.

"You will find that a lot of students here are either creatures or have creature-related magic," Krinos says to them. "Weilan and Hawk are just two out of plenty of other creature students."

"Wait, so Weilan is not just a mermaid because of her magic," Neville asked.

"Oh, no," Krinos shook his head. "Mermaid and merman mages can only exist if they already have merpeople blood in their veins.

"Woah," Neville gasped.

"Bloody hell," Fred also gasped.

"You said it, mate," George agreed with both of them.

Krinos chuckled at their reactions. Seeing so many creatures in one school could not be something that those from magical Britain were used to since their country was two centuries behind all over magical communities in terms of equality and magical advancements. It was why most mystic soul terms for "blood" were not as obvious as those for wand-users. First-generation instead of muggleborn, second-generation instead of half-blood, and third-generation instead of pureblood.

"You guys are probably going to have to get used to everything new here that is different from your own school," Krinos says.

"Which is everything about this school since it is nothing like Hogwarts," Harry commented.

"I will take that as a compliment," Krinos stated.

"You should," Fred tells him.

"It's definitely a compliment," George added.

Krinos chuckled and continued to lead them through the school. He did also tell them about other students when they asked about them as they walked by. It made the nature mage even more comfortable to see just how curious they all were about the other students. They were not scared or paranoid over all the different powers and that is what helped him really trust them.

Krinos was friends with Harry, Fred, and George, but trust takes time to build up. Especially since they did come from the one country that hated mystic souls more than anything else. He knew they are not like the others, but making sure of things made him feel better. Especially since there was still the chance that someone could place mind control spells on them or give them some potions to make them act how they want them to.

He smiled whenever they asked about another of the students. It was expected for some to be curious since there were some very unique powers at the school. Not to mention plenty of unique students that wield those powers.

Like Celest Aurora, who not only has the power to control water, but her body is literally also made out of water that most physical attacks do not affect her at all. And there is also Atem Moto, who has the power of Duelist magic, where he is able to place his own special cards on his 'duel disk' and use it to summon monsters, cast spells, and set off traps. And the group had definitely also been curious about Abby, Kryo, and Crystal Gold. All members of the Gold family and have the same Enchanted Sapphire magic, which was advanced ice magic. Harry had been told about the magic clans, so being able to actually meet members of them made his eyes sparkle.

The four of them were so amazed by the school and each student that they were told about just made them even more amazed. Even if all those types of powers would make a government like magical Britain's very paranoid about them, there was not much of a reason to be paranoid about them when they lived across the continent. What was there to fear in Britain when those that they are scared of were living in Greece? Another thing that adds to the very long list of reasons why the British ministry of magic was made of nothing but idiots.

Krinos lead all of them through the school and out to the back of it. They passed by the greenhouse, Neville trying very hard not to get glued to the glass since he was already staring at the plants inside, and made their way over to one of the groups of students by the lake. They saw a group that was of three girls and one boy.

 The one that was obviously Krinos's sister was playing the violin. She was similar to Krinos but still is a girl. Her style was a red, pink, and purple dawn-colored dress with gold flats. She had pink-streaked black hair with butterflies in it. On her wrists were diamond rose cuff bracelets. The most surprising part was that she had elegant bluebird wings coming out of a belt she wore around her waist. Around her neck was an amethyst lyre pendant.

One of the other girls looked like the kindest among them. She had long dark brown hair that, with tan skin to match. She was in a pink dress with gold bands wrapped up her legs and attached to her heels. Tied to her neck was a red cloak that went down to her shins. She also had a pink scarf around her neck. A tiara of daisies was in her hair. 

The third girl also had dark hair, but her's was black and done in a simple top of the back of her head ponytail. She wore a mostly white dress with a ruffled layered skirt that went down to her knees, but the sides of the dress and the bottom of each ruffle were colored blue. She also had on elbow-to-wrist layered bell sleeves that were not connected to the dress that were also white and blue. On her feet were knee-high white boots. Around her waist was a simple silver belt with a whip on her right hip and a rectangular holder with visible golden keys inside of it.

The boy was definitely different from all of them. He was African with a slight accent to his voice. His hair was a buzzcut length and dark black. His clothing was like night back armor, yet not heavy or metallic. It’s more like leather. A black vest, pants, and boots with matching arm gauntlets. On his chest was the symbol was a dark purple symbol of a panther. His eyes were an amazing shade of amethyst with specks of emerald in them if you looked close enough.

As the group approached them, Melody stopped playing her violin. It was as if she knew that they were there even when she had had her back to them. Turning to them, she smiled.

"Well, I see you brought us some company, Krinos," she said.

"What can I say, Mel, Harry has been dying to meet you," Krinos chuckled.

She put her hand out to Harry, who she recognized based on her brother's descriptions of the teenager. 

"Melody Gardna," she introduced herself. "Music mage extraordinaire and full-time babysitter of her twin brother."

"Hey, I save you from demons way more than you save me," Krinos protested.

"Keep telling yourself that," Melody smirked at her twin.

"It's nice to meet you," Harry shook her hand, chuckling at the interactions between the siblings. "I'm Harry Potter and these are my friends Neville Longbottom and Fred & George Weasley."

"It is nice to meet you all," Melody smiled at them all. "These are some of our friends. Hestia Apolla, Angela Zodiac, and T'challa Jungle."

They all shook hands with each other, greeting one another.

"Well, at least nothing had exploded, yet, from our two kinds being together," Krinos said. "I take that as a win."

"It's only the first day, brother dear," Melody rested her arm on her twin's shoulder. "We have a long year ahead of us."

"Oh, crud," Krinos facepalmed.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Two: New School New Houses

So many mystic souls and so little time. That was what the Hogwarts group was thinking as they chatted with those that they hoped would be their new friends soon. Krinos and Melody seemed to be acting like a bridge between them so that they could all get along. Sure, mystic souls were not prejudiced against wand-users like wand-users were prejudiced against mystic souls, but there could still be issues because of the hatred between their kinds.

But, there were no issues to speak of and things were actually seeming to be getting to a good start. Most of them were waiting for something to explode since the rest of the school was not as tolerable as Harry, Neville, Fred, and George. They would probably be lucky to last a single day before things went all to hell. But, they figured it was better to go one day at a time instead of just waiting for something bad to happen. Paranoia helped no one. 

As they all talked, there was soon an alert sounded that was able to be heard from all over the school. Then, a female voice was also heard after the alert sound. Looking at the Crystal Rose students, the Hogwarts group saw that none of them were shocked or confused. So, they figured that this was just how the head of their school made her announcements heard all over the campus. Like when McGonagall made the announcement for all students to return to their dorms after Ginny had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets.

"Attention, students and guests," the female voice says. "Please make your way to the Main Gallery for the sorting ceremony of our welcomed guests. Thank you."

Looking around, the Hogwarts group saw all the other students getting up from where they had been sitting or lying down and making their way back to the school. Some normally and some taking more magical ways like flight and even one girl sliding toward the school on a path of ice. They all knew that all of this was going to take some getting used to.

All of them started to walk back to the school as well. Since they knew the walk would take a few minutes, they did have some questions for the mystic soul students.

"So, we know what Krinos and Melody's powers are," Harry started. "What about the rest of you?"

The three that they just met all smiled. It seemed that the love of sharing who they were with other magic users was a mystic soul thing as well. They were all so proud to be who they were and nothing would change that.

"Well, I am a healer," Hestia tells them. "My magic is that I can heal almost any injury. I am one of the few born with my type of healing magic. I can heal most injuries, illnesses, and I once even cured a person of a curse using my powers. My only current issue would be things involving the brain like mental disorders since I do not know if my powers would work on that."

Harry, Fred, and George could not help but look at Neville after they hear Hestia explain her powers. He was already looking at her with hope. Hestia was a healer that might actually be able to help his parents. Sure, she said how she did not know if she could heal mental problems and had only healed one curse before, but the hope was still there. They hoped that she could help him as well since they were all aware that Neville's grandmother was negligent at best and abusive at worst. They all wanted him to have loving parents. Especially Harry since if he could not have his parents back, the least he could do was be happy for his friend to get back his.

Not knowing about Neville's parents, the Crystal Rose group just kept going talking about their powers.

"My powers are known as Celestial Spirit magic," Angela went next. "Using my keys, I can summon celestial spirits from the celestial universe to fight by my side. The gold keys summon the spirits of the zodiac while the silver keys call constellation spirits. My mom passed down her keys to me when she discovered that I have the same magic as her."

The keys in the container on her belt now made more sense. Krinos had explained how there were Heart and Holder type mystic souls. Angela was obviously a holder type since she used her keys to channel her magic. It was still very cool what she could do. Who wouldn't want to be able to summon beings or creatures from another dimension?

T'challa was next and given the others, they looked forward to hearing about what he could do.

"I'm a jungle cat mage," he explains to them. "I can not only channel the abilities of enchanted versions of jungle cats but I also can change into were-creature versions of them as well as the normal forms of them. I can also conjure weapons related to them."

"Um..." Neville hesitated to ask, but a warm smile from the black teen got him to go through with it. "How exactly can you get... weapons from jungle cats?"

T'challa chuckled. "I get that question a lot, actually. I am able to conjure weapons that are cat-like. In a way, at least. Like, a whip that is almost like a cat's tail, or a blade trio that is similar to cat claws, or even an indestructible cloak that is like the fur of a Nemean Lion."

"Those creatures are real too," Harry was shocked.

He had always been a fan of Greek mythology since it was interesting to him. He used to spend a lot of time in the local library when he was hiding from Dudley and his gang. They never even entered the school library, let alone the public one, so they never looked for him there. So, he lost himself among as many of the books as he could. The Greek mythology books were some that he enjoyed the most.

The Nemean lion was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived at Nemea. It was eventually killed by Heracles. It could not be killed with mortals' weapons because its golden fur was impervious to attack. Its claws were sharper than mortals' swords and could cut through any armor. It was one of the most legendary creatures from ancient Greece.

"Of course it's real," Krinos chuckled. "I get that you were raised by mundanes, Harry, so let me break it down for you. All magical creatures, everywhere in the world, are real."

"All of them," Harry's eyes widened since he knew that there were hundreds of different creatures from all types of myths and legends across the globe.

Even Fred, George, and Neville were also shocked by that as well. Sure, they knew about the creatures in Britain and the dragon reserve in Romania where Charlie Weasley worked, but this new information was a shock to them.

"You guy seriously need to take the International Magic class here," Angela says.

"The myths, legends, and even fairy tales that mundanes tell their kids are all based on facts," Melody explained. "Magic used to be a lot more open thousands of years ago. When creatures freely roamed the land and those like witches and wizards had no fear of magic at all. But after magic had to go into hiding, the stories that used to be fact-based slowly faded away into legend and myth as mundanes forgot that we really are areal."

"But, it is better that way," T'challa says. "Magic should be kept away from mortals. They would hunt us down and kill us just because we are different."

The rest of the mystic souls all nodded. That was something that made the Hogwarts group look at each other as they all continued to walk toward the Main Gallery. Fred, George, and Neville all came from Light families, meaning their families were ones that supported muggle and wizard relations. Not to mention the rights of muggleborn witches and wizards. And yet even with how nice the Crystal Rose group was, they all had something against muggles, which they called mundanes.

There was the obvious thought that they were like the pureblood purists back home, but they were against both muggles and muggleborns. All the Crystal Rose students have said was how they believe that the muggles would kill them if they ever found out that magic was real. When blood purists back home talk about muggles, it is because they hate them and think that they are below wizards. But, it did not seem like hatred when the mystic souls talked about them. It was more like they actually thought that muggles were dangerous and that they would be killed if muggles found out about them.

If Harry was being honest with himself, he actually was on their side if that was the case. The Statute of Secrecy had been made not for the safety of muggles from magical beings, but for magical beings to be safe from muggles. It was very well-known that muggles definitely hate anything and everything that was different. And while many magical beings were killed during them, the Salem Witch Trials were only started because of women acting strange. And when people say that, they blamed witchcraft and that entire disaster happened.

Plus, Harry did not exactly have the best experiences with muggles, either. The Dursleys were the prime example of the type of muggles that would probably prove everything that purebloods say about muggles. They were abusive and hateful muggles that called anyone magical "freaks" because they were different. 

Not to mention his neighbors and teachers. They looked at him and saw a super-thin, smaller-than-regular-kids-his-age, shy, and nervous little boy in mostly oversized rags and glasses that were almost always broken. But did any of them ever think that he was being abused or that he was in need of help? No. Instead, they chose to do the easy thing and believe the lies that the Dursleys said about him being a delinquent that was nothing but a troublemaking liar that did nothing but cause them pain. Anyone with eyes could see that they were a bunch of lies, but they did nothing since they would rather take the easy route and let a little boy suffer because of it.

So, yeah, Harry did not have that high of an opinion of muggles even if he had no issues with any muggleborns. He was just glad that not everyone was treated like him. Dean Thomas loved to talk about his mother and his little brothers and sister, who he was very close to since their dad died a few years before he came to Hogwarts. He was sure that brothers were also wizards, but would not know for sure until they turned eleven. He also was unsure about his sister as well. Plus, he had also met Hermione's parents when they came to Diagon Alley with her the summer before their second year, and they were both very nice as well.

The Hogwarts group decided to learn more about their potential new friends before they made any decisions about them. It was only a few comments about their dislike of muggles, and that was nothing that they could define everything about the mystic souls.

Soon, they all got to the Main Gallery and it was actually incredible. It was a very grand room that was almost twice the size of the Great Hall back at Hogwarts. The floor was marble and there were even very traditional Greek columns in each of the four corners of the room. All along the walls were floor-to-ceiling windows that gave off a great view of the grounds outside. There were also seven tables that were like the four house tables back at Hogwarts. Above each table were hanging tapestries that showed which table was for which house.

The Crystal Rose group separated from them and all went to sit at their own tables. Krinos and Hestia went to Unicorn, T'challa went to Winter Wolf, Melody and Angela went to Mermaid. All of the Hogwarts students and staff just stood between the tables, waiting for the sorting to begin.

The woman that was definitely the headmistress stood in front of the only table that was sideways and not going the long way like the house tables. So, it was obviously the teacher's table. 

Headmistress Amaya Jiwe was a very elegant woman with an aura of authority around her. She was a black woman with long and curly black hair. She wore a cheetah print dress with a long black and gold hooded cloak. On her wrists were gold cuff bracelets that matched the golden cat charm around her neck. Even her eyes were golden.

"Welcome, students and teachers of Hogwarts," she said. "I am Headmistress Amaya Jiwe, head of Crystal Rose and it is an honor to meet all of you. I hope that staying here will enlighten you to all the types of magic out there and the wonders behind it."

The door next to the teacher's table opened. And much to the shock of Hogwarts, out came a lion pushing a cauldron with its head. The lion pushed the cauldron right up next to Headmistress Jiwe. She gave it a pat on the head.

"Woah," Neville gasped.

"Thank you, Leon," she told it. "Dinner is in a few hours and I will see you then."

The lion then left the room, much to the relief of the wand-users. Looking at the cauldron, there seemed to be a bunch of white powder. Almost like glitter.

"I sure hope that glitter magic is not actually a thing," Harry stated.

Fred and George laughed from their places next to him.

"This is sorting powder," Jiwe explained. "Made by our potion mistress, this is what we use to sort all students into their houses. Starting with the oldest to the youngest, all students will soon be joining their new houses. Be it Unicorn, Dragon, Griffin, Mermaid, Siren, Winter Wolf, or Dryad. Step up when your name is called."

The students then started to be sorted, starting with the seventh years. Harry did not know many of them other than Cedric, but he did recognize Adrian Pucey and Terrence Higgs from the Slytherin Quidditch team. The only other upper years that he knew were the twins, Angelina, and Alicia. Katie was also older than him, but she was a sixth year not a seventh year. The twins, as He and Neville had predicted, went to Griffin. Cedric went to Dragon, Angelina went to Siren, Alicia went to Dragon as well, Adrian went to Winter Wolf, and Terrence went to Mermaid. And when the sixth years went, Katie ended up going to Unicorn.

The students continue to be sorted into the seven different houses. And it was almost like an even split for all four Hogwarts houses to be going into the other seven. No single house seemed to get more of one Hogwarts than the others. The only two houses that did not get a lot of new members were Unicorn and Winter Wolf houses.

And how the sorting powder actually worked was very cool. When the first student went up, Headmistress Jiwe explained that the powder magically reads the person's soul when blown onto them, sorting them into the house that is best for them. The power would turn the house colors as well as forming the house magical creature symbol over their heads. White and gold for Unicorn, ruby red and gold for Dragon, amethyst purple and sunset orange for Siren, sea blue and sea green for Mermaid, icy blue and silver for Winter Wolf, emerald green and tree trunk brown for Dryad, and sky blue and golden brown for Griffin.

Then, it was time for Harry and his year to be sorted. Dean, Lavender, Parvati, Padma, and Tracy Davis all went to Siren. Seamus, Zacharias Smith, Terry Boot, Millicent Bulstrode, Wayne Hopkins, and Malfoy went to Dryad. Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, Theo Nott, and Megan Jones went to Mermaid. Crabbe, Goyle, Lily Moon, Fae Dunbar, and Micheal Corner all went to Dragon. 

Other students also all got sorted as well. It was the student group that had been very tight with each other and did not have many friends outside of each other. Andre Egwu, Badeea Ali, and Tulip Karasu also all became members of Siren house. Merula Snyde, Ismelda Murk, Jae Kim, Barnaby Lee, and Diego Caplan all became Dragons. Penny Haywood, Talbott Winger, and Chiara Lobosca were all soon Mermaids. Liz Tuttle and Beatrice Haywood were some of the few new Unicorn house members.

Then, it was time for two members of the annoying trio, Harry, and Neville.

"Hermione Granger," Jiwe called as she read from her scroll of names.

Hermione almost seemed to strut up there. Her superiority complex was shining through very brightly. Most of the Crystal Rose students could tell that their headmistress was trying hard not to roll her eyes at the behavior. She took another small handful of the sorting powder and blew it at Hermione. After a minute, the powder turned emerald green and tree trunk brown, a dryad forming over her head. 

Hermione was shocked and basically stomped over to the Dryad table. She had been boasting that she would soon be the top student of Mermaid house, so that had not gone how she had planned. Jiwe then called up Ron, since she had been going in no real order other than by year. When he came up and she blew the powder on him, he also was sorted into Dryad. He was not happy either, since he expected either to be in Dragon or Winter Wolf.

"Neville Longbottom," Jiwe then calls.

Neville was nervous when he went up. But, he got some encouragement nods from Harry, the twins, and the mystic souls that they have met already. That made him feel better as he went up to the headmistress. She smiled at him as she blew some powder on him. After a minute, the powder turned white and gold, a unicorn forming over his head. He was one of the few Hogwarts students sorted into Unicorn. Krinos welcomed him to his house.

"Harry Potter," Jiwe called next.

Harry was not as nervous as Neville, but he was still a little nervous. He got some smiles from Krinos, Melody, the twins, and Neville that made him feel better. Headmistress Jiwe smiled at him as well as she blew more powder on him. The powder soon turned icy blue and silver, a Winter Wolf forming over his head, and he smiled as he was sorted. He sat next to T'challa when he was sorted.

"Glad that you could join me, Harry," the jungle cat mage grinned at him.

"Thanks," Harry smiled back. "That sorting powder is very cool."

"Yeah, our potions teacher is one of the best in the country," T'challa says.

"Already sounds like I am going to like that class better than my usual potions class," Harry chuckled.

He was starting to have very high hopes for this year. He prayed that he did not just jinx himself.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Three: Every Rose Has Its Thorns

Okay, probably the first thing that Harry realized about Crystal Rose and its students was that none of them were ever going to take things lying down. They took no prisoners and were very glad not to. And he was not talking about the demons that Krinos and Olivia had previously mentioned. He was talking about literally anything and anyone that annoyed them. 

That had pretty much started right away after all of the students had been finished being sorted into their new houses. Harry had not paid much attention to them since he did not know any of the younger years other than Ginny, Luna, and Colin Creevey. Ginny had actually gone to Dryad with Hermione and Ron while Luna and Colin both went to Unicorn.

Harry was already pretty happy being in Winter Wolf. T'challa was a very nice guy and he was quick to make him feel at home. Just from looking at all the Winter Wolf students, they were all very unique. T'challa introduced him to some of his new housemates. There was Hawk, the half-harpy boy that Krinos told them about earlier, two other boys called White Forest and Jake Marble as well as a girl named Emma Spirit.

He already knew Hawk's powers because Krinos told him, and the rest told him their powers when they introduced themselves. White was a nature mage like Krinos, but his magic allowed him to shapeshift into animals that have been fused with plants and trees. Jake was an animation mage that had the power to bring inanimate things to life, mostly statues and suits of armor. And Emma was the daughter of a human mystic soul and an air spirit, giving her the ability to control air.

As everyone was eating, Harry noticed the Hogwarts staff with the Crystal Rose teachers. They were all sitting at the table for the teachers. He noticed that Dumbledore was talking with Headmistress Jiwe and she was looking very annoyed. She looked close to be wanting to call back her lion and have him take care of Dumbledore for her.

"Your headmistress does not look happy with Dumbledore," Harry tells T'challa. "I wonder what he said to her."

"You know, for him being your own headmaster, you seem very quick to say that he is the one that fault," T'challa said.

"Well, let's just say that he tends to always talk first and use his brain never when it comes to trying to get people to do as he wants," Harry says as he takes another bite of his food.

It was certainly something else that he liked about Crystal Rose. When the food had appeared, it was not just Greek food, but food from all over the world. He knew that Crystal Rose did have students that have come from all over the globe, but he was still shocked by the food that appeared on the table. The only time that Hogwarts had international food was when the tournament was going on and they had the students from Drumstrang and Beauxbatons in the school as well. But other than them, it was just plain English food.

Though, he did wish that there were more options at Hogwarts. Just from the food, he could see on the table in front of him, he saw many types of dishes. Seafood paella from Spain, poutine from Canada, Mexican tacos, Pho from Vietnam, Peking duck from China, and Japanese sushi. He even saw vegetarian and vegan options as well. Hogwarts did not have those types of options even for those that need them. 

Like, Harry knew that the Patil twins came from a very traditional Hindu-Indian family, which meant that neither of them ate beef. And beef is featured a lot at Hogwarts meal times, so that left them both with usually few options. Especially since the vegetables served were usually just plain boiled or pan-fried. He also knew that Tracy Davis of Slytherin was born with a low form of diabetes and she could not have very much sugar in her day-to-day diet. But with most of the beverages served at Hogwarts being the very sweet pumpkin juice, she really could only drink plain water from an enchanted water bottle her parents sent her one year. And she has to keep it secret in fear it might be confiscated since other students have all had similar things taken from them by the teachers.

The mystic souls that heard Harry all looked at each other. They could easily tell that since he was suspicious of his own headmaster being in the wrong instead of blaming Headmistress Jiwe as other wand-users would, he was a lot more trustworthy than most of his school.

"If you want, I could listen in and see what they are talking about," T'challa offered.

"You can do that," Harry asked, shocked.

"You will find that when it comes out our powers, impossible is not a word in any of our dictionaries," Hawk smirked.

"By that, Hawk means that I can do that," T'challa said. "Dogs are not the only animal with great hearing, after all."

He smirked as he brushed his hand over the ear that was facing the teacher's table. Instantly, his ear glowed a little as he activated his cat-hearing powers. Closing his eyes, he focused so that he would hear mostly just the two school heads with the other chatter in the room just being background noise.

"I do not see what makes you believe that you have any right to dictate what houses the students are sorted into," Jiwe says, sounding as annoyed as she looked.

"Well, your powder obviously made a mistake," Dumbledore sounded like he was trying to scold a child.

"The sorting powder has been used by Crystal Rose for thousands of years and all of our students have flourished in their houses," Jiwe was sounding like she was doing her best to not curse the disrespectful man. "The recipe has always been the same and our potions mistress is the best in the world. She would never make a mistake with it. You are the one that is wrong, not the sorting powder."

"I know my students more than a magical powder does," Dumbledore sounded like he was trying not to sound as angry as he was. "Either Harry needs to be re-sorted into Dryad or his friends need to be re-sorted into Winter Wolf."

"No," Jiwe said. "The sorting powder has made its decision and it is not the right of anyone to change the environments that will work best for the students. The houses are meant to help the students become who they are meant to be and it is not the place of anyone to mess with that."

"Is it your place to separate Harry from his friends," Dumbledore tried to counter what she was saying.

"Mr.Potter can always make new friends," Jiwe tells her fellow school head, getting more annoyed with him by the second. "I have not yet met him, but by the looks of things, he is already making new friends. Winter Wolf will be a great house for him."

T'challa brushed his hand over his ear again, turning his ear back to normal. Harry, Hawk, and the others all looked at him for the answers.

"It seems that your headmaster wants you to be with your friends at Dryad or your friends to be in Winter Wolf with you," he tells Harry.

Harry groaned, making the mystic souls look at him, confused.

"If they are your friends, wouldn't you want to spend time with them," Emma asked, confused.

"I and they are not exactly on the best of terms, currently," Harry admits. "They made their choices, so I am making my own choice."

"That sounds like a story," a girl said, sliding up next to them. "And I love a good story."

"Charlotte," T'challa scolded the girl. "Harry can tell us if he wants to, not because you love stories."

The girl let out a frustrated huff, but she did not actually appear mad. Harry looked at her and could tell that she probably was just joking around, anyway. The girl, who T'challa had called Charlotte, was a cute-looking strawberry blond that seemed a year or two younger than them with shimmering sea-green eyes. She also was carrying a small book with her.

"Harry, this is Charlotte Mills," Hawk introduced him. "She's from New York and is a fairy tale witch that is able to read from her book and bring any tale in it to life."

"Pleasure," Charlotte shook Harry's hand to greet him.

"It's so cool that you can bring fairy tales to life," Harry says to her. "I grew up reading a lot and other than Greek mythology, I always loved fairy tales."

Charlotte giggled at Harry's excitement.

"Thanks," she smiled at him. "I love my powers as well. Mundanes always believe that a magical world is all about fairy tales, anyway, so I just make that very literal. Haha." 

"So, do you bring their pictures to life, summon them from wherever the closest version of them is, or is your book like a pocket dimension for them," Harry fired off his questions. 

The mystic souls all giggled and chuckled at Harry's enthusiasm over her powers. He really was adorable when he did that even for a teenager.

"Well, you probably know by now that fairy tales are real just like other mythical creatures," Charlotte started. "They live in their own realm known as the Enchanted Forest. But, the forest is magical, so every time that the current generation of fairy tales have all lived and died, a new generation takes their place."

"So, it is like a time loop, so sorts," Harry guessed.

"Kind of," T'challa says. "You are close, though."

"While the tales do repeat, it is not the same people doing them over and over again," Charlotte says. "There are always some differences comparing the generations. Sometimes it is an Evil King instead of an Evil Queen, sometimes a kingdom is run by two kings or two queens, and there was even a time where Red Riding Hood is a werewolf."

That was caused Harry to raise an eyebrow.

"Little Red Riding Hood was a what now," he asked, shocked.

Charlotte giggled again. "Hey, I am the one that reads about this stuff literally every day and even I still get shocked. But, to fully answer your question, my book is like a pocket dimension for them. Parts of their souls enter my book when they pass away so while a majority of them move on to the afterlife, I keep a part of them for my magic."

"So, does that mean you are the only one that can use your book," Harry asked, still curious.

"Since my magic is as rare as time magic, the book magically passes on to whoever is born with fairy tale life magic," Charlotte explained. "When the previous use dies, the book vanishes. Where it goes, nobody has ever been able to figure out."

"Charlotte is also one of the best potion students at Crystal Rose," Emma says. "There is not a potion in the world that she can not brew."

"Well, there probably is a potion that I can not brew somewhere," Charlotte says. "I just have not found it, yet."

"Charlotte is just being humble," White chuckled. "The only other person that is better at potions than her is our friend Celest Aurora in Mermaid. But that is probably because Celest's mom is a potions mistress."

"Does she teach here," Harry asked them.

"Oh, no," White shook his head. "Our potions teacher is Crystal Gold, the older sister of Abby and Kryo Gold in Griffin. She was the apprentice of the previous potions teacher until he was sadly killed by demons a few years ago."

"But, she is still a great professor and is actually the one that makes the sorting powder whenever more is needed," Emma said.

They also then explained the rest of the teachers to Harry as well, pointing them out on the head table as they did. 

Crystal Rose had twelve main classes, seven electives, and five after-school activities. All of them, but the activities, with their own teacher. Andy Lectic taught Dueling. Nyx Nightingale taught Light & Dark. Harmony Lance was the International Magic teacher. Titos Web's the Close Combat professor. Lavender Aura taught Magical Music. Crystal Gold, Kryo and Abby's big sister, was the Potions professor just like he had just been told. Miron Thorn teaches Charms & Spells. Sky Lion is the teacher of the Taming class, taming creatures that is. Marina Breeze teaches Magical Creatures. Ava Lovelace is the Non-Violent Magic professor. Aichi Hero is the Power Growth teacher. Adrien Alain taught Power Control.

The seven electives were available to be chosen from when they turned thirteen. Mystic Gardening, Mystical Cultures, Magical Law & Politics, Mythology & History, Alchemy, Healing, and Gemology & Magic Crystals. Lena Ambrosia for Healing, Siren Hart for Gemology, Victor Milki for Mythology & History, Kurt Aaron for Cultures, Arigor Queen for Law & Politics, Lilian Jordan for Mystic Gardening, and Jellal Royal for Alchemy.

When he asked about the after-school activities, all of them just smirked as they told him that he would find that out eventually. The smirks made him both nervous as well as excited. 

He was also shocked by the number of classes that Crystal Rose offered. Nineteen classes in total. Twenty-four is he included the after-school stuff as well. Hogwarts only had twelve classes available, not including Flying lessons since that was only for the first-year students. He had read in a few books that Hogwarts used to have about the same amount of classes as Crystal Rose, but most of them were either canceled because of lack of funding or were just taken from the classes list for no reason. Even if Harry suspected that the reason was Dumbledore wanting to make himself look smarter by making those younger than him dumber.

But, now he had the chance to learn as much as he could. Plus, classes like Magical Music, Gemology, Healing, Mystic Gardening, and Alchemy all sounded very interesting. He may have hated gardening when at Durzkaban, but that was when he either did it perfectly or would get beaten. Here, it was a lot more different.

"I bet Krinos probably gets top grades in Mystic Gardening," Harry chuckled.

"Oh, Krinos doesn't take it," T'challa says. 

"Really," Harry was confused as he would think Krinos would want to take a class that revolved around his powers.

"Most nature mages, such as myself and Krinos wouldn't take a class that would give us such an unfair advantage over the others," White explains. "Sure, we would get the best grades, but it would be unfair given that all we would have to do is wave our hands around. Plus, that would be way too easy and we would probably drop the class after a week because we got bored."

"That is actually very noble of you," Harry says.

"It's just how we are," White shrugged.

"I am really starting to like it, here," Harry smiled at his new friends.

They all smiled at him. They looked like they were gonna ask him questions, probably about being a wand-user, when there was a sudden scream. But one of anger and not of fear.

"HOW DARE YOU," the scream came from the Mermaid table.

Heads immediately shot toward the table to see what was going on. Angela had shot right to her feet after she had screamed and she did not look happy. Her eyes were locked on the Dryad table. Specifically at Draco Malfoy.

"Of course it was him that made her mad," Harry facepalmed.

"You know the person Angela's mad at," Hawk raised an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately," Harry stated.

"What? Can't handle the truth, you monstrous frea..." Draco did not get a chance to finish his sentence.

Angela only got even more pissed. She instantly grabbed one of the golden keys on her belt and held it in front of her. The key started to glow instantly.

"Crud," Harry heard T'challa swear as he also shot to his feet.

"Open, gate of the golden bull," Angela yelled out. "Tauros!"

There was a sound that was exactly like a large bell being rung as what seemed to be a magic circle appeared at the end of Angela's key. In a bright flash of light, something appeared with what sounded like a giant "MOOOOOOOO," like what a really loud cow would sound like.

And what appeared actually seemed to be a cow. A minotaur version of a cow, anyway. It stood tall on its black-booted feet with matching black shorts to match. It had a golden ring in its nose with golden horns on its head. Probably the biggest thing that everyone noticed about it, other than that it was a cow minotaur, was that in its black fingerless-gloved hands was a giant ax that looked sharp and big enough to chop even the Great Wall of China in half.

(AN: Yes, Angela's powers are based on Lucy of Fairy Tail. I do not own her powers or her spirits.)

"Woah," Harry gasped as he got his first glance at one of Angela's celestial spirits.

The other Hogwarts students, and even the staff, were all shocked by Angela's magic. She was really the first mystic soul where they saw a full display of their powers. Only Harry, Sirius, and the annoying trio had really seen what Krinos could do, but Angela's powers were where everyone could see them.

"I would advise you to never call anyone here a freak, blondie," Angela glared at Malfoy. "Otherwise, I'll call a spirit that is not as merciful as Tauros."

"Oh! Angela! You have such a nice..." Tauros started talking, sounding like he was about to say something not appropriate for the current situation.

"Not now, Tauros," Angela silenced the flirty spirit.

"Uh... Does he always talk like that," Harry asked T'challa.

"You have no idea," T'challa shook his head.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Four: Do Not Mess With A Rose

If there was one thing that Harry never thought that he would see in the world, it would be a cow version of a minotaur. Sure, he was sure that he would see one eventually since he has already met a Cerberus back in his first year at Hogwarts, but seeing one that was also a cow was definitely stranger than he thought it would be. But, considering that it also seemed to be a very pervy cow, he was glad that it had taken so long for him to meet this creature. It was still very weird if he was being honest with himself.

But even with the pervy cow in the middle of the Main Gallery, that did not distract the fact that Angela was a really pissed-off witch at that moment. And while there was definitely the shock of seeing her powers in action, that did not take away that it was also terrifying. Anyone with the power to summon a minotaur whenever they wanted to was definitely scary.

Almost all the Hogwarts students shot to their feet and backed away as Angela was still really pissed. She was glaring at Malfoy as if he was one of those demons that Krinos had told Harry about. And that said something since he has said that demons are being that are like evil given human forms.

"Call us freaks again, I dare you," Angela glared at Malfoy.

That certainly got the attention of the mystic souls. Most of them were glaring at Malfoy now. It was definitely obvious that they would not be as easily bullied as Malfoy's other victims. They could fight back and were more than happy to.

"Think we're freaks, do you," said a girl dressed in blue. "Well, I say that the wand-user bully is the real freak here."

"I have met plenty of losers like you," said a boy with bee wings. "The ones that are delusional about being important when they really aren't."

"He's a wand-users, so that already makes him pathetic," said a girl with butterfly wings.

"They call us freaks and monsters, but we do not target them as they target us," Hawk says, crossing his arms.

"They are the ones that still live two centuries behind every other magical community in the world," said a boy in a cowboy hat.

"Even the community where I live is more advanced than them and I live in Vatican City, literally the smallest country in the world," said a girl with purple hair.

This was definitely something that Harry saw coming. Most of Hogwarts were against mystic souls, so it would only make sense for the mystic souls to be against Hogwarts. Or, at least, wand-users in general. There was more of a hatred and feud between them than there was between Gryffindor and Slytherin. And that certainly said something considering that even the war against Voldemort, in Harry's opinion, was more between Gryffindors and Slytherins than good versus evil. That war was basically Voldemort representing Slytherin while Dumbledore represents Gryffindor.

And being honest with himself, mystic souls definitely had a better reason to hate wand-users than wand-users had to hate mystic souls. Mystic souls hated that they were always treated with suspicion and as monsters just because they had powers that were more powerful than what they could do with a wand. Wand-users just hated mystic souls because they just were jealous of the amount of power that they had. They would deny it, of course, but that did not mean it wasn't true.

Looking around, he saw Krinos and Melody trying to calm down their friends. But also, much to his surprise, several of the teachers were also trying to calm down the students. He had never actually seen teachers really do anything other than teaching before. He certainly never got any help from the teachers other than Flitwick and Remus when he had still been the DADA professor. Flitwick helped as many students as he could whenever they needed help with their homework or classwork. And Remus had spent so many evenings working hard with him so that he would be able to cast the Patronus charm to be able to protect himself from the dementors. No other professor worked as hard as those two did.

Krinos and Melody, as well as T'challa and Hestia, all quickly made their way over to Angela. They were trying to calm her down before she did something that she might regret later. Not that any of them would care if she did hurt the idiot, but it certainly would not do them any good if they went to war with magical Britain over the brat. Even if they would easily win that war. 

"Angela, don't let that idiot get to you," Krinos put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, his words mean less than nothing," Melody agreed with her twin.

"I'm standing right here, freaks," Draco was somehow still able to yell at them even with a minotaur glaring at them.

Multiple students all started to activate their powers as they all looked ready to kill the Bleached Peacock. The ground was shaking a little as a girl with green eyes seemed to have her hands glowing with green energy. It also got hotter in the hall as a boy with pitch-black hair with a red streak in it had hands that literally were on fire. There was even a red-haired girl that had made a sword appear in her hand. They were all looking to want to draw Malfoy's blood.

"Okay, this definitely escalated quickly," Charlotte said from her place next to Harry.

"You don't seem to be trying to kill Malfoy," Harry looked at the fairy tale mage.

She shrugged. "As much as I like fighting demons as much as every other mystic soul, I have never been much of a fan of violence in general. There is a reason why I never signed up for Dueling class."

"Isn't that a class you have to take since it is one of the main classes," Harry asked her, curious.

"It is mandatory only for those that have more violent powers," Charlotte explained. "Such as the mystic souls that can conjure weapons, bend the elements, move objects with their mind, and others powers like them. I conjure fairy tales, so that class was more optional for me."

"Oh," Harry understood. "Plus, I guess that not every mystic soul has powers that can be used in offensive ways. Like Hestia and her healing powers."

"Keep thinking like that and you will get very good grades here," Charlotte smiled at him.

Harry could not help but look over at the teacher's table again. It was not surprising at all that none of the Hogwarts teachers seemed to care about what was going on. Flitwick was talking with Professor Lion, probably asking him what they planned to do if this went any farther than it already has.

And also not to his surprise, he saw Headmistress Jiwe once again sternly talking to Dumbledore with a heated glare at him as well. She was probably trying to convince him to try and do something about his student while Dumbledore was probably going with his usual "boys will be boys" thing that he usually uses to excuse bullying. He had a feeling that Jiwe was very tempted to call her lion back in to give him Hogwarts headmaster for dinner. Not that Harry could really blame her if she did.

"I suggest that you shut your mouth before Tauros does it for you," Angela glared at Malfoy even more.

"Nobody calls my Angel a freak and gets away with it," Tauros also glared at Malfoy, his ax shining in the light of the room.

The Hogwarts students all looked terrified that Malfoy might actually end up being cut in half by the minotaur. And even as Malfoy looked to his usual bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle, for some form of backup, neither of them moved from where they were. That was probably the smartest decision that either have made in a long time.

But before things could go too far, there was a loud whistle that could be heard throughout the entire Main Gallery. Looking over, it was Professor Alain, the Power Control professor. He was looking very stern, but he was not really upset with any of his students.

"Alright, I understand that you all must be upset by that language, but this is not how you handle things," Professor Alain tells everyone. "You settle them on the dueling field, where no bystanders can be injured by powers flying everywhere. Also, Mister Malfoy, it is detention for a week for your horrible language."

"What," Draco looked furious about actually being punished, and by a mystic soul of all people.

The Crystal Rose students all looked smug. There was definitely going to be no special treatment for any of the Hogwarts students that were probably all very used to being treated better by others based on things like their blood status or family name. That type of favoritism did not ever happen at Crystal Rose and it was not going to start happening no matter what.

"You heard me, young man," Professor Alain crossed his arms as he looked at Malfoy. "You are now a student here and you must abide by our rules. And here, we have a zero-tolerance bullying policy."

Malfoy looked like he had swallowed a lemon when he heard that. And if the Crystal Rose students were not smug before, they definitely were now. A lot of them even high-fived each other as they saw the look on his face. He obviously did not think that he would ever be punished for anything that he was ever done even if it was something wrong, so this was a very funny first-time punishment delivery.

The excitement quickly ended and the first meal between the two schools ended along with it. The Hogwarts students could not get out of there fast enough. At least, until they realized that they would have to wait for at least one of their new housemates to show them where their new homes would be while they lived at Crystal Rose.

Harry was with T'challa, Charlotte, and Hawk as the three of them lead him toward the place where Winter Wolves call that part of the school home. It certainly was another part of the school that made him curious. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw both had towers to themselves, Hufflepuff was near the kitchens, and Slytherin was in the dungeon. So, it was definitely interesting to see where the Crystal Rose houses would be located in the school.

"You guys certainly never do anything halfway, do you," Harry asked the three of them.

"We're mystic souls, so normal is pretty much the farthest thing in the world to our kind," Charlotte said.

"Krinos did say that you all basically live by the saying 'normal is vastly overrated," Harry chuckled.

"Well, that is true," T'challa said. "I can shapeshift into cat creatures, Charlotte can summon fairy tales, and Hawk is half-harpy. Normal is very boring to us."

"I know that I would definitely rather live life with my wings than to ever have a normal life," Hawk says.

"Is it harder to actually be half-harpy," Harry hoped that he did not accidentally offend Hawk. "I mean, harpies are known as monsters. No offense."

"Oh, no offense at all," Hawk was not offended at all. "I admit that being known as being part-monster. Harpies do not have the best reputation, after all. But, I am fine with who I am. Harpies are not as monstrous as they used to be."

"Well, it has been thousands of years since ancient Greece," Harry said. "So, they would probably have evolved just as humans have."

"Harry does have a point," Charlotte says. "After all, there are also centaur and siren students here as well. Not to mention the vampires and were-creatures. Magical creatures are no longer just creatures. They are more human than those like wand-users would like to think of them as."

"There are many different magical creatures around Hogwarts," Harry says. "Especially in the Forbidden Forest. There are centaurs, unicorns, acromantulas, not to mention the merpeople in the Black Lake."

"Acromantulas," T'challa's eyes widened. "You have giant spiders in the forest surrounding your school? Have the staff at your school just gone completely mad?!?"

"If they have, they went mad a long time ago," Harry said.

"I hate spiders," Charlotte shivered.

"That spider demon that tried to take over the school a couple of years ago definitely did not help with that," Hawk also looked to hate spiders.

"A spider demon," Harry was curious.

"Yeah," T'challa nodded. "She was able to sneak her way into the school and then conjured up a bunch of her giant spiders as a way to try and take over the school as a way for her to have many powerful mystic souls to feed on."

"FEED ON," Harry yelled, freaked out by that.

The three all nodded. 

"The spider demon does not eat like a human," Hawk explained. "She feeds by draining the life force and the magic energy out of her victims. It was lucky that Krinos, Sofia, and I had managed to avoid her spiders and were able to vanquish her."

"I am usually fine with spiders," Harry shrugs. "But, I definitely never want to run into Aragon or any of his children ever again. Mostly because they would just try and eat me all over again."

"Not us, thank you very much. We are not fine with them," Charlotte stated, giggling.

Harry left out the part that the reason that he was mostly fine with spiders was because of the number of them that he was around when he was living in the cupboard under the stairs. He hardly told anyone about that. Fred and George were the only ones that knew, but that was because of how they rescued his stuff when they came to get him the summer before his second year. They had picked the lock on the cupboard door to get his magic stuff that was locked inside. But what was also inside the cupboard was a child sign he made years ago. It said "Harry's Room" on it, so the twins knew that he used to live in the cupboard.

They did not confront him about it and they let him come to them about it. They didn't even push him for details or give him pity. They comforted him, yes, but they did not pity him at all. Harry would always be grateful to the twins for that.

"So," Harry changed the conversation. "Where is the Winter Wolf dorm anyway?"

"Oh, you'll see," T'challa smirked.

The same smirk was also on Charlotte and Hawk. That definitely made Harry more excited to see what the dorm was going to be like. He did not really know what a Winter Wolf was anyway. He knew that it had to be a magical creature since the other houses all had magical creatures as their symbol. But other than that, he knew nothing.

Eventually, they all made it to the north side of the school. They stood in front of a giant door that was navy blue. A silver wolf's head was painted in it as well. The eyes of the wolf painting glowed for a second.

"Welcome, T'challa Jungle, Charlotte Mills, Hawk Ventus, and Harrison Potter-Black," the painting seemed to say.

The door then opened, allowing them all inside. Harry was shocked as the others lead him inside. The doors closed behind them.

Noticing his shock, T'challa chuckled and explained the door to him.

"That is the same for all of the doorways to the houses," he explained. "We don't have passwords, riddles, or magical keys. The doors all have enchanted painting guardians that are able to scan us on sight to make sure that we are part of the Winter Wolf house. The only other ones allowed in are the professors and school healers."

"Oh, okay," Harry said.

And then he got a good look at Winter Wolf house and it was absolutely incredible. The entire place looked like a mix between a Winter Wonderland and an incredible forest in the Winter time. The walls were a lighter shade of navy blue with there also being tree designs on the walls done in black paint. And it was leafless Winter trees, so the branches really did stand out along with the trunks. The ceiling was almost like a diamond with how to seemed to sparkle with silver and white color overhead as if it was a chandelier. The furniture was classic wooden furniture that one would mostly see in a log cabin. There was a fireplace against one wall while the other walls all head floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the Crystal Rose animal stables outside of it.

Two other corridors were on the other side of the room, which obviously lead to the different dorms for the boys and girls. But there was also a spiral staircase that was close to an alcove of bookshelves on another side of the room.

"That staircase leads to another common room upstairs," Hawk tells Harry. "Every house has at least three common rooms to help spread out all the students so that not everyone has to crame themselves into a single room if they wanted to hang out with friends they have in the house."

"It also helps for those that like to do their homework in the common rooms as well," Charlotte added. "The more students in the common room, the less privacy one would have to make sure their work was not copied. Plus, it would be a lot noisier as well."

That, Harry definitely understood. He almost always had to do his homework in his dorm room at Hogwarts because he hated how loud it could get in the common room. Plus, in his dorm was where he did not have Hermione trying to bother him about having her check everything that he writes in his essays. Her breathing down his neck like that always drove him crazy.

But then what the door called him hit him like a ton of bricks. 

"What did that door call me Harrison Potter-Black," Harry thought to himself.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Five: Legacies

Harry had never felt more welcomed than he currently was in Winter Wolf. He was amazed by not only the dorm itself but all of the students there as well. He did not know much about the actual magical creature that the house was based on, but he was definitely going to be asking about that in the future.

He was still confused about why the door had called him by that name when they got there the previous day. Ever since he entered the magical world, he had always been told that his name was Harry James Potter. Now, a magical door that was probably more magical than even the sorting hat was calling him Harrison Potter-Black. He knew he was Sirius's godson, but was there something his godfather had not told him yet?

He knew that he would have to remember that for later, but he was going to try and have a few days of enjoying himself. He wanted to not have any drama, life-threatening situations, or anything else eventful happening for as long as possible. Only now that he thought about it, he may have just jinxed himself. Maybe he should ask the other students if they had a way to stop jinxes.

All of the students were really nice and none of them looked at him, or any of their other new housemates, with suspicion. Something that Harry would not have blamed them for, given the history and hatred between wand-users and mystic souls. But they did not let that corrupt their thoughts of their new housemates. They all seemed to be of the same mind that even though most wand-users hated mystic souls, they were all going to let the individual wand-users make their own impressions on them.

Harry did not really know any of the other Hogwarts students that ended up in Winter Wolf. Not a lot ended up in the house, but there was a good handful. Harry only even knew the name of Adrian Pucey, one of the Slytherin chasers. And truthfully, he had always been curious about the Slytherin. Since he was the seeker for Gryffindor, he was able to most watch the game when the snitch would disappear from his sight. So, he noticed that Adrian never cheated. Those like Flint, Malfoy, and Miles Bletchley all cheated a lot. But then you had those like Adrian and Terrence Higgs and neither of them cheated at all. Which only made it worse when Higgs had been replaced as seeker by Malfoy in Malfoy's second year. It was probably because Flint had been the captain and he wanted his team filled with cheaters instead of those that wanted to win fair and square. The fact that Adrian was still on the team was a small miracle.

Harry also thought that the dorm itself was very cool. He learned from Hawk and T'challa that each dorm was set up the same way, but just with different designs and features based on which house it is. Such as how Winter Wolf had a secret passageway to the animal stables since a lot of students with animal familiars ended up in their house. 

There was also the magical design of how each dorm was a lot bigger on the inside than the outside. On the outside, the houses would all look as if they were really tall apartments that would appear as if they would only be a single bedroom. It reminded Harry of the magical tents that they had used when they had gone to the Quidditch World Cup. Bigger on the inside while looking tiny on the outside.

What he also loved about the dorm was that every student got their own room, a part of how big the magic made the dorms compared to what could be seen outside. The different years were each in different halls with the boys and girls in different halls. Each hall magically had the exact amount of rooms needed for the students. They all looked the same with the same large canopy bed, a single bookshelf, a desk for homework, a wardrobe for their clothes, and magical lights that they controlled how bright they were.

Winter Wolf had their dorm near the animal stables. Dryad had a good view of the forest that surrounded the school. Mermaid, of course, had a view of the lake. Siren was close to the greenhouse. Dragon students would be able to see the dueling fields. Griffin was close to the magical observatory and had a glass ceiling to get a great view of the sky above them. Unicorn was the house close to a meadow that a lot of students like to use for picnics when they want to. 

Where the dorms were located definitely all matched the creatures very well. Wolves are pack animals, so Winter Wolf was near the stables. Mermaids are aquatic creatures, so of course, it would be near the lake. Dragons were known to be the most fierce and violent creatures out there, so it was only natural that it would overlook the dueling field.

The next morning, Harry got up and almost didn't want to. The bed was probably the comfiest one that he had ever been in. But, he knew he had to even if it was the weekend and he did not have any classes until morning. The weekend was the chosen time for them to come to the school so that they had a few days to get used to the school before their classes started. He changed into some of the new clothes that he had from Sirius giving him a bunch of not only his brother's old stuff but some of his own as well.

He smiled as he looked in the mirror in the bathroom that was connected to his room. Each room having its own. He was wearing one of Sirius's old dark red shirts with jeans, sneakers, and even some old cuff bracelets that fit him but didn't fit Sirius anymore. 

After that, he went back to the common room of Winter Wolf. Hawk, T'challa, and a few other students were already there. 

"Good morning, Harry," T'challa greeted his new friend.

"Morning, T'challa," Harry greeted him back.

"I hope that you slept well," T'challa says. "Lots of our new students get homesick in the first couple of days of being at school."

"It was fine, T'challa," Harry did not have the heart to tell him that he would never feel bad about being away from Durzkaban. "I slept probably better than I have in a long time."

"That is the magic of the beds here," Hawk chuckled. "Not that there is actual magic in the mattresses or the covers, but they are so comfy that they make a lot of the new students feel like there is magic in them."

"Is sleep magic actually a thing," Harry asked them. "There is a dreamless sleep potion that I am aware of, but it is highly addictive and can not be used a lot."

"As I am sure Krinos has told you, magical poppy pollen helps with sleeping," Hawk said. "Actual sleep magic, not really a thing."

"Sleep magic itself is not an actual power, but dream magic is," T'challa says. "Dream mages are known for being able to enter the dreams of others and manipulate them any way they want."

"Others, if they are powerful enough, are able to dream the future," Hawk adds. "There are even those that get powerful enough for them to be able to actually bring their dreams to life."

"Woah," Harry gasped. "There really are mystic souls with any type of magic that you can think of."

"That is the way of our people," Hawk says. "We live and thrive because we know that we are all unique and there is no one else that would be like us. Similar, yes. But never exactly like us."

"Krinos did say that there are no two mystic souls alike," Harry said.

"And he is right," T'challa nodded. "Sure, there are those that are in the magical clans, but they are the exception to that rule."

"Krinos mentioned those as well," Harry remembered. "He said that two main clans were the Enchanted Gems and the Mystical Nations. At least, that is what I remember, anyway."

"Your memory is definitely a good one," Hawk complimented him. "I actually have a friend that is a part of the Angel Feather group of the Mystical Nations clan."

"And I also have a couple of friends that are Enchanted Sapphires from the Enchanted Gems clan," T'challa said. "You will meet plenty of students here with all types of powers."

"Well, those in this house certainly are telling me just how many types of powers would be in this school," Harry says. "I mean, you are all so different and that is amazing. Charlotte can summon fairy tales, Hawk is half-harpy, and you have jungle cat powers. It's all so cool."

"Glad that you think so," T'challa smiled at him.

"We should probably head down to breakfast," Hawk says. "Mostly because I am hungry and I do not want to go hunting for prey."

"The only time you go hunting for food is when you go to the grocery store," T'challa chuckled.

"Fair enough," Hawk smirked.

Seeing Harry being confused, T'challa decided to explain things.

"Since Hawk is half-harpy, he likes to joke a lot about acting like he would if he was more like the ancient harpies," he explained. "And that includes going hunting. He has never hunted a day in his life."

"Unless you count when I hunt demons," Hawk commented.

"That is less about hunting and more about helping the innocents," T'challa said.

After that was when they both got up. Harry followed them out the door and they all made their way over to the Main Gallery for breakfast. Harry took notice of how much the creatures of the houses were represented around the school. Not only the statues outside and the tapestries in the entry hall. There were pictures, paintings, figurines, and even placks about past students with what their houses were being shown as well.

"What made these creatures be made the houses," Harry asked the two.

T'challa and Hawk looked at each other, smiling at his curiosity. They did not expect much curiosity from Hogwarts students, but there were quite a few that they did see were not like the others. They actually wanted to know about the land and the school that they were not a part of. And Harry was obviously very eager to learn as much as he could.

"In ancient times, there were the creatures that represented the main elements of magic," T'challa explained. "Dragons for fire, griffins for air, unicorns for light, mermaids for water, sirens for sound, dryads for earth, and winter wolves for ice. Back then, they were the most powerful forces in magic. Before technology, before discrimination, before the worlds separated. When magic was more free."

"It was when magic and mortals started to separate that things became difficult," Hawk took over the explanation. "Magic started to have to be hidden as well also branched out into other elements. But even then, they were always the origin of all the magic that we use today. So, even when many forget about where magic had originally come from, we do everything we can to honor them."

Harry was definitely shocked at that. He did not know any of that about the origin of their magic. He was definitely aware that there was probably some creature blood in all of them considering the human-like magical creatures in the world like vampires, werewolves, and many others. Crystal Rose was certainly was the prime example of what a school would be like by fully embracing its very magical history.

"That's amazing," Harry gasped.

"Most of magical history fades with time," T'challa says. "Most remember the epic battles, the finding of magical cities like Camelot and Atlantis, and the creation of heroes and villains. Things like the origins of magic get put on the back burner until they are forgotten about completely."

"But we have always honored everything about magic here," Hawk said. "Greece is a very traditional country, after all. We blend the modern with the ancient in perfect harmony."

"Melody is probably going to slap you on the back of your head the next time she sees you, now," T'challa laughed.

Hawk was already rubbing the back of his head.

"She never did like others moving in on her magical territory," he chuckled.

Harry chuckled as well. He did not know Melody as well as he knew Krinos, but she was probably a lot like him. Not just because they were twins, but Olivia and Krinos seemed to be alike even though they were just cousins. So, it would make sense for actual siblings to be more alike than cousins would be. Which made him figure that Melody probably also had a sarcastic and sassy streak a hundred miles long. He was actually looking forward to seeing her when she does get as sassy as Krinos and Olivia have gotten.

As they were walking to the Main Gallery, Harry looked out of the window and saw a group of students outside. Looking closer, he noticed that most of them were cheering something on. Since there were not a lot of students, he was able to see what was going on. His eyes widened as he saw a boy and girl dueling. But not with spells, with swords. Even with everything that he had seen in the magical world, two teenagers fighting each other with swords was still not something he would expect to see.

"What in the," he gasped.

Hearing him and also noticing that their new friend was not keeping up with them anymore, T'challa and Hawk stopped walking and looked behind them. Seeing Harry looking out the window, they both made their way over to him and looked out the window with him.

"Oh, looks like they are at it again," T'challa chuckled as he saw what was happening.

"Nobody would be shocked by this at all," Hawk sighed. "It's expected by this point."

"This is normal around here," Harry was shocked.

"It's normal for those guys," T'challa says. "But it's not like anyone can blame them when it is in their blood."

"Sword fighting is in their blood," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Of course," Hawk said. "The two that you can see fighting are Roselina Beauty and Jasper Argonaut."

"Argonaut as in Jason and the Argonauts, the Greek myth," Harry asked.

The two other boys nodded.

"As you now know, the Greek myths are real," T'challa says. "All myths and legends from all across the world are real. Same with fairy tales, which should be obvious since that is Charlotte's magic."

"Yeah, I do know that," Harry said, wanting the explanation faster than how T'challa was currently giving it.

"Well, since they are all real, that does also mean that they would have descendants," T'challa continued. "We even have a term for them. All descendants of heroes, villains, and other important figures from myths, legends, and fairy tales are known as legacies."

"Wait," Harry said. "So, that would mean that Jasper..."

Both of the boys nodded at him, answering his question. 

"Yeah," Hawk says. "Jasper is the descendant of Jason himself. The man that lead the Argonauts in an effort to gain the golden fleece. One of the most famous Greek mythological heroes along with Heracles, Achillies, and Perceas."

"And the girl that he is fighting is also a legacy," T'challa added. "Roselia is the daughter of Aurora and Phillip. Otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip."

"Roselina obviously takes after her dad since he prefers a good sword fight and hates naps with a passion," Hawk chuckled.

That was all a big shock to Harry. There were actual children of ancient heroes, villains, and fairy tales around the school. That was both shocking and just incredible as well. He never thought that something so cool could actually exist. Even in a world of magic, he didn't think that there could be legacies because of how long ego these myths and legends have taken place. It was as if it was even realistic to think that he would run into a descendant of King Arthur or Merlin even when they lived over a thousand years ago. It would be hard to believe that anyone in the modern-day would have either of their last names after all this time.

The fairy tales were easier to accept since Charlotte explained how fairy tales always repeat themselves with one generation taking over from the previous one. Not literally of course since it would be cruel to make the children of the fairy tales repeat their parent's stories. Especially if that would also mean forcing a villain's kid to be evil if they did not want to be.

The mythical legacies definitely were ones that he was very intrigued by. Especially since there were so many different myths and legends from all over the world. He wondered if they would have the same powers as their ancestors if their ancestors had powers in the first place. Such as if any descendant of Heracles had his super strength, or if any descendant of Merlin had a boost in their magic, or if the descendant of Icabod Crane was still haunted by the Headless Horseman. There was so much potential for their descendants to be just as great and powerful as their ancestors were. He really wanted to meet more of them.

"I honestly should not be shocked with what you guys tell me any more," Harry said.

"Yeah, it takes some getting used to," T'challa says. "We always have to look after first-generation mages when they come into the school because it can be very overwhelming for them since they have not lived in the magical world until then."

"I am always so glad when the magic council interferes with them," Hawk stated. "Magic and mortals should never meet, so any first-generation out there should be taken to the magical world immediately."

"It would reduce the risk of magic being exposed," T'challa agreed with his friend.

Harry was definitely going to be asking about why they all seemed to hate mortals so much. He was not going to assume that they were like Malfoy and thought that mortals were animals that were below them. He assumed that they actually had a reason and he was going to find out that reason.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Six: Some Sirius Progress

*****Meanwhile Back In Magical Britain*****

Sirius was looking through more books in the Black Family Library. Now that Dumb-As-A-Door was in Greece and being watched over by the mystic souls of Crystal Rose, he had more freedom to plan against the old man. And another good reason for Dumbledore being out of the country would be that he was no longer calling useless Order meetings and having many people constantly coming and going. 

The freedom that he had was very useful since there was no way to keep all of the explosions happening a secret. The explosions, of course, were from him practicing potions from books that Krinos and Olivia had sent him. Since he was embracing his mystic soul powers for the first time, he also wanted to be part of their culture and way of life. It had already intrigued him, so it would not shock anyone that knew what he was doing to find him learning even more about it.

His brain was another thing that people constantly underestimated about him. Their classmates and housemates all saw the Marauders in clearly defined roles. Remus was the brains, Pettigrew was the follower, James was the creative one, and Sirius was the main prankster. But what no one else knew was how much their pranking helped them with their studying. Pettigrew was always dumb no matter what, but Remus, James, and Sirius were always in the top ten students of their year.

Their pranks sometimes used very hard spells or potions to make them work. And using such complicated spells and potions helped them do better in school. Not that most noticed since all they saw was a group of immature pranksters that defined the term "Reckless Gryffindors." But it was better to be underestimated than overestimated in Sirius's eyes. It allowed him to be able to defeat enemies easier since they did not think he was that smart or powerful.

But that did not mean he did not still know how to have a good time even as he grew up. Such as when he had been an Auror. He had been with James, two other Aurors, and a then-rookie Kingsley when they had been attacked by some death eaters. They were able to defeat them and Sirius even had fun while doing it. Like when he had yelled out "DUCK" at the death eaters and they actually did all duck. But the fun part came when he conjured a giant rubber duck that fell on top of them.

But not only had Sirius been working on learning more about mystic soul culture, but he had been even busier when it came to working on their plans to deal with Voldemort and Dumbledore. Both were very serious threats in their own ways and they both needed to be dealt with before one, the other, or both caused even more destruction and deaths.

Sirius was not even aware of which of them cause more deaths. Voldemort and his death eaters go on killing sprees where they kill pretty much anyone that is unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Especially those that fight against them. It was why the Prewett brothers, the uncles of Fred and George and the other Weasley kids, were killed. Because they had gone to Bones Manor when death eaters had attacked it. Everyone in the manor had been killed, leaving only Susan Bones and her aunt Amelia as the remaining members of the Bones family. And those deaths only added to those that Voldemort himself added to whenever he got annoyed or angry with his followers and killed them himself. He gives out torture and killing curses like muggles hand out candy on Halloween.

And when it came to Dumbledore, he was always willing to sacrifice others in order to get what he wants. Because he wants all kids to look at him as a savior, he goes out of his way to keep abused kids in their abusive households so that he looks like a savior when he brings them into Hogwarts. Many children, especially muggleborns, were killed by their families through the abuse because of Dumbledore's actions. Not to mention how whenever he took the lead in any attack during the wars against Grindelwald and Voldemort, he would force those fighting on the front lines to use only non-lethal spells like stunning and disarming. He would say that it was because he did not want them going down to the death eaters' level, but Sirius believed that it was because he wanted those on the front lines to die since they were all really powerful and Dumbledore felt threatened by them. Such as a lot of the original Order of the Phoenix.

There was also not a single doubt in Sirius's mind that Dumbledore had been the one that leaked the location of Alice and Frank Longbottom to the Lestrange trio. The two of them were not only powerful, but Alice was also Harry's godmother. With her out of the way along with himself in Azkaban, there was no one to stop Dumbledore from sending Harry to the Dursleys. 

He was going to make sure Dumbledore paid for what he had done.

Sirius pulled out another book from one of the shelves. This time it was a book on laws that relate to the general public. And it would also include bystander laws, which were laws that would involve those that knew about a crime but did not do anything about it. He hoped that there was something in it that would help nail Dumbledore for all of the abused children that he knew about and never helped.

At the same time, there were also books on mystic soul magical cores around him as well. He needed to know more about them in case something might go wrong if Harry wanted his own mystic soul powers unlocked when he finds out about them. He was not going to risk anything happening to his son in all but blood. Well, a little blood since James and Lily did have him blood adopt Harry when they made him his godfather.

He has multiple books open in front of him when a familiar blue portal opened up in the library. Olivia stepped out of it, the portal closing behind her.

"As much as I love my own powers, your portals are so cool," Sirius complimented her.

Olivia giggled. "Yeah, they definitely help when I need to get somewhere quickly. I learned how to do my teleportation portals long before I was able to do time portals."

"Well, it's not like time travel is the easiest magic in the world," Sirius says. "Time-Turners are the most controlled magical artifact for wand-users."

"Unless you happen to be one of Dumbledore's pets," Remus said as he walked into the library. "Hello, Olivia."

"Remus," she greeted him back. "And what were you saying?"

"You know that I was teaching Defense during Harry's third year at Hogwarts," Remus started.

"Yeah," Sirius nodded, still hating that Remus was so discriminated against that he was forced to resign just because he was a werewolf.

And it only made it even more unfair since he had heard from Harry, Fred, and George that Remus had been the best Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher that they have ever had. And it was more telling that Fred and George also said that since they were in Hogwarts for longer, so they have had more teachers for the subject than Harry did.

"Well, from what I found out, Dumbledore gave Hermione a time turner that year as well," Remus told the two in the room.

"WHAT," they both yelled.

"He gave an irresponsible teenage girl the power to travel through time," Olivia screamed in rage.

She was a time mage and time was sacred to her. To think about a teenage girl that cares only about herself. It was the code that she lived by as a time mage to never mess with the timeline, especially not for selfish purposes.

"Hermione may be able to memorize what is in books, but she lacks common sense," Remus says. "When the students signed up for their electives, she signed up for all of them even when multiple elective classes take place at the same time."

"Uh... Isn't one of those classes Muggle Studies," Sirius raised an eyebrow. "She's a muggleborn and she actually signed up for a class that she could probably take the final exam of as a first-year student and still pass with flying colors?"

"As I said, she lacks common sense," Remus crossed his arms. "Apparently, she wanted to learn about muggles from a wizard perspective because she found it 'fascinating."

"Something is seriously wrong with that girl," Olivia shook her head.

"Well, Dumbledore apparently thought that she deserved to be above the rules, so he gave her a time-turner so that she could take all the classes," Remus said. "I figured it out because my class took place at the same time as Arithmancy and yet when I asked Professor Vector, she said that Hermione was also in her class. A time-turner was the only reason that could be possible."

"Dumbledore has officially lost his mind," Sirius said.

"That is an extremely dangerous thing she was doing," Olivia said. "If she ran into herself at any point, that would have caused a disaster. Time is a delicate thing and running into your past self is a surefire way to cause the timeline to come undone."

"Just from someone running into themselves," Sirius asked.

"If it was a version of her that was actually close to her age, then it would since it was technically still her from the same time since she probably did not go back farther than from that night to that morning," Olivia explained. "The last time that two versions of the same person that came from the same time met, it took every time mage from across history to fix what happened."

"How bad was it," Remus was almost afraid to ask.

"Dinosaurs were running around New York City during the Thanksgiving Day parade," Olivia said. "Marie Antoinette was causing chaos at the Great British Bake Off during cake week. An army of robots from the future ended up in World War II Germany. A group of Salem witch hunters invaded the original shooting of the movie Hocus Pocus. It was chaos all over the timeline. So many people were where and when they were not supposed to be."

"That must have been awful," Sirius could not imagine how worried Olivia and the other time mages were.

"We managed to get it under control, but we always have to be careful," Olivia says. "And letting a girl have the power to go back in time just to take the classes she wanted is not the way to take care of the timeline."

"It's what Dumbledore does," Sirius scoffed. "As long as you are one of his precious Gryffindor puppets that will do whatever he wants, he will reward you any way he pleases."

"Hermione certainly did not earn the time-turner," Remus said. "She may act like she knows everything, but her actual work says otherwise. I lost count of how many times I handed her back her essays, homework, and even some of her tests because I could not read anything she wrote. Her handwriting was so small that not even an enlargening charm helped. Plus, she would write so much, going beyond the required length that I set, that it made me question if she ever paid any attention to what I was teaching."

"Harry has said that she likes adding as much as can to show off how smart she is," Sirius says.

"That would work in her favor if she bothered to stay on topic with what she writes," Remus said. "She seems to go out of her way to write every thought that comes into her head. I once assigned a three-foot essay on the government system of vampires, specifically looking for if any of the students would take notice that most vampires were actually in South America and Australia instead of Romania and Transylvania. From Hermione, I got a six-foot essay on how basically she thought that vampires should run their government. There was even an entire foot dedicated to what they should do to helping muggles even when vampires should be secret and not out in the open."

"Delusional girl, party of one," Olivia stated in the usual Gardna sassiness.

"Makes you wonder how she is under the impression that she is the brightest witch of her generation," Sirius says. "Dumbledore probably interferes with her grades since there is no way those like Flitwick, Vector, Sinestra, Babbling, or even Sprout would give her good grades because she pretends to be as smart as she wants to be."

"I'm with you there," Remus agreed with the head of the Black family. "McGonagall and Snape would let her pass just because Dumbledore tells them to, but he would definitely have to personally interfere with her grades with the other teachers."

"We should add that to our plans," Olivia suggested. "I may not be the biggest fan of wand-users in general, but they deserve quality education like everyone else. Hogwarts needs an overhaul of their staff and governors so that only the best people for the job are chosen."

"I could not agree more," Sirius nodded. "And with new school governors, there would also be a chance to bring back all the classes that have been removed because Dumbledore either thinks that they are too dark or because he wants to stop the students from getting too powerful."

"Yeah," Remus agreed. "Didn't there used to be an Alchemy class at Hogwarts?"

Sirius nodded again. "My grandfather told me about that when he would visit. He actually cared about Regulus and me, so he gave us advice about school. He once told Regulus that Alchemy might be a good class for him and he had not been happy that Regulus could not take it since it was no longer offered."

"The alchemist Nicolas Flamel is famous even to mystic souls," Olivia says. "Since Dumbledore studied under him, it would be obvious that he would not want others to also have that powerful knowledge."

"It would make him look even more wise and powerful to normal witches and wizards," Remus said. "Meaning that fewer people would actually question him or any of his decisions."

"People need to think for themselves instead of just going along with what someone that looks powerful says or does," Olivia stated.

They all rolled their eyes at that since it was very obvious how that was most likely never going to happen in magical Britain. Most of the country's magical population were born followers. Specifically, it was those that followed the ministry, those that followed Voldemort, and those that followed Dumbledore. Those that followed no one were a very small group.

"On the bright side, there has been some progress on some other parts of our plan," Sirius says.

"Good, because there can not be much else done at Crystal Rose except damage control until Harry figures out about his powers," Olivia says. 

"You're a mystic soul and a very powerful one," Remus said. "If you just tell Harry that he has blocked powers, wouldn't he believe you?"

"He might, but that does not mean that I should tell him," Olivia says. "Mystic soul powers are best discovered on their own. Interfering with that might lead to complications with the block."

"How so," Remus asked.

"Since we don't know much about the block, it might tighten its grip on Harry's magical core if he finds out about his powers from an outside source," Olivia explained. "And the more of a hold that it has on his core, the more dangerous it would be to remove the block."

"I have read about that in one of these books," Sirius goes through all the books in front of him. "It was something about how since mystic soul magic and wand magic are so different, mixing the two of them has previously only led to those that have lost their magic, gone insane, or even died because of the damage done to their magical cores."

"Heavy," Remus gasped.

"There is a reason why our kinds don't get along," Olivia says.

"But, anyway, the progress that I have made will be of great help to us," Sirius says. "From my research, there have been beings previously thought immortal, unkillable, or indestructible have all found their ends when they came across many different types of mystic souls."

That was a shock to the other two adults. Even Olivia. With all of her traveling through time, she has actually come across several artifacts that would grant things like invincibility, immortality, and eternal life. She had to hide them all away in order to keep evil beings or even random people from finding these artifacts and becoming immortal or invincible. 

"I guess even someone like me can still learn new things about her kind," Olivia said.

"What have you read, Sirius," Remus asked him.

"Incidences involving immortal or indestructible beings have been seen throughout history," Sirius explained. "But, mystic souls have learned that either their own specific magic or just magic done in abnormal ways have been used to take care of these threats. There was a nature mage back in the late 1990s that came across a demon that became immortal through the water of a magical spring. She had managed to defeat him by using her magic to turn him into a tree. Still immortal, but also still defeated."

"Huh, Krinos has done that to demons before," Olivia said.

"I am honestly not surprised that he has," Remus says.

"There was also the case of a group of demons that had experimented with many different potions back in the 1800s," Sirius chose another example. "Their experiments ended up with them accidentally making themselves indestructible. But then a fire mage and a mage with telekinesis combined their powers in order to vanquish them by instead of attacking from the outside, they attacked the demons from the inside. Unleashing fire inside of the demons got past their invincible bodies to vanquish them literally from the inside out."

"That is all very useful, but what exactly does that information do in order to help us," Remus was confused.

Olivia snapped her fingers, getting a lightbulb over her head moment.

"Voldemort," she figured out. "His body was destroyed when Harry was a baby, but he became a wraith instead of dying. And he was able to fully get his body back through the use of an ancient ritual."

"Bone of the father, flesh of the servant, blood of the enemy," Sirius remembered. "Harry told me what he did."

"So, you think that your research can help deal with Voldemort," Remus finally got what they were talking about.

"Well, probably one of the few honest things that Dumbledore has said is that Voldemort has gone to great lengths in order to keep himself from dying," Sirius says. "So, using unique and different methods will be what we can do to get around whatever he did to keep himself from dying."

"I will check in with some of the experts in ancient magic back at Crystal Rose," Olivia said. "Maybe they would be able to come up with why Voldemort was able to keep himself from moving on and then was able to get a body back."

"This is definitely progress," Remus says.

"For one enemy," Sirius reminded him. "We need to be a lot sneakier when dealing with Dumbledore."

Olivia and Remus nodded in agreement with him.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Storm Is Coming

Harry did not know that any place could be as welcoming as Crystal Rose. Not only was the school itself such a beautiful place, but the students were also very kind. T'challa and Hawk were certainly very helpful with getting the Hogwarts students in Winter Wolf comfortable since they were very new to the mystic soul environment.

And even when they had gone to breakfast the next morning, Harry could see that there were other Hogwarts students that seemed to be opening up more to the mystic souls. Sure, there was still a lot that looked at the mystic souls as if they were going to start attacking them at any given second, but it was not all of them. He knew that he saw Luna talking with some of the other Unicorn students, including Krinos. And Neville was also seen talking with Unicorn students as well. Fred and George were happily chatting with their fellow Griffins. Harry was glad that not everyone instantly hated the Crystal Rose students.

And over the weekend, things tended to actually remain somewhat calm. Headmistress Jiwe had even announced that Monday and Tuesday would also not have classes to give the schools more time to adjust to each other. It was mostly peaceful, but Harry was not thinking that it would last for much longer. Especially with those like Malfoy, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny around.

And speaking of the annoying trio, Harry had been able to mostly avoid the three of them after he had been sorted. He was really glad that Headmistress Jiwe was not the same type of easily influenced person as there was back in magical Britain. She held her ground and he had not been transferred to Dryad nor was the trio transferred to Winter Wolf. He was very thankful to the headmistress since she obviously is a very stern but caring lady that takes no nonsense from anyone.

He was also pretty sure that was probably one of the few times that Dumbledore ever actually heard the word "no" before. He probably threw a temper tantrum when he was finally alone.

But as he would steal glances at the trio every now and again during meals, he saw that none of them interacted with their fellow Dryad students. And not just that, but the Dryads seemed to also be glaring at them a lot. It did not surprise Harry that the three of them were already making enemies at Crystal Rose.

On Tuesday, he saw that the glaring had not stopped. He decided that asking T'challa what he thinks went on would be the best thing. He knew a lot more about the school than he did himself after all.

"I do not interact much with the Dryad students, if I am being honest," T'challa tells him as they sit down for breakfast.

"Really," Harry asked, slightly confused.

"In any school, there are bound to be rivalries and those that don't get along," T'challa explained. "If you take the actual magical creatures that represent our houses, winter wolves and dryads have never gotten along in history."

"I know that dryads are tree spirits," Harry admitted. "They are like nymphs, only they work only with trees while nymphs can be in forests, water, mountains, and other places. But, I don't know anything about winter wolves."

"Winter wolves are an ancient branch of warrior animals that were said to have been born when moonlight first shined over the ice during the Ice Age," T'challa explains. "They appear as white wolves, but with magical armor made out of ice. It is even said that their howl could summon a powerful blizzard."

"That is actually very cool," Harry was amazed by the magical creature. "And that does now make sense why they would not get along with the dryads. Ice and nature are not a good pairing."

"It's why the students of Winter Wolf and Dryad don't typically get along," T'challa said. "Our personalities usually clash. They are typically secretive loner types while we are the house that is like one big pack. We're too different to get along."

Harry thought that was a much better reason than the rivalry/blatant hatred that was between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Winter Wolf and Dryad did not get along because of conflicting personalities while it was just bias nature and prejudice that separated Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Harry always thought that the house rivalry was stupid, anyway. Sure, he hated those like Malfoy and Parkinson, but they were only two members of the house. Two people, plus those like Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy, did not define everyone that has ever been a Slytherin and who will one day become a Slytherin. Sirius had even told Harry how James's father, his grandmother, was a Slytherin by the name of Dorea Black. She had been Sirius's great aunt, but she was the farthest thing from evil. She had been a Slytherin, but that was because she was ambitious. She was one of the best healers that St.Mungos had ever had. Even to this day, there was still a wing at the magical hospital named after her.

Harry was still very glad that he had Sirius always in his life since he had come into it back in his third year. Sirius still sent letters to him using Dobby and Winky. They exchanged multiple letters a day. Sirius was very glad to hear how well that he was adjusting to the school and that he was quickly making friends. He always would tell Harry that his parents would be so proud of the wizard he was becoming. Especially his mum since Lily was known for having a kind heart just like Harry. That always made Harry smile even more since he was so used to people comparing him to his father and hardly ever mentioning his mother.

Harry then felt his nose twitch as he suddenly sneezed. Looking up after he sneezed, he saw that there was some type of glitter falling around him and T'challa. The jungle cat mage only looked a little annoyed, but it was the type of fondly annoyed that a person would be when they were used to these types of things.

"Vallia, really," he looked up as he raised an eyebrow.

Harry looked up as well and boy was he shocked when he did. Above their heads was a girl that was flying with literal butterfly wings coming out of her back. 

The girl was quite beautiful and had grace and elegance to her style. She had long blond hair braided with roses and butterflies and had pink streaks. Her eyes were a stunning blue that you could see, if you were close enough, had specks of purple in them. Her style was a red, pink, and purple dawn-colored dress with gold flats. On her wrists were diamond rose cuff bracelets, a butterfly on the one on her right wrist. Her butterfly wings were different compared to the rest of her style since they were the black and orange wings of a monarch butterfly. Quite dark compared to the other bright colors she wore.

"Woah," Harry gasped.

Vallia giggled as she floated down and landed on the seat across the table from the two of them.

"You know me, T'challa," she smirked. "I can never help but make an entrance."

"How Buzz can stand you is anyone's guess," T'challa shook his head, chuckling as he did.

Vallia then turned to Harry, giving him a beautiful smile.

"Vallia Fly, at your service," Vallia offered her hand and Harry shook it. "Butterly witch extraordinaire and proud member of Unicorn house."

"I think if I thought that you had anything other than something butterfly-related, I would need to be examined for potions that lower my IQ," Harry chuckled, but then he noticed her accent. "You're from England!"

"Vallia and her boyfriend, Buzz, both fled from England after their powers came out," T'challa tells him.

"He had not been my boyfriend at that time, but the rest of that was true," Vallia says. "I used to be a member of the Avery family and Buzz's former last name was Prince. We both had to flee the country since we knew our families would kill us for being mystic souls."

"Prince," Harry started thinking. "I think that I heard that name somewhere before. But I can't remember where."

"It will come back to you eventually, Harry," T'challa patted him on the back.

Harry knew that he heard that last name somewhere before. He just had to do some digging inside of his head before he fully figured out where he had heard the name from. Maybe he could just ask Sirius.

"So," Harry turned his attention back to Vallia. "What type of magic technically is involved with butterfly magic?"

"There is a lot of different types of abilities that my magic gives me," Vallia explained. "Other than my obvious ability to fly, I also have some slight air manipulation powers, some light manipulation abilities, and a lot that is really just stuff that I think is what inspired the creator of that Pokemon anime to create most bug-type attacks."

"I was never allowed to watch anime," Harry tells her.

He left out that he was not really allowed to watch anything since it would be a cold day in the Underworld when the Dursleys would ever allow him anything that would actually cause him to be happy in even the slightest way.

"Okay, we are never allowing you to meet our friend Madison," T'challa places his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I agree with you on that, cat boy," Vallia said.

"Why," Harry was confused but could see the amused look in both of their eyes.

"Madison was born in the United States, but she spent a lot of her time in Japan at the mystic soul school there before she transferred here," T'challa says to him. "She loves anime and she will always take any opportunity given to her to spread her love of anime."

"Typically, if she learns that someone has not watched a specific show or has not seen anime at all, she will basically kidnap you and make you watch as much as she can get away with," Vallia giggled. "She made me watch three whole seasons of Fairy Tail before letting me go."

"She had me watch half of Naruto before I could no stay awake any longer," T'challa chuckled.

"If she learns you have not watched any anime at all, she will not let you leave her side until you have seen enough to finally satisfy her," Vallia shook her head fondly at the thought of her friend. "And that might not be for a while. Hahaha!"

Harry laughed with them as the three of them soon finished their breakfast. T'challa then asked Harry if there was anything in the school that he had not seen yet. Harry wanted to see the garden at the back of the school, so T'challa was more than happy to take him there. Vallia said she would come, but she already had plans with Luna to show her around.

But on their way out of the Main Gallery, they were unfortunate enough to have been intercepted by the annoying trio. Harry knew that it was too good to last even longer than it already has.

"Harry, we need to talk to you," Hermione basically was ordering him to talk to them.

"Well, it will have to wait," Harry did not want to deal with them right now. "T'challa was about to show me the garden. I have not seen it yet."

"Well, it can wait," Ginny said.

"If you want me to wait, then you can be the ones to wait instead," Harry waved them off. "Let's go, T'challa. Maybe Krinos is there as well. I wanted to get his recommendations for the classes I should take."

"Krinos always has been one to give the best advice," T'challa said.

The two of them tried to leave, but Hermione grabbed Harry's arm before they could get more than just two feet away. Harry was really trying not to get his wand out to hex them. They have really been getting on his nerves lately. He was so sick of them trying to control him.

"You've been ignoring us, Harry," Hermione glared at him as she tried to scold him. "We're your best friends and best friends don't ignore each other."

"You ignored me for an entire month during the summer," Harry threw back at her. "You can call this karma."

"We were only doing what Dumbledore told us to do," Ron argued.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Hermione corrected him.

"Yeah, headmaster," Harry pulled his arm from Hermione's grip. "Meaning that he has no power to order you or anyone outside of school even if we attend the school that he is in charge of. For the simple fact that it was summer, so he did not have the right or power to tell you to do anything."

"Dumbledore was only doing what was right," Ron glared at Harry.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Hermione corrected again. "But, Ron is right, Harry."

"No, he isn't," Harry was fighting the urge to yell. "Dumbledore was NOT doing what was right. He was just doing what he wanted because he wants to control everything about my life."

"Harry James Potter," Hermione scolded him as she hit his arm with every name she said. "How dare you insult the headmaster. He has done..."

"Nothing," Harry interrupted her, as she had done with him many times in the past. "He has done nothing. He has not done anything to free Sirius, he did not do anything to stop the basilisk in our second year, he did not do anything to stop Quirrell from attempting to take the sorcerer's stone, he did not do anything to stop the dementors from coming onto school grounds multiple times and nearly getting many students kissed. What he has done is sit on his high horse and watch as everyone around him suffers while he waits for a single moment where he can make himself look like a hero when he has done NOTHING!"

Harry did not notice T'challa looking at him with worry. He obviously could tell that his friend was more upset and betrayed than angry. He looked over at the Griffin table and was glad to see Fred and George already looking at the scene that was happening. He waved them over and the twins quickly were making their way over to the group.

"He is the greatest wizard since Merlin," Ginny basically screamed at Harry.

"He is a whole lot more important than you could ever be," Ron sneered at Harry.

"Please," Harry rolled his eyes. "Dobby is a better person than Dumbledore is and Dobby is an insane house elf that thought seriously injuring me was the best way to get me to leave Hogwarts."

"Huh," T'challa raised an eyebrow.

"I'll tell you later," Harry tells the jungle cat mage.

That got the three annoyances to glare at T'challa. He was not phased by their glaring as he knew that they were all probably just a part of the mystic-soul-hating wand-users that were basically bred in magical Britain. If he got angry every time a wand-user glared at him, he would have killed them all just on the first day of them being there.

"This is all his fault," Hermione was quick to place blame on T'challa. "Him and all the other fakers around this school."

"Fakers," T'challa raised his eyebrow again.

"Hermione is delusional about mystic soul powers," Harry tells T'challa. "She doesn't believe that any of you are real because she believes that magic without a wand is 'impossible."

"Wow, she really is delusional," T'challa stated.

"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE," Hermione screamed. "MAGIC WITHOUT A WAND CAN NOT BE DONE! STOP PRETENDING THAT IT CAN!"

T'challa rubbed his ears. Even when not using his magic to hear more than normal people could, his ears were still very sensitive to loud noises. He could not stand being around anything loud since if something was loud enough, then he might accidentally go deaf.

"Hermione, enough," Harry actually was yelling at this point. "Get over yourself. You do not know everything about everything. They are mystic souls, they do not need wands. It is not wandless magic, it is mystic soul magic. Get. The hell. Over. Yourself."

There was sudden thunder heard from outside. Fred and George looked at each other as this situation was very similar to when the lightning had crashed into the Black family garden. An argument, Harry getting really angry, the weather having a sudden change for the worse. They would not be surprised if another lightning bolt would soon crash through one of the windows in the Main Gallery.

"You can not talk to her like that," Ron yelled at Harry.

"I can talk to her, you, or anyone any way that I want," Harry yelled back. "I am not going to let you control me anymore."

"We have never tried to control you," Ginny insisted but did not sound that convincing.

"Really," Harry raised an eyebrow. "How about when you kept trying to drag me away from Sirius when he was telling me about my family? How about when you tried to keep me away from Krinos and Olivia even when they have been nothing but helpful? How about when every time I have a book with me, you try and take it away for no reason? How about..."

"Harry," Fred almost materialized on one side of him.

"Calm down," George appeared on his other side.

They both placed their hands on his shoulders. Their presence helped Harry to calm down and start to breathe. It did not escape the twins or T'challa that the thunder soon stopped and the sky got brighter outside.

"How about you three leave him alone," Fred tells the annoying trio.

"At least until you learn not to be pains in the butt," George glares at the three.

They took Harry away before any of the trio could say anything else. T'challa gave them one last glare before he walked away to join them. He had a feeling that there was going to be a lot of weird weather that year.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Once Is A Coincidence, Twice Is Magic

T'challa did not want to think it, but he was suspecting that Harry might have been a mystic soul. And the reason why he did not want to think it was because if Harry really was a mystic soul, then it must have been for some bad reason to not tell anyone about his powers. The first theory was that he did not even know, which would be for two other potential reasons. One, that living in a place that hates mystic souls, like magical Britain, would have caused him to suppress his own powers subconsciously. Or two, his powers were blocked by an outside force. The other theory was that even when he was friendly with them all, he still had trust issues. 

The jungle cat mage thought that the first theory was probably the most likely reason for Harry not telling anyone about his powers. If he did not even know that he was one of them, then he certainly would have no reason to ever mention the powers that he did not know he had.

When Krinos was telling him and all their friends about Harry, he had mentioned that there was a chance that he and others could have hidden powers. But this was the first actual sign of any one of them having mystic soul magic. They knew that Krinos wouldn't lie to them, but it was still nice to see that his suspicions had some actual proof to back them up.

Harry also obviously had a lot of emotional baggage, which was not good for someone that could possibly have secret mystic soul powers or have blocked powers. Either way, it was going to be a very big explosion once he was unable to hold back his emotions. The more emotions that a mystic soul is feeling, the stronger the magic they release would be.

It was even a known fact that the mystic souls currently in the school that have had very dangerous stuff happen because of their emotionally-powered magic were Krinos, Abby, and Mason. When he was five, Krinos created an entire forest that spread out two miles in all directions around him. But it was a forest that also attacked anyone that had gotten near it. When she was eight, Abby pretty much sealed herself into a giant ice sphere Avatar The Last Airbender style. She had stayed inside of it for a week before being able to control her powers enough to leave the sphere. And Mason had burned everything he touched, including the ground he walked on, and had to run to the nearest mountain in order to be in an environment he could not destroy with his fire. He had only been six, so it could have been a lot worse if he had been older.

All mystic souls were dangerous when they got emotional. It was not that they needed to all become stone-cold and not feel any emotions. They could still feel, but they could just not get overly emotional unless they had complete control of their powers.

When they all got to the greenhouse, T'challa looked at Harry being comforted by the red-headed twins from Griffin. They were obviously very close. And while it could have been just T'challa being a hopeless romantic, he swore that there was something special between the three of them.

"Well, that was certainly something," the jungle cat mage said, trying to make light of the situation.

The three others looked at him, small smiles on their faces. It was obvious that they did appreciate that he was trying to lighten the mood a little bit. But that did not stop them from still looking angry and disappointed with how things currently were for them.

"I don't think that they will ever get it," Harry says.

"Get what," Krinos suddenly appeared, making everyone but T'challa jump.

"You are one sneaky mystic soul," Fred stated.

"And we like that about you," George commented.

"You guys are in the Crystal Rose greenhouse," Krinos shrugged. "So, naturally, I have the advantage when literally in my own environment."

"And Krinos likes to jump scare people in general," T'challa snickered.

"That too," Krinos chuckled.

Krinos then saw his friend and he could easily tell that there was definitely something on his mind. It was one of the few times that he wished that his sister would be around to tell him some gossip. As a music mage, Melody had enhanced hearing. She could hear anything that she wanted to whenever she wished. Most of the time, she is able to control it enough that everything is like white noise other than what is in a normal person's hearing range. But, there definitely were times when she would find out something that she would much rather have never found out.

T'challa then looked at Harry. He had a feeling that he knew what was going on with his new friend.

"Harry, you once said that your friends made their choice and you made yours," he said. "Does this have anything to do with how you had said that you and they were not on the best of terms?"

Krinos looked at Harry, Fred, and George. He had been aware of a lot of the things that had been going on with them. He had been to Number 12 when they had been there as well. There was a reason why he had always called them the Annoying Trio. It was because they did not know how to do anything other than be annoying pests.

"You do not have to say anything if you do not want to," Krinos told him.

Harry looked at the two mystic souls. He wanted to tell them and he had been growing really comfortable with them as well. Krinos had been a big help lately and T'challa was such a great guy. Fred and George placed comforting hands on his hands. They knew that he wanted to tell them, so they were helping him gain the needed courage to go through with it.

"Ron and Hermione were my best friends," Harry began. "Ron was actually the first friend that I ever had that was my own age. And I risked my life to help save Hermione's. They were the first friends that I ever had in my life. I had no one growing up. My cousin chased away every single kid at our school with his gang. One boy actually said 'hi' to me once and my cousin beat him up so badly that he never even looked at me again. I thought that Ron and Hermione would be different, but I was wrong."

Fred and George would keep their hands on his in order to make sure that Harry was able to keep going.

"Harry may out on a tough face for the world, but he is still human," Fred said.

"And being human means that he wants people to trust," George says.

"And those three broke his trust," they said together.

"It was more than just breaking it," Harry's eyes watered. "They shattered it. It told them about my home life. I told them what I saw in the Mirror of Erised. I told them the memory that I used to create my Patronus. I told them everything. And yet that did not matter at all to them since they easily threw me away. And it is not even the first time that they have broken my trust or gone behind my back about something."

"Harry..." T'challa could see that it was not easy for him to be saying all of this.

"Don't make him stop," Fred tells the jungle cat mage.

"If you do, he might not have the strength to say any of this again," George said.

"In our first year, I helped my friend Hagrid sneak a dragon out of Hogwarts since he would have been arrested for having it," Harry said. "Myself, Hermione, and Neville were all caught after curfew and we lost 150 points in total. Most of Gryffindor turned on me and were also cold to Neville and Hermione. But I later found out that Hermione was telling everyone that it was all my fault that the points were lost while not taking any blame herself.  And the next year, both of them spread rumors about me being evil after it was revealed that I could talk to snakes."

"Talking to snakes," Krinos raised an eyebrow. "How is that bad?"

"Yeah," T'challa agreed. "Talking to animals is one of the most common powers for an animal mage. Sofia can talk to them because of how she is an animal shapeshifter."

"Tell that to anyone in magical Britain," Fred says. 

"Being a parselmouth is basically an unwritten crime," George said.

"And it does not help that the two most well-known dark wizards in our history are both known parseltongues," Fred added.

"That created a prejudice against them and basically everyone thinks that all parseltongues are evil," George says.

"I didn't even know that it even had a name," Harry said. "Malfoy had summoned a snake during a duel we were having in the new dueling club. The snake was about to attack another student when I made it stop. I had no idea that I was even speaking snake until I was told afterward. I thought that they both were sticking by me because they knew that I had no idea about anything involving parseltongues. But then I learned that they were both spreading rumors about me behind my back and saying that I was secretly evil. Saying that they only stayed with me to watch me and keep me from doing anything else."

"Harry would never hurt a fly," Fred says. "He cares so much about everyone he meets."

"We don't know anyone with a bigger heart than his," George said. "The fact that he still tried to be friends with them shows how big his heart is."

"And also more of how he grew up since he was obviously starved for love," Fred mumbled.

George hit his brother on the back of his head. He glared at him for saying something that Harry might not want to be known just yet.

"He first thought that it was his own fault and that he needed to be better," George said.

"But then I met those that showed me that I never did anything wrong," Harry managed a small smile at Fred and George. "It was not me that was wrong, but everyone else. The ones in the wrong were those that betrayed me and used my trust to make their rumors about me seem more true since it was coming from my so-called good friends. And they continued to do so. In our third year, my godfather had broken out of prison when he learned that I was in danger. But after I lost my broomstick in a bad storm, he sent me a new one. None of us knew that it was from him and everyone thought that he was out to kill me, so the sudden broom was suspicious."

T'challa looked at Krinos in confusion. He had no idea about British or wand-user stuff, so he did not have a single clue why broomsticks were so important to them. Especially since with cleaning spells, there was not much use for a broom or any other cleaning equipment.

"Wand-users use brooms to fly, T'challa," Krinos tells him.

"That is so strange," T'challa said. "And that must also really hurt to have to sit on that if you tried to take a long flight with it."

Harry kept going once he got their attention back.

"I didn't want to use it without having it checked," he said. "Ron wanted to use it right away while Hermione wanted to go right to a teacher. But I didn't trust any of the teachers. I was going to hand the broom to my team captain, Oliver, who was an actual good friend and someone that never broke my trust. He is a Quidditch superfan, so I figured that he knew spells that would be able to check a broomstick for any tampering. But not even an hour after I got the broom, Hermione went behind my back and told a teacher. She immediately assumed that I would have no care for my own life and cared more about my broom. I nearly lost a very great gift from my godfather because of her."

"That girl always did rub me the wrong way," Krinos says. "She always acts like she knows everything while everyone else knows nothing. I lost count on how many times I wanted to strangle her with some vines."

"She certainly has been annoying everyone in Dryad from what I've heard," T'challa said, putting a hand on his hip.

"She does that," Fred rolled his eyes.

"A superiority complex to the max," George was also annoyed.

"She always treats me as if I can never do anything," Harry said. "When my fourth year came around, there was a tournament where three school champions would fight each other through competing in three tasks. I was entered against my will and most of the school, including Ron, turned against me because they thought I cheated my way in. I had actually hoped that Hermione would do it as well so that I could have some peace. But she continued to annoy me. She acted like I would die in the tournament without her. And even with the normal homework that I still had to do, she would always take it from me almost every two sentences and scold me for writing something wrong. She never actually lets me do my own work. I am a lot smarter than she would ever care to see."

"You are smart, Harry," Fred tells him.

"Smarter than she ever could be," George said.

"You just need to stop holding back," Fred says.

"If anyone has a problem with that, then it sucks to be them," George snickered.

"You do not need to hold back while here, Harry," Krinos tells him. "While there are those that are competitive about grades, it is a healthy competition. No one ever tries to do it for superiority or to throw it in the face of others. Just for fun bragging rights."

"Friends like to challenge each other a lot to see who would get the better grade in a class," T'challa added. "I competed with Hawk once for our grades in Dueling class and Hawk rubbed it in my face for weeks when he did better."

T'challa chuckled at himself after he said that, so that told the three Hogwarts boys that it really was all in good fun. That was definitely something that Hermione would never do since she did well in school just to "prove" that she was better and smarter than everyone else.

"I have just had it with them and their behavior," Harry says. "They act like I am their property. They try and control everything that I do. Just this summer, they both ignored me for over a month while I had been stuck with stupid muggles that I would rather feed to a den of hungry lions than actually spend any time with."

"Now, Harry, what did those lions ever do to you," Fred joked.

"Yeah, why do you want them to suffer the fate of getting indigestion from eating those horrible people," George chuckled.

That got Harry to smile a little even as he did continue to rant.

"I can never do anything without one of them interfering in my life," he kept going. "They forced me to take Divination and Care of Magical Creatures just because those were the classes that Ron was taking. Hermione always changed my homework no matter what I write. They chase away anyone else that tries to be my friends with their attitudes. They try everything to control almost every part of my life for no other reason than because they want to take advantage of my fame."

"And maybe your powers," T'challa suggested.

"My what," Harry snapped his attention to T'challa.

Krinos also looked at his friend. T'challa did not know about the lightning strike back in England because he kept that between himself, Olivia, and Sirius. And anyone either of those two told. But if T'challa had figured it out, then Harry must have done some other mystic soul magic because of his emotions.

"Harry, there was thunder when you were arguing with them," T'challa tells him. "And since there were no other mystic souls with that type of magic currently using their powers in that way, you were obviously the cause of it."

"I caused that thunder," Harry was confused.

"It would not be the first time, Harry," Fred says to him.

"There was also that lightning bolt," George reminded him.

"You summoned a lightning bolt," T'challa was surprised.

"I...I didn't think that it was me," Harry admitted. "I was just so angry that Hermione called Olivia a freak even after she helped me deal with Fudge. I always hated the word 'freak' and yet she still used it. And the next thing I know, a lightning bolt shot down through the skylight."

"I'm not trying to make too many leaps or jump to conclusions, but emotions are a big part of mystic soul magic," T'challa tells Harry. "So, to me, it may seem that you might have some type of power over the weather."

"You think that I could be a mystic soul," Harry guessed.

T'challa shrugged. Krinos decided to step in at this point, not wanting Harry to freak out.

"It is not as uncommon as you think," the nature mage said. "Late bloomers tend to happen if a potential mystic soul grows up in an environment that would make them suppress their own powers."

"Such as the house of muggles that hate magic," Fred guessed.

"Or magical Britain, where mystic souls are treated as monsters," George also guessed.

"It would not be the first time that someone subconsciously kept their own powers secret if they believed that their powers would bring them harm," Krinos says. "There is a mystic soul mage from Romania that comes every summer for classes because he grew up in a household that hated mystic souls. But after he left home, he discovered that he had the power to shapeshift into different dragons."

"Wow," the twins gasped.

"So..." Harry started. "I could... I could be a mystic soul?"

T'challa nodded, as did Krinos.

"Bloody hell," the twins swore as they looked at Harry.

"Sirius did say that no member of the Potter family ever did anything halfway," Harry managed a small smile even as he was in shock.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Unblocking The Block

Harry felt that his brain needed a reboot or something. He could hardly believe what he was being told and what he was figuring out for himself. He never imagined that he could have been a mystic soul. Sure, Sirius had told him that he had been a very powerful wizard when he was a baby. A lot more powerful than most babies since others did not typically do as much accidental magic as he did as a baby. But even while knowing that, he still had not known that it was possible for him to be a mystic soul.

It was a big shock to him that was adding to everything else that was really piling onto his mind. First was everything that he had figured out about his so-called friends, then it was how he stopped seeing Dumbledore as any type of good guy, then he got sick of all the corrupt idiots in magical Britain, and now it was him possibly being a mystic soul. That added a lot of weight to his shoulders of things that he had to deal with in his life.

"Are you okay, Harry," T'challa asked him.

"We know that this is a lot to take in," Krinos says.

"I... Uh... Brain... shutting down... please leave a message after the beep," Harry really did need a reboot.

That would have been really funny if not for the fact that Harry actually did look like he was close to completely shutting down. 

"Fred, George, you two are the ones that he likes," Krinos says, a slight smirk on his face. "Kiss him, that might snap him out of this."

T'challa facepalmed as he saw the smirk on his friend's face. He was right when it came to how a kiss or two might actually help Harry snap out of the shock. But, from the looks on Fred and George's faces, it was obvious that the three of them were not in an established relationship, yet. He knew that Krinos was a hopeless romantic, but this was really not the time to play matchmaker.

"Really, Krinos," T'challa shook his head.

"There is always time for romance," Krinos narrowed his eyes at the jungle cat mage.

T'challa only rolled his eyes in response. But, Harry was still snapped out of his shock when Krinos had said that.

"If anything, you really know how to shock a person out of their own shock," Harry tells him.

"I have many talents," Krinos chuckled. "And being able to make sure that people around me don't go too badly into shock."

T'challa rolled his eyes at his friend's antics once again.

"Harry, we know that this has to all be a really big thing that would be hard to deal with," T'challa tells him. "But even when those like myself and Krinos were born with our powers, we can still help you."

"T'challa is right, Harry," Krinos says. "While blocked mystic soul powers have never been discovered before, we can still help you."

"How," Harry could not help but ask the two of them.

"Well, it is obvious because of where you grew up that wand-user magic was used to block your powers," Krinos explained. "And it is very obvious that our powers are a lot stronger than anything a wand can do. So, removing the block is something that we would be able to do. But, it is also easier said than done."

"The difficult part would be making sure that your magical core is not damaged when we remove the block," T'chala said. "Because the damage done to one's magical core can not be healed by anything, not even Hestia's magic. Anyone with a damaged core usually dies when their magic either gets out of control or because their core breaks and they lose their magic, which can kill you since magical cores are connected to a magical being's life force."

"So, is there a serious risk to Harry's health," Fred asked.

"Because maybe the block should be left alone, then," George said.

"Leaving the block would also be dangerous on its own," Krinos tells them. "You have already started to show your powers even with the block on. If this continues, then there is a risk that you might let loose a giant wave of your powers if you get emotional enough. Emotions are tied directly to mystic soul powers."

"And with powers that seem to be weather-related, it is not a good idea to keep them bottled up," T'challa added. "Because an explosion of those types of powers would be very bad for everyone."

Harry really had a lot to think about. This was a lot for him to take in. He had thought that all of the mystic souls that he met were all really cool. And their powers were amazing in so many ways to him, especially with all of the different kinds of powers that were around. But, it was a whole other thing to also potentially have powers as strong as theirs. He definitely had a lot to think about.

But that was when he remembered the magic mirror that Sirius had given him before he had gone back to Hogwarts. They had been using them to keep in contact. Sirius had said that the mirrors had been an invention of himself and Harry's father so that when Sirius had to return to his horrible family, James would still have been able to check in on him. it was a lot like the mirror phones and the mirror pads that were used by the mystic souls. Magical phones. Which was another thing that Harry loved about them since Hogwarts had no way for any of them to communicate outside of school other than letters. And as much as he loved Hedwig, there definitely were faster ways to communicate with others.

"I... I need a moment," Harry tells them all before he then walks off.

He always kept the mirror with him in case he needed Sirius's help with something. So, he pulled it out of his school bag and said "Padfoot" into it in order to call Sirius. It took a minute, but Sirius's face soon appeared in the mirror.

"Hey, Prongslet," he greeted him.

"Sirius, am I a mystic soul," Harry got right to the point.

There was the sound of something breaking on Sirius's end, making it clear that he had dropped something that he had probably been holding with his other hand. Probably a cup or a plate.

"Well... I... Prongslet," Sirius was lost for words.

"Sirius, please," Harry really wanted to know.

Sirius sighed. "I had hoped that there would have been more time before you found out, but it is still a good thing that you found out."

"Why didn't you tell me," Harry asked his godfather. "You know that I hate being kept in the dark."

"Because we didn't know what to do," Sirius knew he needed to be honest with Harry. "Remus, Olivia, and I knew that your powers had to be blocked, so we were trying to find a way to get rid of the block with no risk to your magical core."

"But did the secret really have to be kept from me," Harry really hated being kept in the dark.

"If you were aware that you had blocked powers, we knew that you would try and do something about it yourself," Sirius says. "And that was too dangerous since it would be better for an adult to be one your side when removing the block."

Harry had to admit, Sirius did have a point with that. If he had known about the block, he would have tried to take care of it himself. He would not have even asked his friends for help since he would not have wanted to involve them. He was not the most patient person in the world and he hated having to wait. When Hermione said that the polyjuice potion would take a month to make back in their second year, that waiting had really driven him crazy.

"I understand, Sirius, but that does not mean that I like it," Harry says to him.

"I know you don't, Prongslet, but it was still the safer option," Sirius tells him. "We have been researching ways to try and get the block safely off of you without causing either damage to your core or causing a burst of magic from you."

"Have you found a way," Harry asked him.

"From the research that Olivia has done, you having some accidental bursts of mystic soul magic is actually a good sign," Sirius says. "It means that you are breaking through the block on your own because the older you get, the stronger your powers get even when blocked."

"How is that even possible," Harry was confused.

"Because you still had access to magic while your powers were only blocked instead of being taken away," Sirius explained. "Mystic souls get stronger with age as well as with practice. So, even without practice, you naturally got more powerful as you got older. Plus, whenever you would go on your little... adventures, that would also cause you stress and you would subconsciously fight against the block as your powers would try and come to the surface in order to try and protect you."

Harry thought back to times when that could have already happened. After all, his life has been in constant danger since he had stepped into Hogwarts. And as he thought about it, there actually had been times when his powers could have activated without him knowing. Such as when he had been fighting against Professor Quirrell in his first year. It made so sense for a protection spell from his mother to burn a man to death even if he had been trying to kill him. But, if T'challa was right about him having powers over the weather, then his powers could have activated with a defense of him calling a really intense heatwave.

There was also another case when he and Ron had been fighting Aragon and his giant spiders. Or rather, when he had been fighting giant spiders and Ron was being useless because he was too busy crying for his mother to make the spiders go away. He remembered how there had been some spiders on tree branches that had tried to attack them. But then sudden and strong bursts of wind came out of nowhere and knocked them out of the trees. That was definitely something his powers could cause.

"What do you think that we can do to get the block off me," Harry asked Sirius.

"Olivia has already found the right ritual to remove it," Sirius tells him. "She also has the right high level of power that is needed to make sure that it works."

"Is anything else needed," Harry figured that more than one person was needed for a ritual.

"Krinos will probably also be a good choice to include since he is also very powerful as well," Sirius says. "Ask him if there are any healing mystic souls that he knew since that would be useful as well. And since the ritual also calls for family, I will be there as well."

"Sirius, you can't come," Harry was immediately worried for him. "There are a lot of Hogwarts students and teachers here. Not to mention that ministry toad. You could get caught and get sent back to Azkaban."

"Harry, let me make one thing clear," Sirius said. "I will always do anything and everything I can to make sure that you are one-hundred percent safe and healthy. There is nothing that I will not do for you. I love you as if you were actually my own kid."

Harry could not be more touched as he heard Sirius say that. He was still very worried that he might get arrested again if he was caught, but he was still very touched that Sirius was willing to risk himself like this for him. There has never been anyone that has ever done something like that for him since his parents were alive and sacrificed himself so that he could live. The fact that Sirius cared about him that much really made his heart swell.

"Okay, Sirius," Harry accepted that he was coming no matter what. "But, if you get caught and then kissed because of this, mum and dad are not going to be happy with you once you get to the other side."

"Meh, your mum sent most of Hogwarts kicking my butt anyway since she never liked the pranks we pulled if she thought we went too far," Sirius chuckled at the memory. "So, that would be nothing that I am not already used to."

"From everything that you have told me about them, I am not surprised at all the mum would do something like that," Harry laughed.

"Your mum was honestly considered to be the moral compass of most of Gryffindor while we were all students," Sirius says. "Even when she had been just a first-year student, she would always scold anyone that she found doing something that could have hurt someone else. There once was a seventh-year student that was levitating a first-year over the stairwell over some nonsense about ruining one of their robes. Lily, who was still eleven years old herself, had basically put the fear of Morgana into him. No one messed with her or messed with anyone where she could see, either, for most of her Hogwarts years."

"I bet that did not stop mum from still hunting people down, though," Harry chuckled.

"Hit the nail right on the head, Prongslet," Sirius said. "Your mum rained down the wrath of Lady Magic onto anyone that thinks they can get away with hurting others. You should have seen her when she learned what some Slytherins did to Pandora Lovegood."

"Lovegood," Harry knew that name. "I just recently met a Luna Lovegood on the train ride to Hogwarts. She was a little strange, but I mean the good type of strange. Fred and George said that she was like them in the way that she just lets all of the crazy just come out."

"She would be Pandora's daughter, then," Sirius said. "The Lovegood family is a matriarchy instead of a patriarchy, so whoever Pandora married would take her last name instead of her taking his."

"I will have to tell Luna about this," Harry smiled. "She probably would like to hear that our parents had been friends."

"Your dad had been really fond of Pandora," Sirius smiled at the memories. "He treated her like a little sister, which he did not have himself since his parents already were a little old when they had him so they could not have any more kids after him. But James really did care a lot for Pandora. It was always very unfortunate for others when James and Lily both learned that Pandora was bullied a lot by others. Between James and Lily, they both really rained down hell on those that bullied her."

"From what you've told me, I can already tell that those bullies were seriously in trouble," Harry really loved hearing these stories about his parents.

"Just getting in trouble with James an issue since he was very ruthless with his pranks against bullies," Sirius said. "But if Lily also knows, then that would be pretty much the end of any amount of time that they have gone without being humiliated. James and Lily were a force when they teamed up together."

"What did they do to the bullies," Harry was looking forward to hearing what his parents had done.

"James stuck them to the ceiling by their feet while also making them look like circus clowns threw up all over them," Sirius really laughed from that memory. "And then Lilly cursed them to have the word 'bullies' written all over their skin by being spelled out using pimples. And the thing that both of them loved the most about their spells was that they made sure that they could only be reversed if they admitted what they did and were punished for it."

"Even though I did not know them, I love them more with every story that you tell me, Sirius," Harry nearly had tears in his eyes. "I can never thank you enough for sharing these stories with me."

"I know that not everyone has told you much about your parents, Prongslet," Sirius tells him. "So, I will make up for all of those that have not told you anything by telling you as much as I can."

"Do you think that they would approve of me being a mystic soul," Harry could not help but ask.

"There is nothing to worry about on that front, Pup," Sirius says. "Your father was the first person that I told about my powers. He fully accepted me. And when Lily found out, she was actually very intrigued by my powers. Both of them hated how mystic souls were treated by magical Britain. James was unaware if there were any mystic souls in the Potter family, though."

"Well, he certainly does now if he knows about me," Harry chuckled.

 "I guess he does," Sirius laughed at his godson's silliness.

Harry then figured that it was time for him to get back to his friends. Fred and George, especially, were probably getting worried about him being gone for so long.

"Fred and George are probably waiting for me, so I should get back to them, Sirius," Harry tells his godfather.

"You can call me any time, Pup," Sirius smiles at him. "Also, tell those twins to keep their lips to themselves when around you."

"SIRIUS," Harry turned completely red as Sirius smirked.

"Bye, Pup. Love you," he then hung up before Harry could yell at him some more.

Part of Harry still wanted to yell at Sirius for the teasing. The other part was smiling since Sirius had told him that he loved him.

He made his way back to the twins, Krinos, and T'challa. None of them looked too worried about him, so that was good. Plus, unlike how Ron and Hermione would act, none of them pestered him for any details of what he had done while he was gone. 

He looked at Krinos when he got back.

"Tell me how we will be getting this block off," Harry asked him.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty: Breaking The Block

Harry did not usually get nervous about things. He used to, such as before he had his first Quidditch match and before he went to all of his classes for the first time, but nervousness had pretty much been trained out of him because of all the dangerous situations that he had been in since entering the wizarding world. But this was definitely something that he was nervous about.

Sirius was coming to magical Greece to help with the ritual to take the block off his magical core. And while he was glad to see his godfather in person instead of just in the magic mirror, he was really nervous about Sirius possibly getting caught and arrested. He had not had any real interactions with the ministry toad yet, but he knew that she would probably use the killing curse on Sirius herself if she got the chance.

Fred, George, and Krinos did their best to calm him down. But, there was almost nothing that could really calm him down. If Harry thought that it could be physically possible, then he would swear that his heart was going to literally burst out of his chest. And Krinos having told him that there was actually an enchantment that would give anyone the temporary ability to remove hearts without hurting the person whose heart is taken.

Sirius was due to arrive in a few hours and Harry could feel his heart beating faster and faster with every minute that it gets closer to him coming to Greece. Olivia was getting him after she finished up some work she had to do for the Magic Council as well as last-minute preparations for the ritual as well. Krinos was getting ready for it as well and they have also informed Hestia that she would be needed to. The only thing left that was needed was for Sirius to arrive and then the ritual could be done.

Harry was trying to keep his brain distracted until then. He would be a nervous wreck if he did not at least try to defend his own sanity. So, he was in the library as he tried to read up on some potions that could be taught in the mystic soul potion class. He had really been hoping that the potions teacher at Crystal Rose was nothing like Snape. Since he knew that the teacher was the older sister of two of the students, he hoped that she was a good teacher rather than just being able to teach since she had family in the school.

And the potions that he was reading about actually did help him a little with distracting his mind since they all actually did look and sound very cool. There were a lot of potions about vanquishing demons, which was only natural since Krinos told him that they ran into demons a lot in their day-to-day lives. But, he also read up on potions that also sounded very cool. Like a body-switching potion, a hand-grenade potion, a smoke bomb potion, and many others that he either was very eager to try or eager to stay away from.

"Hey, Harry," the sudden voice made Harry nearly jump out of his chair.

The nervous boy looked up and saw that it was just Cedric. The older boy was now in his last year at Hogwarts, so he certainly had gotten some luck since he was spending his last year in a school as amazing as Crystal Rose.

"You scared the bloody hell out of me, Cedric," Harry said, his hand over his heart.

Cedric chuckled, making Harry adorably glare at him. Harry and Cedric had not had that much of a chance to talk since their near-death experience in the graveyard at the end of the third Triwizard task the previous year. Both of them had been too traumatized to talk afterward and being in separate houses and in separate years meant that it made it hard to talk.

"Sorry, Harry," Cedric did not look sorry at all since he was still chuckling. 

Harry just rolled his eyes in response.

"So, how is Griffin treating you," Harry asked him.

"You might not know this since I am known to be popular at Hogwarts, but I can be pretty shy around new people," Cedric tells him. "It if wasn't for Fred and George, I am not sure that I would really talk to anyone."

"You should try," Harry tells him. "I like my new housemates in Winter Wolf."

"You, the twins, and Luna seem to be one of the few people that are actually open to being here," Cedric pointed out.

"You know Luna," Harry asked him.

Cedric nodded. "I live not far from the Weasleys and Luna is also not far away. So, we all grew up together. Luna has been like a little sister to me."

"Has she always been..." Harry didn't know how to phrase it.

"I am guessing you heard her talk about things like nargles and the crumple-horned snorkack," Cedric guessed, getting Harry to nod. "Luna has always been unique. She has a different way of seeing the world. I hardly ever know what she is talking about, but the twins seem to."

"Fred and George are a lot smart than others would ever care to admit," Harry chuckled.

"I have had classes with them, so I do believe it," Cedric says. "Plus, living so close to them, I know what their home life is like."

"Mrs.Weasley does tend to play favorites," Harry sighed, knowing that it was the truth.

"Unfortunate, but true," Cedric also sighed. "I can not tell you about all the times that the twins, Percy, Charlie, or even Bill would be over at my house or Luna's because they could not stand being around their mother and younger siblings."

"They like to make themselves look like the perfect family, but they definitely are not," Harry said. "I still remember when Ron, Fred, George, and Percy all had to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas in my first year there. And all because Mr. and Mrs.Weasley decided to visit Charlie with Ginny that year."

Cedric looked disgusted by that.

"So, they managed to save enough to get an international portkey to Romania and yet only took one kid," he looked like he wanted to curse someone. "That is seriously not right. They could have just bought the portkey a few days later so that they could have taken them as well."

"I doubt that Mrs.Weasley thinks of anyone other than herself, Ron, and Ginny," Harry says. "I have stayed with them multiple times, but I can count on one hand how many times she even came close to scolding Ron while she never scolded Ginny for anything She most just excuses their behavior while treating all her other kids as if they can never do anything right."

"I have seen a lot of that happen over the years," Cedric shook his head in disappointment of the Weasley mother. "You know how Ron is afraid of spiders and he says that it is because Fred turned his teddy bear into a spider when they were younger?"

"Yeah, Ron told me about that," Harry said. "I think he was traumatized when he found out about the acromantula nest in the Forbidden Forest."

"There's a what in the where," Cedric obviously did not know about that.

"I will explain later," Harry tells him.

"Okay," Cedric was definitely going to remember that in the future. "Anyway, that was just some accidental magic from Fred, but Ron is always saying that he did it on purpose. And Mrs.Weasley even punished Fred for it even when every witch and wizard knows that no one can control accidental magic."

Harry definitely knew a thing or two about accidental magic. There had been several cases of that when he had been growing up. Such as when he had apparated to the roof of his school, turned a teacher's wig blue, vanished the glass at the zoo, and inflated his horrible Aunt Marge like a balloon. Though, now that he knew that he had secret mystic soul powers, he could have actually been lifted up by a burst of wind instead of apparating.

"Even when I first met Ron, I always did think that he had something against his brothers," Harry says. "Complaining about Fred and George pranking him, complaining about Percy being bossy even before he was a prefect, complaining about Charlie and Bill thinking they were better than others. He complains about Ginny too, but not as much as when he complains about his brothers. But when I... well..."

He could not find the right words. Luckily, Cedric knew what he was talking about.

"But when you met them, you thought of them as completely different as to what Ron was talking about," Cedric finished his thought for him.

Harry nodded. "Fred and George were really nice and they even helped me get my trunk into the right place on the train in my first year at Hogwarts. And while Percy actually could be a little bossy, he had to be since it's not like anyone actually does anything unless he is bossy about it and he actually did care a lot about the younger students during the disasters that were my second and third years. I also met Bill and Charlie when we went to the World Cup and both of them were also really nice."

"Ron is just bitter because he is nothing like them," Cedric says. "Bill was one of the most popular boys in Hogwarts when he attended as well as having been both a prefect and head boy. Charlie was the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, a prefect, and will be known as one of the best players that have ever been in the school. Percy had the best grades than any other member of his family and was also a calm and collected perfect and head boy during the Chamber of Secrets and the Sirius Black incidents. And Fred and George have the best reputations out of them all since they use their pranks to punish bullies as well as to make people smile and laugh when they need to." 

Harry did remember what Ron had seen in the Mirror of Erised back in their first year at Hogwarts. Ron had seen himself above all of his brothers. He had been head boy as well as holding the Quidditch cup as well. He had seen himself above everything his brothers had done before. Harry had seen his parents, but Ron just saw himself as being better than his brothers. Ron never did understand how much Harry desired a family or how lucky he was to have such a big family.

"Compare them to Ron, who is lazy, hates work, and is about as popular as a dementor, he is definitely nothing like them," Harry said.

"I guess I wasn't seeing things when I saw all of the drama between the so-called Golden Trio," Cedric says.

"Trust me when I say that is a whole can of worms that I do not have the time to open right now," Harry tells him.

Cedric was about to say something else, but he was interrupted. Krinos had given Harry a flower that would act as an alarm for when Sirius would get there and they could get the ritual started. Since it was now glowing, that meant that Sirius was now at the school and they needed to get the ritual started.

"What is that," Cedric asked.

"That is an alarm that a friend gave me," Harry says, closing the book that he had been reading. "I have to go now, but it was nice talking with you again."

"I will be sure to do it more often, Harry," Cedric tells him.

Harry smiled at Cedric as he soon ran out of the library in order to get to where they all planned to meet up. It was a special room where Crystal Rose students would go for the more intense rituals that they needed to do. Such as when they needed to summon a demon in order to vanquish it or when they were using ritual ingredients that could end up exploding if they were not used in the correct way.

The room itself was a round room with a stone floor and stone walls as well. There was a glass dome roof over it similar to the skylight at the Black Family garden at Number 12. There were also large candles on single-candle shelves around the room. One the floor was actually also a giant carving of a pentagram directly into the stone floor. Harry knew that pentagrams were actual magical symbols and not just something muggle made up, but this was just the first time he had ever seen an actual example of it being used in real life.

Harry smiled as he saw Sirius in the room. He immediately went up to him and gave him a hug. Olivia, Krinos, and Hestia were all also in the ritual room as well.

"It's nice to see you too, pup," Sirius tells him.

"I'm happy you're here, Sirius," Harry says. "But that still does not change the fact that I am still worried about you getting caught."

"You won't have to worry about that, Harry," Olivia said. 

"What do you mean, Olivia," Harry did not know why he would not have to worry.

"As a member of the Magic Council, I was able to bring up Sirius's case to my fellow council members," Olivia says. "I told them about his arrest and his illegal sentencing to prison. Once I also told them about the dementors at the prison and what they do, they were willing to do anything to help."

"Really," Harry was shocked.

"It's nice to know that there are some governments out there that are not as corrupt as the one back in Britain," Sirius commented. "Though, I think that if they knew about mystic souls actually being anything more than the monsters that they think they are, they would probably all have heart attacks."

"Sounds like one way to get rid of all those corrupt people at the same time," Krinos chuckled as he told his joke.

"Anyway, I talked with the council and we have decided to offer you sanctuary in our country," Olivia tells Sirius. "As long as you accept and then remain in our country, your ministry will be unable to do anything to you without causing an international incident. They might not see mystic souls as human, but they do see us as a threat. So, they would probably do anything and everything in their power to avoid war with us."

"Considering that they would lose that war within a single hour, it would not really be much of a war," Hestia stated.

"Thank you for helping us with this, Hestia," Harry says to her. "Especially since I doubt that you know everything about what is going on."

"I may not know much, but I do know that I need to know is that I am helping you," Hestia smiled at him. "You are Krinos's friend and I hope that you will be mine as well. But even then, I would help anyone in need."

"She really is a healer at her very core," Krinos whispered to Harry as he chuckled.

Sirius then looked at Olivia as she got out a spellbook from a bag that she had brought with her.

"So, how does this ritual work," he asked her.

"The actual spell for the ritual is very simple, but it is all in the preparation that is what makes the ritual work," Olivia says. "Rituals are one of the hardest branches of magic to master no matter the type of mystic that you are."

"It's true," Krinos says. "Some students messed up on the All Hallow's Eve ritual and the school was filled with angry ghosts for almost a month before we got them all back to where they came from."

"There was even a ghost in the bathroom," Hestia shivered. "That was a surprise that I will never be able to un-see."

Harry was reminded of Moaning Myrtle back at Hogwarts. He was definitely on Hestia's side when it comes to how weird that it was for a ghost to be in the bathroom. He did not want to know what had happened with the first girls that went into the bathroom when Myrtle first started haunting it.

"Harry, what you are going to do is lay down in the center of the pentagram," Olivia instructs him. "As you do, you will need to be as still as possible. If the need arises, Krinos will have to tie you down with his vines."

"Olivia would freeze you, but her time magic would keep the ritual from taking hold since you would be frozen in time," Krinos said.

"And what about me," Sirius asked them.

"You are what makes the ritual work the best that it can," Olivia tells him. "Since you are the closest that Harry has to family, your connection to him will be what helps Lady Hecate know that the ritual is being done in Harry's best interest. You are the one that wants to help him the most and the goddess of magic always appreciates a pure heart."

"We will also be surrounding Harry in a circle of lavender, rosemary, and sage since they are all natural defenses against bad magic," Krinos said. "That will help the ritual really take hold."

Harry nodded. He soon stepped onto the pentagram and laid down just as Olivia had told him to. As he did that, Krinos got to work spreading the herbs around him in a perfect circle. Olivia started to quietly chant in ancient Greek in order to start the ritual. As she was doing so, the pentagram started glowing underneath Harry while the flames of the candles got higher.

Sirius, Olivia, and Krinos all joined hands as they stood around him. Hestia was off to the side, preparing to jump in if anyone needed to be healed. Olivia chanted the spell for the ritual.

"Host soul reject the poison essence,
Let love's light end this cruel possession.
Dark magic hides behind an innocent's face,
This witch's magic casts you out of this place."

Her eyes, as well as the eyes of Sirius and Krinos, glowed as they used their magic for the ritual. Hestia had to cover her eyes with how bright it was getting. Harry started to squirm as he felt like something was trying to grip his heart. Krinos noticed and there were instantly vines around him to make sure that he stayed as still as he could.

They all chanted the spell again in order to make sure that it would take effect.

It took Sirius every inch of his willpower in order to let go of Krinos and Olivia's hands and comfort Harry when Harry started to scream from the ritual taking the block off of his magic. But that was not the only thing that had happened. Something was happening with his scar as well.

Two balls of dark light came out of Harry, almost bursting out of him without causing any actual damage to his body. One from his chest and one from his scar. The two balls of light shattered, sending Sirius, Krinos, and Olivia flying into the walls behind them while Hestia was knocked onto her butt.

The pentagram soon stopped glowing and the candles all returned to normal as well.

Harry's eyes opened as he gasped for a breath of air. His eyes were now grey and were the exact same shade as storm clouds. Thunder could already be heard outside.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-One: The Start of Something New

Harry groaned as he started to wake up. He felt as if he had just gotten run over by a herd of unicorns. Not that he actually knew what they felt like, but he was pretty sure that this was a similar feeling to that. As he opened his eyes, he was able to see a golden glow.

"Welcome back, sleeping beauty," he heard Hestia's voice.

Once his eyes got back into focus, he was able to see that Hestia was holding her hands over his, the golden glow coming from her hands. He guessed that it was probably how her healing powers worked. She would hold her hands over whoever she was healing and then the glow meant that she was using her magic.

"Where's the herd of unicorns that just ran me over," Harry managed to say as he groaned.

"While we have unicorns in the stables, they are too polite to run you over," Hestia giggled.

Harry soon managed to sit up. Hestia's healing really did work very well since he was not in any actual pain. He was just a little dizzy. 

He heard some groans around him and his eyes widened as he saw Sirius, Krinos, and Olivia all moaning as they were slowly getting up as well. All of them were rubbing their heads or backs since they had all obviously hit the wall behind them.

"Are you all okay," Harry asked them, worried.

"We're fine, pup," Sirius tells him. "That ritual just did a lot more than what we thought that it would do."

"Worse things have happened to me than being slammed into a wall," Krinos said. "I once was thrown through a second-story window and I was still completely fine."

"That was because you floral swirled back into the room you were thrown out of before you hit the ground," Hestia reminded him.

"I was completely fine no matter how you put it," Krinos said.

"Whatever happened was definitely NOT because of the block," Olivia says.

"Since there was obviously something that had happened, does that mean that the block is still on him," Sirius was concerned.

"No, the ritual still worked," Olivia comforted the worried godfather. "The block was taken off of Harry's magical core, but the ritual also took something else out of him."

"Hestia, can you find out what it was," Krinos asked his friend.

"I can try, but you know that I am not good with diagnostic reports," Hestia reminds the nature mage.

She started moving her hands around Harry again. Her hands were glowing blue this time. Harry looked at Krinos in confusion.

"She good at healing, but she is not good at paperwork," Krinos shrugs. "Her powers allow her to be able to also be able to find out the types of injuries, illnesses, curses, and other things that are wrong with the person she is healing. When she says that she is not good with diagnostic spells, she means that she just hates paperwork."

"Well, name one person that actually DOES like paperwork," Hestia huffed, making Krinos chuckle. "Nobody likes paperwork and the world would be a lot better without it."

"She's not wrong," Olivia giggled. "Everyone on the magic council certain hates it."

As Hestia took her hands away from Harry, the blue glow stopped and she then snapped her fingers. In an instant, a scroll appeared next to her. She took it out of the air and handed it to Sirius.

"He is your godson, so it is only right that you know this stuff first," she tells him.

The healing mage then left the ritual room. She was not as involved with everything that was going on as Krinos, Melody, and Olivia were. So, she knew that she would be told if they wanted her to know. If they did not tell her, then she knew that it was none of her business. She respected privacy when she knew that it was something that would not cause harm to others.

Sirius opened up the scroll and started reading. And the moment that he did, he nearly fell over from how shocked and horrified he was.

"What the bloody hell," he yelled, making the other three in the room nearly jump out of their skin.

"Sirius," Harry was now really worried about what had been done to him.

Sirius had been staring at the scroll in horror until he had heard Harry's voice. And when he looked at his godson, he instantly dropped the scroll and pulled Harry into what was obviously a very tight hug. Harry actually looked like he might be suffering from a lack of oxygen.

Olivia knew that there must have been something really serious on the scroll in order to make Sirius react like that. She picked it up and Krinos stood next to her as they both read it.

Olivia nearly threw up at the amount of abuse that Harry had suffered through the years. Not only was he still suffering from malnourishment, but there were also plenty of broken bones that had not been healed properly until Hestia had worked her magic. Harry had a history of abuse that had started before he had even been two years old.

It was actually shocking that Harry was actually still alive after everything had happened to him. Between the starvation, the previously punctured lungs from broken ribs, not to mention the fact that there was also basilisk venom in his system, Harry definitely should be dead rather than walking around as healthy as he looked. Not that he really looked that healthy to begin with since he was really mostly skin and bones as well as being one of the shortest fifteen-year-olds that they have ever met.

The only thing that the two of them could guess was that Harry's magic was keeping him alive. Even when he had weather-focused mystic soul powers, all magical beings are naturally protected by their magic. It is why none of them ever get mundane illnesses like colds or the flu. Only magical illnesses like dragon pox or pixie tumors can affect them. So, Harry's magic must have been working overtime to protect him by healing all of his injuries as much as it could. And since he had the block on his magic at the time, that spoke to how powerful he was if his magic was able to do that even while having the block on it.

There was really one thing on Harry's list that confused them. Even as smart as they were and how much more knowledge of magic that mystic souls had than wand-users, they had never heard of one thing that was on the list.

"What's a Horcrux," Olivia asked Sirius, who was still suffocating Harry with a hug.

Sirius finally let go of Harry, who decided to be dramatic as he took in a giant breath of air.

"Thank Merlin, I can finally breathe again," Harry cheered in a joking manner.

"You are definitely your father's son, pup," Sirius ruffled Harry's hair.

"Sirius, focus," Krinos tells him.

"Right," Sirius looked at the two of them. "A Horcrux is literally the darkest black magic that anyone can ever do. The biggest misconception about the spell is that it grants immortality. It is a spell that requires a human sacrifice in order to then split your soul apart and place a piece of your soul into an object."

"Splitting your soul apart," Krinos was horrified. "Why on Demeter's green earth would anyone ever want to do that. That's horrible."

"As I said, a big misconception of the spell is that it will make you immortal," Sirius said. "But, that is not actually what it does. Yes, it will prevent the soul that remains inside of your body from moving on to the afterlife, but that does not mean that you are immortal. You would basically just be more like a walking corpse."

"I hate zombies," Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose, obviously hating zombies a lot.

"If the spell is supposed to place the piece of the soul into an object, then how in the name of Hades did one end up inside of Harry's scar," Krinos was concerned.

"There was literally a part of Voldemort inside of me," Harry reached his hand up to where his scar had been.

Sirius comforted his godson. Pulling him into a side hug to let him know that he was there for him.

"It's gone now, pup," he comforted him even more. "That means that you no longer have to worry about any more visions or headaches from him."

"You used to get visions and headaches because of him," Krinos asked him.

Harry nodded. "They started randomly after I had started Hogwarts. Usually when Voldemort was feeling some type of strong emotion, mostly anger. I have seen him murder innocent people for no reason other than that he wanted to. He usually also feeds them to that giant snake of his. And as for the headaches, they usually come whenever he is near or whenever he is angry. And it only got worse after he got his body back."

"So, does that mean he would get things from you as well," Krinos asked.

"I...I am not sure, actually," Harry said.

"Would it make any difference if Voldemort could see things that Harry sees," Sirius was confused.

"Because if anything, that would make him experience Harry's emotions," Krinos says. "If Harry can feel his anger and hatred, he would have felt Harry's heart and kindness."

"Voldemort has been terrorizing people since the 1940s, even before the war officially began in the 1970s," Sirius said. "How would feeling Harry's emotions have any effect on him?"

"Evil is not born, it's made," Olivia says. "At least, other than demons since they are born or created without souls. But, other than them, we do not believe that anyone is ever born evil. Everyone has good inside of them."

"Human beings, magical or not, are not good or evil," Krinos said. "Even with everything that he has done, I don't think that everything about Voldemort can be evil. When I talk about him feeling Harry's emotions, I mean that in the way that he was basically forcing him to feel the kind of emotions that he had been forcing down to the point where he does not feel them at all."

"So, him feeling Harry's emotions would have made him start to feel remorse for his actions if Harry's emotions were strong enough," Sirius guessed.

"Exactly," Krinos says. "He might have damaged his soul by breaking it apart, but he would still have a soul inside of him. Everyone has good inside of them. It is the things that they go through that make them into bad people."

"I have definitely seen a lot of examples of that through history," Olivia said. "There have been a lot of people that are seen as evil in the history books, but those same books never mention how they have been abused, bullied, raped, or any other type of horrible thing that made them into the evil people that people love to hate."

That got Harry's wheels turning. Ever since he had met Tom Riddle back in his second year, he was able to actually tell that as much as he hated muggles and hated his muggle father, Harry was able to tell that he had an actual reason for it. He knew that there was a little bit of information on him at Hogwarts because he was given a special reward when he was able to get Hagrid blamed for opening the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago. So, when he had done some research, he discovered a lot of things about the kid that grew up to be Voldemort.

"World War II," Harry facepalmed.

"What does that have to do with anything," Olivia was confused, which was new for her.

"Voldemort's orphanage was in London and there had been a lot of bombings and attacks in the city during the war," Harry says. "He would have viewed the magical world as a sanctuary against all the death and fear that the war caused."

"Other than Grindelwald's involvement, the magical world did go mostly unaffected by the war," Sirius said. "Most magical beings never involve themselves in muggle wars unless they start affecting the magical world."

"Anyone would be terrified if they had to deal with being so afraid of the bombings that were happening in their own city," Krinos said.

"He was also abused," Harry said.

"What," the other three people gasped.

"I did research on him after I had to deal with the memory of him that had opened the Chamber of Secrets three years ago," Harry tells them. "He grew up in a muggle orphanage, which is already not a good environment for kids in general. But for a magical kid, it would be the worst place to be. The accidental magic that he would have done would have made him a target for bullying from the other kids as well as abuse from the ones that run the orphanage. They would not understand the magic, so that would make them fear and hate him all at once."

That got Sirius's attention. Because Harry was also abused by the Dursleys, that would help him be able to tell when someone else was being abused as well. So, if Harry thought that he had been abused when he had been a teenager, then he probably was. Plus, muggles did tend to hate and be against magical beings and creatures. All because they were afraid of them.

"If he was abused, then I would bet the entire Black family fortune that Dumbledore made sure that he was sent back to the orphanage whenever he was not in school," Sirius said. "He might not have been headmaster back then, but he definitely still had a pull since the previous headmaster was a very easily influenced man."

"Would Dumbledore actually do that," Krinos asked. "I know that he is manipulative and thinks that he is a gift to wizarding kind, but child abuse is one of the most hated crimes in the magical world."

"He would definitely leave him there to be abused," Sirius says. "He tends to do that with a lot of magical children that are in bad homes. As long as they do not know that he is the one that makes sure they return there, then they would see him as a savior that would give them the safety that is Hogwarts."

"He does it a lot," Harry grumbled, bitter about Dumbledore always leaving him with the Dursleys.

"I know a lot of students, especially muggleborns, that were sent back to abusive homes by Dumbledore," Sirius said. "He is always saying that it is either a misunderstanding, the child is exaggerating, or that the kid is just straight-up lying. He preaches about how families HAVE to love their kids just because they are blood. Blood means nothing when it comes to abuse. Myself and my brother were both abused by our parents."

"As Sirius had said, Dumbledore wants the kids to view him as a savior," Harry says. "He is willing to do anything to make himself look good."

"Well, now you have us on your side against him and that little dark lord," Olivia stated.

"I certainly can not wait for when we get to show both of them just why magical Britain is so scared of mystic souls," Krinos evilly laughed.

"I really need to monitor how many superhero movies that you watch," Olivia shook her head. "You are starting to laugh like the villains in them."

"Hey, it could be worse," Krinos shrugged. "I could be laughing like that clown guy over in Gotham."

"True," Olivia said.

"Now, there is really only one thing that needs to be done right now," Krinos says.

"What," Harry asked him.

"Helping you get control of your new powers," Krinos smirks at Harry.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-Two: What Else Can I Do

Harry was glad that Sirius was able to stay with him for a little longer in order to be there for him as he would be first trying to use his powers. Krinos would be the one actually training him since they were close in age, so that meant Krinos could give him real-life examples of how powerful Harry would be as a fifteen-year-old.

While Krinos was actually going to be teaching Harry about his magic, Sirius would be with Olivia as the two of them would start to try and find some ways to out Dumbledore from his positions in power. They needed to try a legal route to do so since outing him in another way would only lead to him being a martyr since he would be able to make himself look like a victim instead of a villain. 

Plus, since Olivia had offered him sanctuary in magical Greece and Sirius had accepted, that meant that there was no threat of Sirius being arrested again. They did still have to worry about any political backlash that they would get from that, though. Especially since magical Britain still had that "kiss on sight" order for him. 

Though, in the words of Olivia, "Dementors are horrible creatures that need to be destroyed because any being that has the power to suck out a person's soul does not deserve to be in the land of the living." And honestly, Harry agreed with her. Even though the dementors are guards for Azkaban, he did not think that even those prisoners deserved to be treated that way. Always cold, forced to relive their horrible memories over and over again, having their souls sucked out if it was ordered. He thought that was heartless even for a place like magical Britain.

"It actually is a very good thing that you think like that, Harry," Krinos tells him after he told him his opinion.

"Really," Harry was shocked. "Why?"

"Because having a good heart is what makes a good person," Krinos smiled at him. "Being a mystic soul comes with a natural duty to protect the innocent. Demons only care about themselves and they hurt anyone and everyone around them. So, mystic souls are like the protectors of the magical world."

"People have told me that I have a 'saving people' thing," Harry chuckled.

"All mystic souls have natural instincts like that," Krinos tells him. "I can't tell you how many lives I have saved when Melody and I go out to fight demons."

"What type of demons have you fought," Harry was curious.

"Honestly, you lose track of how many types of demons you fight after a while," Krinos laughed a little. "There are so many demons out there that it's impossible to keep track of them all."

"I already have heard about some of them," Harry says. "T'challa and Hawk both talked about a spider demon that attacked the school."

"Yeah, that had not been the most pleasant of experiences," Krinos rubbed the back of his neck. "No one in the school liked spiders before and definitely no one liked them after that. Tends to happen when you are wrapped up in spider-web cacoons. Sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it."

"Remind me never to introduce you to the acromantula nest in the Forbidden Forest back at Hogwarts," Harry said.

"I do not even want to know why there is a nest of giant spiders at your school," Krinos shook his head.

"So, what about the other demons, you've fought," Harry asked.

"There have been many," Krinos tells him. "And of all different kinds, as well. Probably the ones that I remember the most would be the demon of fear, the demon of illusion, a demon sorcerer, a demonic alchemist, and there was even a shapeshifter demon that had been after Pandora's box."

"Wasn't that box opened thousands of years ago," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Pandora's box is more than just what the myth says that it is," Krinos explained to Harry. "It still contains all of the world's evils, but it also contains the worse of each of the evils. Such as with sorrow, it keeps literally everyone on Earth from falling into a deep depression at the same time. And with anger, it keeps a literal worldwide war from breaking out. What Pandora's Box does is stop the evils from becoming a worldwide plague."

"You really know a lot about all of this," Harry really liked Krinos and was glad to have him as a friend.

"Well, other than just how I have always loved to read, I was born and raised in Greece," Krinos chuckled. "I was literally raised on this stuff. After all, what mundanes see as mythology is actually our history."

"Plus, it probably also helps that Olivia is a time mage, right," Harry chuckled.

Krinos nodded as he chuckled as well.

"You got that right, Harry," he said. "It also leads to a very interesting family photo album. Olivia once even took us to the opening of Disney Land in California back in the 1950s."

"At least you, Melody, and Olivia have your own little family to have those memories with," Harry softly smiled at Krinos.

"Yeah, I know," Krinos sighed. "And they're great and all... but..."

"But you still miss your parents," Harry understood what Krinos could not say. "That is something that I can understand more than others. It is always the biggest 'what if' about what would life would be like with our parents."

"As much as it is tempting, both Melody and myself know that it would not be right to use Olivia's powers to rescue our parents," Krinos says. "I am sure that Olivia has told you about how sacred the timeline is. Everything happens for a reason. That is what we learn as mystic souls. Plus, we also know that saving our parents would probably lead to some very unintended consequences."

"The Butterfly Effect, right," Harry guessed.

Krinos nodded. "Saving our parents would already cause one thing to happen. Our older brothers would not be sent to prison and who knows what damage they would do if they were allowed to just walk around and be free."

"I feel so bad for Olivia," Harry said. "With powers like hers, it must be so hard for her not to give in to try and change things to make them better, only to make them worse instead. Like getting rid of Hitler before he starts World War II or keeping the Titanic from sinking. Lots of things."

"The risk is just too big," Krinos says. "Let this be your first real lesson about being a mystic soul, Harry. Even with powers like ours, we are not gods and we can not just do whatever we want whenever we want. Our duty is to protect the innocent, protect each other, and protect magic. We can not just use our magic to do things like winning the lottery, torture innocent people to make them obey us, force people to fall in love with us, or anything else that is completely and horribly selfish."

Harry honestly felt really bad for Krinos, Melody, and Olivia. The three of them were obviously very noble, kind, and great people. So, to actually be able to do something about their parents and yet were not able to because it would lead to something worse happening. For something that they all desperately wanted to be so close and yet so far must have been torture for them. So, them being such great people even with that type of sorrow in their hearts really showed how amazing they all were.

"I will make sure to take each and every single one of your lessons to heart, Krinos," Harry tells him.

"Good," Krinos managed to smile at him. "Because I will not be holding back on the amount of knowledge that I will be shoving into that skull of yours, Harry. I know you are smart enough to handle everything I throw at you."

Harry chuckled at what Krinos was saying. He knew that Krinos was about half-joking and half-serious with what he was saying. He would be teaching him a lot, but he would still be doing it at a pace where he would still be able to learn rather than just forgetting everything that he had been taught after he would fall asleep that night. 

The two of them had been heading to the Crystal Rose Garden in order for Krinos to start teaching Harry about his powers. Harry already knew that this was going to be so much fun. He had already seen some of the things that Krinos was able to do with his powers, so he really wanted to see more of that while Krinos was teaching him.

The two of them entered the garden and Harry could almost see Krinos already getting a boost of energy. Something that he probably needed after using a lot of magic from the ritual used to get rid of the block and the Horcrux. So, being around so many plants would help him regain a lot of his energy and magic power.

"I am actually honestly surprised that my powers are not already acting up," Harry admits. "I thought that once they were unblocked, the weather would already be acting weird."

Krinos chuckled. "While magic tends to do what it wants a lot, you also are used to subconsciously controlling your powers. You have been able to call on them in the past even with the block, so you already have a basic level of control."

"Well, at least you are not starting off from scratch with teaching me," Harry snickered at his own joke.

"That definitely does help," Krinos said. "But, you will still need to learn better control. Because just as when you had called that lightning bolt as well as when it started to thunder earlier, your powers act up when you get emotional. Anger being your biggest trigger for your powers."

Harry rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah, I figured that out pretty quickly," he said. "I just hope that I learn to control my magic enough so that I do not accidentally zap Ron, Hermione, or Ginny the next time that they decide to be annoying."

"I highly doubt that they 'decide' to be annoying," Krinos says. "Especially because they are always annoying. I think they are just naturally like that with no choices involved at all."

Harry laughed at that. He did honestly think the same thing. Those three were definitely way too annoying for them to ever actually choose that. As Krinos had just said, they could only be that annoying if they were just naturally that way.

"So, if anger is my biggest trigger for my powers, should I try and be angry whenever I try and use them on purpose," Harry asked Krinos.

"That's actually a very bad idea," Krinos tells him. "Since our powers come from our emotions, then relying on negative emotions would cause our magic to be less controlled. Emotions like anger, sadness, and heartbreak have been known to cause our powers to react, but not in stable ways. Those types of emotional magic can cause our powers to go beyond our control. There was once a fire mage that believed that negative emotions were the best way to fuel her powers. But then she ended up losing control and burning down an entire forest because she did not have control over her fire."

"Oh," Harry nodded in understanding. "So, I would need to find a better trigger for my powers in order to have better control."

"Exactly," Krinos said. "And once you find the right trigger, that will make it easier for you to be able to easily use your powers. And then eventually, you will not need a trigger at all and your powers will come as easily as it is to breathe."

Krinos then waved his wand and the plants around them all grew three times their size. And even some plants that looked like they needed some water sprung back to life from his magic.

"Your powers really are amazing," Harry would never get used to seeing such amazing magic.

"In every generation of the Gardna family, there is always someone born with nature magic," Krinos tells him. "It is something passed down from generation to generation since our ancestor, Calliope Gardna, was one of the Olympian Mages that founded the school. She was the one said to have been blessed by Demeter, the Greek goddess of nature."

"That is so cool," Harry was amazed the more that he learned.

"All of the Olympian Mages were said to have been blessed by the gods," Krinos tells him. "It was why they decided to open Crystal Rose. So that they could share their knowledge and experiences with the next generation."

"You did say that the school has been open for four thousand years," Harry remembered from the tour. "That is very impressive for any school."

"Crystal Rose is one of the oldest magic schools in the world," Krinos said. "A fact that everyone that attends and teaches here is very proud of."

Harry definitely got more and more impressed with everything that he learned. Crystal Rose was such an amazing place. That only made him even angrier with the person that put the block on him. Sirius had told him that his parents were very accepting of him being a mystic soul, there was no way that they would block their son's abilities when he showed that he was one as well. And since Dumbledore was the only one that knew where he had lived in the muggle world, he was the only one with the power to place the block on him.

What Harry didn't notice was that his focusing on his negative memories and feelings was making his powers react. The sky over the garden was darkening as dark clouds rolled in overhead. There was also the sound of thunder.

"Harry," Krinos put his hands on his shoulders, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Harry was quick to figure out what was going on and he took in a deep breath to calm down. The skies soon cleared up again.

"Sorry about that," he apologized.

"You can't help it, Harry," Krinos comforted him. "If anything, this is showing you that you have a starting place from where you can grow in terms of controlling your powers."

"I wish that I had powers like yours," Harry tells the nature mage. "Weather control is not as beautiful as nature magic."

"All magic has beauty in it, Harry," Krinos says. "Just as all magic has destruction as well. As a nature mage, my powers are the prime example of my favorite saying. 'Every rose has its thorns.' I live by that."

Krinos snapped his fingers and a cactus instantly sprouted from the ground between him and Harry. Harry was shocked at first, but then other plants around the garden started to glow. Music started to fill the air as the plants all magically let out the perfect melody. If Harry had not seen a similar thing happen back at Number 12, he would have been so confused.

And then, right in front of Harry for the second time, Krinos opened his mouth and started to sing.

"I just made something unexpected
Something sharp
Something new
It's not symmetrical or perfect
But it's beautiful
And it's mine
What else can I do?"

Harry was starting to think that this was actually a thing that Krinos did. Bursting into song for any reason that he could get away with. Not that Harry actually saw anything wrong with that because Krinos actually did have a beautiful voice. It was also telling how even when Krinos has said how mystic souls stay away from muggles, he still knew muggle music. Meaning that even though mystic souls do not care for muggles, they do not ignore them and things that they create just because they did not like muggles.

"Bring it in, bring it in
(Good talk!) Bring it in, bring it in
What else can I do?
(Let's walk!) Bring it in, bring it in
(Free hugs!) Bring it in, bring it in."

Krinos was then lifted up as he grabbed onto a vine that he had caused to come down next to him. Harry ran to follow him and he was amazed by the sight of a giant circle of all types of roses It was incredibly beautiful. Krinos landed in the center of the circle.

"I grow rows and rows of roses
Flor de mayo
By the mile
I make perfect, practiced poses
So much hides behind my smile."

Harry was really seeing the deep nature of Krinos's choice of song. Just like how he felt that his powers could only cause destruction, Krinos was under the stereotype about how his magic could only make things like roses and flowers appear. It was the lesson that Krinos was trying to teach him. That there was more than one thing that could be done with their magic.

"What could I do if I just grew what I was feeling in the moment?
(Do you know where you're going? Whoa!)
What could I do if I just knew it didn't need to be perfect?
It just needed to be? And they let me be?"

"A hurricane of jacarandas
Strangling figs (Big!)
Hanging vines (This is fine)
Palma de cera fills the air as I climb
And I push through
What else can I do?
Can I deliver us a river of sundew?
Careful, it's carnivorous, a little just won't do."

Krinos had summoned a bunch of plants when he had sung those lines. Harry did not know a lot of them, but judging by the lyrics of the song, they were definitely not as harmless as they looked. And the fact that Krinos also smirked and winked at him when he grew the plants definitely meant that he was not going to be going near those plants any time soon.

"I wanna feel the shiver of something new
I'm so sick of pretty
I want something true, don't you?"

"You just seem like your life's been a dream
Since the moment you opened your eyes
(How far do these roots go down?)
All I know are the blossoms you grow
But it's awesome to see how you rise
How far can I rise?
Through the roof, to the skies
Let's go!"

Krinos took Harry's hand and the two of them went for a ride. Krinos had grown a giant sunflower under their feet and the two of them used it to travel all around the greenhouse. Harry was amazed by everything that he saw. The room was definitely bigger on the inside than how it looked on the outside, but he really should have expected that since the dorms were like that. So, that meant that other rooms in the school would be like that as well.

And the bird's eye view made it easy to see just how amazing the entire greenhouse was. There must have been thousands of plants, trees, and flowers all over the place. Some of them had even grown so much that they were climbing up the walls of the greenhouse's glass dome walls. Harry had never seen anything so amazing in his life.

"A hurricane of jacarandas (Whoo!)
Strangling figs (Go!)
Hanging vines (Grow!)
Palma de cera fills the air as I climb
And I push through
What else, what else?"

"What can you do when you are deeply, madly, truly in the moment?
(Seize the moment, keep goin')
What can you do when you know who you wanna be isn't perfect?
But I'll still be okay
Hey, everybody clear the way (Whoo!)
I'm coming through with tabebuia
(She's coming through with that booyah!)
Making waves (Making waves)
Changing minds (You've changed mine)
The way is clearer 'cause you're here, and well
I owe this all to you
What else can I do?"

Harry also found another meaning to the song as Krinos was showing him just how freeing it was to just be himself. He had been forced into the Golden Boy role for so much of his life. Both when he was in the magical world and when he had to force himself to be as behaved as possible at the Dursleys since they punished him so hard if he even did anything slightly out of place. Not that they ever needed that much of an excuse to hurt him, anyway.

But just as Krinos was singing about, it was completely useless to ever force yourself to be a role that you did not like. To really be happy, you really just needed to be yourself and not what others wanted you to be. And it was a lesson that Harry was definitely going to be taking to heart.

"Show 'em what you can do
What else can I do?
There's nothing you can't do
What else can I do?"

As Krinos finished the song, the two of them had fallen into a big pile of flower petals. They laughed as they just had fun. Harry looked at Krinos with a big smile.

"I can not wait to see what I can do," he said.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-Three: Control The Storm

"That's it, Harry," Krinos instructed him. "All you need to do is focus and then you will have more control of your powers."

Harry was taking in deep breaths as he was holding his hands up. There was a small cloud in front of him that Krinos was helping him control. The cloud was a dark gray color, but Harry was able to keep it contained. Other than that single cloud, there were no other areas being affected. It was definitely showing that Harry was doing better with his powers.

"I am beginning to feel like Storm from X-Men," Harry said.

"I always wondered if Stan Lee was secretly someone from the magical community," Krinos chuckled. "If anything, he might have been a descendant from one of the muses with how creative that he was."

"You like thinking that all the best things in the muggle world are really created by magical people, don't you," Harry chuckled.

"Well, it's not like mundanes have ever been anything other than violent people that attack others just for being different," Krinos crossed his arms. "In the magical world, there is no such thing as sexism or homophobia. There are people that are racist because of blood status or creature blood, but hate will always exist no matter what."

"Why do you all hate muggles... er... mundanes so much," Harry was still getting used to using that word instead of 'muggles.' "I noticed that everyone here does not like them."

Krinos sighed. "I knew this would come up sooner or later. But, in all honesty, mystic souls all believe that the magical and mundane worlds need to be kept separate. They should only ever cross if there is nothing else that can be done. Such as when a magical being is born to two non-magical people like first-generation mages."

"I know that things were bad in the past, but do you really think mug... mundanes would still be as bad in modern times," Harry could not help but ask.

"There is a saying that mystic souls live by when it comes to the relationship between the mundane and magical worlds," Krinos says. "Mundanes fear that they do not understand. And what they fear, they will try to destroy.' Mundanes will never accept magic because they will never be able to fully understand it. Yes, there will be those that accept us, but the vast majority will hate and fear us."

Harry was not the type of person to really want to judge others based on the actions of the few. It was why he did not hate the whole of Slytherin just because he hated Draco, Snape, Lucius, and Voldemort. But, when it came to mundanes, he actually did believe Krinos. He had grown up in the mundane world, so he knew that they are quick to judge and attack based entirely on it being the easiest thing to do rather than actually trying to think of something else to do.

He had experienced a lot of that as he had grown up. After all, because he had always been different, the Dursleys always called him "Freak." And even when it was not his relatives, it was everyone else around him. All his neighbors had chosen to believe the Dursleys' lies about him being a delinquent and a liar instead of seeing the abuse right in front of their eyes. And with his teachers at school, all of them also chose to believe the lies even when they were witnesses to when Dudley and his gang would beat him up or when he would come to school with cuts and bruises and broken bones. So many people saw that he was not being treated right and yet they chose to look the other way because he was different and it was easier to look the other way.

So, he did understand why mystic souls would not see any world where magic and mundanes could ever mix.

"I understand," Harry tells Krinos. "I've lived with mundanes for most of my life and I definitely know that they would never be okay with magic. In fact, they made their hatred of magic very clear."

"That is why magic and mundanes can never mix when we can help it," Krinos said. "The Salem Witch trials were bad enough. But, there have always been cases of magical beings being treated badly simply because they were magical. There is a special children's department at the Magic Council that works to make sure that magical children are safe. There are over a dozen cases a year about magical children being abused by their families. Most of them are first-generation mages. Their mundane parents see their powers as the 'devil's work' so they try and get rid of their magic. Through beatings, starvation, and even exorcisms. It's horrible what happens to these children just because they have magic."

"I...I can actually understand that more than you would think," Harry says. "My mundane relatives are horrible people that believe that magic is wrong. They refer to all of us..."

"As freaks," Krinos guessed.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"When you summoned that lightning bolt, it was only after that bossy girl called my cousin a 'lying freak," Krinos explained. "Only someone that already has had a bad history with that word would react in that way."

"I don't really like talking about them," Harry could not meet Krinos's eye. "I normally just talk about how much I hate them and how they hate magic. I don't like saying anything more."

"And you don't have to say anything if you do not want to," Krinos put a hand on his shoulder. "Harry, I am not going to press for information that you would rather keep to yourself. If you want to tell me, then you will. And if you don't want to, I am fine with that as well."

Harry was very thankful for how Krinos would not press him for information. He never was able to meet anyone like that before he met Sirius. Fred and George never pressed him for anything, but they already knew about his home life. And yet when it came to so many other people in his life, they were always trying to pry into his business. They actually believe that just because he is their precious "Boy-Who-Lived," they have the right to know everything about him. It really drove him crazy.

"Thanks, Krinos," Harry smiled at him.

"Anytime," Krinos smiled back at him. "Also, I have now discovered what sadness does to your powers."

Krinos pointed at the cloud that Harry still had in front of them. But instead of thunder and lightning, snow was coming from the cloud. It showed that Harry's emotions really did greatly affect his powers. Harry tilted his head to the side, intrigued by his own powers.

"I am both shocked that I made snow and relieved that I did not lose control while we had been talking," he said.

"I think that is because you have been using magic for the past few years even if it was not your mystic soul magic," Krinos guessed. "Those that already have a basic understanding of magic usually have subconscious control over their powers. Your powers had been blocked before, which was why you had such extreme bursts of emotional mystic soul magic before. But now that your powers have been unblocked..."

"I am able to have easier control of them," Harry was able to finish Krinos's sentence.

"Exactly," Krinos smiled at him. "You are definitely going to do well in Power Control class."

Harry smiled as he then looked at his cloud. it was still snowing, but not as bad as it had been before when Krinos had pointed out what his emotions had caused. A small pile of snow had still managed to be made even from the short time that snow had been coming from the cloud. Harry wondered if he could maybe try to make it snow more on purpose. After all, he was supposed to be learning to control his powers.

So, he focused on the cloud as he tried to make it snow more. He also kept in mind that Krinos told him not to rely on his negative emotions since that could cause him to lose control of his magic. He needed to make sure that he would be able to use his magic when he wanted to and not when his emotions wanted him to. So, he stared at the cloud as he tried to will more snow to fall.

The cloud soon darkened, as if it was a real cloud that was about to unleash a serious storm. Krinos stood back in order to watch while also keeping a safe distance in case anything went wrong. He did not do well with cold weather, snow, or ice. It was one of his weaknesses because of his powers. It was the same with fire magic. It was why during Dueling class, his worst opponents were Abby and Mason since they had ice and fire magic.

And just as Harry had been hoping, it did start to snow even more. He was really proud of himself for being able to control his powers that much. Krinos smiled at Harry, proud of him as well.

"I did it," Harry was shocked and pleased at the same time.

"You are definitely turning out to be a natural at mystic soul magic, Harry," Krinos patted him on the back.

"Thanks, Krinos," Harry tells him. "Now... Uh... How do I stop it?"

Krinos facepalmed at the question. Of course, the one thing that he had forgotten to teach Harry before they started practicing with his powers would be how to stop a spell after he casts it. But, it was not like it was really that possible for him to teach how to stop a spell. That was more of a natural thing than something to be able to teach.

"Looks like teaching will not be a career that I will be looking at in the future," he said.

The snow started to get worse and Harry really had no idea what to do. The cloud was also getting bigger, showing that he was losing more control over it by the second.

"Krinos," Harry called in alarm as he backed away from the cloud. "I'm serious. How do I stop it?"

"You need to will it, Harry," Krinos tells him. "There is no real way to teach how to cancel or end a spell since all powers are different. The only real way is for the caster to will it to end. You have to want it to end. Powers are not only controlled by our emotions but they are also controlled by our wills. Our powers do not control us, we control them."

Harry gulped as he looked back at his cloud. It was getting even bigger as the light snow now was turning into a full-on blizzard.

"But... I don't know how to do it," he was losing confidence fast.

"Harry, your doubt in yourself is only making it worse," Krinos tells him as the blizzard started spreading through the greenhouse. "You need to remember that even when nobody is perfect and you are allowed to make mistakes, it is also up to you to fix those mistakes. You know that you can stop this. You just have to believe that you can."

Harry listened to Krinos, but it was so hard for him to actually believe that he could stop this. He always doubted himself because of how much he was put down by others all his life. Not to mention when he had to make himself do worse than he knew that he was capable of because of those around him. Having to make his grades worse so that the Dursleys did not punish him, avoiding studying at Hogwarts because of Ron and Hermione, putting on his mask of the "reckless and brave Gryffindor Golden Boy." All of it had a deep effect on him because of how long he had to act like that.

He knew that he was capable of a lot more. Now that he is actually separating himself from the Idiot Trio and Dumbledore, he wanted to allow himself to show who he really was and how much he was capable of. But, it was still hard to shake off literal years of having to hold himself back and listen to so many people around him tell him that he was a good-for-nothing freak and that he could never do anything right.

"Krinos, I really don't think I can do this," Harry tells the nature mage.

Krinos went up to Harry and placed both hands on his shoulders and turned him so that he was facing his cloud again. Seeing the growing blizzard was not helping the nervous and new weather mage.

"Magic is not all about focus and trying too hard," he tells him. "You can not force something to happen. Your willpower and your heart and your instincts need to work as one. It is why being a mystic soul helps us feel so close to Lady Hecate. It is because our powers eventually become as easy to us as it is to breathe. You know that these are your powers and you are the one in control. All you need to do is take in a deep breath and remember how you DO know what to do. You have the instincts and now you need to put them to good use."

Krinos stepped away in order to give Harry room to do his magic. Literally.

Harry took a deep breath as he looked at the cloud. The blizzard was getting even worse and most of the greenhouse plants were not covered in a layer of snow. He was hoping that none of the nature mages at the school would hold this against him in the future.

He held his hands out to the cloud and took in another deep breath. He needed to calm himself down in order to really be able to have more control of his powers. But at the same time, he kept in mind what Krinos also said about a lot of magic being about instincts and not trying to force his magic to do as he wants. 

He took in more deep breaths as he calmed himself down even more. And when he opened his eyes, they were once again the color of storm clouds. And he gently lowered his hands, which also brought the cloud down with them. The lower that Harry brought his hands, the less powerful the blizzard got and the smaller the cloud became. By the time Harry's arms and hands were back at his sides, the cloud was gone and the blizzard had stopped.

Everything was still covered in a layer of snow, but at least there was no longer a blizzard happening.

"I did it," Harry smiled brightly.

"I knew that you could," Krinos said. "I might have said that you were a natural at being a mystic soul, but everyone makes mistakes."

"Sorry about the snow, by the way," Harry rubbed the back of his neck as he nervously chuckled.

"Oh, that's no problem," Krinos said. "Nature's sunlight."

He held his hand up to the top of the glass dome that was over the entire greenhouse. Multiple large sunflowers grew over their heads. They all glowed as they shined with sunlight. It soon got hotter in the greenhouse.

"Is there anything that you can't do with your powers," Harry asked, chuckling.

"There are a lot of things, but they are things that I don't really care about doing anyway," Krinos said. "Such as making gold, shapeshifting, talking to animals, things like that. I stay in my lane just like everyone else does. I like my powers just the way that they are. My flowers should clean up the snow in no time."

"I'm still sorry about what happened," Harry tells him. "I guess that I need more practice."

"No one is perfect," Krinos tells him. "You will be able to control your powers eventually. While you may think that those like Melody and myself have always been able to easily control our powers, we did have trouble growing up. I would sometimes want a flower and yet I would grow a cactus instead. Or the time that I wanted to grow an apple tree and I got a bush of poison ivy instead. And that is not even touching about all the trouble Melody had controlling her powers when she was younger."

"I heard that," Melody then appeared in a swirl of musical notes.

"You were meant to, sis," Krinos chuckled. "I know that you can hear a lot because of your musical powers."

Melody rolled her eyes. "Having a brother like you is exhausting, I hope you know that."

"You love me and you know it," Krinos smirked.

"Unfortunately, I do," Melody giggled. "What happened in here, anyway? I passed by Lily on my way here and she was ranting about how blizzards have no place in a greenhouse. And judging by snow that I can still see on the ground, something definitely happened."

"What happened was that Harry needs to learn that when it comes to controlling his powers, slow and steady wins the race," Krinos smirked at Harry as he said that.

Harry blushed and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Krinos really was getting to be like a brother with how he was both very kind and loving while also tending to tease him a lot.

"I'm working on it," Harry said. "Plus, being indoors probably helps my control since being outside might accidentally have me causing an even bigger storm."

"It is better to be safe than sorry," Melody agreed with the logic.

"I told Harry that because of how he does have the basics down, he would do good at Power Control class," Krinos said.

"The basics are a lot more important than most people think that they are," Melody says.

"Even after what has just happened, I am looking forward to classes starting tomorrow," Harry said.

"Unicorn and Siren have a lot of classes with Winter Wolf, so we can help you whenever you need it," Krinos said. "Also, do not be afraid to ask."

"I won't," Harry smiled at them.

He was both looking forward to the new classes as well as nervous about them as well. He would just have to wait and see.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-Four: First Real Day As Crystal Rose Students

Harry did not know what to expect when it came to the new classes he would be taking at Crystal Rose. He was aware that there were classes that would be similar to the ones at Hogwarts, but most of them would be new. Plus, even for the ones similar to Hogwarts classes, he knew that they would still be different. After all, they would actually have good teachers this time. Or, at least that is what Harry hoped.

Potions and Mythology & History were the two classes that he really wanted to see be better than they were at Hogwarts. After all, Potions class was a complete nightmare for anyone not in Slytherin. And History of Magic was basically nap time. Not even the most knowledge-loving of Ravenclaws are able to stay awake in his class.

Since he was aware of how the teacher for Potions was also the older sister of Abby and Kryo, two friends of Krinos and Melody, he hoped that she did not play favorites. Since Krinos and Melody did not warn him about her, he figured that she was a good teacher. He knew the twins well enough to know that they were both very honest people and they would only keep a secret if they thought someone would hurt another if the secret was known. Such as how they were keeping Harry's powers a secret because of those like Dumbledore and the British ministry. They would definitely do something to him if they were aware of Harry being a mystic soul.

And when it came to a real history class, Harry was definitely hoping for two things. One, to actually learn something rather than just sitting there and falling asleep. And two, that the teacher was not a ghost since he still was confused about how Binns was able to grade papers when he was like that. The only thing that class was is a waste of time. 

But probably the thing that Harry was hoping for the most would be that he did not lose control of his powers during class. Sure, he was able to calm down his snowstorm, but he had no practice in actual situations where he could lose control. Such as if any of the other Hogwarts students caused problems. And by Hogwarts students, he was really thinking of Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Malfoy, or any other of the bullies that run around Hogwarts and go unpunished for their actions.

After he got up, he became really thankful for how the dorms a Crystal Rose were. All the students had everything they needed in their own rooms rather than having to share. Their own wardrobes and closets rather than keeping everything in their trunks, their own bathrooms for extra privacy, and just generally having their own rooms. Harry was used to being alone, so it had been hard for him to have dormmates at Hogwarts. Plus, Ron's snoring was hated by everyone because it kept them all awake while he slept like a log.

As he got dressed, Harry also smiled at how he no longer needed to wear a uniform. All the different clothes that the students wore made the school stand out even more. Seeing the students from all over the world wearing clothes that represented their countries and cultures, not to mention their own personal styles, was incredible. And since Sirius had given him his brother's old clothes that actually fit him, he did not have to worry about looking bad by wearing Dudley's very oversized stuff. Plus, Sirius also added some of his own stuff from when he was Harry's age. And that all fit him as well. Though, Harry suspected that the clothes had some type of charm or spell on them in order to make them fit whoever was wearing them.

From his wardrobe, he chose one of Sirius's old blue silk shirts. Even as a Gryffindor, Sirius surprised Harry by telling him how his favorite color was actually blue. He also wore a pair of his old black pants. He also put on a pair of Regulus's old silver dragon-hide boots. He tried to tame his hair, but it proved useless as usual. The last thing he put on was a pair of Sirius's old gray leather cuff bracelets that had lion designs on them.

As he went down into the dorm common room, there were already a lot of Crystal Rose students already there and ready to head to breakfast. Harry went over to where he saw T'challa, Hawk, and White.

"You excited for class, Harry," T'challa asked him.

"Anything can be better than the classes at Hogwarts," Harry tells him.

"It can't be that bad," White says. "I know that wand-users are far behind mystic souls, but Hogwarts is said to be the best school in the world for wand-users."

"That is only because you have probably only heard that from British wizards," Harry said. "But, in my experience, I have had classes with a ghost that puts his students to sleep, a Potion professor that bullies three-quarters of the school, Defense Against The Dark Arts teachers that are actual dangers to their students, and a Divination teacher that constantly predicts my death every time she sees me."

That information made the three mystic souls go speechless. They had never heard of anything like that happening at any school. Yeah, there are schools that may have questionable things happening within their walls, but the things that Harry was saying were beyond shocking.

"I don't think I have ever been this shocked about another school before," White says.

"Why on earth and how on earth can all of that happen," Hawk was so shocked. "And in a school of all places."

"Just as I told you, the school is not as good as British people make it seem," Harry tells them. "Especially since I started going there. I call it my 'Potter Luck.' Most of the Defense teachers did try and kill me. Even when I had been eleven."

"Okay, I know that we fight demons that go after anyone no matter their age, but that is just really messed up," White said.

"The only time that we have ever had any problems with our teachers was when they were either possessed or corrupted by a demon," Hawk says. "But, at least we know that their actions are not their own."

"Can't say the same for my teachers," Harry crossed his arms. "Especially Snape since he probably has been a bully since his first day of teaching."

"You also said that your Divination teacher always predicts your death," T'challa raised an eyebrow.

Harry nodded. "Yeah."

"Divination can't even be taught," T'challa said. "You either have the gift to see the future or you don't. There is no way to actually teach it. Sure, tarot cards and tea leaves can still be used, but those only really work with gypsies and Wiccans."

"Wand-users," Hawk rolled his eyes. "Not a bit of logic or reason in them. I wouldn't be surprised if they believed that ridiculous rumor around the magical world that claims that there is no way to use magic to create edible food."

"I am liking you guys more and more every day," Harry laughed.

He may be British, but that did not mean he did not love hearing them all roast the British magical community. After all, it was not like they were saying anything that was actually wrong. He only took Divination because he was still a love-starved kid that wanted to do things that he thought would keep him liked by his so-called friends. So, he just signed up for the same classes as Ron did. 

Fred and George had been trying to get him to show his brain power and his love of learning for years. And now, they were finally going to get their wish.

*****Time Jump Brought To You By My Lack Of Desire To Write A Breakfast Scene (LOL)*****

Harry nearly skipped as he made his way to his first class with T'challa, Hawk, and White. The three of them all thought he was adorable as he acted like that. It was no wonder why Krinos and Melody were already so fond of him when he really was an adorable kid at heart. Harry really did have a way of sneaking into the hearts of those around him and making them all care about him. Only those that were truly heartless were not affected by Harry's loving nature. ***Cough*** Snape *** Cough***

The first class that they would be going to would actually be Potions. Harry could not help but be worried. After all, as much as he tried to prepare himself, he knew that making potions was not his strong suit. Plus, he still had to worry about Snape.

The teachers at Hogwarts were also taking part in the field trip by being in the classes that relate the most to their own. It would be a way for the teachers to compare their teaching styles as well as what they actually teach to what goes on at Crystal Rose. Though, it was also Dumbledore's way of spying on the Crystal Rose teachers to see which ones he would try to recruit to his cause.

Though, already Harry could tell that this Potions class was going to be different. For one thing, they were not in any dungeon. The area of the school that the classroom was in actually seemed to be near the greenhouse. Plus, it was not dark or gloomy but had a sense of warmth to it. It was a pretty big classroom with rows of tables with cauldrons already on them. The walls were also lined with shelves with dozens upon hundreds of potion ingredients on them. But the best part was the fact that the roof was a glass dome with multiple windows of it open. That way, the potion fumes could escape and not be trapped in the classroom. There were also plants growing around the walls as well.

Professor Gold was already in the classroom when everyone walked in. The teachers, while looking more professional, also did not have a uniform to wear just like the students. She was blond like both of her younger siblings, but her hair was long and straight while also being tied into a long braid. She wore an elegant white A-line dress that went down to her knees. Around her waist was a sliver belt, matching the silver wedge-heel boots on her feet. And over her dress was a bright blue jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She was obviously one of the youngest teachers in the school.

Snape soon made his own appearance after all the students got into the classroom. He glared at Harry before standing near Professor Gold's desk. She obviously noticed what he did, but she did not say anything. She smiled at all her students, the class being with both Winter Wolf and Mermaid.

Melody smiled at Harry from her seat next to him. She had sat there when everyone had come in. It was very easy to see that the students were definitely more used to house unity than Hogwarts was as everyone was mixing up who they sat with rather than just remaining with their own house.

"Welcome to the first Potions class of the year, students," Crystal said as she smiled at everyone. "For those of you visiting from Hogwarts, I am Professor Crystal Gold and I will be teaching you Potions this year. Now, let me start off the class as I do with every other first class that I have at the beginning of the year. With a review of potion safety."

That was definitely a shock to the Hogwarts students. They never were taught anything to do with safety when making potions. Any mistakes made were only met with scolding and punishment from Snape. He never would tell them what they did wrong or how to avoid it. 

"Just relax," Melody whispered to Harry. "You will get the hang of these classes sooner or later. Just give it time."

Harry nodded at her, thankful for the calming words. Especially since he did not want to cause any rain inside the classroom with his nervousness.

"First question," Crystal started the mini-quiz. "What are two ingredients that should not be mixed?"

She called on Hawk.

"Wrath essence and black poppy," he answered. "When mixed together, those two ingredients cause an explosion that unleashes toxic smoke."

"Correct," Crystal says. "Does anyone else have an example of two ingredients that should not be mixed together?"

She called on White.

"Eye of newt and burdock root," he said. "The last time those two ingredients were used together, the brewer's entire potion's lab was blown up by the explosion that the ingredients caused."

"Correct," Crystal says. "When making potions, one of the most important things to know is the relationship that some ingredients have with each other. That is the reason why when potions are first created, the ingredients that are used are what make them work. Such as when making a sleeping potion, you can not use things like lemon or limes because they are naturally sour. They are more used for energy potions. Now, who can tell me what is one of the most dangerous potions to make?"

She chose Melody.

"The vanquishing potions for upper-level demons," she answered. "Not only are they more dangerous because the ingredients can cause powerful backlash when added to the potion, but the ingredients themselves are also very hard to get as well."

"And for our guests, would you mind telling them why they are so hard to get," Crystal almost looked smug as she requested that.

Melody was slightly smirking as she answered. "It is because the main ingredient of vanquishing potions for upper-level demons is the actual flesh from the demon."

That certainly got the Hogwarts students to all gulp. None of them have ever met a demon before, but they certainly had heard a lot of things because of overhearing casual conversations about them that the Crystal Rose students would have. Demons sounded really dangerous, so the idea of actually going near one of them enough to get a piece of flesh completely terrified them.

Professor Gold continued to quiz all of the students on the basics of potion safety. The Hogwarts students were actually shocked that so many things could actually go so wrong while brewing. Sure, they had seen plenty of disasters during their classes, but that was really because of the constant sabotage of the Slytherin. They knew that potions can go wrong, such as the number of times where Neville's cauldron has either exploded or melted, but now they actually knew how people could actually die from poorly made potions.

Harry could not help but also steal glances at Snape every once in a while as Professor Gold was teaching them. He definitely looked to be agitated because his own horrible teaching methods were being thrown at him while Professor Gold was not even trying. There were a few of his own Slytherins in Mermaid. So, seeing them look at him with questioning looks while they were being taught by Professor Gold must have really made him mad.

After all, he never taught any of them safety. Even his own Slytherins were practically left on their own during class. He really was a horrible teacher. They were all seeing it while finally having a good Potions class.

Professor Gold assigned them a simple potion to start with so that they could test out the waters and see how much they could need to catch up the Hogwarts students when it came to their potion knowledge. After all, they had to be behind Crystal Rose since wand-user schools were always beyond mystic soul schools. They were just not as prepared when it came to the more difficult potions that the magical world has to offer. So, Professor Gold assigned them the Stun Potion. It was a potion meant to stun an opponent similar to the Stupefy spell.

"Your teacher is really good," Harry tells Melody while they were working on their potion.

"Professor Gold may have only been teaching for a few years after our previous professor was killed by demons, but she is loved by everyone," Melody tells him. "She may have two siblings as students, but she never once showed favoritism to them or anyone else."

"That is certainly a change from my Potions class back at Hogwarts," Harry says.

"That man certainly has not stopped glaring at you pretty much since he entered the room," Melody stole a glance at Snape.

"That's the nicest thing that he has ever done when around me," Harry said.

"You have got to be kidding me," Melody raised an eyebrow.

"I wish that I was," Harry said.

"Can it really be that..." Melody was cut off.

"Do try and actually pay attention to your potion, Potter," Snape seemed to materialize in front of Harry and Melody's table. "Maybe if you actually paid any attention to what you were doing, you would not be such a horrible excuse for a student. Not that I really expect you to do that with how arrogant you are."

"Mr.Snape," Crystal glared at the greasy-haired man as she walked over when she heard that. "That is no way to talk to a student."

"I am simply trying to keep his arrogance from causing a disaster as he does back in my own classroom," Snape glared back at her.

"Expect that Mr.Potter has done nothing to earn your very unprofessional treatment," Crystal argued with him. "As long as he and Miss.Gardna are working on their potion, which you both are doing very well, then they are allowed to talk to each other. It is only a problem if their conversation disturbs the other students. And since it is obviously not, you will leave Mr.Potter alone."

Her eyes flashed blue just to show that she was definitely not messing around when it came to her words. 

"You do not know Potter as I do, so you need to stay in your lane while I stay in line," Snape snapped at her.

"Mr.Potter is currently one of MY students," Crystal returned the snap. "So, he is in my lane. How about you just stay in your lane, which I hope is very far away from here. You do not have the same authority that you have at your school. So, I suggest you listen to me before I show you what a real cold shoulder looks like."

Her eyes glowed again as the room also became colder because of her powers. Snape basically stomped off as if he was a child throwing a tantrum. He just stood by the desk again, glaring at Harry. Professor Gold rolled her eyes at the unprofessional behavior. She then walked to another student that raised her hand to ask a question.

"Your teacher rocks," Harry tells Melody.

"I know," Melody giggled.

They continued to work on their potion while also talking about random stuff that they want to. Such as their favorite music, favorite food, as well as Harry's progress in learning to control his powers. Things were pretty calm... until.

BAM!

Everyone turned as they saw the potion that Megan Jones and Susan Bones were working on had exploded. Their cauldron also broke from the force and the potion was spilling out onto the floor. Everyone acted instantly to stop themselves from getting ruined shoes and burned feet because of the potion. They were either on their stools, or floating in the air, and there was even one boy that had actually jumped onto the wall where he was actually sticking to it.

Professor was quick to act. She aimed her hand at the cauldron and potion, blasting it with her ice magic. It instantly all froze. She then went over to check on the two girls.

"Oh, you poor dears," she said. "You must have added the ginger before the mandrake root by mistake. A common error. Let's get you both to the infirmary and healed. White, do you mind?"

"Not at all, professor," the nature beast mage said as he guided the girls out the door.

The Hogwarts students were speechless at what they just witnessed. Not their new teacher's powers, but how she reacted to what had happened. She did not scold Susan and Megan, she comforted them and also told them what they did wrong. Snape never did either of those things. None of them could actually believe that a Potions class could actually be this good. And yet, it was all happening right in front of them.

"Seriously, she rocks," Harry said again.

Melody giggled again, though she was definitely going to be asking more about Snape in the future. Though, she could already tell that she was probably going to be tempted to use her sonic scream on him when she hears what Harry tells her.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-Five: Light And Dark Debate

"That was probably the first actual good potions class that I have ever had," Harry's smile was larger than it ever had been at Hogwarts.

"We told you that Crystal was good," Melody giggled.

"You call your professor by her name," Harry was shocked by that.

"Most of us grew up knowing both Abby and Kryos," T'challa explained. "Crystal Rose starts their students younger than wand-user schools, so we all have known them for years. So, that also means that we have known Crystal for years as well."

"She is like a big sister to a lot of us," White says. "We don't call her by her name in class, but we do when not in class."

"Plus, she has only been our teacher for a few years," Hawk said. "So, a lot of us are still not used to calling her 'Professor Gold.' Haha!"

"You all are certainly closer than most students would be with their teacher," Harry said.

"Even before Crystal became the Potions teacher, the professors have always been there for us," Melody says. "They help students that are having trouble in class, they offer advice for future careers, they stop any bullying that they either see or hear about, and they do a bunch of other things for us as well."

"That is definitely better than the teachers at Hogwarts," Harry commented.

"After how your own professor behaved during class, I am not surprised," Hawk said.

"Why would a professor even act like that," T'challa asked Harry. "How he behaved was not right. He targeted you even when you were not even doing anything wrong. Yours and Melody's potion came our great even when you never made a mystic soul potion before. And yet he was acting like you could not do anything right."

"That's Snape for you," Harry rolled his eyes.

"That's normal behavior for him," White raised an eyebrow.

"You have no idea," Harry sighed. "Pretty much since the moment that I stepped into Hogwarts, he has had it out for me. He asked me a series of questions when I first got into his class and I didn't know any of the answers. I asked Fred and George about them after class and I learned that all of the questions were ones that were meant for older students. Not a single question was for a first-year. And yet he acted like I was being arrogant and did not even try and study before class."

"I have never heard of such unprofessional behavior," Melody felt insulted by a professor acting like that.

"At least Crystal was able to scold him for acting like that," White said. "Maybe this might actually show him how teachers are supposed to act."

"I highly doubt that," Harry said. "According to every single older student that I have asked, Snape has been like that for years. Even before I came to Hogwarts, he has been known as the Dungeon Bat of Hogwarts."

"Why are there even classrooms in a dungeon," Melody could not help but ask.

"Don't ask me," Harry held his hands up in surrender. "I only attend the school, I didn't design it. Salazar Slytherin probably was just a very dramatic person and like scaring his students by having his house and his classroom in the dungeon."

"I actually like a teacher with a sense of humor like that," Melody giggled.

"Better than having a classroom high up in a tower or something," Hawk says. "I may be able to fly, but I know that there are plenty of people that are terrified of heights."

"Well, actually, there are Divination and Astronomy classes," Harry was about to tell them.

"Don't," Hawk stopped him before he could say anything more. "We already have things piling up about what we do not like about your school."

"And there is probably more to come," White said.

"No kidding," Harry says. "I actually started making a list of things that I didn't like about Hogwarts after my first year there ended. It's nearly twelve pages long, single-spaced."

"And let us guess," Melody said. "Most of the things you would change have to do with Snape?"

"Well, they certainly involve how he acts and what he causes," Harry says. "Snape not only treats me badly, but he treats everyone badly other than those in Slytherin. He bullies three-quarters of the school. He makes the house point system a complete joke because he gives points to his Slytherins for being on time while he takes points for breathing too loudly from other houses. And on top of that, he witnesses his Slytherins bullying or sabotaging other students and he does nothing. If anything, he encourages it because he does nothing about it. Sometimes, he even gives points when they do it."

"Great," Melody pinched the bridge of her nose. "A bully teaching bullies. I can not imagine anything more toxic than that."

"How about a sexist teaching other sexists," T'challa asked her.

"Don't even get me started on that," Melody tells him.

"Well, on the bright side, there will definitely be none of that behavior here," White tells Harry. "Not only is there no point system, but our professors are all professional and treat everyone equally."

"That is certainly a breath of fresh air," Harry says.

"What class do you have next," Hawk asked him.

Harry took out his schedule that had magically appeared in his room when he moved into it. He did not question it and figured that it was a normal thing for Crystal Rose.

"Light & Dark with Professor Nightingale," he said.

"Oh, you will definitely like her," Melody tells him. "Out of all our professors, Professor Nightingale is the fairest out of all of them. Not to mention that she outs the fear of Hades into anyone that dares bully one of the younger students."

"I certainly love that about her," White says.

Harry definitely was looking forward to having a professor like that. It was nice to actually see professors that actually do something about bullies. Especially after he had seen Malfoy actually get detention on their first day at Crystal Rose after he had called the mystic souls "freaks." He was not going to lie about how smug he felt as he watched that happen.

He also was curious about what a class called Light & Dark could be about. He figured that it probably was the closest that Crystal Rose could come to having a Defense Against The Dark Arts class. And while Harry was very curious about what the Crystal Rose/mystic soul point of view of that subject could be, that would also mean that he would have to deal with Umbridge.

So far, Harry had been able to avoid her for the most part. She had not taken being at a mystic soul school very well. In fact, she looked very close to actually throwing a monster-sized tantrum as if she was a little kid that could not have any candy. Plus, she was also not very happy about how she would not have any authority in the school at all. She found that out the hard way when she tried giving a few Crystal Rose students detention for using their powers in the halls, even though there was no actual rule against them doing that since literally every student did. It was different than how no magic could be used in the halls at Hogwarts. But, Professor Lion had luckily been in the same hall as her when she had tried. he had really set her straight about the little amount of power she actually had in their school. And by little power, he really meant no power at all.

The few times that Harry had actually seen her in the halls before he would quickly leave so that he would not be seen by her, he had noticed her looking disgusted by the mystic souls around her. He had asked Sirius about her, but he had no idea who she was since he spent so long in Azkaban. Plus, she was also too old for him to have known her in Hogwarts. So, he asked Neville.

In a rare time when Neville was not soft-spoken at all, he expressed a lot of hatred for Umbridge. He told Harry that she was probably one of the most hated people in the entire ministry. The only reason why she was even in her current position as the minister's senior undersecretary was that she was one of those people that basically fed his ego more than they fed themselves food. She definitely was the type that would get where she was by kissing up to those in power. And since Fudge wants those that are only loyal to him to be around him, that was how she got her current position.

Neville also told Harry that nearly every single law that was against creatures was written and presented by her. No one at the ministry hated creatures more than her. It was because of her that the laws against werewolves being able to marry nor being able to have kids were around. She also was the one that had the law written that vampires could not go hunting in order to feed as well as it being against the law for anyone to donate blood to feed a vampire. She basically made it illegal for them to eat. It certainly made Harry pissed since not only did Remus not deserve such treatment, but creature laws could also affect those like Hagrid and Flitwick since Hagrid was half-giant and Flitwick was half-goblin.

All-in-all, Harry was definitely not looking forward to having to spend any time with her. He just hoped that Professor Nightingale was like Crystal in how she did not take any nonsense from Snape.

Harry walked with T'challa, Hawk, and White to their next class. Melody had to leave since Mermaid currently did not have Light & Dark for their next class. Much to Harry's happiness, he saw Krinos and Neville walking toward the classroom from the opposite end of the hallway. So, that revealed that they were sharing the class with Unicorn.

"Fancy seeing you here," Krinos chuckled as he greeted them.

"This is definitely better than sharing a class with Dryad," Neville said.

"What did Ron and Hermione do," Harry did not even ask if it was anyone else since he knew who was most likely to cause problems.

"If I start complaining now, I will not stop any time soon," Neville said. "I will tell you after class."

"Okay," Harry was not going to press.

He knew that if Neville of all people was this annoyed, then it was definitely something serious.

Everyone then went inside the classroom. All of the classrooms in Crystal Rose were definitely turning out to be really amazing places to see. The Light & Dark classroom definitely embraced what the class was all about. The floors were black tiles with white walls and a ceiling that was both black and white. Floating near the ceiling were glass stars that looked to be made from white and black glass. On the walls were also multiple paintings of what seemed to be winged men and women. But, they did not look like harpies like Hawk. Harry could not put his finger on what type of magical being they were. And where there were not any paintings, there were tall windows that let in plenty of light. In the room were also lines of long desks that could sit multiple people. There was a path in the middle to divide the desks in half so that the students could properly move around the classroom to get to their seats and to the teacher's desk.

At the front of the classroom stood Professor Nightingale. She was a very stunning woman. She had black hair and was dressed in a knee-length black dress covered in silver sparkles, like stars. She had two belts, one pearl and one sapphire. Around her neck were a milky way infinity scarf and an amethyst cape. She had black flats. Out of her back was a pair of pitch-black sparkling wings. But, just like with the paintings, Harry could somehow feel that she was not a harpy. He had no idea how he could tell that, but he could.

In the corner of the room, behind where the teacher's desk was, sat Umbridge on a chair. And she did not look happy. Probably because the class she was sitting in on was being taught by a "creature."

"Welcome, class, to Light & Dark," Nyx welcomed the class inside. "Take a seat and we can get started on the lesson."

The students all took seats. Just as with Potions, everyone could just sit where they wanted to. Harry sat with Neville and Krinos while at the desk behind them were T'challa, White, and Hawk. And because of Hogwarts not having a lot of students in general that were in Winter Wolf and Unicorn, Harry and Neville were the only Hogwarts students in the class. They had been the only ones from their year that had gotten into the two houses.

Professor Nightingale then used her magic to get her supplies for the class. Her hands glowed with a mix of dark purple and black light. A storage closet opened up near the back of the classroom and multiple things started floating out of it. It was a bunch of teaching supplies. All of them were surrounded by the same purple and black light as her hands. Soon, Professor Nightingale was holding a mirror pad while there were three whiteboards floating above her desk. And each whiteboard had a marker to go with it. 

The whiteboard on the right had Light Magic written on it. The one in the middle had Grey Magic written at the top. And the one on at left had Black Magic written on it. 

Harry looked at Krinos, hoping for an explanation.

"You will find out in a second," the nature mage tells him.

"We will start this class off as we do every year on our first day," Nyx tells the class. "We will review different types of magic to place them into one of these three categories. Magic that can be classified as light, black, or grey. For example, can anyone name me a form of light magic?"

She picked White when he raised his hand.

"Healing magic," he said.

Nyx smiled as he used her power to make the marker next to the Light Magic board write down "Healing" on it.

"Very good, Mr.Forest," she tells him. "Out of all the forms of magic that are considered light, healing is the magical art that could not be used to harm anyone. Now, can anyone name me an example of a form of grey magic?"

She called on a Unicorn student. Krinos whispered to Harry that the student's name was Lorelei Eros and she was an empathy mage. She could not only feel the emotions of others, but she could also change them to whatever emotion she wanted. She was also growing powerful enough for her to gain an Empathy Match part of her powers. It was an ability that empaths gain where when they feel the emotions of another and then also touch them, then the empath could copy their powers if they were magical.

"Life magic," she said.

"Correct," Nyx says, having the mark for the Grey Magic bored write that one down. "And would you also care to explain why something called life magic would be grey and not light?"

Lorelei nodded. "Because life magic means that they control the forces of life. Meaning that they would also be able to take away a person's life as well."

"Exactly," Nyx nodded and smiled at her student. "Now, how about one of you give me an example of black magic?"

She called on T'challa next.

"Necromancy," he tells her. "Nobody should ever mess with death magic. It is against the laws of life and magic to try and bring someone back from the dead."

"A perfect example, Mr.Jungle," Nyx had that one be written down by one of the markers as well. "While those with ghost magic help out those that are stuck on the mortal plane, aiding them to move on after dealing with their unfinished business, necromancy is one of the most forbidden magical arts in the world."

That was how the class had been for a good half an hour. A lot of different types of magic were labeled into the three categories. Though, what had shocked Harry and Neville was the number of different magic that actually were in the grey section instead of being light or black. Plus, both of them were still a little confused as to why that one part was labeled as "black magic" instead of "dark magic."

In fact, grey magic had the most magic out of all of the categories. And with each one explained, it definitely made sense why they were there. They really could both be used for good and evil.

"It definitely is a very interesting class," Harry whispered to Neville.

"I had no idea that so many different types of magic could be used for both good and evil," Neville admitted.

Professor Nightingale noticed the two of them talking. But, she smiled at them instead of scolding them.

"Now, I understand that since you both are not from here, you might have some questions," she said to them. "Don't be afraid to ask anything you wish to know about."

Seeing that Neville was still nervous, Harry decided to ask what they were both confused about.

"Why is that board labeled as black magic rather than dark magic," he asked the professor.

She smiled at him again, liking his question.

"That is actually the main part of my class, Mr.Potter," she tells him. "In the magical world, there is a very common mistake about dark and black magic meaning the same thing. But, that is not true. Yes, there is dark magic in the world, but it is black magic that the actual evil magic. Such as the magic that we talked about, so far. Necromancy, soul magic, darklighter magic, fear magic. Those are evil and black magic, yes, but that does not mean that they are dark. Black magic is its own category, not being included in dark, light, or grey magic."

She called on Neville when he raised his hand.

"What makes dark and black magic different," he asked.

"Dark and light are not actual categories of magic," Nyx explained. "Magic, in a general sense, is grey because all magic can be used for good or evil. The magic that we have talked about and placed into these categories can really only be placed there because of where they would lean. Magic is grey, but some do lean more toward good or evil."

"Thank of magic like a rose," Krinos said, summoning one into his hand. "A rose is beautiful and known for being a symbol of love. But yet a rose also has dangerous thorns that can hurt those that get too close. That is just like magic. It is both beautiful and dangerous."

"Very good, Mr.Gardna," Nyx said.

"You can not actually believe this hogwash," Umbridge was apparently done sitting on her butt and doing nothing.

"Excuse me," Nyx raised an eyebrow as she looked at the toad woman. "I believe that as the teacher of this class, I do know what I am talking about. If I didn't, I never would have been allowed to teach here."

"Dark magic is evil, everyone knows that," Umbridge glared at Nyx. "It is why it is illegal."

"It's illegal in magical Britain," Nyx countered. "But, there is a reason why everyone else in the magical world laughs at your country. Making an entire category of magic illegal because of some stupid prejudice that makes no sense at all. No wonder you're all two centuries behind every other magical community in the world."

"You have NO room to insult us when you do not have any right to even be around children," Umbridge yelled. "You're a disgusting creature. You should be in jail for daring to be around the purebloods of Britain."

Harry gulped as he knew that this was probably not going to end well. After all, Angela certainly did not take Malfoy's insults sitting down. So, he worried about what could happen when an adult was the one doing the insulting.

Professor Nightingale's eyes glowed with the same purple and black color as her hands.

"This is the reason why magical Britain is a joke," she said, floating up because of her wings. "Because of horrible people like you that hate against something or someone else out of fear and ignorance. Or, in your case, out of pure stupidity."

"How dare..." Umbridge tried to talk.

"Toad people have no right to talk," Nyx threw Umbridge's own prejudice back in her face when she said that. "How about you leave before you really make me mad."

Umbridge was surrounded by her magic and basically thrown out of the classroom.

"Woah," Harry heard Neville gasp beside him.

He could not blame him for doing so.

Professor Nightingale floated by the door.

"And stay out," she said, using her powers to slam the door in Umbridge's face.

"Okay, it's official," Harry said as he looked at Krinos. "Your school is WAY better than Hogwarts."

Krinos only smirked in response.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-Six: How A Mystic Fights

"So, what did Ron and Hermione do, Neville," Harry asked his friend after they left the Light & Dark classroom.

"Gave us all a headache, that's what," Krinos said. "I had to take three headache potions in that class alone, not to mention how many everyone else took."

"How can any two people be that annoying," T'challa looked disgusted by that type of behavior. "Not even animals behave like that and I should know since I spend a lot of time as a jungle cat."

"The question would be easier if you asked what they didn't do," Neville sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know that I have never been the most outspoken of people, but those two are the most annoying people that I have ever met in my life. And that says something since I grew up with a LOT of pompous purebloods."

"What class did you have before," Harry asked him. "The one you had with them?"

"It was Magical Creatures class with Professor Breeze," Krinos said. "Professor Breeze was talking about the creatures that we would be learning about this year. Including unicorns, griffins, sphinxes, hippocampus, gargoyles, and I think she also mentioned oni and kitsune as well."

"That is all very interesting," Harry says. "Those creatures will certainly be very cool to learn about."

"It seemed like a great class," Neville said. "At least until Ron and Hermione could not keep their mouths shut. Ron went on a giant rant about dark creatures, such as gargoyle and kitsune. He would not shut up about how they were evil and that all we needed to learn was how to kill them."

"That's horrible," White gasped. "Gargoyles may not have the best origins, but they are now used to ward off evil beings all across the world. Especially with mundane churches."

"Tell that to Ron," Harry growled. "Since the moment I met him, Ron has always been the biggest voice when it came to spreading that stupid prejudice against all things Slytherin and anything else even remotely related to black magic. Though, he uses the term dark magic."

"You are obviously going to do very well in Light & Dark class," Hawk chuckled.

"From what I know and have seen, he was basically taught that by his mother," Harry told them all. "Mrs.Weasley has also always been against Slytherins and dark magic. When we were staying with my godfather over the summer, she basically was driving everyone crazy with how she wanted to clean the house from top to bottom. Saying that it would help literally clean away the darkness of his house. My godfather may have come from an evil family, but she still had no right to just take charge like that since he was the only one that even knew where all of his family's cursed objects were. He never even asked her for help. She just decided it because 'there was no way she would allow her family in such an evil house.' It disgusts me how she had no respect for my godfather at all."

He did not say Sirius's name since he did not know how Neville, T'challa, White, and Hawk would react. After all, Sirius was known as a mass murderer. Krinos might know about Sirius, but the others did not. He would have to think about telling them at some point. Especially since Olivia was giving Sirius sanctuary in magical Greece. That will definitely be big news once it gets out. And given Harry's usual luck, it will be getting out even when the Greek magic council was not as corrupt as the British Ministry of Magic. Harry was sure that if anyone actually got corrupt on the council, Olivia would send that person back to the stone age.

"Has it always been so black and white over there," White asked. "And I say that while fully aware of what my name is."

"I bet that it is not the same for everyone, but Slytherins and dark wizards, in general, are all seen as evil," Neville said. "It doesn't matter if they are eleven-year-olds that have just been sorted or adults that used to be in Slytherin. They are all seen as dark and evil."

"I certainly experienced the bias, first hand," Harry says. "My friend, Hagrid, was the one that first took me shopping for my school supplies when I was first going to attend Hogwarts. And he had actually told me that the murderer of my parents had been a Slytherin as well as saying that not a single person in Slytherin has not gone bad."

"You were eleven years old when he told you that," Hawk was horrified. "Who in their right mind tells an impressionable eleven-year-old something like that?"

"No one has ever accused Hagrid of being the sanest person in the world," Neville chuckled.

"So true," Harry agreed with his friend. "After all, you can not say that he is not insane when he thinks that a three-headed dog and a giant spider would make good pets."

"What," the Crystal Rose students all gasped.

Neville also looked so shocked when he heard that. He already knew about Fluffy, but he had never heard of Aragog and the other spiders in the forest.

"Don't ask," Harry did not have the time to unravel that before their next class started.

The other boys all just accepted that as they turned back to Neville and Krinos to continue about the issues of two members of the Annoying Trio.

"It only actually gets worse from there," Neville does continue without being asked. "Professor Breeze scolded Ron and gave him a warning about not talking about things he did not understand."

"And I am guessing that he did not like that," T'challa asked him.

"Not liking it is an understatement," Krinos said. "He went on an even bigger and louder rant that she was the one that did not know what she was talking about since she was 'obviously' just biased toward the creatures since she is also a 'monster.' And by a 'monster,' he did mean her being a mystic soul."

T'challa's eyes turned into emerald cat eyes as he growled, angry at the word. Hawk's fingers almost became bird-like talons at his anger from the word. And White's teeth became fangs. All of them were obviously pissed at one of their teachers being called that.

"It seems that he did not learn his lesson when that Malfoy boy got detention for calling us 'freaks," T'challa said.

"He never has been able to keep his opinions to himself," Harry shook his head, more glad than ever that he had been separating himself from Ron, his sister, and Hermione.

"Professor Breeze gave him a week of detention and told him to leave if he could not keep his opinions to himself," Neville said.

"I think she was a bit too merciful," Krinos admitted. "I would have turned him into a tree if I was allowed to do that."

"What did the other trees ever do to you to deserve the punishment of having that brat being turned into one of them," White looked offended at the idea of Ron being a tree.

"Hey, I'm a nature mage," Krinos reminded. "That is the kindest threat that I can ever give anyone."

"Ron did end up being quiet for the rest of class, luckily," Neville continued. "But, he was not the only one that interrupted class."

"Let me take a wild guess," Harry said sarcastically. "Hermione."

"Got it in one," Krinos says. "I have no idea what her problem is, but it is like she can not go five seconds without hearing the sound of her own voice. She would not stop interrupting class to talk. It was driving everyone crazy."

"There was a girl that was also a Unicorn in our hear that had daisies in her hair," Neville says. "And even she looked ready to kill Hermione just to make her shut up."

"Wow," White said. "That's Daisy Marvel. She's a sky dragon witch, but also one of the sweetest girls in the school. The fact that even she was that angry really says something."

"I wanted to strangle her with my vines," Krinos growled. "Every time Professor Breeze asked a question, she would be waving her hand around like a manic to get noticed. And even when the professor would call on someone else, she would shout out the answer anyway."

"Professor Breeze scolded her multiple times and told her to stop," Neville tells them. "Hermione just refused to listen and kept doing it. It was only when Professor Breeze actually cast a silencing spell on her that she stopped talking."

"Is she always like that," Krinos asked Harry and Neville.

"That is definitely Hermione," Harry sighed. "She thinks that she is always right and that everyone else is wrong. Dumbledore is the only person that she thinks is actually smarter than her. Whenever she is in class, she answers the questions no matter if anyone else is called on or not. And not because she is eager or anything else. It is because she actually believes that only she has the answers. I have even seen her scolding other students and trying to demand that they study just when she wants them to."

"Great, so she has a superiority complex," T'challa facepalmed. "Someone needs to teach her a lesson on reality."

"Hopefully that will happen over the year," Harry said. "Because it really is annoying."

"Yeah," Neville agreed. "Plus, no one else is preparing for class because they know that she will never let them answer a question asked to the class."

"Well, she certainly will not be allowed to do that here," Hawk smirked. "And if being punished by the teachers will not teach her a lesson, then it will be taught to her by the students in Dueling class."

"Isn't that the one we have next," Harry got out his schedule.

"We have that next as well," Krinos said. "Winter Wolf and Unicorn seem to have a lot of classes together this year."

"Better than with Dryad," Neville says, the others all nodding in agreement.

"I have been waiting so long to see you guys actually fight," Harry got adorably excited again. "This is going to be a great class."

The frustration and annoyance caused by Ron and Hermione slowly faded away as they all headed outside. The Dueling classroom was a mostly outdoor class that took place in an area with a magical protective bubble around it. That kept any attacks from escaping into the rest of the school by accident. They did not want a fire mage to accidentally destroy the school, after all.

It was actually a really cool classroom since it was basically like an arena. The entire arena classroom was circular that actually reminded Harry of a miniature Quidditch field. There were benches around the edges of the arena classroom, which was where all the students were going to sit before the class actually started. Since there were no desks, that was where they would sit when they would not be taking part in the actual dueling.

Professor Lectic stood in front of the class, looking ready to start another one. He definitely looked like a warrior since he was all dressed in black leather that resembled armor over his upper body while he also wore tan pants with dark brown boots. Harry actually thought that he looked a lot like Hiccup Haddock from the How To Train Your Dragon movies. The leather armor, armbands, and leather boots really did make him look like how Hiccup did in the latter two movies. It also helped that he had the same type of brown hair as well as green eyes.

"Welcome to Dueling, everyone," he greeted them all. "In this class, you will all be learning combat skills to fight against any opponent. By practicing against your fellow students, you will be able to learn how to fight against a variety of different powers as well as being able to gain experience against opponents that are not demons."

The students all paid a lot of attention to what their professor was saying. He may give the same welcoming speech every year, but they know that it is important. He is telling the truth. After all, not every mystic soul is good just like not every human being good. So, they needed the practice. Krinos's own brothers were definitely the prime examples of mystic souls that were evil.

Neville, of course, was more nervous than others. Harry always did feel bad about his friend since he really was never confident with his magic skills. Though, Harry knew that was because Neville's grandmother refused to allow him to use any wand other than his father's wand. The wand obviously did not work well with Neville. One of the first things Harry learned in the magical world was that the wand chooses the wizard, so Neville's grandmother was actually stunting his magical growth by forcing him to use the wrong wand.

So, when Neville raised his hand to ask a question, Harry knew what he was gonna ask.

"Is it safe for those that are not dueling," he asked.

"It is perfectly safe," Andy tells Neville with a smile. "There are protective barriers around every bench and the seating area in general. Magic works completely on the duel field, but the areas around the seats are protected against the spells that are always flying around."

"Okay," Neville accepted that.

"For all our new students, both from Hogwarts and from those that transferred here, how about we give an example," the professor said. "Do we have two volunteers to duel?"

To no one's surprise, and something that made Harry even more excited, Krinos was the first to raise his hand. Harry had been dying to see what Krinos could do with his powers while fighting. And much to his excitement once again, Hawk was the other one that volunteered. As someone that was a harpy, his magic was also something Harry wanted to see.

The professor gladly welcomed them both onto the duel field. Both of them removed the traditional hooded cloaks that all Crystal Rose students wore. It was basically like how Hogwarts students wore their robes. It was the only piece of uniform that Crystal Rose had.

"Excited, Harry," Nevill chuckled as he saw Harry's face.

"You have no idea," Harry looked to be bouncing in his seat.

Krinos and Hawk stood across from each other on opposite ends of the duel field. Both of them looked ready to fight. Hawk was already floating above the ground because of his wings.

"Remember," Andy tells his students. "No serious injuries, no maiming, and no murder attempts. The barriers still stop any and all spells that would cause those things to happen. It knows your intentions. The first to either knock out their opponent or make them surrender wins. Duel!"

Krinos and Hawk got right to work. Their eyes glowed as their magic was instantly used.

"Nature's assault," Krinos cast.

Instantly, giant vines grew from around Krinos and shot right at Hawk. The harpy boy took off into the air at high speeds. He ducked and dived and did everything he could to dodge the vines that Krinos had sent at him. It was surprisingly elegant, the way that Hawk flew around as he dodged.

As Hawk's eyes glowed, small storm clouds formed in his hands. 

"Harpy frostbite," he cast.

Bolts of blue energy came from the clouds and hit the vines that Krinos had used. The vines were instantly covered in ice. Krinos could no longer move them.

"Crud," the nature mage swore.

"Harpy thunderclap," Hawk cast next.

The clouds in his hands then let out a sonic boom blast of thunder. Not only did it shatter the frozen vines, but it also pushed back Krinos a few feet as well because of the force of the sound.

"My sister is a music mage, Hawk," Krinos called out to him. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me. Nature's storm."

Krinos created a twister-like storm of green wind, leaves, flower petals, and twigs. He sent that right at Hawk, hoping the wind would throw him for a loop since Hawk being able to fly was certainly a very big advantage. Hawk braced for impact as the spell washed over him.

"They are both so cool," Harry was mesmerized by the fight.

"Krinos and Hawk are two of the most powerful students in our year," White said. "If there is anyone that would put on a good show with a fight, it would be the two of them."

Hawk was fighting against the wind from the nature storm spell. As a harpy, his wings were naturally tough and he was able to fly in even the most extreme weather. But, this storm was magical, so that automatically made it much harder for him to fly in it.

"I've been in tougher storms than this," Hawk said to taunt Krinos. "Harpy whirlwind."

Hawk started spinning with the clouds still in his hands. The wind moved around him until he was basically surrounded by his own personal tornado. Using the force of his own wind, he was able to break out of Krinos's spell.

"I always have loved a fight that is actually a challenge for me," Krinos said as he smiled at Hawk.

"Well, the only thing more unpredictable than the ocean is the weather," Hawk smirked back at his friend.

"Believe me, I already know that," Krinos chuckled.

He sent Harry a wink, which caused him to turn slightly red from embarrassment. He was still working on controlling his powers.

"Harpy lighting strike," Hawk then cast.

From the clouds in his hands came multiple bolts of lightning. Krinos had to work fast as he floral swirled all around the duel field in order to dodge the lightning. He had to learn how to do that ever since he first saw Harry's powers at work.

In retaliation for the lightning bolts, Krinos grew a giant root that had big green bulbs on it. Krinos launched the bulbs at Hawk and they all started exploding around him in big explosions of petals and leaves. Krinos had called it his "nature's bomb" spell. Hawk could barely stay in the air because of all the petals everywhere. And if that was not enough, Krinos followed that up with a "nature's petal dance" spell that made all of the flower petals start swirling around him in a flower petal tornado.

"Krinos does not mess around, does he," Neville asked the other two mystic souls with them.

"This is nothing," T'challa says. "I have known Krinos for years and he could definitely be a lot more dangerous than this. He just doesn't want to hurt Hawk."

"Krinos puts the fear of the gods into any demon that he meets," White tells Neville and Harry. "I doubt there is even a single demon that is not afraid of him."

Hawk was forced to come closer to the ground, which meant that he was closer to where Krinos had the advantage. No place was better for a nature mage than on the ground. It was even a known fact that nature and earth mages get weaker when they are away from the ground. It is why Krinos, White, and other mages like them do not go on boat trips or fly on mundane planes.

"Harpy blizzard," Hawk was quick to cast when he was able to properly aim a spell.

"Nature's sunlight," Krinos cast as his counterspell.

Hawk's storm clouds unleashed a strong blizzard. The icy wind and snow headed right for Krinos. But as his counter, Krinos grew two giant sunflowers that shined sunlight beams at the blizzard. The two spells collided in the air, making a very bright light.

"What a time to have sensitive feline eyes," T'challa had to cover his eyes.

By the time the light cleared, the flowers and the blizzard had both vanished. But, Krinos had also vanished.

"What in the world," Hawk swore.

"Nature's prison," Krinos cast, having floral swirled behind Hawk while the light distracted him.

Hawk was then trapped inside of a giant flower that had suddenly grown under him. Only his head was poking out. He struggled, but he could not get out. His powers also failed as well.

"You always have been really sneaky, Krinos," Hawk chuckled.

Krinos walked in front of his friend as he was smirking.

"Sneaky wins duels, Hawk," he stated.

"Is it wrong that I am both terrified and amazed by him at the same time," Harry asked the other three.

"No," was the reply from Neville, T'challa, and White.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Olivia Is The Best Lawyer Ever

Harry had been really nervous when he had woken up that day. 

He had been doing really well in his Crystal Rose classes. All of his new friends were turning out to be a lot better than Ron or Hermione could ever dream of being. Neville, Fred, and George were also getting along with everyone as well. Luna looked to have been settling into Unicorn very nicely. And the teachers actually punished bullies whenever they would do anything wrong. Malfoy had gotten A LOT of detentions in the first week of school.

So, the question really was "What did Harry have to be nervous about?" And the answer was that it was the day that Sirius would officially be given sanctuary in magical Greece. Olivia had finally worked out all of the paperwork as well as introducing Sirius to the rest of the Magic Council. Once the council had heard Sirius's story directly from him, that gave them an even bigger reason to give him sanctuary. Especially when Sirius talked about how much he wanted to protect Harry. Sirius's desire to protect his godson made the council go even more in his favor.

Harry knew that Olivia would not let anything happen to Sirius, but that did not stop him from worrying. He always worried when it came to Sirius. He was the only real family that he had left after his parents were killed by Voldemort. He knew Sirius loved him and he did not want to lose that.

There was a knock on his door as he was getting ready.

"Come in," Harry called out as he was tying his shoe laces.

T'challa was the one that came in after Harry said that he could. Harry smiled at him, having come to really see the jungle cat mage as a great friend. He sat down on the edge of Harry's bed, right next to him.

"Sirius is going to be fine, Harry," T'challa tells him.

Harry looked at him, shocked.

"How did you know," he asked him.

"I do believe that you know my father," T'challa says. "Kingsley Shacklebolt."

Harry felt that he needed a reboot after being told that. He had definitely always liked Kingsley from the moment that he met the tall Auror. The man obviously was not corrupt like every other person in the ministry. Plus, he had actually also tried to help when they still had to deal with the so-called hearing for the use of underage magic. It helped that Sirius had said how after he had become a full Auror, Kingsley was actually the first and only other Auror that he managed to train before they had thrown him into Azkaban.

Harry also was not blind. He had seen the way that Sirius would look at Kingsley whenever he knew that the Auror was not looking at him. Sirius had told him about how Kingsley had only been a couple of years behind him and the other Marauders back in Hogwarts. And even when Kingsley had been a Ravenclaw, they had still been friends. But the way that Sirius would always smile when talking about Kingsley as well as always stealing looks at the man, Harry was sure that Sirius felt something more for him than just friendship.

Though, considering how Harry was with Fred and George, he was certain that he should be banned from matchmaking. His own disaster of a love life was proof enough that he should not meddle in the love lives of anyone else. 

"Kingsley is your dad," Harry was shocked.

T'challa nodded. "He adopted me when I was three. My magical birth father had passed away, which made my mundane birth mother abandon me since the last thing she wanted was a magical child even when she had been married to a magical man. Dad found me since he had been visiting his own family at the time since he was born in the same magical country as I was. I did keep my birth father's last name, but dad is fine with that."

"There are magical countries out there," Harry could not stop himself from asking.

T'challa nodded again. "Yes, there are. Most are islands that are magically hidden from the mundane world, but there are a few on land also hidden from sight. Myself and my dad are both from the magical African country of Oerwoud. It is a magical country quite literally hidden in the trees."

"You... You mean..." Harry could not help but look up as if he would see a house in a tree even when he was in his room.

"Yes, our entire country is literally up in the tree branches," T'challa tells him. "To outsiders, our country just looks like a giant jungle. But, up in the branches are hidden buildings, pathways made from rope bridges, and many other things. It's unique and we would not have it in any other way."

"If I had a home like that, I would never want to leave," Harry was in complete awe of a magical country like that.

T'challa chuckled. "It certainly raises questions about why dad had chosen to leave and head to magical Britain of all places. Especially given the fact that it is one of the most backward places in the world to live in."

"Is Kingsley a mystic soul as well," Harry could not help but ask.

"Yes, he is," T'challa did not want to lie about that. "My father's power is known as Requip Magic. He stores weapons and armor in his own pocket dimension, able to use them at any time he wants to."

"Sounds like something out of an anime," Harry said. "Not that I have ever watched any anime ever."

T'challa chuckled again. "I'm pretty sure there is a character on one magical anime that has that magic. But, the person that wrote that show had to get the idea from somewhere."

"Krinos has been telling me how much magic really is all around us," Harry said.

"And there always will be," T'challa says. "Without magic, life would be very boring."

Harry did have to agree with T'challa. Before he learned about magic and entered the magical world, his life had been horrible. Basically being a slave to the Dursleys while also having no support system at all. Everyone around him always mistreated him no matter who they were. And anyone that tried to treat him with an ounce of care or respect was either chased away or convinced by the Dursley's lies very quickly.

And it was the magical world where he finally found somewhere that had those that cared about him. Sirius, Remus, Olivia, Krinos, and so many others were proving to be the best people that anyone could ever meet. He just wished that he had lived in magical Greece from the start rather than having to deal with the Dursleys, Dumbledore, and the annoying trio. The only bad part about that would have been that he never would have met Fred and George.

But as he allowed his mind to wander, he got worried for Sirius again. Umbridge was already proving herself to be a big problem and Harry knew that she worked for the ministry. Even with Sirius being a mystic soul on top of being protected by more mystic souls, he worried if the ministry would send dementors after Sirius. He had no idea if mystic soul magic could affect dementors.

"I know that it's silly to worry about Sirius," Harry said. "Olivia would never let anything happen to him, but I..."

Harry cut himself off before he could say anything that would really make him go to the worst-case scenario. T'challa put his hand on Harry's, helping him calm down.

"It's not silly at all," T'challa tells him. "You obviously really care about Sirius. It is only natural to worry about someone you love when they are in any type of dangerous situation."

"I guess you would know what you are talking about," Harry pushed some of his hair out of his eyes. "Being the son of an Auror would do that to you."

T'challa nodded. "I do worry about my dad a lot regardless of how I know he is powerful enough to get out of any situation he wants to. I know that there is no way that he would actually get seriously hurt, but I will still always worry about him."

"Sirius is just the only person left that is my real family," Harry wiped his eyes to stop himself from crying. "He's my godfather. He's one of the few people that care about Harry Potter and not about the Boy-Who-Lived. I can't lose him."

"And you won't," T'challa comforts him. "Sirius will not only have Olivia and the council protecting him, but he will have all of Crystal Rose behind him as well."

"Why are you all doing this," Harry could not help but ask. "None of you have any reason to help us. And since we are from magical Britain, that gives you even less of a reason to help us. Why not just leave Voldemort and Dumbledore to us and keep living the great lives that you already have."

T'challa gave him a soft smile.

"Harry, there is something about mystic souls that you will learn as you grow more into your powers," he says to him. "We will never leave anyone behind that needs our help whenever we can do something about it. Yes, there are evil mystic souls just as there are evil people for every other type of person our there, but most mystic souls will always do their best to help others."

"I just... I don't like how all of you are involved in this," Harry admitted. "I love having people like you and Krinos as my friends, but this fight isn't yours. Voldemort has never attacked a mystic soul before and Dumbledore will only be causing problems here because he was invited here as part of some master plan that Olivia and Sirius came up with. None of you deserve to be involved in this stupid war."

"You do not deserve it, either, Harry," T'challa tells him. "We are helping because it is the right thing to do. We all know that we could have easily just ignored what was happening in Britain and lived our own lives in peace. But that is not our way. Helping those in need and doing the right thing will always be what we do. To us, there is really never a choice between doing what is right and what is easy. We will always choose to do what is right."

"I can never thank you guys enough," Harry says.

T'challa gave Harry a hug, comforting him even more.

"Crystal Rose is a giant family and you are now a part of that family, Harry," he tells him.

"Thanks," Harry says before both of them got off his bed. "Now, we should probably get down to breakfast before all the good stuff runs out."

"Even if something does, our spells can summon some more," T'challa chuckled.

The two of them both got up and headed to the Main Gallery. Since unlike how they all have to sit at their own house tables at Hogwarts, they can sit wherever they want at Crystal Rose. So, Harry and T'challa joined Krinos, Neville, and Luna at the Unicorn table.

"Morning, mates," Harry greeted them.

"Hey, Harry," Neville greeted him back.

"Hello, Storm Mage," Luna smiled at him.

Harry had already been so thirsty when he had sat down. So, he had quickly filled a glass of orange juice for himself. And he was unfortunate enough to have been drinking it when Luna had greeted him. He instantly started choking on his drink from how shocked he was. T'challa had to hit him on the back a few times to get him to stop coughing.

"How in the... When did you... What in the name of..." Harry could not find the right words as he stared at Luna in shock.

Luna giggled. "The wrackspurts told me about the storm mage finally being woken up. He deserves it. Especially with all the nargles around."

She ate her muffin as if she was talking about the weather or something else boring and simple.

"I... uh... I have no idea what is going on," Krinos admitted.

"I think that is just how Luna talks," Neville said.

"That is better than what the nargles say about me," Luna said.

Before either Krinos or T'challa could ask what nargles were, alerts started going off all over the Main Gallery and probably all over the school as well. All of the alert sounds were different, but still obviously alerts. Krinos and T'challa both pulled out their mirror phones since they got the alert as well.

"Well, it seems that The Oracle has released probably the biggest story of the year," Krinos said.

"The Oracle is our magical country's newspaper," T'challa tells the confused British people.

Harry looked over at T'challa's mirror phone while Neville and Luna looked at Krinos's. With a tap of their screens, they both used the holographic system of their mirror phones that projected the article over their mirror phones to make it easier to read.

"Another Failure By British Magical World! Lord of British Black Family Imprisoned Without Trial! Lord Black Given Sanctuary!"

Harry could not help but instantly smile. Sirius's story was being told and it was definitely showing more of the corruption of the British ministry. He could not wait to see the look on Dumbledore and Umbridge's faces when they hear about the article. He read the article.

"The Magic Council is not known for really taking many cases from other countries if it does not involve a Greek citizen. So, imagine this reporter's shock when the Council actually took a case from the backward country of magical Britain. But, as this case was presented, I could not help but tear up as I learned everything that had happened and why this case was brought to Greek Magic Council.

Lord Sirius Black of magical Britain's well-known Black family had contacted Council Member Olivia Gardna through her cousin when Lord Black had been trying to reach young Mr.Gardna's parents, unaware that they were no longer with us. Mr.Gardna learned of Lord Black's story and, aware of how magical Britain would never admit their fault in what had happened, brought the case to his cousin.

Council Member Gardna was infuriated when Lord Black told her what had happened to him. Lord Black told his story in front of the entire council in order to convince them why he truly did wish for sanctuary in our country. As someone that used to be a lawyer, Council Member Gardna represented him when he stood before her colleagues.

Lord Black had only been twenty-one when not only did he lose two of his best friends on top of having his beloved godson taken from him, but he was also that young when his own government sent him off to prison with no trial at all. Lord Black told of how his two dear friends, James and Lily Potter, had been hidden under a spell when they became targets for Britain's Dark Lord Voldemort. But, unfortunately, the spell's secret keeper had been a mole the entire time. Peter Pettigrew had been a Death Eater minion of Voldemort. He told his master where the Potter family had been hiding, the Dark Lord soon going after them.

Lord Black could hardly stop himself from crying as he recounted how he entered the house and found his brother in all but blood dead on the stairs, obviously having tried to help his wife and son escape. The story only gets worse as Lord Black talks of how his heart had been broken when he rushed to the nursery to see his godson, Harry Potter, crying his eyes out in his crib. The poor baby was trying to get to his mother, who was dead right in front of the crib.

Lord Black instantly tried to comfort his godson while also trying not to break down from seeing two of his best friends dead. Unfortunately, the pair were interrupted by a friend that had been sent to collect Harry. It is unknown how that person was aware of Mr.Potter's survival in order to send the friend, but Lord Black looked even more heartbroken as he continued his story.

Lord Black had thought that his friend was going to take baby Mr.Potter to the magical hospital or to the Hogwarts hospital wing to be checked out by famous healer, Poppy Pomfrey. And being as he had been an Auror, magical Britain's law enforcement, Lord Black went out to arrest Pettigrew for his crimes. But that is when everything went wrong. When Lord Black confronted the traitor, Pettigrew distracted him by blowing up the street by casting a spell at a muggle gas line. Then, he changed into his illegal animagus form, a rat, and ran into the sewers.

When other Aurors arrived, they never even tried to question Lord Black. They stunned and arrested him. But that is when an even more heartbreaking event occurred. Given that Lord Black was a member of the Black family, which most of magical Britain viewed as evil, Lord Black was not given a trial, questioned, or anything else that should have happened to actually get true justice served. Instead, Lord Black went straight from being arrested to being thrown into magical Britain's horrible prison, Azkaban. 

The entire council was disgusted when they heard of such a horrible thing had happened. Especially since even for those that have just met Lord Black, they all can see the love in lord Black's eyes when he talked about his godson.

Lord Black then told of his escape from Azkaban. He had seen a newspaper article about another magical family. And in the included picture, one of the members of the family had a very familiar rat with him. Lord Black immediately knew that it was Pettigrew. And when he saw the date, he realized that Mr.Potter was currently attending Hogwarts with the same young boy that had the rat in the picture. He feared for his godson, so he managed to escape the prison in order to protect him.

Yet, even after being out of prison for over two years, Lord Black's case remains the same. No one has bothered to even try to see if he was actually guilty of the crimes he was accused of. He is a wanted fugitive with an order out for him to have his soul sucked out the moment that he is found. Not once has anyone ever tried to actually investigate as they just want everything to be swept under the rug so that their own reputations are not ruined.

So, after hearing Lord Black's story on top of also seeing his memories and having the truth spell used on him, the council made their decision. They agreed with Council Member Gardna and officially granted Lord Black sanctuary in magical Greece.

Lord Black is now officially a Greek citizen and no longer able to be reached by the British Ministry of Magic. Lord Black is under the protection of magical Greece.

This reporter hopes that the British ministry gets every bit of karma coming to them."

Harry could not stop smiling as he read that. Sirius was finally free. They could finally be a family. He looked at Krinos and said only one thing.

"Your cousin is the best lawyer EVER," Harry stated.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Padfoot & Boreas

Harry was practically going a happy dance from where he was sitting. Something that both Krinos and T'challa found to be really funny. Neville was still in shock over everything that he had just learned. Luna, on the other hand, looked as calm as ever.

Harry was smiling so much that he had no idea that his mouth could form a smile as large as the one on his face.

"Congratulations, Harry," Krinos tells him. "I knew that Sirius would be given sanctuary and the freedom that he deserves."

"I just... It's almost hard to believe," Harry admitted. "I have wanted this for so long that it's almost like a dream now that it has finally happened."

"Everyone deserves to have some type of parent around, Harry," Krinos says. "After our parents were killed, Melody and I were lucky to have Olivia and her parents."

"And I was lucky for my father to adopt me," T'challa added. "Family is the most important thing in the world. Treasure any family you have as long as you truly see them and want them as your family."

While Harry was shocked and happy beyond belief, he could not help but still look at Neville. Neville did not know about Sirius, yet, beyond what had happened in their third year at Hogwarts. So, it must be really shocking to Neville that Sirius was innocent the entire time. Plus, there was also the revelation about a mass murderer pretending to be Ron's rat. Which meant that he had slept in the same dorm as a murderer for three years and never knew.

"Sirius... Black... is your... godfather," Neville finally managed to find his voice.

Harry nodded. "Yes, he is. I had been planning to tell you, Neville, but I just could never find the right moment. After all, how do you tell one of your best friends that your godfather is a suspected mass murderer that is actually innocent but your corrupt government will never let you prove it?"

Neville looked to be somewhere between happy that Harry was calling him one of his best friends and still shocked at what he had just heard.

"Neville Longbottom is not here at the moment, please leave a message after the beep," Luna said. "Beep."

That actually got them all to laugh at the very mundane joke that Luna had just told. It fit their current situation while also just being so generally funny. Plus, Luna is a third-generation witch, so her knowing a joke used by mundanes made it extra funny.

"You really are full of surprises, aren't you, Luna," Harry chuckled.

"The best people are," Luna giggled. "Just ask the redhead doppelgangers."

Krinos and T'challa raised their eyebrows at that.

"I think she means Fred and George," Neville said.

"Oh," both the mystic soul teens realized.

Neville turned back to Harry.

"While it would have been nice to know all this sooner, I am still happy for you, Harry," he tells him while smiling. "I would give anything for a miracle like what just happened for you."

Harry put his hand on Neville's shoulder.

"I am sure a miracle will happen sooner or later, Nev," he says. "If I can have a family, then so can you."

"Thanks, Harry," Neville smiled at him.

Harry knew that Neville did have some hope for his parents. Not just because potions are always being invented on top of how there could be some international potions that might work, but there is also Hestia. Harry thought that if Neville would just explain to Hestia about his situation and then ask her to try, then Hestia would be more than happy to try and help Neville's parents. Hestia was a really sweet girl and would probably love to help Neville and his parents.

The only real issue with that would be somehow sneaking Hestia into Britain and St.Mungos as well as giving her the needed time to heal the Longbottom parents. They might need some extra planning for that. And maybe some extra help as well. Krinos and T'challa have both previously mentioned a friend of theirs that had the power to turn invisible. That could definitely come in handy in the future.

"So, are you going to contact Sirius soon, Harry," Krinos asked him.

"I am sure that he is waiting for you to call him," T'challa added.

"Or he is just waiting for you to notice that he is standing in the doorway," Luna says, eating more of her muffin.

"What makes you say that," Neville asked her.

Luna then simply pointed in the direction of the door to the Main Gallery. And sure enough, there was Sirius standing in the doorway. There were not a lot of Hogwarts students in the Main Gallery for breakfast, yet, but the ones that were looked ready to freak out even after the article that had come out.

"Sirius," Harry instantly was up and running across the room.

He almost jumped into Sirius's arms as he gave him a giant hug. Sirius was giving Harry the biggest hug that he could.

"I'm here, pup," Sirius says as he pets Harry's head. "I'm never leaving you."

Harry did not even try to let go of Sirius. This was the first time that they could really be a family in public. He could not be happier about that.

Olivia walked in behind Sirius, a bright smile forming on her face as she saw the happy reunion between Harry and Sirius. Krinos and Melody walked over to her.

"I don't think Harry would ever really know how to thank you, Liv," Krinos tells her.

"Seeing those two together like this is more than enough to thank me," Olivia responded, smiling at the small family.

"I wish we could have a moment like that," Melody said, sadness in her eyes as she thought about her and Krinos' parents.

Olivia pulled both of her cousins into a hug.

"I know," she gently tells them. "But, at least we know that another family is getting the reunion that they deserve."

Unfortunately, as usual, all good things come to an end. And the end to this really sweet and loving moment came from hearing the voice of someone that literally no one liked. In fact, most of them were sure that the ministry was glad to not have her around for a year.

"Sirius Black," Umbridge was glaring at them as she approached them. "You are under arrest, by order of the Minister of Magic!"

"Are you dumb or just oblivious," Krinos raised an eyebrow.

"How dare you," Umbridge looked really offended at being insulted by a teenager.

"My brother does have a point," Melody said. "There was literally just an article telling not just about his innocence, but also that he was given sanctuary here as well. So, you really are either stupid or oblivious."

"Probably both," Krinos smirked.

"You do not have the power to arrest him," Olivia stepped forward. "I, and the Magic Council, officially gave him sanctuary. So, unless you want to go to war with us, back off."

Olivia was certainly not going to take any nonsense from anyone. She has dealt with far too many idiots in her life to ever have any type of tolerance for people like Umbridge.

"He is a mass murderer and he will be sent back to England to be kissed," Umbridge was not giving up that easily. "Of course, monsters like you would protect someone like Black."

There were a number of students in the Main Gallery who all looked ready to attack the toad woman. They were really reaching their limit when it came to people like her. If it were not for the fact that there were those like Fred, George, Cedric, Luna, Neville, and other Hogwarts students and staff that were civil with them, then the school would most likely turn into a big battlefield. Of course, it's not like wand-users would ever stand a chance against mystic souls.

"The only monster here is the woman that looks like the unholy combination of a human and a toad," Krinos shot at her. "I've met furies that look better than you and they are literally the best punishers in the Underworld."

That got a lot of laughs from those around them. It was pretty well-known that everyone thought that Umbridge looked like a toad. Even back in Britain, she was known as a toad. Not that anyone ever said that to her face until now. Krinos definitely never held back when it came to roasting people. He might not be a fire mage, but he knew how to make sure others were embarrassed if they messed with him or those he cared about. 

"Enough! I will have order," Umbridge once again was trying to show dominance and gain power.

Of course, she failed. There was no way that any student or staff member of Crystal Rose would allow her to have any type of power in their school. Especially after she yelled that when one student actually picked up a bowl of tomato jam and threw it at her.  It landed right on her head and the jam was soon dripping down her head and all over her clothes.

"You think you have power, but you don't," Olivia tells the toad woman. "Sirius has been given sanctuary here. He is now a Greek citizen. Neither you nor anyone from Britain has the right or power to do anything to him. The fact that after he has been questioned and proven innocent with our truth spell and yet you still want him to have his soul sucked out shows how much of a backward country magical Britain is."

"You WILL listen to me," Umbridge screamed at Olivia. "He is a criminal and nothing you monsters say will prove that he is not guilty!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't understand you," Olivia says. "I don't speak stupid."

As much as they all wanted to laugh at Olivia's very good sense of humor, they had something else to react to first. Umbridge had taken out her wand and was aiming it at her. Despite how Olivia could handle herself, there is no such thing as "every mystic soul for themself" while in Crystal Rose. Everyone was like family in the school, so they always stood together.

Krinos and Melody were instantly in front of their cousin, their eyes and necklaces both glowing. T'challa, White, and Charlotte all instantly joined them as well. Above them floated Hawk and Vallia. All of them were ready to fight.

"Make one move and you'll find out just how useless that little stick is compared to us," Melody glared at Umbridge.

"Threaten our cousin and the last thing you'll see will be a bunch of plants heading your way," Krinos basically growled.

Charlotte was looking through her book of fairy tales. Her magical book was literally endless with a constant flow of different fairy tales and myths from all over the world. It was lucky that her magic allowed her to find the right story whenever she needed to find a specific one.

"What are you looking for," White whispered to her.

"The right punishment," Charlotte answered. "Do you have any idea how many types of bad things happen to people in the older fairy tales? I'm looking for the right punishment for this woman."

"Got any ideas from it, yet," White asked her.

"I think the original versions of Cinderella or Hansel & Gretel by the Brothers Grimm both are very promising," Charlotte smirked. "In the original Cinderella, the stepsisters had their feet mutilated by the stepmother to make them fit into the slipper and they later had their eyes destroyed by doves. In the original Hansel and Gretel, there really is no better punishment than to shove an evil witch into her own oven to cook her alive."

"Remind me never to anger you," White tells her.

The fairy tale mage only smirked in response.

The rest of them were still glaring at Umbridge. She had not stopped pointing her wand at Olivia even with all of them being against her. Her arrogance was another thing that was really getting on their nerves.

"As if a bunch of children can stand against a REAL witch," Umbridge was very confident for a woman covered in tomato jam. "Sirius Black WILL be coming back to England to face the kiss."

"I have a better idea," Olivia said. "How about you spend some time as a statue."

She flicked her hands at Umbridge and she instantly froze. Olivia's ability to freeze people in time really was one of the best powers ever.

"You two can go and spend some family time together," Krinos tells Harry and Sirius. "We can handle this annoyance."

"We've dealt with worse things than a wand-user with a superiority complex," Melody giggled.

"If you vanquish her like one of your demons, I don't think that you will hear anyone complaining," Harry chuckled.

"Don't tempt our cousin, Harry," Melody giggled as she said that.

"Oh, I would never vanquish her," Olivia gasped in fake offense. "I would just banish her back to the Ice Age. There is nothing that she can annoy back then."

"You really are entertaining, Olivia," Sirius chuckled.

"I try to be," Olivia smirked.

Sirius and Harry then walked out of the Main Gallery and started walking around outside to have some privacy. Especially since they were both sure that Dumbledore and the annoying trio were going to try and track them down once they caught wind of the article. So, they wanted to take the chance to have some alone time when they could.

They were both aware that one of the last things that those four wanted was for them to have time alone. It was one of the reasons why they hated how Harry was staying up on the family floor with Sirius when they were staying at Number 12. Harry thought that it was because they were jealous that he was getting close to someone that was not them. Sirius knew that it was because they wanted to keep Harry as isolated as possible so that they could easily manipulate him when they would be the only ones that he was close to.

"I'm so glad that you are free now, Sirius," Harry could not stop hugging his godfather.

"I am too, pup," Sirius smiled at how adorable his godson was being. "Olivia really is a miracle worker."

"I can see how she was able to become a member of their council at such a young age," Harry remarked.

"She knew how much I needed to be free for you," Sirius softly smiled at Harry. "From what we know about them, the Gardna family really does understand how important that family is."

"You will always be my family, Sirius," Harry said. "And there was actually something that I have been wondering about for a while."

"And what would that be, pup," Sirius asked him.

"Well, the doors to the houses here are all magical," Harry explained. "They recognize the students of the houses as well as the staff. So, when T'challa, Hawk, and Charlotte had all brought me to Winter Wolf for the first time, the door identified us all. It also called us by each of our names to welcome us. And when it called my name, it said that my name of Harrison Potter-Black."

Sirius stopped walking for a second. He froze right where he stood. But, he still had a smile on his face.

"I should have known that would happen at some point," he said.

"What," Harry was shocked. "Did you know that I would have your last name?"

"I suspected, but I was never completely sure if it would happen," Sirius said. "Do you know what a blood adoption is, Harry?"

"Raised by horrible muggles, Sirius," Harry reminded him. "I was lucky to learn my own name, let alone anything else."

"Well, a blood adoption is usually when a child is adopted by a pureblood family," Sirius explained. "Such as one that is unable to have children the natural way. It is basically a way for the parents to magically make a child biologically theirs. It was one of the ways that even when a pureblood family would adopt a magical child, the blood adoption would keep the family 'pure.' I never really understood that part, though."

"What does this have to do with me having your last name," Harry wanted Sirius to get to the point.

"Your parents wanted you as protected as possible," Sirius continued. "So, even after I did the godfather ritual for you, they wanted another layer of protection. So, they thought that you having a third parent would help. Since I had done the godfather ritual, they originally wanted Remus to blood adopt you. But he was worried how that might make you a werewolf even if that is transferred through saliva and not blood. So, your parents had me do it instead."

"So... that would mean..." Harry could not say the words that he wanted to.

"That would mean in the eyes of magic, law, and DNA, I am your father, pup," Sirius says. "That is why you have my last name."

Harry could only stand there for a few minutes. There were so many emotions going through his head at the same time. The only thing that he knew that he had to do was give Sirius another big hug. Sirius squeezed him back, not wanting to ever let go of his godson/real son.

"I have never been so happy in my life," Harry tells him.

"I know that I can never replace James or Lily, but I can still be the father that I know you deserve, pup," Sirius says.

"You being any type of father is enough for me, Sirius," Harry said. "I already thought of you as family, but now we can be an even better family because of this."

"I am sure that if James and Lily could see us, they would be happy for us," Sirius tells Harry.

"I think so as well," Harry said. "Though, dad would probably also want you to make me a Marauder. Hahaha!"

"Well, that is not very far away from how you do currently behave given what Fred and George have told me," Sirius chuckled. "I am sure that your father would already claim you as a Marauder."

"All I need is a name," Harry chuckled.

"Boreas," Sirius stated.

"What," Harry was confused again.

"Your mystic soul powers involve storms and Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind," Sirius said. "So, what better name for you."

Harry hugged his new father again.

"I love it," he said.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Dealing With The Bumblebee

Harry and Sirius knew that they would eventually have to deal with Dumbledore and the annoying trio. It was only a matter of time before they managed to track down the two of them in order to annoy them.

But for once, Harry did not care. He actually had a father now. A real father that truly loved him. While his birth parents would always have a place in his heart because of how they sacrificed themselves to save his life, it was still lovely for Sirius to be able to be his father. He already loved Sirius as a father figure, so that only made him even happier that Sirius was his father.

The only thing that Harry actually cared about was that he needed to make sure that he kept his powers under control. He already caused thunder and lightning just from the annoying trio causing problems. And since they were all sure that it had been Dumbledore that had originally bound his mystic soul powers. It would probably take everything he had not to hit the manipulative headmaster with a bolt of lightning.

"How long do you think we have before any of the annoyances find us, Sirius," Harry asked his new father.

While he knew that Sirius was his blood-adopted father, he was not ready to call him "dad" yet. He was sure that once he was more comfortable with it, he would start calling Sirius that.

"It will probably happen a lot sooner than either of us want it to," Sirius sighed. 

"Any time would be sooner than when we would want it to since we want it to never happen," Harry said.

"Too true, pup," Sirius patted his head. "But, there is never anything that we can really do about it. There will always be annoying people in the world."

"Yeah, and most of them are in magical Britain," Harry smirked.

Sirius had to laugh at that.

"That is both true and funny, pup," Sirius chuckled.

The two of them continued walking around the grounds of Crystal Rose Harry talked with Sirius about everything that had been happening. He spoke of his new classes, all the new friends that he was making, the progress that he was making with the control of his powers, and just everything else that was going on in his life. Sirius listened to everything with a smile on his face.

He was thrilled that Harry was having a good time at the mystic soul school. He had been hoping that Harry would be able to find some real friends as well as actually learn about magic. He was getting everything that he hoped for. Harry deserved to have a good life. Something that he knew that Dumbledore would do everything in his power to stop.

Harry could not help but smile as Sirius listened to him. He was so used to not having anyone listen to him. Even when he would give his opinion on something or just talk in general, he would either be ignored or even belittled for his opinion. That was certainly what Hermione always did. If she heard any opinion that was different from her own, she would either ignore it or go on a giant rant about why they were wrong and she was right. But with Sirius, he always listened to him no matter what. And even when Sirius would ever have a different opinion than him, he would never try and change the way Harry thought.

"I've had some difficulties with my powers, but Krinos has been working with me," Harry continues talking. "I have been able to somewhat control small storms indoors. Krinos says that with how quickly I am learning, I should be a fully-functioning mystic soul in a few more months."

"It's great that you are practicing so much, Harry," Sirius tells him. "That is better than how others would just throw themselves into using their powers while hoping for the best."

"Sounds like how Ron usually does with homework and tests since he never bothers to study anything," Harry rolled his eyes. "But, I don't want to hold back how much I love to learn anymore."

"You never should have felt the need to do that in the first place, pup," Sirius tells him.

"I know," Harry said. "It's hard to keep in mind that I don't have to hold back anymore. I've had to do that for so long because of the Dursleys, Ron, and Hermione. I know that I don't need to and there is always the part of me that knows that I never needed to, but it was basically drilled into me growing up that I was nothing compared to others."

"You never have to think like that ever again, pup," Sirius says. "I am able to be here for you, now. And I won't let anything stand in my way."

"You've already done more than enough for me, Sirius," Harry comforted him. "You broke out of Azkaban to protect me. You lived in caves and ate rats to be near me. The threat of you watching over me got the Dursleys to mostly leave me alone. You've done more for me than pretty much everyone else in my life."

"I still could have done more for you," Sirius said. "If I had just not gone after that traitor..."

"Sirius, stop," Harry interrupted his godfather. "You were an Auror and you knew where a criminal was. It is not your fault that he managed to catch you off guard. You didn't know that he would blow up the entire street. And it is the fault of those stupid corrupt people at the ministry as well as Dumb-As-A-Door that you did not get a trial. It was not your fault."

"You having so much faith in me after everything really fills my heart, pup," Sirius said.

"Well, if everyone else is going to immediately think bad of you because of your awful family, then somebody has to have faith in you," Harry says. "You are your own person. You are Sirius Black, not every other Black. Being a part of a certain family does not mean that you are like them."

"I really am so proud of you, Harry," Sirius tells him. "I can not imagine how proud your parents would also be of you."

"Thank you, Sirius," Harry smiled at him. "That means more to me than you will ever know."

Sirius gave him another hug. Harry always felt so much warmer in his heart whenever he got a hug from Sirius. His hugs felt like home.

"I hope that I am not interrupting anything," Krinos says as he appears in his usual swirl of leaves and flower petals.

Harry and Sirius could not help but jump a little at his sudden appearance. It made Krinos chuckle.

"You really do enjoy doing that to people, don't you," Harry could not help but raise an eyebrow.

"I have a sister that has super hearing because of her music magic," Krinos reminded him. "So, I needed to find some way to sneak up on her in order to be the typical brother that messes with his sister."

"You enjoy doing it far too much in my opinion," Melody says as she appears in a swirl of musical notes.

"I am not surprised that your powers also include teleportation," Harry said.

Melody shrugged. "A lot of mystic soul powers usually include some form of teleportation. After all, it makes it a lot easier for us to get around instead of having to rely on less comfortable forms of transportation."

"That, I can relate to," Harry says. "I love flying on my broom, but every other form of magical transportation that I have experienced has all sucked in so many ways. Plus, brooms are not exactly meant for traveling long-distance."

"Even as a pureblood that has used magical means of transportation most of my life, even I hate it," Sirius admitted. "And I know that Harry's parents as well as many others dislike them as well."

"I took one ride on the Night Bus and decided that I was never riding that thing ever again," Harry shivered at the memory of the horrible ride. "Not to mention that the first time I tried floor powder, I sneezed and accidentally ended up in Knockturn Alley."

"And do not get me started on apparation," Sirius groaned. "It makes me feel like my stomach is turning inside out every time. Plus, one mess-up with that could cause you to die. I once heard of a wizard that accidentally cut himself in half when he apparated while he was drunk."

"I am also done with portkeys," Harry stated. "I hated it when I had to use it to get to the Quidditch World Cup and I definitely hate them when one nearly caused me to get killed by Voldemort when it sent me and a friend to a graveyard."

"Is your life usually in danger that much," Krinos asked. "Because even as someone that fights demons at least once a week, that concerns me."

Harry just shrugged. "That's my life, for you. I call it my Potter Luck."

"James also called it that as well," Sirius chuckled as he ruffled Harry's hair in a fond way. "While he never got into the same type of situations that you do, it's not like he lived a boring life."

"You guy did all go to Hogwarts while the war was still going on," Harry says. "I can not even imagine how different that must have been to my own time at Hogwarts, even if my time there has not exactly been normal."

"The war did bleed into the school quite a lot," Sirius's tone changed to sound sadder. "There was probably not a single day that would go by where someone was attacking someone else. Maybe it was because their families were on different sides of the war, maybe it was some insensitive comment that they said, or maybe it was even because they said something that triggered them while they were mourning someone they loved. It was complete chaos. And that is not even starting on the topic of the extreme divide between Slytherin and the other houses."

"Since even now, people still think that anyone bad always comes out of Slytherin, I can see how bad it would have been back then," Harry says.

"It was almost worse than anything you could..." Sirius was cut off.

"We might have to continue this conversation another time," Melody says.

She motioned for them to look behind them. Once Harry and Sirius did, they both groaned as they saw Dumbledore and the Annoying Trio approaching them. Krinos and Melody chose not to leave since they figured that someone might need to play somewhat of a peacekeeper. Unless Hermione decided to go on another rant about how mystic souls are not real. Because if she does, Melody has been dying to see what her sonic scream does to a wand-user.

"This was bound to happen eventually," Sirius groaned.

"Where's one of those demons that Krinos keeps talking about when you need them," Harry muttered.

"You really don't want to have to deal with one of those until you get better control of your powers," Krinos tells him.

Harry was actually glad that Krinos and Melody did not leave when the four annoyances approached them. He needed to have some actual friends around. Both for comfort and to also keep him from killing the annoyances with his lightning if they get on his nerves too much.

"My boys, what did you do," Dumbledore instantly asked then, his tone making it obvious that he was trying to make them think that they did something wrong.

"I got my freedom, that's all," Sirius crossed his arms. "Something that you never tried to help me with."

"There wasn't a good time, my boy," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort needed more attention."

"Harry is more important to me than that snake-faced lunatic is," Sirius says. "I need to be there for my godson and I couldn't do that while being a fugitive."

"I say that it worked out pretty perfectly," Harry smirked. "Not only did Sirius get free, but it also shined a light on how corrupt the ministry is. I certainly enjoyed the look on Umbridge's face when Krinos and the others all stood up to her."

"Happy to entertain," Krinos did a playful bow.

"My boy, things are a lot more difficult now because of this," Dumbledore continued. "Because Sirius is now free, that will turn the ministry even more against us. They will deny that Voldemort had returned even more now in an effort to try and not make themselves look even worse."

"Well, as my cousin has pointed out, you could have easily solved that," Krinos said. "All you had to do was easily sent Harry's memory of his return to your newspaper in order to prove it. You just chose not to."

"Wow," Melody shook her head, obviously not impressed. "You can't even do something as simple as that. No wonder you came to Crystal Rose for help."

"Technically, Sirius was the one that originally asked for your help," Harry said. "No one else in magical Britain would probably ever dream of asking for help from another country."

"And it is lucky that I did because at least now someone is finally doing something to help us," Sirius looked Dumbledore right in the eye as he said that. "A lot better than sitting around and doing nothing while Voldemort probably plans his next move." 

"My boy, things are not that simple," Dumbledore tries forcing them to do as he wants again. "And this is probably one of the things that Voldemort wants. He wants to divide us and turn us against each other. We have to stay united."

"That is more your fault than Voldemort's," Harry stated. "You could have gotten Sirius a trial at any time when you were Chief Warlock. Instead, you did nothing. All you needed to do was order a trial to be given and no one could stop you. Now, since you are no longer Chief Warlock, we had to go another way to get Sirius freed. Not that I think you ever would have done anything to help Sirius since you did nothing for the two years you knew he was innocent before now."

"Harry, stop being so disrespectful to Headmaster Dumbledore," Hermione basically ordered him.

"You say it's disrespectful, but I say that it is just telling the truth," Harry shrugged. "After all, what has Dumbledore ever done to help any of us? I was the one saving the school every year, not him."

"My boy, you were perfectly safe," Dumbledore says. "Everything would have been just fine."

"Oh really," Harry raised his eyebrow. "Because I remember Quirrell trying to strangle me. I remember getting a basilisk fang stuck in my arm. I remember a hundred dementors trying to suck out mine and Sirius's souls. I remember getting stuck in a deadly tournament meant for only those that are of age. And in every situation, you never did anything."

"You did that all on your own because you always want attention on you all the time," Ron yelled. "Famous Harry Potter who always wants as much attention as possible. Maybe if you stopped seeking so much attention, none of that would have ever happened."

"I knew you would never grow up," Harry glared at his former best friend. "And as if you are one to talk about anyone being an attention-seeker when attention is all you ever want. I remember what you saw in the Mirror of Erised, Weasley. You saw yourself as above all your brothers and surrounded by people giving you all the attention you wanted. I saw my parents! Your greatest desire was attention while all I wanted, all I EVER wanted, was a family. You really have no idea who I actually am."

"That is no way to speak to your best friend, my boy," Dumbledore had the gall to try and scold him.

"Former best friend," Harry crossed his arms. "I finally have real friends that do not try and force me to do things that I don't want to do. Friends that listen to me instead of trying to force their opinions down my throat instead of letting me think for myself."

"Harry is an amazing addition to Crystal Rose," Melody placed her elbow on Harry's shoulder as an armrest as she stood next to him. "He's kind, loyal, honorable, and can smack talk like nobody's business. Haha!"

"I think we should try and keep him all to ourselves," Krinos stood at Harry's other side. "After all, anyone that treats someone as great as Harry without the respect that he deserves has got to be the biggest fool in the world."

"And after everything that you have done, I am definitely not your boy," Harry said. "Plus, it is also really creepy how you call every guy that no matter what their age."

Sirius had to admit, he agreed with Harry on that one. He knew that Dumbledore would always call people "my boy" or "my dear girl" as a way to make it seem like he was fond of them. But, in reality, he was probably calling them that as his own way to label them as younger and weaker than him. Especially given the whole "age equals wisdom" thing that he tries to represent. Even in the most subtle ways, Dumbledore is always trying to make himself look smarter and more powerful.

"Albus, I suggest that you stay away from Harry from now on," Sirius tells the manipulative old fool. "I don't know why you feel the need to continue to interfere with his life, but Harry is allowed to be his own person. He does not need your interference."

"You are only making it easier for Voldemort by dividing from us," Dumbledore was trying really hard to guilt Sirius and Harry into following what he wanted. "I do not know where all of this hostility is coming from, but we need to work together against the threat of Voldemort."

"Your definition of 'working together' is just for everyone to just do whatever you want," Sirius said. "That has always been how you work. Only you are allowed to make the choices and decisions in your world. I am not going to let you turn Harry into a child soldier as you did with Remus, James, Lily, and I."

"Who are you to talk to Headmaster Dumbledore that way," Hermione screamed at Sirius. "He has done more for the wizarding world than anyone else could even dream of."

"If he is so great, then why did he wait months for the school mandrakes to mature for the potion to cure the petrifications that happened in our second year," Harry pointed out. "Why did he let you, Colin, Penelope, and Justin stay petrified for so long instead of just buying a mandrake draught from one of the potion shops in Diagon Alley? And while on that subject, why was no one ever sent home after the messages and the attacks started? There was obviously something really dangerous in the school. Everybody needed to be sent home."

"Hogwarts could have been closed if that was done, my boy," Dumbledore ignored that Harry told him not to call him that.

"Who cares about keeping a school open when our lives were in danger," Harry looked at the old man like the lunatic that he was. "The lives of the students are a lot more important than a stupid school. That school is basically the reason why I have nearly been killed every year, anyway."

"Hogwarts is not stupid," Hermione screamed at him.

"Again, I would like to say that we would be more than happy to keep you all to ourselves," Krinos said, ignoring Hermione's outburst.

"Crystal Rose could use such a bright and kind student like yourself, Harry," Melody added with a smile.

"Let's talk about that some more," Sirius says, starting to move the three teens away from the four annoyances.

"Sirius..." Dumbledore tried to stop them from leaving.

"Go bother someone that you haven't wronged in some way, Albus," Sirius tells him. "Oh wait! There's no one that you have not done something to in some way."

They all walked away, not letting any of the annoyances bother them anymore. As they walked away, Harry looked down at his hands as he got a look on his face that showed he was concentrating really hard.

"Harry," Melody was confused. "What are you doing?"

"Power of the storm, show them the sorrow they cause," Harry's eyes turned silver from the use of his magic.

He flicked his hands, causing a puff of smoke that looked more like a puff of storm clouds. Within seconds, they all heard gasps and screams. Looking behind them, they had to try not to laugh at the sight of Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all with their own personal storm cloud over their heads. And it was pouring rain on them.

"That is the greatest thing that I have ever seen in my life," Sirius looked ready to explode with laughter.

"I am sending this to everyone in the school," Krinos took a picture with his mirror phone.

"You really are a very quick study when it comes to your powers, Harry," Melody patted Harry's shoulder, smiling.

"Well, karma had to come after those four at some point," Harry smirked.

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty: Potion Commotion

If there was one thing that Harry loved about Crystal Rose, even if the list of things he loved about the school was almost never-ending at this point, it was that he was finally able to enjoy a potion class. Professor Gold was an amazing teacher that actually did everything she could to make sure the class learned while still staying safe. Harry could tell that even the Hogwarts students that were not the biggest fans of mystic souls also enjoyed her class.

It was a very common thing for literally all the other houses to hate Snape. He was the worst teacher in Hogwarts. And that said something considering how low the bar is with teachers like Binns and Trelawney still teaching as well as how those like Quirrell and Lockhart had also been terrible teachers. Though, it should also say something about how the fake Professor Moody, a disguised Death Eater, had been a better teacher than Snape.

It also really helped that Professor Gold actually stood up to Snape whenever he would try and use his regular tactics in her class. She was obviously running out of patience when it was coming to the greasy-haired idiot. It was certainly something that seemed very common among mystic souls. And that would be a low tolerance for idiots. Harry was expecting the professor to lose her patience soon and turn Snape into an ice state. Not that there would be any complaining from him.

Taking his regular seat in the beautiful classroom, Melody soon joined him. The two of them had been working together since the first class of the year and Harry had been really grateful for her help. He was sure that if he did not have her help, he would not have gained the knowledge of mystic soul potions in the same amount of time. 

"Let's hope that we can actually get through this class without anything happening," Harry says to her.

"Do you really think that can happen," Melody raised her eyebrow at him.

"No," Harry admitted. "Whenever Snape is involved, trouble follows."

"He really should never have been hired as a teacher," Melody said. "He just does not have the right attitude or personality for it. I would rather be taught by a wild monkey."

"Considering the past teachers that I have had, Snape is still the worst of them all," Harry says. "And considering that my past teacher has been possessed by a wraith, been a fraud that stole people's memories to take credit for their heroic acts, predicts my death every time she sees me, is a ghost that puts people to sleep, not to mention one of them also being a Death Eater in disguise."

"Oh for the love of the gods of Olympus," Melody facepalmed.

"You are not the first to react like that and you will definitely not be the last," Harry said.

"What is wrong with your country that those types of people actually become teachers," Melody looked like she did not want to hear the answer.

"There are certainly plenty of things about magical Britain that will always be wrong in so many ways," Harry says. "As you learned from before, they locked up my godfather just because he was from a traditionally evil family. Between that and how they obviously favor purebloods, it really is an awful place to live. Even for half-bloods, they are pretty much out of luck unless the magical side of their family is powerful."

"I know by their standards, the Gardna family would probably be a family that they would favor," Melody said. "But, that does not mean that we would like it. The Gardna family, historically, has always been about equality. Our ancestor, Calliope Gardna, was even the one to suggest to the other Olympian Mages to include mystic souls from all over the world at Crystal Rose."

"Between that and the creatures that also attend here, I can definitely see most of the ministry back in England having heart attacks," Harry chuckled. "Probably even more so if they also knew about teachers like Professor Nyx since she is a harpy mystic soul like Hawk."

Melody knew that there were certainly a lot of things that were wrong with what Harry was saying. Yes, basically the entire magical world was aware of how awful that magical Britain was. But, everything that Harry was telling her just made it even worse since it was because he was talking about things that they did not know about. Especially with the falling standards of Hogwarts.

But then she noticed something else that Harry had said.

"You said England," she said.

"Well, that is where I am from," Harry was confused with her pointing out what he had said.

"What I mean is that you specifically said 'back in England' rather than saying 'back home,' instead," Melody says. "I know that things are not the best, but is it really so serious that you do not see the place as your home?"

Harry sighed as Melody looked at him in concern. Of course, she would point out something like that. It was not shocking at all that being the twin of Krinos would make her just as observant as him. And it was not like he could say that she was wrong about what she had suspected.

"I have no reason to see that place as home," Harry admitted. "I am either treated as a hero or as a Dark Lord in training. People change their opinion of me based entirely on the lies that are spread in the Daily Prophet. Not to mention that for all this supposed 'fame' that I have, no one ever bothered to check up on me when I was living with those horrible muggles."

"Mundanes," Melody corrected, the response basically being automatic at this point.

"Whatever," Harry rolled his eyes.

"Harry, I may not be able to tell the truth if I say that I understand what you have gone through," Melody started. "But, I can say with full confidence that myself and everyone else at Crystal Rose will be here for you as long as you need us."

"And you have no idea how grateful that I am for that," Harry tells her.

She patted his hand with her own. By this time, the rest of the class had joined them in the classroom while Professor Gold and Snape also made their way in. Melody looked ready to protect Harry the moment she saw that Snape was still glaring at Harry for no other reason than the fact that Harry was in the same room as him.

"I would give anything for a demon attack right now," she muttered. "At least then I can 'accidentally' push him into the path of an incoming fireball or energy ball."

"I can see why Krinos says that he is sometimes terrified of you," Harry chuckled.

"He's my brother, so it's good that he has a healthy fear of me," Melody giggled. "After all, it's the same that I feel about him given that with his powers, he would be considered a very scary guy."

"I saw him in Dueling class," Harry says. "So, I definitely believe it."

As everyone got settled, Professor Gold stood in front of them. They all instantly paid attention to her. The way that she was able to command attention on her that easily just said how great of a teacher she was.

"Alright, class," she started, smiling at the students all paying their full attention to her. "As you know, the beginning of the school year is one of those times where a lot of students struggle with remembering things that happened in the years before. So, you also know my tradition during this time."

The Crystal Rose students all nodded while the Hogwarts students looked confused. But, they were happy that it seemed this would be another review day so that they could start catching up on things they had missed from previous years at Crystal Rose. Not to mention that even the Slytherins all knew that when it came to teaching Potions, Snape has taught them nothing.

"I love this class," Harry heard another Crystal Rose Mermaid student say behind him.

"As per my tradition, each of you will work in your chosen pairs to make any potion that we have gone over in the past," Crystal tells them. "And for all of those that make their potion perfect, you get an extra five points on your first test of the year. For those of you that come close to perfect, you get three extra points. And for the rest of you, as long as you do try your best, you will get at least one extra point."

The class all nodded, understanding what their teacher was talking about. It was an even bigger shock to the Hogwarts students. Snape had not even once ever reviewed anything with them. They would all have to do that on their own in order to pass their tests and quizzes. Plus, it was not like Snape ever answered their questions during class. He would usually insult them and call them "dunderheads" whenever they did not know the answer to their own questions.

Professor Gold gave a few more instructions as well as told the class that she would be going around to check on how they were all doing during the class. Once she was finished talking, the students all opened up their textbooks in order to choose their potions. Harry could tell that since he was the only one that had paired up with a Crystal Rose student, he was probably going to be the only one of them to be able to do a potion that was above a first-year Crystal Rose student. He hoped that in the future, the other Hogwarts students would also see that the mystic souls meant no harm.

He and Melody looked through her potions book in order to choose one of the potions that they have worked on in class in the years before. Harry smiled as he saw the range of potions that they had. Very different from how potions at Hogwarts definitely have never had effects such as these potions. 

"What do you recommend, Melody," he asked her. "You have been taking this class the entire time. So, you already know these potions."

Melody looked through the pages. She smiled as she saw one that she thought Harry would like.

"Here, let's try this one," she pointed at the page.

"Animal Conjuring Potion," Harry read from the page.

"We were taught this potion last year," Melody explained to Harry. "It's different from others since it is a dry potion that uses powdered ingredients that are mixed together so that when it is thrown into the air, the desired animal is supposed to then appear."

"I had no idea that dry potions were even a thing," Harry was shocked.

"There are many types of potions, spells, and all other types of magic in the world," Melody tells him. "Plus, dry potions do not have that big of disasters, unlike regular potions. The worst that can happen would be either some blisters or a burn that could only get as bad as a really bad sunburn."

"I've had more sunburns than you could ever think of," Harry says. "So, I think I can handle that just fine."

"You would never have to worry about that because we are going to do this potion perfectly," Melody smiled at him.

The two of them started to gather all of the ingredients that they would need for their potion. Harry was actually surprised at how quickly he was actually starting to enjoy himself. Potions had never been something that he could enjoy because of Snape's treatment of him. He had wanted to learn about potions so badly when he had first arrived at Hogwarts. But it was soon ruined for him because the teacher was so horrible.

Professor Gold was probably the most giant breath of fresh air that Harry has ever had in terms of teachers. She was not only good at her job, but she was welcoming, kind, helpful, and overall probably the exact type of person that should be a teacher. Since Harry now knew about his mystic soul powers, he really wished that he had been able to attend Crystal Rose right from the start. It would have been so much better. Once he got proof that Dumbledore had been the one to block his powers, he was going to unleash a storm that the manipulative old goat would never forget.

Though, he was going to take in as much as he could while he was currently at Crystal Rose. It helped that Melody was an amazing partner for the class. Her potion skills definitely balanced out how he barely even had the basic knowledge of mystic soul potions. He already had in mind that he wanted to summon snowy owls. Mostly because Hedwig had shown up the day before, having flown all the way to Greece, and he wanted to give his beloved owl some company.

The two of them had even been doing really well. With Melody's help, they had been doing everything perfectly. She had even given him some nice tips that would help him make potions on his own. Such as doing all of the prep work before actually starting the potion so that the ingredients did not take up too much time. She also said that when handling ingredients such as mandrake root, hemlock root, demon flesh, and eye of newt, it was best to take a step back when putting them into a potion because they all cause mini explosions.

Harry actually was having a good time with Melody. She was able to help him actually relax and just enjoy the potion that they were making. The two of them also made sure to work hard even when they were not stressed about it.

The stress only came when a dark shadow seemed to fall over them as if it was a monster in a horror movie. Harry felt the urge to curse since, of course, Snape would arrive to ruin his good mood. It was like he had a sensor to tell when Harry was happy so that he could show up and make him miserable.

"Here we go again," Harry thought to himself.

"I see that your arrogance is once again getting the better of you, Potter," Snape sneered at him.

"Excuse me," Melody did not look like she was willing to take any insults to her friend lying down.

"This doesn't involve you, girl," Snape also sneered at Melody. "Stay out of it."

"I recommend that you stay away before I show you what a vanquishing potion can do," Melody threatened the dungeon bat.

Snape ignored her as he focused on Harry. Right away, Harry felt his hand grip the table really hard. He was trying so hard not to let loose some kind of storm inside the classroom. Snape always was the person that pushed his buttons the most out of everyone he has ever met.

"You might be too much of an egomaniac to actually pay attention to anything other than yourself," Snape could honestly not go a single second without insulting Harry. "But you actually need to try making a potion and not whatever nonsense you are doing. Though, considering that you create a disaster in my class, this is probably the only thing that won't end up being poison."

Harry's grip on the table only increased. Melody could see his eyes flashing their gray color as Harry was fighting his powers. She was both impressed by his control while also horrified that someone that was supposed to be a teacher was acting like this. Sure, he knew about everything that Harry has said about Snape, but experiencing it first-hand was a lot worse than hearing about it. Snape's behavior was worse than what she could have imagined.

"Hey," Melody placed one of her hands onto Harry's to help comfort and calm him. "Who do you think you are to treat Harry this way? You are a full-grown man! Act like it!"

"Need a female freak to fight your battles for you now, Potter," Snape continued to sneer. "Just when I thought that you could not get any more pathetic!"

Harry's eyes snapped wide. That word. That word that he hated more than anything else in the entire world. The word that he could go for the rest of his life never hearing again, but it would still be too soon.

Freak.

He HATED that word. And he hated anyone that used it.

Before he could stop himself, Harry grabbed onto the bowl that had their unfinished potion in it. Melody only had time to gasp before Harry did what he did.

"For once in your absolute miserable sad excuse of a life, SHUT UP," Harry yelled at him.

He then threw the contents of their unfinished potion at him. Melody covered her mouth with her hands, not believing what she had just seen. Of course, she was covering her mouth to hide the fact that she was smiling really big. She had no idea what was going to happen, but she knew that the horrible excuse of a man in front of them definitely deserved it.

"You arrogant little..." Snape was cut off by a sudden burst of multi-colored smoke.

The smoke covered him, completely hiding him from sight. By the time the smoke cleared, the only thing that they could see was a pile of robes on the floor. Every student gasped. There was never anything good that could happen when it comes to either unfinished potions or potions that are made incorrectly.

Even Professor Gold was speechless at what she had just seen. She had been seconds away from freezing Snape where he had been standing when Harry had beat her to it. Though, he chose to throw their potion at him rather than freezing him solid like she wanted to do.

Nobody in the room knew what to do. Most of them thought that Harry might have accidentally killed Snape, not that they would be complaining if he did. But then they heard the unmistakable sound of a frog. And the sound was coming from underneath the pile of robes on the floor. 

Almost the entire class gathered around the robes as Professor Gold went over and bent down. She moved the robes and everyone almost jumped when they saw that it was a toad rather than a frog under them.

"I turned Snape into a frog," Harry's eyes widened in shock.

"A toad, to be more exact, Mr.Potter," Crystal tells him.

"Well, that's one way to embrace the cliche," Melody stated. "After all, when mundanes think of witches, they usually do think of us turning people into toads and frogs."

"At least it finally got the overgrown bully to shut up," Harry said.

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty-One: Cutting The Strings

There were many things that Harry did not think that he would ever be able to do in his life. Turning a teacher into a toad was definitely one of those things. But now that he has actually done it, he could not be prouder of himself.

He finally had given Snape exactly what he deserved. That man had had his punishment coming for a long time. Harry was definitely glad that he had been the one to finally give it to him. He was so sick and tired of Snape's never-ending hatred toward him for no reason other than that he looked like his father. Karma had been coming to get Snape for a long time and Harry could not be more satisfied that he was the one that karma used to deliver that punishment.

Does he care that he was currently in Headmistress Jiwe's office along with Dumbledore, McGonagall, Professor Gold, and Melody? No, he didn't care. If anything, he was going to make it very clear how he felt about Snape and that he was glad that he had done what he did. After all, there was no "better" person that deserved to be turned into a toad than Snape.

He did expect to be called to Jiwe's office given what had happened. Melody had been his partner, so she joined him. Professor Gold made sure to be there as well. Given what the Crystal Rose teachers have been hearing from the Hogwarts staff and about the Hogwarts staff, she was definitely not going to let Harry be blamed for what happened.

Arriving at the office, Harry was shocked at how beautiful it was. Dumbledore's office was set up to basically show off how many artifacts, books, knowledge, and power he has compared to others. Not to mention how he has his desk and chair set up at the top of a set of stairs, making it so he is literally looking down on anyone that is in his office.

But with Headmistress Jiwe's office, it was definitely different. For starters, her walls were lined with pictures of what seemed to be groups of past students. Hanging from the ceiling was also an incredible chandelier that was made of hanging small crystal animals instead of normal crystals hanging from it. Animals also seemed to be a recurring theme with the rest of her office since the windows at the back of her room were made of stained glass with the stained glass forming images of animals. There were also statues of animals sitting on top of bookshelves that were around the office. And looking behind her desk, there seemed to be a room filled with small houses made for animals. One of those little houses obviously big enough for the lion friend that they knew she has. The only thing that was similar to Dumbledore's office was the line of portraits on one wall that was obviously of the former heads of Crystal Rose.

Though, if Harry had to guess, he bet that all the heads could design their office how they want to when they get the job as the head of the school. He bet that was how it worked because he doubted that they would all have had animal powers like Headmistress Jiwe. So, they definitely would not have had their office looking how it currently does.

Jiwe sat at her desk that was near the back of the room, near her stained glass windows and by the room with the animal houses. Snape the toad was on her desk. Something that Melody was giggling at since their potion had obviously not worn off, yet.

Harry and Melody sat down in the chairs offered to them by the headmistress. Professor Gold stood close to them, showing that she was on their side in this situation.

"Other than the obvious, would you two like to explain what happened in class," Jiwe asked the two of them.

"What is there to explain," McGonagall basically yelled. "They turned Severus into a toad! Turn him back and punish them as they deserve!"

"I do not simply punish students, Ms.McGonagall," Jiwe glared at the Transfiguration professor. "I get all sides of the story before I make any decisions. It is a requirement of all staff members here in order to prevent punishments being given based simply on word of mouth of a single source."

Harry definitely wished that was a thing at Hogwarts given how many times students got in trouble for no reason other than another student accusing them even if there was no proof. That happened a number of times in Potions. A Slytherin student would accuse a student of another house of sabotaging their potion, even when it was just them doing poorly at making it, and Snape would instantly take the Slytherin's side and punish the accused student. No proof at all.

"My dear..." Dumbledore was interrupted by Jiwe.

"I have told you before, Dumbledore," she glared at him. "I am not your 'dear' anything. I am Ms.Jiwe, Headmistress Jiwe, or Madam Jiwe to you. Nothing more and nothing less."

Harry was liking Headmistress Jiwe more and more with every passing second.

"Madam Jiwe," Dumbledore was obviously trying to hide that he was not happy about being told off by her. "Harry is my student and he should be punished for what he did to Professor Snape."

"That man is not a professor," Crystal stated, determination in her voice. "If anything, he is the furthest thing from a professor that I have ever seen in my life. The way he behaves makes me question the sanity of anyone that ever says that he is a teacher. He can not seem to go two minutes without insulting Mr.Potter in some way. He is a menace, not a professor!"

"Severus has my complete trust," Dumbledore said as if that solved everything that Professor Gold had just said.

"Well, he certainly does not have mine," Crystal says, crossing her arms. "Mr.Potter and Miss.Gardna were doing their chosen potion perfectly when Snape decided that his unneeded and unwanted opinion had to be heard. I am sick and tired of how he treats the students. I have lost count of the number of times that I have had to stop myself from freezing him where he stood."

"Professor Gold is right," Melody spoke up. "Snape is nothing but a big bully. I have no idea why he feels like he needs to target Harry because Harry certainly has done nothing to deserve it. I've met demons that are nicer than Snape. And demons literally do not have souls."

"My dear girl, you are obviously exaggerating," Dumbledore said. "Professor Snape is a great teacher."

"Were you dropped on your head or something," Melody raised an eyebrow. "I have only just met the man this year and yet even I know that a wild monkey probably would be a better teacher than him."

"Miss.Gardna," Jiwe gave her student a look that made Melody calm down. "Now, please tell us what happened."

"Well, as Professor Gold already said, Snape really can never go two minutes without insulting me," Harry explains what happened. "Melody and I had been working on our potion, just as we were told to do."

"What potion did you two choose to do," Jiwe asked. "Knowing which potion it was will help us reverse what happened."

"We chose to make the animal conjuring potion that we learned last year, Headmistress," Melody tells her. "But, the potion was not finished when Harry threw it at that disgusting excuse of a human being. That was probably why it changed him into an animal instead of summoning one."

The headmistress nodded, showing her understanding. Harry then continued his explanation.

"We had been going perfectly with the potion," he continued. "Melody helped me with the things that I had difficulty with. Snape suddenly had come up to us and started to insult me as he always does. I have never known Snape to ever be able to say anything other than insults to me. One of his favorite things to do is to call me arrogant while also insulting my father since he is always saying 'arrogant Potter just like your father.' As Melody said, the man is nothing but a bully."

"Now, my boy, you really should not say such things about Professor Snape," Dumbledore scolded Harry. "He is a wonderful teacher that deserves your respect."

"He should EARN that respect if he wants to be given any," Harry glared at Dumbledore. "I have no idea what makes you say that Snape is a good teacher when he is probably the worst teacher in the history of teachers. He is literally hated by over three-quarters of the school. Even some of his own Slytherins hate him because he makes it even harder for them to make friends outside their own house. With Slytherins like Snape and Malfoy, it's no wonder why people are so against Slytherins as a whole."

Melody has a feeling that Harry has been wanting to say all of those things about Snape to Dumbledore for a long time. She wished that she had some popcorn for the show.

"Severus may not be the easiest teacher, but he deserves your respect, Mr.Potter," McGonagall also scolded Harry.

"He most definitely does not deserve my respect," Harry shouted at her.

"Harry, my boy, that is no way to treat your professors," Dumbledore definitely was not happy about Harry standing against them.

"I am only treating you all exactly how you deserve to be treated," Harry yelled. "I have had it with Snape being allowed to treat everyone around him like garbage while you do nothing to stop him. Not only is he constantly insulting me, but he insults my father every single time he sees me. I can handle insults just fine, but insults against my father are not something I will tolerate anymore. My father's been dead for fourteen years! Snape should never have been allowed to make those insults in the first place!"

Dumbledore actually took a step back. He could not believe that Harry was being so outspoken. He had never been like that with him before. This was not going to be good if Harry continues to be rebellious. He had to make sure Harry sacrificed himself for the greater good. But if Harry continued down the path that he was on, there was no way that he would.

"Harry, I trust Professor Snape with my..." Dumbledore tried.

"No," Harry stopped Dumbledore from once again saying to trust Snape. "Just because you trust Snape does not mean that I have to. Or that I should even want to. I threw that potion on him because he called Melody a freak! What type of person, especially a grown adult, would act like that toward a teenager? And every time you let him get away with it, it shows how much you don't actually care about those he hurts. You're supposed to be educators, but you don't actually care about how horrible he is as a teacher and as a person."

Melody had to place a calming hand on Harry's shoulder. She knew how much Harry had to hate Snape. She would also hate anyone that would insult her own dead parents. If anyone ever insulted her parents in front of her, she would have blasted them through a wall before they would ever finish speaking. And that is not even getting to what Krinos would do. Not to mention what Olivia would end up doing. They were a scary family when they wanted to be.

"I think that Harry said everything that needed to be said," the music mage said. "I would have personally used some more colorful language, but that's just me."

She tried to lighten the mood with that line, but it went over like a lead balloon.

"I think the fact that you are not even trying to listen to your student says a lot," Jiwe said. "From the little amount of time that I have spent with you all, I can tell that none of you are fit to care for your students."

"How dare you," McGonagall shouted.

"Oh, I do dare," Jiwe stood up from her desk. "Quite frankly, it's a miracle that Hogwarts is even still open."

"You do not know what you are talking about, obviously," Dumbledore probably believed that he did not sound as arrogant as he was. "Hogwarts is the best school in the world."

" A Potions teacher that bullies his students for no reason, a ghost that is supposed to teach history and only puts his students to sleep, a Divination teacher that predicts the deaths of her students every single year, a cursed Defense Against The Dark Arts position," Jiwe listed some of the problems of Hogwarts. "Your school is ranked at the bottom of the rankings of the magical schools in the world. And considering this failure of a teacher on my desk, that explains why so many students from your country do know anything about Potions."

"Not to mention everything that I have heard from the students in my class," Crystal said. "I have heard of everything that man had put his students through. He lets his precious Slytherins get away with sabotaging the potions of other students, even rewarding them for it while punishing their victims. He especially does it when it comes to that spoiled brat, Malfoy. You will not believe the number of times that I have heard students talking about how my class was the first time they were ever taught about safety in Potions. That should be the first thing that is taught and yet he never even bothered to do so."

"Excuse me," Jiwe glared at Dumbledore and McGonagall. "You are saying that this man is a good teacher and yet he does not even teach his students how to be safe in his own class!"

"Severus may not be liked, but he is a fine teacher," Dumbledore said. "If anyone has difficulty in his class, they just need to study more and be more prepared. All that stuff about his Slytherins sabotaging others is just nonsense spread by those that don't like to fail. I trust Severus with my life."

"I think Mr.Potter made a good point when he said that just because you trust him does not mean that anyone else has to," Crystal crossed her arms. "I certainly don't. In fact, he is no longer allowed in my classroom since he can not keep his own behavior under control."

"My dear girl, that is not necessary at all," Dumbledore tried to convince her. "I will talk to Severus and everything will be just fine. Especially since Harry and his friend finish their punishment."

Crystal's eyes glowed ice blue, showing that she was definitely not okay with what he had just said to her. Especially since how he avoided saying Melody's name did not escape her, either. The floor under her feet slowly started to get covered in frost. If Harry did not already know about her ice powers, he would be just as shocked as Dumbledore and McGonagall. Though, her powers were still impressive to him. Not to mention her control given that she had not turned either of the British teachers into ice statues, yet.

"Mr.Potter and Miss.Gardna are not going to be punished," Jiwe stated.

"Pardon me," McGonagall looked personally offended by what she just heard. "They deserve to be punished! Severus is a toad!"

"And it was his own fault because he couldn't keep his mouth shut and his behavior under control," Crystal said.

"Professor Gold is correct," Jiwe says. "Had Mr.Potter or Miss.Gardna simply throw the potion at him to purposely turn him into a toad for no reason, then they would have been punished. Instead, it was thrown because he decided to be an overgrown man-child bully. If anything, what Mr.Potter did was completely in self-defense."

Dumbledore and McGonagall both looked really offended about Harry not being punished at all for what he had done to Snape. Harry knew that when he would tell Sirius about this, his godfather is probably going to go crazy with laughter. Not that Sirius was not already his own brand of crazy.

"Thank you, headmistress," Harry tells her.

"There is no need to thank me, Mr.Potter," Jiwe smiled at him. "You did nothing wrong. The only ones in the wrong are the ones that let such a horrible man get away with his behavior for so long."

Harry nodded, really glad that someone was actually on his side for once. Remus and Flitwick had been the only other teachers that had ever been on his side. All the other teachers either ignored everything going on, caused what was going on, or actively participated in his torment. Two examples other than Snape would be when McGonagall had removed 150 points from himself, Hermione, and Neville over the dragon in their first year, which turned most of the school against him, as well as how Sprout had basically turned into a Hufflepuff version of Snape after his name came out of the Goblet of Fire.

"Now, as much as I hate that sorry excuse of a man, is he going to be a toad forever," Melody asked her headmistress.

Harry was also concerned. He hated Snape, yes, but that did not mean that he wanted to actually cause someone to be turned into a toad for the rest of their life. Though, he was already convinced that someone had already done that to Umbridge given how she was being called the Pink Toad by pretty much everyone in the whole school.

"Oh, it's no problem at all," Jiwe tells the two students. "Animal magic is my specialty, after all. I can turn him back easily."

"Just make sure that he knows to stay out of my classroom from now on," Crystal stated. "If he tries to come in and harass my students again, I have every right to turn him into an ice statue."

"I would not be surprised if you did, Crystal," Jiwe giggled at the professor's attitude. "You two can leave now."

She told that last part to Harry and Melody. Both of them were quick to leave. Especially Harry since he was definitely not in the mood to be scolded by Dumbledore, which he knew would happen if he stuck around.

"I can say this to you right now, Melody," Harry tells her. "I love each and every single teacher in this school. Not to mention your headmistress."

"Crystal Rose certainly got lucky in terms of amazing teachers," Melody giggled. "By the way, if you ever need help escaping from those two idiots back in the office, any student here will be glad to help you."

"I will definitely be glad for the help," Harry says. "I have so had enough of being scolded by those two just for standing up for myself."

"That sorry excuse of a headmaster of yours certainly seems to think of himself as a puppet master with how he behaves," Melody commented.

"That is exactly what he thinks he is," Harry said. "Even though he probably would call himself more like the next Merlin or the Lord of Light."

"Makes me even happier that you are standing up to him and everyone else that is trying to control you," Melody says.

"It definitely is a lot of fun seeing Dumbledore struggle," Harry chuckled. "After all, his favorite puppet to control has cut his strings."

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty-Two: No Apologies

Harry had never felt so good about anything in his life. Not only did he finally do something against Snape, but he was able to get away with it. Every time that he experienced anything about Crystal Rose, he started to prefer it more and more to Hogwarts.

Crystal Rose had more classes to choose from. They also did not have any bullying, bias, or evil teachers. The only time that he had learned that any of the teachers had been evil had been when a possessor demon had managed to find its way into the school and possessed one of the teachers. It reminded Harry a lot of what had happened with Professor Quirrell, but he was sure that in this case, there was no second face growing out of the back of that teacher's head while possessed.

The more that Harry thought about it, the more that he wanted to become a real student of Crystal Rose. Not just a visitor for the year. Sirius was now free, but that only solved one of their many problems. Especially since even when Sirius was free, he was only free in Greece given that magical Britain was obviously going to deny the Magic Council's trial since it was basically like a giant middle finger at the British ministry. So, it would also make sense that Sirius would not be able to gain custody of Harry. If he tried, they had no idea what other issues that would cause.

Most of those issues would most likely come from Dumbledore. After all, he had known that Sirius was innocent from the start since he was the one that cast the Fidelius Charm to hide Harry's parents. So, he was aware that Sirius was not their secret keeper. Also, he had been aware of Sirius's innocence of the other crimes he was accused of for almost two years before he was kicked out of his Chief Warlock position on the Wizegmont. With that position, he could have simply ordered Sirius to be given a fair trial with no one able to stop him, and yet he didn't.

There was also the obvious treatment that went on while they were staying at Sirius's house back in England. What they had all been trying to do could not be more obvious if they tried. Almost everyone other than Remus, Kingsley, and Mr.Weasley had been doing their best to try and keep the two of them away from each other. Harry was been really pissed at how they had all tried to keep him away from his godfather. And given that he now knew that Sirius was also his blood-adopted father, it only made him even more pissed.

He just hoped that with Olivia, the Magic Council, and basically everyone at Crystal Rose on their side, they would be able to try and have a more peaceful life. Something that Harry has always wanted, but has never been able to have. Especially given everything that he's been through since entering Hogwarts. 

All he wanted was a life where he did not have to continue looking over his shoulder. He wanted a life where he did not have to worry about the press. And most of all, he wanted a life where he did not have to worry about his friends betraying him.

Melody placing her hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Are you doing alright, Harry," she asked him.

He smiled and nodded at her.

"I'm fine," he tells her. "I don't think that I could be anything other than fine given that I finally gave Snape what he deserved."

"While I feel the need to not encourage violence against teachers, that man is hardly any type of teacher," Melody says.

"It's not like it was real violence, anyway," Harry smirked. "All I did was turn him into a toad. Not like I kicked him while he was turned. Even if that was really tempting."

"Sofia and the other animal mages in the school might say something about animal cruelty, but I am sure they would give you a pass once they would know it was Snape," Melody giggled.

"You guys are definitely a lot more fun than most of my classmates at Hogwarts," Harry laughed.

"Don't let those twins of yours hear you say that," Melody teased him. "They might instantly forgive you, but I don't think they would want you saying that anyone is more fun than them."

"They are not MY anything," Harry blushed, feeling as if he was being teased by his sister even when he didn't have a sister.

"Keep telling yourself that, weather boy," Melody teased him some more. "But you three are smitten with each other even if you don't know it."

Harry blushed even more as Melody definitely acted as if she was his sister. Between her and Krinos, Harry felt like he really did have siblings. He decided to change the subject before Melody's teasing turned his face permanently red.

"So, what exactly is Headmistress Jiwe's power," he asked her. "It's obvious that she is an animal mystic soul, but really is her power?"

"Oh, right, I forgot you didn't know," Melody said. "Headmistress Jiwe's magic is known as Jungle Copycat magic. Whenever she is able to make physical contact with an animal, she basically absorbs its abilities. And even after the touches another animal, she is able to hold onto the abilities of previous animals that she touches. Kind of like she has magical storage in her mystic core."

"Woah," Harry gasped. "That is a really cool power."

Melody nodded, smiling. "She is even able to do the same with magical creatures when she touches them."

"Everyone in this school is so bloody cool," Harry stated. 

"Language," came a very annoying voice.

"Oh, crud," Harry complained.

Turning around, Harry and Melody saw Hermione and Ron coming toward them. Harry was just glad that Ginny was not with them. He did not have the energy to deal with her trying and failing to flirt with him. If she continued to do so, he was not going to blame himself if he struck her with a bolt of lightning. Considering how no one at Crystal Rose liked the Annoying Trio, he might actually be rewarded if he did that to her.

"Are you two stalking Harry or what," Melody put a hand on her hip as she glared at the two of them.

She was subtle about it, but she placed her other hand on the amethyst pendant around her neck. All of the amulets were connected and those bonded to them could easily use them to communicate if they knew how to. And given how long she and her brother had theirs, it made sense why they would be able to use that power.

So, Melody was using the connection between the amulets to contact her brother. Krinos was most likely with some of their other friends, so she was sure that he would bring some backup. She did not need the backup in terms of fighting two weak wand-users, but it would be better if more than just herself was around to get Harry away from these two annoyances.

"Harry is our friend," Ron glared at her. "You can't stalk someone that's your friend."

"We stopped being friends the moment that you chose Dumbledore over me," Harry crossed his arms. 

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Hermione tried correcting him on what to call Dumbledore.

"You both already betrayed me once before doing it again," Harry ignored her trying to correct him. "As the saying goes, 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.' And I am not going to be fooled twice."

"We didn't betray you," Ron almost yelled at Harry. 

"In fact, you both did," Harry said. "Ron, you refused to believe me when I said that I did not enter my name into the Goblet of Fire. You spend over a month being nothing but a giant bully toward me. And even when you were proven wrong, you barely even apologized. And you, Hermione, had my Firebolt taken away because you believed that I was not going to have it checked for curses. I actually was, but you went behind my back and told a teacher simply because you believe that I was too stupid and selfish to do anything about a random gift that I got."

"I did apologize," Ron protested.

"The words 'I am sorry' never passed your lips," Harry glared at him.

"We might know that Sirius is innocent now, but we didn't know then," Hermione glared right back. "And I was right. He did send it."

"But you were wrong about me not going to do anything about it," Harry countered. "I was going to give the broom to Oliver since as both a seventh-year and a Quidditch fanatic, I knew that he would know the spells. Especially since he was a better friend than you two ever were."

"Harry seriously has a lot of baggage to deal with," Melody thought, concerned for her friend. "He really does deserve to be here rather than in that deathtrap of a school he is originally going to."

"We're the best friends that you have ever had, Harry," Ron argued.

"You are the worst friends that I have ever had," Harry yelled back. "Sirius, the twins, and Neville all did their best to write to me over the Summer. You two didn't even try because of orders from your precious Dumbledore." 

"He's Dumbledore, Harry," Ron argued some more. "It's not like we could disobey him when he told us not to write to you."

"Cedric and I were almost murdered," Harry clenched his hands into fists. "I was used in a ritual to bring back Voldemort. Nothing that Dumbledore tells you to do should matter when I had to deal with that trauma while trapped with abusive muggles!"

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Hermione tried to correct them both again.

"For two people that are trying to say that Harry's your friend, you sure both don't treat him as one," Melody says. "You certainly don't seem to respect him nor seem to remain loyal to him."

"Loyalty and trust are two of the hardest things to gain, but the easiest to break," Harry said. "And you both broke my trust and threw out my loyalty a long time ago."

"Hey," Ron protested. "We never did anything to you!"

"If anyone should be ashamed of their actions, it should be you, Harry," Hermione glared at Harry. "You turned Professor Snape into a toad!"

"And I would do it again... and again... and again... I would keep it on an eternal loop if I could," Harry stated. "That man is not a professor and never should have been. When Dumbledore hired him, he must have been on some type of drug or something."

"It's Head..." Hermione once again tried to correct him.

"Enough, Hermione," Harry snapped at her. "Stop trying to correct us all the time. I don't care how often you do it, I am not going to use those titles for those that do not deserve them!"

"How dare you, Harry James Potter," Hermione was once again in full angry lecture mode. "Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape deserve our respect and you WILL call them by their titles! It is the right thing and the only thing to do!"

"The day that I respect them is the day that I allow Dobby to kiss me on the lips," Harry said. "Respect is earned and if anything, both of them have done nothing but make sure that I would never respect either of them. I would never respect a bully or a man that does nothing to stop the bully."

"I wish I had some popcorn," Melody thought, loving watching Harry stand up against his former friends.

"Headmaster Dumbledore only does what is best for everyone," Hermione argued with Harry. "You can not question him!"

"I can question him all I want," Harry said. "He's not a god, Hermione. He is a manipulative old man that never does anything unless it benefits himself. After all, how many times has he left basically everyone at Hogwarts out to dry while he sits on his throne and does nothing?"

"Dumbledore is the greatest wizard since Merlin," Ron glared at him.

"Is that why he didn't do anything when your sister was taken into the Chamber of Secrets," Harry raised an eyebrow. "Fred and George told me that while the two of us went down to the Chamber with that fraud Lockhart, all Dumbledore did when he returned to the school was sit in his office and do nothing. He didn't try and find the Chamber. He didn't prepare any healing potions or spells. He didn't do anything at all. For someone that you keep saying is such a great man, he certainly doesn't do anything to actually help the students he is supposed to watch over."

"Dumbledore would have done something, but you just had to have all the glory as you always do," Ron yelled.

"Even after five years, you really do not know me at all," Harry shakes his head. "No wonder I have found such better friends here than I ever did at Hogwarts."

"Why would you ever want to be with friends with a bunch of lying f..." Hermione was cut off by a very intense glare sent at her by Harry.

"Say that word," he basically growled at her. "Say it! I dare you!"

Melody did not need her super hearing to hear the thunder that just occurred outside. It was definitely obvious that Harry was very sensitive when it came to that word. She was aware that her brother knew the reason for that, but Krinos was not going to share someone else's secrets like that. Even though they were twins that would share basically everything, Melody understood. After all, it was not Krinos's secret to tell.

"Something going on over here," Krinos suddenly appeared, having got his sister's amulet-sent message.

Melody was definitely relieved that Krinos got her message. Even more so when she saw that T'challa, Vallia, and Hawk were with him. It certainly pleased her that Vallia and Hawk being around served to make the two annoyances even angrier given that Vallia is a butterfly girl while Hawk is half-harpy.

"Just handling a couple of annoyances, Krinos," Harry says.

"You want me to turn them into trees," Krinos smirked as he asked his friend that.

The five mystic souls all stood around Harry as if they were his own personal guards. It was certainly something else that Harry loved about mystic souls and Crystal Rose. Their loyalty was something to value and admire.

"How about you two do what wand-users do best," Hawk smirked. "Run away with your ridiculous robes between your legs. Metaphorical tails, if you catch what I mean."

"You might want to use small words, Hawk," T'challa tells him. "They are from magical Britain, after all. We all know that the intelligence level of that magical community is about as low as brain power can get."

"I've met insects with more brain power than them," Vallia giggled. "Not that it's hard to be smarter than those that actually think that stupid school of theirs is the best in the world when it is actually the worst."

They all nodded at their taunting words. Seeing as they had no way to win against them in words or magic, Ron and Hermione just stomped away. Something that definitely relieved Harry, given that he did not want to deal with those two and their constant nonsense anymore.

"Those two will never learn," Harry shook his head.

"It can't be helped, unfortunately," Krinos said.

"I'm sorry you guys have to be involved with all of this drama," Harry tells them.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Harry," Hawk says. "We all knew what we were getting into when Krinos told us about what was going on."

"Mystic souls stick together," Melody said. "We always have and we always will."

"You guys are all so comfortable with who you are," Harry says. "I wish I could be like that."

"That is the thing with mystic souls, Harry," Vallia tells him. "I am sure that we will be able to help you also get comfortable with who you are."

"And once you learn to accept yourself, you will never apologize for being who you are," Krinos said.

As if she was taking her cue, Melody's eyes glowed. Music started to fill the air, obviously Melody's work as the strongest music mage in the school. Krinos rolled his eyes in a fond way and went along with it.

"Won't hide behind a lie another single day
Won't run away, I won't pretend
I'm confident and strong, I'll always be okay
I'll never doubt myself again."

"This is me, so here I am
Not ashamed, come and catch me if you can
What you see is what you get now, and I won't change a thing
Yeah I'm sorry, I ain't sorry
'Cause I like being me."

Krinos certainly knew how to carry a very good tune. Not to mention how the rest of Crystal Rose seemed to be so used to it that all of them looked to let themselves be swept up in the song as well. All those that heard him were instantly smiling and looking ready to dance.

"So no more waiting on the sidelines
No more hiding on the inside
No apologies, love it or hate it, I'ma just be me
Say, no more, don't need your approval
What for? Breaking all the rules so
No apologies, love it or hate it, I'ma just be me."

It was obviously the chores of the song because everyone around them started to dance. Harry was beginning to think that Crystal Rose might be in some type of fairy tale fantasy musical pocket dimension all on its own. Though, he could not bring himself to be upset about that even if it was true. He loved musicals.

Krinos really loved singing. His sister might be the music mage out of the two of them, but she was more of an instrument player than a singer. Plus, she loved that she was able to basically force her brother to sing by having music play whenever she could. After all, Krinos could not help but sing whenever he heard the music to a song he knows.

"No one's built quite perfectly
But who cares, I am everything I need
Fitting in is overrated, so don't just play some part
Never copy, duplicate it, just be who you are."

"So no more waiting on the sidelines
No more hiding on the inside
No apologies, love it or hate it, I'ma just be me."

"So no more waiting on the sidelines
No more hiding on the inside
No apologies, love it or hate it, I'ma just be me
Say, no more, don't need your approval
What for? Breaking all the rules so
No apologies, love it or hate it, I'ma just be me."

Everyone around them was joining in on the song. And not just that, but a lot of them started to add in their special effects using their powers. It was amazing to see all of them freely using their powers without a care in the world.

One thing that Harry enjoyed seeing was that using all of their powers was actually making the mystic souls look appealing to the Hogwarts students. After all, who could not love something as beautiful as their magic?

"So no more waiting on the sidelines
No more hiding on the inside
No apologies, love it or hate it, I'ma just be me
Say, no more, don't need your approval
What for? Breaking all the rules so
No apologies, love it or hate it, I'ma just be me."

Harry could not be happier with his new friends and his new life. He just had to make sure it was a permanent new life.

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty-Three: Creature Feature

Harry sneezed. He felt like he had been doing that a lot, lately. And it was always for the same reason.

"Vallia, for the love of Merlin, will you stop doing that," he looked up.

The butterfly girl was once again floating above him. Her wings would always leave a trail of sparkles wherever she would go. So, whenever she would float above him, she would cause him to sneeze because of the sparkles.

"Don't even bother, Harry," T'challa tells him. "Telling Vallia to not float around would be like asking Krinos to give up chocolate."

"NEVER," Krinos declared.

"See," T'challa made an 'I told you so' gesture.

Vallia giggled as she floated down and sat down next to them. They were all sitting down for lunch. Everyone was glad to have a break from classes. Harry was certainly happy that after the past few days of having to deal with constant idiots, he was finally having a day where nothing has happened. But, he did not have high hopes for that to last long given his Potter Luck.

"I apologize for making you sneeze, but I can never help but fly," she said.

"If I had wings, I would probably fly a lot as well," Harry chuckled.

"It's part of why those like Vallia and myself love being born this way," Hawk says. "There is nothing like feeling the wind as we fly so freely in the air. That type of freedom is like nothing anyone could ever feel from anything else."

"I may have only ever flown on a broom, but I do agree with you," Harry agrees with the harpy mystic soul. "There is nothing better than being in the air."

"I think you would do well in our school Dragon Games, Harry," Krinos smiled at him.

"Dragon Games," Harry gasped.

(AN: Dragon Games are based on the same game from Ever After High.)

The mystic souls could not help but giggle and chuckle. They could see the excitement in Harry's eyes even if he was also shocked. He had obviously never heard of them before, so that only made his excitement even more adorable.

"Yeah, Dragon Games," Melody says. "Because of mystic souls with dragon powers, Crystal Rose has a stable of dragons. Dragon Games are actually similar to your Quidditch game."

"Really," Harry was confused and excited.

They all nodded, smiling at Harry's excitement.

"During Dragon Game matches, two teams of five go against each other," Krinos explained. "The goal of the game is to get the ball through the hoop of the opposing team. A goal alone is worth ten points but there are also crystal illusions floating around the field. Hitting an emerald illusion with the ball makes the goal worth twenty points, hitting the sapphire illusion makes the goal worth thirty points, and hitting the diamond illusion makes the goal worth fifty."

"That's very cool," Harry says. "And you actually ride on dragons?"

"Of course," Hawk smiled at him. "But, those like myself, Vallia, and the other mages with wings are not allowed to play."

"I guess that makes sense," Harry says. "After all, your wings would probably interfere with how you would ride a dragon. They would slow you down."

"Exactly," Vallia nodded. "And since we are not allowed to fly on our own, as that would be cheating, we are perfectly happy to watch from the side."

"It's amazing that you are able to actually ride dragons," Harry said. "The last time that I encountered a dragon, it was trying to roast me alive."

"We have a friend that can shapeshift into dragons, so we have a deeper understanding of them," Melody tells him.

"Plus, the dragons that we use are probably a lot smaller than the ones you have seen," Krinos says. "Dragons, like every other magical creature, are different all over the world."

"That certainly is one of the main things I've learned while here," Harry said. "After all, just look at you, Hawk. Back in England, it's more than likely that he would be killed rather than being allowed to go to school."

"It really is awful," Vallia sighed. "When Buzz and I left England, we knew that it was bad, but it only seems to get worse with everything we hear."

"And that is only from what you have heard this year," Melody remarked. "Neither you nor Buzz have kept in contact with anyone from England."

"You can not blame us," Vallia says. "No mystic soul in their right mind would stay in England. It's a death sentence."

Harry did have to admit that she did have a point. He was well aware that Sirius was a mystic soul that had to hide his powers because he also believed that it would have been the death of him if his powers had become known. Either from his family or from the ministry. Sirius had just been lucky that he had those like Harry's parents by his side. Otherwise, he was not sure what would have happened to Sirius if he did not have anyone during that time.

"If anyone tries that here, they will learn that these roses definitely have thorns," Krinos basically stabbed his food.

"Do not kill your food, brother dear," Melody tells her brother.

"It's already dead, Melody," Krinos responds.

"Whatever," Melody playfully rolled her eyes.

The group continued to have fun and hang out with each other during lunch. They wanted to have a lighter mood that was not so full of the usual doom and gloom that comes from talking about all the issues of magical Britain. Not to mention that with a nice day outside, they all wanted to plan a nice time outside after finishing their classes for today.

But, they should have known that things had been too peaceful. Ever since the Hogwarts students had come to Crystal Rose, they would not go a single day without something happening. So, it really did seem like it was too much to ask for even a single day of peace.

Hestia came running it. And from the look on her face, there was definitely something going on. She ran right to the Winter Wolf table, which was where the group had gathered.

"Guys, we have a problem," she stated in a panic.

"By the gods, what now," most of the mystic souls complained.

"Some of the Hogwarts students have discovered the creatures of the night," Hestia tells them. "It's not going well."

"Oh, for the love of Hades," Krinos swore.

Everyone was soon standing and getting up from the table. Harry followed after them as they all quickly left the Main Gallery.

"Creatures of the night," Harry was very confused.

"No time for explanations this time, Harry," Melody tells him.

The group all ran through the corridors, following Hestia as she lead them to where the problem was happening. Well... most of them were running. Hawk and Vallia were both flying, for obvious reasons. Harry had no idea what was going on, but he definitely had a bad feeling about what could be happening.

There was also the fact that Hestia had talked about the "creatures of the night." That really confused Harry. Sure, he was aware of the more cliche creatures of the night that is mostly associated with Halloween. Creatures such as vampires, werewolves, bats, black cats, ghosts, zombies, and others like them. But in the mystic soul world, there could be an entirely different meaning to someone or something that could be a "creature of the night."

He was proven to be correct in his first assumption. When the others all came to a stop, he moved to be able to see what was going on. And if he was not corrected, then he was certain that he was looking at a group of vampires.

"It's common sense that you shouldn't mess with vampires," Melody shook her head.

"Since when has anyone from magical Britain ever had common sense," T'challa raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, you have a point with that one," Melody agreed with the jungle cat mage.

"Real vampires," Harry gasped.

While Remus was a werewolf, Harry had never met a vampire before. He was aware that they existed, especially given that Remus had taught them about vampires when he was their Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, but this was his first real meeting. He should have known that with his Potter Luck, he would have run into a vampire sooner or later.

The groups in front of them were Hogwarts students on one side and the vampires on the other side. Harry was not surprised, as well was annoyed by, the fact that Malfoy was one of the Hogwarts students. If it was not one of the annoying trio, then it was usually Malfoy that was the one causing trouble.

All of the Hogwarts students were pointing their wands at the vampires. Something the vampires definitely did not appreciate since they all had their fangs out and were hissing at the wand users. But the closer that Harry looked at their group, he noticed that maybe not all of them were vampires. For example, he saw Krinos and Melody's friend Abby in the group and he knew that she was not a vampire. But, she did seem to be growling at the Hogwarts group.

"Alright, what in the name of the gods is going on here," Krinos demanded to know.

"These brainless idiots thought that it was a good idea to try and kill us," Abby says. "One of them tried to stab me with a silver knife they conjured."

"Excuse me," Melody glared at the Hogwarts group.

"Of course, monsters stick together," Draco insulted all the mystic souls at once.

"Keep talking, ya bleached neanderthal," one of the vampires hissed at Malfoy. "It's already tempting for me to drain you dry. Don't make it even more tempting than it already is."

"I certainly want to see them fall after they tried to use fire spells on us," another vampire hissed.

The Hogwarts students all kept their wands pointed at the Crystal Rose group. Neither group was willing to give an inch to the other. T'challa helped Harry know who everyone on their side was to keep him from being confused. The Crystal Rose group, other than Abby, consisted of students named Sarah, Erica, Jesse, Greg, Hunter, Raven, Orion, and Horus. Harry then also helped them know who the Hogwarts students were. Other than Malfoy, there was also Pansy Parkinson, Cormac McLaggen, Crabbe, Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe, Ernie Macmillan, Zacharias Smith, and a few other students that Harry did not know the name of.

"You're all nothing but monsters," Marietta shouted at them. "Why would anyone ever allow vampires and werewolves to actually attend school?"

"Why wouldn't they be allowed," Vallia glared at the Hogwarts group. "They have magic just like everyone else does."

"They're monsters," Cho screamed.

"Says who," Hestia crossed her arms. "They have all been students here for years and never once has there ever been an issue."

"But they were just threatening to drain us dry," Pansy argued.

"As if you would be missed," hissed Erica, one of the vampires. "With a pug face like yours, the only people that would miss you would be the animal control people that have probably been trying to catch you."

That got the mystic souls to all laugh. Harry smirked as he noticed that even some of the Hogwarts group tried not to laugh. Everyone at Hogwarts made fun of Pansy because of her pug-like face. Though, Harry thought it was an insult to pugs since he thought the actual dog was cute while Pansy was anything but cute.

"And you threatened us, first," Sarah, another vampire student, hissed at them. "We were just minding our own business..."

"Drinking blood," Cormac yelled, interrupting her.

"A blood substitute potion," Jesse glared at him, hissing. "Vampires have not had to actually drink blood for decades since that potion was made. Real blood might taste better, but the potion works better to keep us from getting blood lust."

"But since that was a potion made for the benefit of vampires like us, of course, the backward people of magical Britain wouldn't know about that," Erica hissed. "If anyone is a monster, it's those like you that hate creatures for no reason!"

"You're the only monsters here," Zacharias yelled.

"Keep saying that," Abby growled at them. "I dare you."

Harry was starting to get that when Hestia mentioned the creatures of the night, it was very literal. Abby certainly seemed to be some type of growling creature. Considering how many magical creatures were running around the school, there could be a number of different creatures she could be. Harry suspected that she was either a werewolf or some other forest beast creature because of her growling.

"Abby, stand down," Krinos tells her.

The ice mage continued to glare and snarl at the Hogwarts group, but she did step away from them. Harry could tell that she was ready to start making some ice statues.

"We know that you are all from magical Britain, where creatures are frowned upon but are you really this stupid," Vallia put one of her hands on her hip.

"Hey," Draco protested. "You can't talk to us like..."

"You're from England," Cho suddenly gasped, interrupting Malfoy.

"Unfortunately, I am," Vallia said. "And I am so happy that I left considering how you all behave. I may be a butterfly girl, but not even I can be gentle when calling out such blatant idiocy."

"I bet your parents disowned you for being such a disgusting creature," Draco snarled at her.

"I disowned myself, actually," Vallia stated, shocking the group. "As if I would ever want to be a part of that family. Those sorry excuses for parents cast compulsions, loyalty spells, and mind-altering spells on my brothers to make them follow their every word. They also planned to use love potions on me to force me to be with any guy that they chose to make a marriage contract with me."

"Vallia was lucky to have her powers awakened, which allowed her to escape, at a young age," Raven glares at them. "The fact that there are families over there that willingly do that to their kids is just awful."

"Your entire magical country is the disgusting one," Hunter growled at them. "I am a werewolf and proud of it. The fact your ministry has so many laws against my people is against the original ways of the magical world."

"Not to mention your horrible laws against vampires," Sarah hissed. "Basically making it against the law for us to eat, yet not even recognizing that a perfectly fine potion was discovered that allows us to be perfectly fine with no need to hunt humans."

"Not unless they really piss us off," Erica still looked like she wanted to bite the Hogwarts group, not that anyone could blame her.

"If you don't want to be treated as monsters, then don't be monsters," Zacharias snarled at them.

"There is nothing wrong with being who we are," Hawk clenched his fists tightly. "We like being who we are regardless of what idiots from magical Britain think. I am proud to be half-harpy. We are ALL proud to be creatures. There is nothing wrong with being a creature."

"If anything, we feel bad that there are others that can not be like us," Sarah smirked.

She then almost vanished, but a gust of wind and a blurry figure told them that what she really was doing was moving at super speed. She reappeared behind the Hogwarts group. They all jumped at her sudden reappearance.

"No one can beat a vampire in terms of speed," Jesse smirked.

Hawk spread out his wings, showing off his harpy blood.

"Magic is magic," he says. "No matter who has it, it will always mean that they are worthy of it. If they have magic, then they are meant to have it. That is how the laws of Lady Hecate work. It is people like you that put shame on the gifts that she gave us."

"I am a pureblood..." Draco tried his usual boasting about his blood status.

"That is exactly what Hawk is talking about," Krinos interrupted him. "That ridiculous notion that coming from a magical family makes you more worthy of magic than those from non-magic families. It's one of the most stupid things that I have ever heard."

"Couple of mud..." Draco was once again interrupted.

"Before you finish what is probably something very stupid, let me tell you something that should be interesting to you," Melody smirked. "I and my brother, here, actually come from a family that is over 4000 years old. Our most famous ancestor is actually one of the founders of Crystal Rose. But, we would never believe that coming from an all-magic family makes us better than others."

"Neither of my parents had magic and yet I have one of the rarest forms of magic in the world," Hestia says. "I doubt that anyone with a wand is able to heal any injury with a wave of their hand."

"She's not even bragging," T'challa chuckled. "What she said is actually the truth. I once saw her reattach someone's severed hand in less than ten seconds."

"I still have no idea how that student managed to do that to his hand in the first place," Hestia shivered at the memory.

"Freaks stick together," Draco certainly was never going to listen to anything any of them had to say.

"You're the real freak, here, Malfoy," Harry spoke up for the first time since they all got there.

"What you say to me, Potter," Draco glared at him, pointing his wand at Harry.

"You heard me, Malfoy," Harry said. "You are the real freak. I hate that word more than anything, but maybe you should not throw out words that you can handle being called yourself."

"How dare you, Scarhead," Draco yelled at him. "When my father hears about this..."

He was once again interrupted. With how often he is being interrupted today, it really makes it clear how little he is respected by the mystic souls. Not that he was respected by anyone in general since only those afraid of his father or in business with his father actually hung around him.

"That is exactly what I am talking about, Malfoy," Harry glared at him. "You are a fifteen-year-old wizard and yet you run to your father every time something does not go your way. It's pathetic. If that is how you are always going to behave, you will never be able to be anything more than what you have always been. A sorry excuse of a wizard with daddy's boy issues."

"Why you," Draco yelled again, pointing his wand at Harry again.

Krinos, Melody, T'challa, Hawk, and Vallia all stood in front of Harry. 

"You already pissed us off enough with your stupid anti-creature nonsense," T'challa says. "Do you really want to mess with us some more?"

He turned his eyes into emerald cat eyes while his teeth fanged. He certainly was not going to let anyone mess with his friends.

"I say you go running back to your fellow pathetic wand-users before I add a few more trees to the school forest," Krinos threatened them.

His glowing eyes sent the Hogwarts group running.

"They really are nothing but a bunch of idiots," Melody shook her head.

"You have no idea," Harry said.

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty-Four: Order of the Fried Chickens

Sirius was definitely going to be getting Dobby some new socks for Yule once the time comes. He could not believe how helpful the energetic elf was. Harry was right when he told him that the elf was crazy, but that did not make him any less helpful. Harry was probably just glad that he had bonded with Dobby and that the elf was no longer trying to "save him" by trying to injure him.

Sirius was packing up as many books as he could from the Black family library. Since he was no longer going to be living in magical Britain, the last thing he needed was to leave all of these books around. Especially since he did not trust his cousins not to try and give them to Voldemort once he made his move. Narcissa would certainly do anything to please both her husband and Voldemort. And Bellatrix was simply downright crazy that was scary loyal to Voldemort.

The wards would not stop either of them because they both were Blacks by blood. The last thing that Sirius wanted was for Voldemort to get his snakey hands on the powerful tombs that are in the family library. Not to mention that he also had Winky clearing every magical artifact in the house as well so that they could not be used, either.

Sirius was happy that he had saved his school trunk from when he had gone to Hogwarts. Enchanting it with both a feather-light charm as well as an everlasting-expanding charm, he could literally put the entire library in the trunk without worrying about how much it would weigh.

Dobby had apparated him right into Number 12. Since house elf magic was so different from wizard magic, the ministry had no way to tell that he was back in the country. He might have surrendered his British citizenship when he accepted sanctuary in magical Greece, but he was not going to leave anything behind for others to use.

He heard the pop of someone else apparating into the house. Since only a few others were allowed to pass through the wards, he had a good idea of who had just come.

"Sirius," he heard the voice of Kingsley. "You here?"

"In the library, Kings," Sirius calls out to him.

He heard the Auror come up the stairs and was soon in the library with him. He looked shocked by the nearly empty shelves but figured that Sirius was making sure that they would be in safe hands. 

"Sirius, are you sure that it's safe to be here," Kingsley was concerned.

"The wards are still up, Kings," Sirius tells him. "And as much as I hate Dumbledore, I doubt that he would release the Fidelius Charm since this is the Order's headquarters."

"But isn't it against the rules of your offered sanctuary to come back to Britain," Kingsley was still worried about his friend.

"Olivia knows that I am here," Sirius says. "Once I told her about what I was doing, she gave me permission to come back in order to collect everything from the house. I couldn't, in good conscience, leave the Black family library behind."

"You are worried about Voldemort getting his hands on them," Kingsley knew about the family members that Sirius had in Voldemort's ranks.

Sirius nodded. "Narcissa and Bellatrix know that the Black family library is located here. Even with the Fidelius Charm on the house, either of them could use the Black family magic to override the charm in order to come into the house. It's a small miracle that neither of them has already done so. Probably because Bellatrix is still in Azkaban and they are waiting for them they can break her and others out."

"Do not look a gift horse in the mouth, Sirius," Kingsley tells him. "They currently know that Dumbledore is out of the country as well as believing that you are not here. They could still decide to come here."

"Another reason to get these books out of here as quickly as possible," Sirius said. "I'm almost finished down here. Next, I will go to the real family library on the family floor."

"Oh, so that's where you, Harry, and Remus were staying during the summer," Kingsley had heard enough complaining about Harry not being in the room the others assigned him to a lot while they had been staying at the house.

"As if we would have let Harry room with a traitor," Sirius says. "Also, Harry deserved his own room in general just to have peace from everyone. If he was in a normal room on the regular floor, everyone would have been bothering him non-stop."

"I can definitely understand that," Kingsley said. "Harry really does not deserve them trying to control him."

"Not that it will stop them from trying," Sirius muttered, but Kingsley still heard him.

He placed his hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"Harry is going to be fine, Sirius," he tells him

"I can not help but still worry about him, Kings," Sirius says. "It's not just Voldemort and his death eaters that I want to not have the books, but Dumbledore is another person that I want these away from. Someone like Dumbledore is not someone that I want to be around these books."

"Would he even be able to get them," Kingsley asked him.

"While Tonks might not be a part of the Black family since her mother was disowned, the Black blood in her veins might still enable him to do some type of magic to take down the family wards," Sirius explains. "While Dumbledore might hate all things related to dark magic, I still do not want these books anywhere near him."

"It is better to be safe than sorry," Kingsley agreed with him.

Sirius's shoulders then sagged in a sad way.

"I'm not coming back, you know," he says. "After this, it is most likely that I will never step foot or paw in magical Britain ever again."

"I can not blame you," Kingsley said. "After everything that people in this country have done to both you and Harry, you have no obligations to stay here."

"But... I..." Sirius took hold of Kingsley's hand. "I don't want to leave you."

Kingsley was definitely shocked to hear that. He had liked Sirius for a while now. In fact, he actually had a crush on Sirius back when they had both been at Hogwarts and Sirius had been a couple of years above him. Not to mention that Sirius also had trained him when he first became an Auror. He had been heartbroken when he found out about Sirius being sent to Azkaban for supposedly betraying the Potters. He never believed it, but it's not like he could do anything about it.

He never thought that he would have been given a chance with Sirius. Plus, he understood how Sirius would much rather focus on keeping Harry safe and happy rather than trying to have any type of relationship. But now, it looked like they might be getting a second chance.

"Sirius, I..." Kingsley tried to talk.

"I know that things have been really rough for all of us," Sirus interrupted him. "But, you have no idea how much it meant to me to find out that you never believed that I was guilty. Everyone else didn't even think twice because I am a member of the Black family. But your faith and loyalty meant the world to me."

"James was your Auror partner, Sirius," Kingsley remembers. "I saw you two work together when you trained me to be an Auror. You two were brothers in everything but blood. I could never believe that you would put him or Harry in danger."

"Another reason why it makes it so hard to leave you," Sirius said. "You are one of the very few good people in this country. I can't just leave you here. Who knows what will happen? Especially if Dumbledore ever finds out that you are not actually loyal to him."

"Who says that I would be staying," Kingsley smirked at him.

"What," Sirius gasped, not expecting that at all.

Kingsley let go of Sirius's hand. He smirked as he took a few steps away. Much to Sirius's shock, Kingsley's eyes glowed.

"Requip," he cast.

Sirius's eyes got even wider as he saw what was happening right in front of his eyes. There was a flash of light and Kingsley was suddenly holding a sword. And it actually was a very impressive sword that most likely could have been mistaken for King Arthur's famous sword, Excalibur.

"You're a mystic soul as well," Sirius gasped.

"You're not the only one with hidden talents, Padfoot," Kingsley smirked.

His sword soon vanished as Kingsley canceled his spell. Though, Sirius had to admit that with a sword in his hand, the Auror looked really good.

"That's quite a power that you have," Sirius complimented him.

"It's called Requip magic," Kingsley explained. "It allows me to store weapons and armor in my own private pocket dimension for me to summon any time that I want. It also works on non-weapons as well. When I am in a hurry, I even use it to change my regular clothes."

"The ministry would lose it if they learned that a 'monster' managed to hide right under their noses," Sirius laughed.

"The risk was worth it to be able to be a spy inside the ministry," Kingsley tells him. "Because of my job, I was able to hide a lot of reports of mystic souls that have found their way into magical Britain as well as help many of them escape before anything could happen to them."

"You would do really well working for the magic council as one of the Guards," Sirius says.

"At least I have something to look forward to, then," Kingsley chuckled.

"You want to come to Greece, then," Sirius guessed.

Kingsley nodded as he took Sirius's hand again. "You said that you do not want to leave me. So, now you don't have to."

Sirius started to lean toward him, hoping that the two of them could actually have their first kiss. But there was no way that their luck was that good.

They heard what was definitely the floo activating downstairs. A number of other people's voices could be heard. Kingsley looked at Sirius in worry, knowing that Dumbledore had definitely told the Order everything that happened with Sirius.

"I'll get to the family floor," Sirius tells him. "I just finished with this library, so I was going to up there eventually."

Kingsley nodded. "Just get up there before any of them see you."

As Sirius went up to the family floor with his trunk of books, Kingsley went downstairs to run interference with those that had just arrived. He was not surprised to see the ones that had arrived were Moody and Tonks. It made him sick to be an Auror with the two of them since it was obvious that neither of them actually cared about the law. All they cared about was doing whatever Dumbledore said, even if it was against the law or simply against basic human decency.

"Good, you're already here, Shacklebolt," Moody said. 

"And why would you two need to be here," Kingsley asked them. "The Headmaster didn't send over any orders."

Not that he would ever follow any orders from Dumbledore. He was well aware that Dumbledore was just as biased against mystic souls as almost every other British magical being. So, he was definitely never going to follow any orders from the man. There was nothing that he wanted more than to see the downfall of the power-hungry old man.

Once he was able to actually leave with Sirius, there was nothing he wanted more than to see the look on Dumbledore's face when he realizes just how people were not as loyal to him as he thought. Dumbledore truly believed that everyone should be loyal to him and that he was the most powerful wizard in the world. Being at Crystal Rose was probably killing him as even the youngest student there would be able to beat him in a duel. Something he would gladly see happen.

"He left standing orders of where I am in charge of the Order while he is in Greece," Moody says.

"What can we even do," Kingsley crossed his arms. "Voldemort has still not made any move to make himself known. I have even looked at muggle newspapers and there have been no unexplained deaths in the muggle world, either."

"How do we even know if You-Know-Who is still in the country," Tonks says. "Maybe when he heard that Dumbledore went to Greece, he also went there to recruit allies."

"You-Know-Who is all about purebloods," Moody grumbled. "Even when he is known to recruit werewolves and giants. I doubt that even he would recruit mystic souls."

"Don't see why he would," Tonks grumbled.

"He wouldn't even be able to," Kingsley remembered the original lie Olivia had come up with. "Olivia did say that Voldemort had killed a few mystic souls during the last war. None of them would ever follow him. Not even mystic soul criminals. Though, from what Olivia has said about the prisons in their country, none of those criminals would be breaking out any time soon."

"I meant why would You-Know-Who recruit them when I doubt even he would want such monsters with them," Tonk stated.

Kingsley facepalmed when he heard that. 

"You say that you're fighting against Voldemort, but what you just said would be the exact same thing he would think," he said.

"How dare you compare me to You-Know-Who," Tonks yelled at him.

"What I did was call you out on your hypocrisy," Kingsley glared at her. "This entire Order is filled with hypocrites like you. Including you, Moody. You all say that you're fighting against Voldemort and his death eaters, but you all act a lot like them."

"I have been putting dark wizards like them in Azkaban for more years than you've been alive," Moody yelled at him. "I am nothing like them! We're fighting against them!"

"And yet from what I've seen, this so-called Order of the Phoenix has not actually done much," Kingsley stated. "Olivia was right when she called you all out on not actually doing. You're more focused on spreading hate than actually doing anything to stop Voldemort."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Tonks glared at him.

"You all and the death eaters are both opposites while also being exactly the same," Kingsley says. "The death eaters spread hate against muggleborns and anyone else that has 'non-pure' blood. But you all spread hate against dark wizards and Slytherins. Evil does not mean dark nor does light mean good. I have had multiple family members in Slytherin and all of them were the farthest things from evil."

"They are just the exceptions," Tonks argued. "Everyone knows that Slytherins are evil."

"That is one of the most ridiculous and stupid things that I have ever heard," Kingsley stated. 

"You can not argue with the facts, Shacklebolt," Moody tells him. "Almost all of You-Know-Who's death eaters are from Slytherin."

"Oh really," Kingsley smirked since he already had the perfect argument against that. "Let's see if that is actually true. Voldemort possessed one of the Hogwarts teachers back in Mr.Potter's first year. Guess which house Quirrell was in?"

"That's easy," Tonks said. "Slytherin."

"Wrong," Kingsley smirked even more. "He had been a Ravenclaw. How about this next one? Barty Crouch Junior. The one that helped the Lestrange family torture Alice and Frank Longbottom into insanity."

"Slytherin," Moody stated.

"Wrong again," Kingsley was enjoying himself. "He was a Hufflepuff. Maybe you will get this next one right. Fenrir Greyback. Mostly known to us as being the werewolf that bit Remus when he was only six years old."

"Well, he obviously was Slytherin," Tonks stated with confidence.

"Wrong again," Kingsley said. "Greyback never went to Hogwarts, so he was not in any of the houses. I would say that it is shocking how you two, those trained to actually investigate and look at all angles in a case, simply blame Slytherins for everything. Makes me wonder how either of you was made an Auror in the first place."

"How do we know you are not just making everything you are saying up just to make Slytherin look good," Tonk accused him.

Kingsley gave her a look that their boss, Amelia Bones, had secretly nicknamed his "lawyer face" because of how when he makes it, he starts firing off facts as if from a gun or wand. And when he fires his "fact bullets" no one was safe from the icy tone that he says them in.

"I was not only in Ravenclaw back in Hogwarts, but I was also at the top of my year," Kingsley explained. "Until Mr.Potter came alone, I actually had the highest scores in Defense Against The Dark Arts. Not only that but I was known to have some of the most detailed essays that some of the teachers actually have me extra points for it. Since the war was still going on when I was in school, I actually spent a lot of time in the library looking up everything I could. And one of the things I discovered was that it was NOT just Slytherins that sided with Voldemort. His death eaters came from all the houses with a majority of them not having gone to Hogwarts at all."

Tonks looked ready to either burst into flames of anger or deny everything that Kingsley had said. Moody looked like he either wanted to yell at Kingsley for what he was saying or to actually praise him for really good investigation skills. But, it looked like he chose to be angry.

"But probably the worst part of your hypocrisy is that neither of you even bothered to check your own memories," Kingsley glared at them both. "After all, wasn't your own mother a Slytherin, Tonks? So, you either think your own mother is evil or you simply ignore the facts until they work in your favor."

"Oi! Don't bring my mum into..." Tonks tried, but Kingsley ignored her.

"And then there is you, Moody," Kingsley moved on to the other hypocrite in the room. "You also say that all Slytherins are evil. And yet, the death eater that lead Voldemort to James and Lily as well as the one that used their son to bring Voldemort back was not a Slytherin. Peter Pettigrew. A Gryffindor. Guess that proves my point even more. Not all Slytherins are evil nor are all Gryffindors good. Maybe you two need to learn to not be so prejudiced."

Kingsley then went back upstairs, knowing that he was definitely leaving with Sirius once he was done collecting the books. He knew that everything he said would probably go in one ear and out the other with the two of them, but it felt so good to tell them off like that.

Sirius had given him permission to come up to the family floor, so he soon joined him in the library.

"So, did you have fun roasting the chickens," Sirius chuckled as he asked that.

Kingsley smirked. "I am sure that I fried them more than roasted them with the amount of heat that I used to burn them."

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty-Five: A New Teacher And Friend

"You really are doing very well, Harry," Krinos tells his friend/student.

"Thanks, Krinos," Harry smiled at him. "I never would have gotten this far with my powers if it wasn't for you."

"Nature and weather might be completely different powers, but the basics of being a mystic soul are all the same no matter what powers we have," Krinos says.

"You've also gotten advice from Hawk as well, haven't you," Harry smirked since he guessed that Krinos had some help when it came to his "lessons."

"I was not trying to hide the fact that I did get advice from him," Krinos chuckled. "Hawk would have helped you, himself, but he has been helping some of the new harpy students that had started this year."

"I understand," Harry says. "I think it's really sweet of him to help the younger harpies adjust to the school."

"Hawk is like a big brother to a lot of us," Krinos tells him. "Even to those that are older than him, he really is a big brother at heart. Which is ironic given that he is an only child."

"Even those that have siblings can still treat others like younger siblings," Harry chuckles. "I know that Fred and George definitely treat their younger friends as younger siblings."

"And yet they treat you completely differently," Krinos smirked. "I see the way that they look at you, Harry. They are very fond of you but not in a sibling way."

Harry blushed quickly because of Krinos's teasing. He had definitely discovered from his time with Krinos and Melody that the two of them really were like siblings to him. They had taken him under their wings, metaphorically speaking given that there were a ton of students there with actual wings. Krinos may spend more time with him, but Melody was the sister he always wanted. And given that both of them had dark hair just like him, maybe in another life, they would have been his siblings.

"I would hate you if you were not such a good person," Harry tells him.

"You know that you love me," Krinos says. "Besides, I know you like them back. Is it so hard to maybe give them a shot? Magical people are a lot more open to those types of relationships, Harry."

Harry blushed even more. "I...I do like them. There is nothing about them that I don't like. Even during some of the worst times of my life at Hogwarts, they always made me smile. Which is good considering how often my life has been in danger at Hogwarts."

"You worry me when you say things like that," Krinos stated. "I have the urge to wrap you in bubble wrap and lock you in a padded room."

"No wonder you and Sirius get along so well," Harry chuckled. "You both have the same protective urges."

"You can not blame me," Krinos says. "After all, you have been through similar things that I have. Anyone that lost their parents in ways that we have would be protective."

"I have been telling you that people have said that I have a saving people thing," Harry said.

"Being protective is good," Krinos says. "After all, it means that you are a good person. I have seen plenty of people willing to run away and leave other people out to dry. It's such a shame."

"I have seen that a lot of times," Harry said. "By the way, how did you know that I liked the twins?"

"It's called having eyes," Krinos chuckled. "Also, as soon as I mentioned the twins, you caused that to happen."

Harry blushed as he saw what his powers had done. Given that he was still working on making personal storm clouds, he had been testing his powers to practice changing the weather of the clouds. Such as going from rain to snow to hail to other types of weather. But now, the clouds were gone and there was a mini rainbow instead. And Harry only blushed even more when he saw Krinos smirking.

"There's a lot to hate about you, Krinos," he jokingly glared at the nature mage.

Krinos shrugged, smirking. "I tease everyone about their love lives, so you're not alone with how I tease you."

"I will feel so bad for your sister once Melody starts dating," Harry said.

"Melody can handle herself perfectly fine," Krinos says. "I once saw her sonic scream a demon through three separate walls. If anything, I would be more worried about the person dating her than I would my sister."

"You're a strange guy, I hope you know that," Harry stated.

"I've been called worse," Krinos chuckled. "You should hear what most demons call me."

"Given how many you have told me you've vanquished, it does not surprise me that they would not have anything nice to say," Harry snickered.

"Well, they deserve to be vanquished," Krinos shrugged. "Demons are literally beings of pure evil. They don't have souls. The only ones that are not a bother are the ones that stay down in the Underworld."

"I hope that none show up while we're here," Harry says. "I doubt that anyone from Hogwarts would be able to handle them."

"You have no idea, Harry," Krinos tells him. "Demons are ruthless creatures that do not know the meeting of the word 'mercy.' They don't care if someone can fight back or not. They will kill anyone and everyone they come across."

"Are demons really that bad," Harry asks him. "I am not trying to say you don't know what you're talking about. I am just saying that because I have never heard of demons before."

"When I said that demons are being of pure evil, I was not kidding," Krinos said. "They really are the most horrible creatures that anyone could come across. And that is not even an opinion. It's a fact."

"Are there different types of demons," Harry was curious. "Like how there are different types of dragons?"

Krinos nodded. "There are dozens of different kinds of demons out there. And the more powerful they are, the worse they get. Probably the closest that a demon can come to being harmless would be the Scavenger Demon. They are mostly known for eating the leftovers that another demon has left behind."

"Gross," Harry cringed.

"That is not even the worse part," Krinos says. "The worst part would be that Scavengers explode into green slime when they're vanquished. It's disgusting and so hard to get out of both clothes and hair."

(AN: The demons are from the original version of the magical TV show, Charmed. I do not own them.)

"At least they are not as bad as other demons you have faced," Harry said. "At least, I think so. I am guessing when I say that."

"Scavengers are more gross than they are dangerous," Krinos says. "Other demons that have specific targets, as well as specific powers, are the ones that are more dangerous."

"Such as which demons," Harry loved learning all of this.

"Well, probably one of the most dangerous, as well as one of the most annoying, demons that I have faced was the demon of fear," Krinos tells him.

"Just from that title alone, I already know that demon is definitely not one to be messed with," Harry says.

"I find him more annoying because he has this nasty habit of never staying vanquished no matter how many times we've sent him away in a literal ball of flames," Krinos was definitely annoyed at the demon. "But even then, his powers are terrifying. He is not only able to know what your greatest fear is, but he can bring it to life."

"He sounds like a boggart," Harry says. "I faced one back in my third year at Hogwarts. They're shapeshifters that can turn into a person's biggest fear."

"The demon of fear does more than just bring your greatest fear to life," Krinos tells him. "He does it in a way where you are literally frozen in fear. And once that happens, he literally scares you to death. All of his victims end up the same. Faces frozen in terror as their hair had turned completely white with fear."

"That's possible," Harry gasped.

"Anything is possible with magic, Harry," Krinos says. "And when it comes to demons, their magic is the worst there is."

"I am not surprised," Harry said. "Though, I am now tempted to 'accidentally' lead some very annoying people into a demon's path. That would certainly be one way to get rid of them."

"You are so adorable and innocent while also having a terrifying dark side," Krinos remarked. "I like that."

"I am not that adorable," Harry blushed again.

"That rainbow you still have up would disagree," Kinos smirked.

Harry was quick to snap his fingers and make the rainbow disappear. He definitely had been getting a lot better at controlling his powers as well as turning them off when he wanted to. Another thing he was working on was his endurance. Because of how long his powers had been blocked, he did not have the energy to use his powers for very long. Such as how the rain spell that he had used on Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny only lasted for an hour before the clouds vanished on their own.

Those like Krinos, Melody, T'challa, and the others could use their magic as easily as they breathed without much of a need to stop. But Krinos told him that while it would take a few weeks, or even up to a month, his magical core would eventually settle and make it easier for him to use his powers. Krinos also had explained to him that their magical cores were basically a muscle. And using their powers was like exercise for their cores. The more they use them, the stronger they would be.

Before Harry could then ask what was next, a girl about their age walked into the greenhouse. She was just as unique as everyone else at Crystal Rose. She was a white girl with slightly pale skin and pitch-black long hair, which both helped to show off her bright purple eyes. She also wore an a-line knee-length black dress with watercolor-like purple designs all over it. Over her dress was a jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She also wore dark purple ballet flats on her feet that went with both the purple on her dress as well as the purple silk scarf she wore around her neck.

"Hey, Krinos," she greeted him.

"Geia, Megi," Krinos greeted her back in his native tongue.

"So, this is the famous Harry Potter that has been the talk of Crystal Rose," the newly named Megi said as she walked around Harry. 

"I am not really that special," Harry tells her. "I would much rather be normal than have anything special or interesting about me."

"It's not every day that we find a mystic soul from Britain," Megi says. "That is why there is so much talk about you, Harry. Plus, Krinos and Melody have been keeping us in the loop with what we can do to help you."

Harry looked at Krinos with a shocked look.

"You got your entire school involved," he gasped.

Krinos shrugged. "Not the entire school. Just our friends. Which just so happens to be most of the school. Most of the teachers are also aware of what is going on, as well."

"This isn't your fight," Harry was shocked by the number of people involved. "I know you are all powerful, but Voldemort and Dumbledore are both very dangerous. Even if they are dangerous in different ways. I don't want any of you getting hurt."

"Harry, we are doing this because we know it's the right thing to do," Krinos tells him. "Everyone was given a choice on whether to be involved or not. There were those that did not want to be involved and that's okay."

"It's true," Megi nodded in agreement. "There are many of us that joined and just as many that did not want to get involved. We know the risks and we are going to be helping you, anyway."

"I would like to see any of those pathetic wand-users try and go against Megi," Krinos smirked. "She would have them on their knees in seconds."

"What is your power, Megi," Harry asked her.

"I'm a telepath," Megi definitely looked proud of her power. "My magic revolves around mind magic. My main abilities are that I can read the minds of others, communicate using thoughts, as well as being able to create mind illusions. Meaning that I can basically hack into another person's brain to make them see what I want them to."

"Megi's magic is also so strong that she also has telekinesis," Krinos added. "She can move things with her mind."

"Woah," Harry was definitely impressed. "That's incredible."

"There are not many telepaths with the same amount of power as me," Megi says. "Most telepaths can not do much beyond reading minds or sharing thoughts. Someone like me is simply someone that joins the ranks of powerful mages born in our generation."

"There does seem to be a lot of you guys with rare magic in the school right now," Harry said. "I have been told that Hestia's healing magic is also very rare. Not to mention Charlotte's fairy tale magic."

"Do not forget my own cousin," Krinos chuckled. "Her time magic is also one of those rare and powerful abilities."

"We are definitely a very lucky generation," Megi agreed with Harry.

"So, why did you come here, Megi," Krinos asked her. "Not that I don't like the visit."

"I actually wanted to help Harry," Megi revealed. "I have been hearing some things from the minds of some of the Hogwarts staff that made me concerned."

"Do you often just read the minds of others without permission," Harry could not help but ask.

He might not actually care if she did it to anyone from Hogwarts unless they were his friends, but what she said did concern him. After all, he liked his own thoughts to be private. Megi seemed like a nice person and Krinos obviously trusted her, but he did still just meet her. So, he did not know her as Krinos did.

"No need to worry, Harry," Megi smiled. "I do not actively read the minds of others. I usually only scan the front of a person's mind in order to make sure I can trust them."

"Which definitely is understandable given how many people would want to use her for her powers," Krinos said. "Just like how the students that can see the future are often used by others for things like winning the lottery or getting test answers."

Harry could understand that. Megi would probably have to be careful who she was around. With powers like hers, she easily could have many other people coming after her in order to use her powers for their own gain. He could only imagine what she had to go through during the times when big tests would happen at their school since it was most likely that she would be basically harassed by the other students that would want her to get the answers right from the minds of their teachers.

"Besides, I definitely do not trust any of those so-called teachers from Hogwarts," Megi continued. "So, of course, I would look into their minds. And let me tell you that I will never be able to get some of their thoughts out of my head any time soon. That is how awful they are. Especially that toad woman's thoughts."

"Something tells me that I do not want to know," Harry stated.

"You're smart," Megi said.

"So, what did you find out, Megi," Krinos asked.

"It seems that I am not the only mind-reader around here," Megi tells them. "Both Dumb-as-a-door and that greasy-haired potion master wannabe are masters at occlumency and legilimency. Both of which are wand-user techniques for reading minds."

Harry's eyes widened, making him realize a lot of things.

"I always thought that I felt something in my head whenever either of them would look me in the eye," Harry groaned. "It was like my brain was twitching because of something irritating it."

"That's how occlumency and legilimency work," Megi explains. "Direct eye contact is needed in order for them to read your mind. Your glasses most likely helped block some of your thoughts, but both of them are masters of the mind arts. So, I doubt that either of them was blocked much by your glasses."

"No wonder Dumbledore always seems to know everything about everyone," Harry was almost growling. "It's how he so easily manipulates everyone. He literally gets the perfect information on how to do so from their own heads."

"Snape also does something that is called 'mind rape," Megi said. "Meaning that he forces his way into the heads of others in order to cause them really bad headaches. An even worse mind attack could even cause permanent brain damage if it is bad enough."

"That explains so much," Harry said. "No wonder so many Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws are always having trouble concentrating when they are in Potions class. He does that on purpose to make his Slytherins look even better compared to the rest of us."

"So, what do you have in mind, Megi," Krinos asked the telepath.

"Basically all mystic souls are immune to occlumency and legilimency," Megi explained. "Our powers are too strong for a wand-user technique to work on us. It's probably another of the reasons why Dumbledore blocked your powers, Harry. So that he would always know what you are thinking."

"So, I don't have anything to worry about anymore," Harry guessed.

Megi shook her head. "Your powers are still new on top of your magic not being used to defending your brain from a mental attack. So, that is why I came. I can not place a block against it, but I can teach you to defend your own brain."

"Really," Harry was realizing that he was getting another teacher to help him.

Megi nodded. "I will teach you to build your own mind palace. You will literally have a fortress in your mind where all of your memories and thoughts will be safe from anyone that wants to know them."

"If it keeps that greasy git and that fake light lord out of my head, I will do anything," Harry tells her.

"I think you and I are going to get along great," Megi giggled.

She loved it when people wanted to learn on top of being sassy. And Harry definitely was both of those things.

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty-Six: Mystic Spark

The fact that the twins were not shocked at all when they walked in on Harry sitting on top of a cloud should really say something about much craziness they were used to. It definitely said something since seeing their friend sitting on a cloud literally did not phase them at all.

It also did not surprise them how they found Harry in the Crystal Rose greenhouse. With how much time and practice he had been doing in the greenhouse, he had really started to appreciate the beautiful area. Plus, with weather powers, he was able to help take care of the plants whenever they needed rain or sunshine. And even if he accidentally did some damage, a nature mage was almost always in the greenhouse to fix his mistake.

"Hey, guys," Harry chuckled as his cloud floated up and down a little, almost as if he was sitting on a water bed.

"We see you've been practicing, Harrykins," Fred smiled.

"And are doing really well, too," George grinned.

"Ever since Megi started helping me with my mind palace, I've actually gotten better at controlling my powers," Harry says.

Of course, Harry had told the two of them about him getting help from his newest friend. Megi had been working with him really hard in order for him to be able to properly defend his mind from Snape and Dumbledore. Something that he especially needed to do with Snape ever since the potion mishap was reversed and he was returned to normal. Harry was sure that he heard most of the school groan when they discovered Snape was back to normal. It really showed how literally no one other than Dumbledore actually liked the man.

"No offense to Megi, even though we haven't met her yet, how would that help," Fred asked him.

"I agree with my twin, Harry, with how I don't see how a mind palace would help with your powers," George said.

"I was confused at first, as well, but Megi explained it for me," Harry explains. "Because my mind is more organized with a lot less clutter, it's helping with my focus. And with more focus, I am able to concentrate better while mastering my abilities."

"That actually makes a lot of sense," Fred stated.

"That does explain how you are able to actually be sitting on a cloud," George chuckled.

Harry chuckled as well. He had found that with his powers over the weather, he was able to conjure a cloud that was almost like a comfy bed that could float around. He was really enjoying himself with his powers. The more he mastered them, the more he discovered just how much he could do with them. And given what he had seen of both Krinos and Melody's powers, he could hardly wait to see what else he could do.

"Krinos did say that teleportation was a common thing for mystic souls to be able to do with their powers," Harry says.

"So, you are going to be traveling around on a cloud," Fred chuckled.

"That is very interesting and very fun," George snickered.

"Once I find out what I am able to have more than just myself on a cloud, I am definitely giving you two a ride," Harry tells them.

"We would love that," they both said at the same time.

"So, how had Griffin been treating you both," Harry asked them. "Neither Neville nor I were surprised when you two got into that house."

"It's amazing, actually," Fred says. "Every dorm room has a glass ceiling. So, it's like sleeping under the stars every single night."

"And even when everyone usually does have their own room, we still get to share," George said. "One of our fellow Griffins told us that the rooms magically fit our taste, which is why we still share."

"You two never have liked being separated," Harry chuckled.

"Magical twins in general never like to be separate," Fred explained. "While those like Padma and Parvati Patil are identical twins that happen to be magical, they are not magical twins."

"Magical twins, as we have told you, is basically the two of us sharing a soul," George added. "It's why it's so easy for us to do our twin speak since we literally hear each other's thoughts."

"Not to mention that we generally love doing it to annoy those like Ron and Ginny, who hate it when we twin speak," Fred grinned.

"And even when there are those that joke about how even we do not know who is truly Fred or George, we really do know who we are," George said.

"But, you two are still your own people," Harry made sure to point out. "Fred, you love Charms and Transfiguration since spells are what you love working with while creating pranks. George, Potions and Ancient Runes are two of your favorite classes since you are fascinated by how they can be done by even those with no magic at all. Fred, your favorite food is spiced duck or lamb since you are a more adventurous eater and also love spicy things. George, your favorite food is Shepard's Pie since classics are what you prefer while also liking sweeter desserts. Being magical twins doesn't take away the fact that you are still two people with your own interests, likes, and dislikes."

Both of the twins were definitely touched by how much Harry knew about them. When it came to being magical twins, they were often mistaken as being the same person because of how they shared a soul. Or, there were those like Hermione that was constantly getting on their nerves with how she kept trying to say they were too dependent on each other and actually should spend time apart. They were close to hexing her more than once because of that.

But yet, as always, Harry was showing his big heart. He cared about them as both individuals and as a pair. There were no words that they could use that could describe how much that meant to them. Especially since not even their own mother could be bothered to pay that much attention to them. The only time she ever focused on anyone other than Ron or Ginny was to yell at them for something she thinks they did wrong. There was a reason that Bill, Charlie, and Percy all left home as soon as they could.

"Do try to be careful with how you say stuff like that, Harrykins," Fred tells him, using their playful nickname for Harry.

"We can have anyone throwing a tantrum for being jealous of you paying that much attention to us," George added.

Harry raised his eyebrow. "How about you two not beat around the bush? We all know that you are talking about your sister."

The twins sighed. They really were talking about Ginny. They just did not actually want to say it.

"We did not want to bring her up around you," Fred admitted. "We know that she creeps you out, so we wanted to avoid saying her name as much as possible."

"She gives us the creeps as well and we are not even the ones that she is obsessed with," George felt a shiver go up his spine. "You shouldn't have to deal with her more than you already do."

"It's alright, you two," Harry tells them. "Yes, Ginny creeps me out and I hate how she is obsessed with me, but there is nothing that you could have done to stop that. Just bringing her up or saying her name is not going to make me dislike either of you."

"We just know how her attitude when it comes to you, Harry, really makes you uncomfortable," Fred says.

"Not to mention how much more obsessed she got after you saved her in the Chamber of Secrets," George said.

"What she needs to realize is that I did not save her because it was her that needed saving," Harry crosses his arms. "I saved her because it was the right thing to do and because we all know that no one else would have done anything given how much they rely on me because they are too lazy to pick up their own wands to help others."

Most people would think that Harry was just bitter about the situation, which was making him exaggerate what had happened. But, Harry never exaggerated anything. Plus, the twins had definitely been furious with how Dumbledore did not do anything to help Harry, Ron, and Ginny after he got back to Hogwarts while the three were in the chamber. So, Harry definitely had a point when he called those like Dumbledore out on their laziness.

"We know that you are right, Harry," Fred says. "You would have gone down there for anyone, not just Ginny."

"It is very selfish of her to think that you only went down there for her," George said. "It's one thing to have a little crush, but she is genuinely obsessed with you."

"It's why we did just warn you about making it known when you pay attention to others," Fred tells Harry. "Between her obsession and her temper, Ginny would completely freak out."

"It doesn't help that those like mum have been feeding her obsession for years," George added. "Mum has been reading those ridiculous 'Harry Potter Adventure' books to her since she was little."

"If anyone ever actually bothered to help me with legal stuff, I would have had those books taken off the shelf," Harry growled. "How easily so many people take advantage of me without even actually knowing me really speaks volumes about them. Writing books about things that I have never done, saying that I endorse their products when I have not even used them, and do not even get me started on those that want to be friends with the 'Boy-Who-Lived' and not 'Harry."

"That certainly is something that mirrors how Ron and Ginny act," Fred said. "After George and I mentioned that we helped you on the train, Ginny begged mum to let her on the train to meet you."

"We also think that Ron searched the train for you in order to sit with you and almost force his way into being your friend," George admitted. "We know that Ron is definitely someone that craves attention, so being your friend would bring him at least some of it."

"I should have known that it was a lie," Harry mumbled before speaking up. "The first thing that Ron said to me on the train was that everywhere else was full, which was why he was asking to sit with me. I highly doubt that a magical train meant to carry potentially hundreds of students to Hogwarts would actually be able to be full. He obviously lied to me."

"Ron can try and bully you over the attention you get as much as he wants," Fred stated. "But, that doesn't make it any less true that he is the one that craves attention."

"He always has and he always will," George rolled his eyes. "I get that having five older brothers can make it hard for him, but he goes about it in such a stupid way."

"The way he literally does everything that he can in order to gain any type of attention while bullying others if they get attention makes him the ultimate hypocrite," Fred said. "The only one that likes attention more than him is Ginny."

"Not to mention how he is also completely oblivious to how no one actually likes him," George says. "He thinks that just because he 'claimed' the title as your best friend automatically means that everyone has to like and respect him."

"You guys are definitely right with how you say that he is oblivious to no one liking him," Harry agreed with what they were saying. "I know that when he was at school, Oliver couldn't stand Ron because of how often Ron would brag about how no one would remember Oliver once he became the keeper of the Quidditch team."

"We've played with Ron for years," Fred said.

"He is nowhere near Oliver's level of skill," George says.

"I am right there with you guys," Harry agreed with them. "Plus, with his temper and his short fuse, he would never be able to handle the crowd. He would be too focused on what they were yelling about him to focus on the quaffle."

"Yeah, there is no way that he could handle the pressure," Fred says.

"The keeper position was probably another thing he thought being your best friend would secure for him," George said.

"I am so sick of people taking advantage of me," Harry's eyes glazed over with unshed tears. "I can count on one hand the number of people from Britain that have never let me down. You two, Sirius, Olivier..."

Harry could keep talking. So many people have let him down and betrayed him that it was a shock that he was able to trust anyone. It broke Fred and George's hearts as they looked at their friend and secret crush. Well... a crush that was not as much of a secret as they thought. Both of them moved over to be closer to Harry. Neither of them was going to let Harry feel alone. Not as long as they were there. 

"It's okay, Harry," Fred comforts him. "It doesn't matter what anyone else has done to you. You will always have those that love you for who you are."

"You try and be strong by saying the opinions of others don't mean anything to you, but their words and constant betrayals still cut you deeply," George also comforts him. "But they really do not matter at all, only those that  actually care about you matter."

Harry was instantly off of his cloud as he was hugging both of them. 

"You two have no idea how much that means to me," he tells them.

If the two of them were not so focused on comforting Harry, they would have tried to kiss him. But, they were definitely not going to take advantage of the vulnerable state that Harry was in. He still needed time with those that he can actually trust before he would be emotionally ready for any type of relationship. Some more time with Sirius would also help heal the hole in Harry's heart that all the betrayal had caused.

"We will always be here for you, Harry," Fred tells him.

"That is what real friends and family are for," George says to him.

Harry hugged the even tighter when he heard that. It really was hard for him to be able to trust others. Being at Crystal Rose was helping him a lot, but he still needed the time.

But something then happened when he let go of the twins. When he was letting go, his hands had run down their arms. And after his hands had run over theirs, there was a slight spark. Literally. A small blue spark had zapped from their fingers to his.

"Gah," all of them gasped at the same time.

"What the bloody hell was that," Harry instantly swore.

"What was what, Harry," Krinos asked.

The nature mage approached the three of them with T'challa and Melody beside him.

"There was some type of spark," Fred said.

"It shocked us and Harry," George added.

"There was a blue spark that connected our fingers for a second," Harry says. "And this time, I know for a fact that it was not my powers acting up."

The three mystic souls all smirked, something that was definitely not expected by the three other boys.

"Looks like another theory of ours has just been proven correct," Melody stated.

"Theory," Harry was confused.

"Because of those like you, Harry, we have been theorizing that other Hogwarts students could secretly be mystic souls," Krinos explained.

"More mystic souls at Hogwarts," Fred gasped.

"Is that even possible," George's eyes widened.

"It is completely possible," Melody stated. "After all, Harry is a mystic soul that had his powers previously blocked back when he was a baby. So, there could be others."

"But my powers were blocked by Dumbledore so that he could control me easier," Harry says. "And while I know about Buzz and Vallia, would there really be others?"

"Magical Britain is a complete no-no zone for mystic souls," T'challa said. "We would be killed on sight if we went over there. The only reason why those like the Pink Toad haven't tried to kill anyone here is because while she does have a giant ego, she does know that killing someone while surrounded by those exactly like that person would be a big mistake."

"While this is all very interesting," Fred started.

"What does this have to do with the spark," George finished.

"The spark is actually another part of being a mystic soul," Melody said. "It's called the mystic spark. It's almost like a detection system."

"A detection system," Harry was confused.

"When a mystic soul is near another mystic soul, but the second one has not yet discovered their powers, the spark activates," Krinos explained. "It's how a mystic soul detects the powers of another mystic soul before their powers come out."

"Hold on," the twins gasped.

"You can't be saying..." Harry was too shocked to talk.

"Fred and George are also mystic souls," Krinos said.

"Is that even possible," Fred asked.

"How could we not know," George also asked.

"We have had a situation like this before," T'challa says. "A mystic soul that discovered his powers when he was in his twenties came to Crystal Rose a few years ago for Summer classes. He explained that he grew up in an anti-mystic soul country, which was why his powers came so late."

"He was subconsciously suppressing his powers because he knew that being a mystic soul was not safe where he was living," Melody said. "He was in another country when his powers came out, when his mind knew that he was now safe."

"That would also be why Fred and George have not discovered their powers as well," Krinos said. "Because magical Britain is the most dangerous country in the world for young mystic souls that do not know how to defend themselves, yet, they would also suppress their own powers without even knowing it."

"Bloody hell," the twins swore.

"Lucky for you two that we know the perfect person to call to help you," Melody smirked.

Harry had a feeling things were going to get even more interesting.

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty-Seven: Might Of A Hurricane

Harry was still trying to wrap his head around the idea of Fred and George also being mystic souls. He was not upset about it. In fact, he was actually very happy that they were mystic souls since that meant they could stay at Crystal Rose with him. At least, if he found a way to stay at the school and get away from Dumbledore and Voldemort. And staying at the school for mystic souls was something that he was going to do everything in his power to do.

While they still had no idea what type of powers the twins would have, it was exciting to think about. Harry wondered if they would have similar powers or if they would have opposite powers. Since they were twins, it could go either way.

Because of how they had gone for so long both not knowing they were mystic souls on top of being in an environment that hated mystic souls, it would take some time for their powers to come out. Harry hoped that whoever Krinos and the others brought to the school would be able to help the twins. After all, the more people on their side, the better.

Harry definitely had hope that things would be better for them soon. Things had been going really well, even if he was still keeping one eye out for anything that could possibly go wrong. After all, with his Potter Luck, things could always go wrong. They usually did, after all. 

He was going to take all of the good things he could get before anything went wrong. Sirius was free, he had great new friends, his training with his powers was going amazing, and he was able to avoid annoyances for the most part. He hadn't had to deal with Dumbledore or Snape since he had turned Snape into a toad and Headmistress Jiwe defended him and Melody from Dumbledore's biased desire to punish them. And he also hadn't had to deal with Ron or Hermione since the two confronted him after he and Melody left Jiwe's office.

Made him glad that Winter Wolf did not have any classes with Dryad since that would have forced him to deal with two members of the Annoying Trio. And it was mostly just random good luck that he was able to avoid Ginny as easily as he has been. He really did not want to have to deal with her stalker habits this year. 

He actually worried about what she would do if he ever dated anyone. The twins definitely had a point with how they worried when Harry did tell them how much he noticed about them. They were flattered, of course, but he could not deny that they were right when they talked about how Ginny would definitely do something. Harry would not even be surprised if she tried using love potions on him.

"Uh... Harry," the weather mage turned around and saw Krinos looking at him with a worried face.

"What is it, Krinos," Harry asked him.

"Do you need someone to talk to," Krinos was still looking worried.

"What makes you ask," Harry asked him.

"Because you're drowning my plants," Krinos tells him.

Harry looked around and saw that he had accidentally summoned a storm cloud that was currently pouring rain around him. That was also when he noticed that Krinos was soaking wet as well from the summoned storm. If they had not been in the greenhouse, the storm might have gotten worse since the greenhouse dome would not have been containing the cloud. Harry waved his hands over his head, making the rain stop and the cloud vanish.

"Sorry about that," he quickly apologized.

"Are you okay, Harry," Krinos sat down next to him, drying himself off with one of his 'sunshine sunflowers.' "You only rain that hard when something is really getting to you."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about love potions," Harry tells him.

"Because of that redheaded stalker, right," Krinos easily guessed.

"When the twins and I were talking, I told them the things that I noticed about them that others normally do not because everyone always assumes that they are exactly the same type of person," Harry explains. "And they warned me about not making it obvious when I notice other people since they worried over what their sister would do out of jealousy."

"She does seem like one of those stalkers that would be delusional," Krinos said. "The type of stalker that delusionally thinks that you are either already in a relationship or that you will eventually start a relationship."

"I will never start a relationship with her no matter what she believes," Harry stated. "And if I ever do get together with her, I have left standing orders with a number of my friends to immediately take me to a healer to get me checked for love potions."

"Love potions are very dangerous," Krinos says. "We have had lessons on love potions in Potions class as well as both International Magic and Light & Dark. There is never anything good that comes with the use of love potions."

"I can not agree more," Harry said. "Love potions have nothing to do with true love. If anything, they are more like mind-control potions than anything else. There is no real love since those potions take everything about love and turn it into something more about control than about winning over a person's heart."

"One of the things we learned about when we learned about love potions was how quickly things can do wrong," Krinos sighed. "A pair of American witch sisters cast a love spell and it quickly went wrong when a bunch of men became obsessed with the two of them, including one that ended up breaking into their house and threatening them with a gun in an 'if I can't have you, then no one can' type of way."

"That is exactly what I am talking about," Harry says. "Love potions and love spells take away a person's free will. They are mind-control magic that create lust, not love."

"I am sorry that you have to deal with someone that you fear would actually use love potions on you," Krinos put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "No one should have to fear that. Love should always be about free will and the freedom of choice."

"Try telling that to my stalker," Harry crossed his arms. "I heard her mum telling her and Hermione a story one night while we were all staying with Sirius. Apparently, Mrs.Weasley brewed and used a love potion on Mr.Weasley back when they were in Hogwarts."

"What," Krinos's eyes widened. "That's awful! And he is still married to her!?!"

"She claimed that he had a crush on her, but was too shy to ask her out," Harry rolled his eyes. "So, she used the love potion to give him the 'courage' to ask her out. Honestly, I have no idea if any of that is true even when the two of them are still married. As you probably noticed, Mr.Weasley is a bit..."

"Whipped," Krinos guessed with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, pretty much," Harry shrugged. "The twins often complain about their father's lack of a spine when it comes to dealing with their mother. Not to mention how they also complain about their father's lack of attempts to make his life and their lives better. It's probably the one thing that they agree with their older brother, Percy, on."

"What do you mean," Krinos asked.

"Mr.Weasley is a kind man, do not get me wrong, but he lacks both ambitions as well as the ability to see beyond his own desires," Harry explains. "Mr.Weasley is basically obsessed with muggles..."

"Mundanes," Krinos can not help but inject.

"Whatever," Harry rolled his eyes. "He has a shack filled with muggle stuff in their backyard, his department at the ministry is all about enchanted muggle stuff, and he even spelled a muggle car to be able to fly."

"That has got to be one of the most ridiculous things that I have ever heard," Krinos said. "Not to mention also dangerous given that magical beings do not have driver's licenses because we have no use for them. So, that car is basically asking for trouble with the International Statute of Secrecy."

"The car pretty much took care of that on its own," Harry said. "Literally. It became sentient and is currently 'living' in Forbidden Forest around Hogwarts, away from anyone and everyone. So, it's nothing to worry about anymore. But, it still is an example of Mr.Weasley being obsessed with muggles."

"But, how does that relate to a lack of ambition," Krinos was confused.

"He lets his obsession take over," Harry explained. "As much as I hate that purebloods can pretty much do whatever they want at the ministry, Mr.Weasley could easily get a better-paying job because of how he is a pureblood. But, he chooses not to because he prefers working with muggle items. Not that he knows anything about them, but no one else in the ministry really cares enough to see if he is doing a good job. All he cares about is working with muggle stuff even when that means he is not making a lot of money, which makes his kids suffer when they have to constantly have second-hand or hand-me-down items."

"That isn't right," Krinos stated. "A parent's first priority should always be their kids. It's one thing to want to work around something you love, but it's another to put that desire before the financial situation of your family."

"I know that Mr.Weasley loves all of his kids, but he really needs to grow a spine," Harry says. "Both at home and at work. I doubt that he ever has stood up to his wife since he lets her do everything she wants, even if that is verbally abusing their kids with her howlers."

"That explains why Fred and George seem to be so happy at the thought of being mystic souls and being able to live here rather than going back to England," Krinos said. "To avoid their parents."

"That is basically a theme that seems to go on with the Weasley kids," Harry says. "As soon as they are able to, they leave. Their oldest brother, Bill, took a job at Gringotts and moved to Egypt. Their second oldest brother, Charlie, moved to Romania to work with dragons. And while he did not leave the country, their third brother, Percy, did move out almost immediately once he got the money he needed."

"You would think that after having three kids in a row leave for the same reasons, they would learn their lesson," Krinos commented.

"Just like the rest of magical Britain, they are too set in their ways," Harry said. "I doubt they would change even if all their kids left for the same reason. Not that Ron or Ginny face the same treatment as their brothers do."

"My parents always tried their best to treat all of us the same," Krinos says. "While they did make Melody and me the heirs of the Gardna family, they still treated all of us with the same amount of love. Red and Black were just jealous of us getting the title. They didn't think we were loved more by our parents, they simply wanted the power that being the head of the family would give them."

"Favoritism always has been the worst thing I noticed about their family," Harry sighed. "Ron and Ginny are obviously the ones treated as if they can do no wrong while their brothers can never do anything right."

"Well, it will definitely cheer up the twins when they gain a much better family once they put a ring on you," Krinos could not help but tease Harry.

"Krinos," Harry playfully started punching his friend while he blushed.

"Hahaha," Krinos laughed at Harry's reaction. "You love me and you know it, Harry."

"Harry," came a voice that Harry definitely did not want to hear right now. "There you are! I've been looking for you."

"And my Potter Luck has struck again," Harry looked like he wanted his hit his head against something hard.

"If you want, I can get rid of her for you," Krinos suggested. "I haven't thrown anyone out of the greenhouse in a while and I find myself wanting to do it again."

Harry could not help but chuckle. Krinos just had something about him that always made him want to smile. He really wished that Krinos could have been his brother. And given what happened with Red and Black, Krinos probably wished for a better brother as well.

Harry turned around, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible even when he really wanted to zap the girl in front of him with his lightning.

"What do you want, Ginerva," Harry crossed his arms.

Using her formal name rather than calling her "Ginny" suddenly popped into his mind. It would show that he was not as familiar with her as she probably believed herself to be. Not to mention that it would show that he would be making no effort to get close to her.

"Ginny," the girl was nearly grinding her teeth together, trying not to look as angry as she was. "My friends call me Ginny."

"We are not friends," Harry tells her. "We have never been."

Ginny giggled, obviously trying to not let her temper act up.

"Don't be silly, Harry," she said. "Of course we are friends. And we could even become something m..."

"No, we're not," Harry cut her off. "You were Ron's little sister when we first met and now, you are simply Fred and George's little sister. We're not friends nor are we close in any way."

Krinos had to hand it to Harry. He was keeping his temper and powers in check, which was not easy when dealing with someone that you hate. If it had been him, he probably would have blasted her away with a leaf storm spell by now. And that was him being kind.

"Harry, this isn't funny," Ginny said.

"Good, because I wasn't trying to be," Harry stated. "I'm sorry if you feel differently, but it's not my fault that you didn't see that fact."

"What is going on with you," Ginny yelled at him. "You are not acting like yourself, Harry."

"I think that I am acting like myself more than I ever have before," Harry glared at her. "And that is because, for the first time in forever, I am allowed to be myself without worrying about anyone trying to control me."

Krinos had to stop himself from chuckling at the unintended Disney's Frozen reference that Harry just used. Harry had already ranted at Dumbledore, Ron, and Hermione. So, Ginny was just another person on Harry's list of those that he has wanted to tell off for a long time.

But, he still managed to get her attention, anyway. But, in his defense, he was always dressed in bright white. So, he would be hard to miss in a general sense. 

"It's them, isn't it," she glared at Krinos. "They are making you act like this."

Harry's eye twitched as he got really irritated. He was seriously getting sick and tired of those like Ginny, Ron, and Hermione blaming the mystic souls for his new "no-nonsense" attitude.

"No one is 'making' me act like anything," Harry looked ready to zap her. "Especially not anyone here. Krinos, Melody, everyone that I have met here have been nothing but the best friends that I have ever had."

"They are taking you away from the actual friends that you already have," Ginny argued.

"The so-called 'friends' that abandon and betray me every chance that they get," Harry glared at her even more. "They chose Dumbledore when I needed them the most. I almost died and they couldn't even be bothered to send a letter to ask how I am. I am done with fake friends."

"Hey, that's my brother and friend you are insulting," Ginny protested.

"It's not insulting if it's the truth," Harry threw back. "You can complain all you want, but that doesn't change anything. If you like them so much, go and bother them instead of me."

"I am not leaving until you admit that you are wrong and you come with me in order to apologize to them," Ginny crossed her arms and glared at him.

"You would be in for a long wait since that is never going to happen," Harry tells her. "If you think that I am the one that needs to apologize, then you are crazier than I thought. They are the ones that betrayed and abandoned me, not the other way around. This is exactly why I have been avoiding all of you. Because I am so sick of hearing the same nonsense over and over again. Give up, already. I have better friends now. All of you should just stay away from me." 

He turned around to walk back over to Krinos. The nature mage easily could tell that if she angered him more than she already had, there was going to be a serious storm happening.

But, then she did exactly that when she grabbed his arm as he tried to walk away. Instantly, Harry's eyes turned storm-cloud gray. Looking up, Krinos's eyes widened as he saw storm clouds forming overhead.

"Uh oh," he swore.

"If you do not let go right now, I am not responsible for anything that happens, next," Harry said in a low threatening tone.

"I am not going anywhere until you apologize and then go on a date with m-EEEEEEEEE," Ginny was suddenly thrown off her feet.

Harry had obviously had enough because his eyes flashed and a sudden large gush of wind came shooting out of the clouds. Ginny was basically picked up by the wind and thrown out of the greenhouse.

"Thank you, Hawk," Krinos quickly covered up Harry's magic by pretending that their harpy friend had been the one that did that.

Harry took in a deep breath, calming himself down. It took a few minutes, but the clouds eventually faded away.

"I really have reached my limit with all of them," Harry said. "I should get better at controlling my temper, though."

"It's entertaining to watch, though," Krinos chuckled. "If anything good can come out of this, Harry, it is that no one can mess with the might of a hurricane."

Harry could not help but smile at what Krinos said.

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty-Eight: Power of the Mind

"So, mystic souls are naturally protected from having their minds read," Fred raised an eyebrow.

"That makes me very jealous even if Krinos said that we also could potentially be mystic souls," George stated.

Harry was explaining to the two of them more about his lessons with Megi. The two of them were still very confused about the difference between telepathy and wand-user occlumency and legilimency. Harry knew that the twins were a lot smart than most people gave them credit for, but it was easy to see why they would be confused by the difference between the two things.

"According to Megi, mystic souls have minds that are too magically protected for wand-user mind reading," Harry tries to explain to them again. "Occlumency and legilimency, while a difficult art to learn for wand-users, would never be able to work on mystic souls."

"But, what makes those things different from telepathy," Fred asked him.

"They are both mind-reading powers, after all," George added.

"What mainly makes them different is that telepathy is a lot more than just reading minds," Harry continues explaining. "If you take Megi for example, her telepathy is the most powerful form currently being used right now. Since no two-mystic souls are the same, it means that right now, she is the only one with that kind of power."

"Which makes us very lucky that she is on our side," Fred stated.

"Not to mention that she is also a nice person rather than a bully," George shivered at the thought of a telepathic bully.

Harry nodded in agreement with them.

"Megi's powers are very strong," he said. "Such as her also having the power to move things with her mind. But, her actual telepathy is very strong. She can erase memories, create mind links, communicate using thoughts, and even make people think that they are seeing something when it is only in their heads. She calls them mind illusions."

"That is a lot stronger than what occlumency and legilimency are," Fred says.

"They do only involve reading a person's mind," George said.

"Exactly the point that I have been trying to make," Harry tells them. "Telepathy is so much stronger than occlumency and legilimency. It's why those two things do not work on mystic souls, but telepathy does."

"But since your powers have been blocked for so long, she is still teaching you to defend your mind," Fred summarized.

"Something like that can come in handy given that Dumbledore certainly would be the type to read minds whenever he wants," George grumbled.

Harry nodded. "Megi has been teaching me to build my own mind palace in order to protect my mind. Plus, she also says that it is generally very helpful in more ways than just protecting your mind."

"How," both twins asked at the same time.

"I haven't gotten to that part of my lessons, yet," Harry admitted.

"You could ask me directly," a female voice made all three of the boys jump.

Megi walked over to them, obviously having heard part of their conversation.

"Does everyone in this school like sneaking up on people," Harry asked her, holding his hand over his heart.

"We can not really do much sneaking around in this school, to be honest," Megi shrugged. "Nearly everyone has some part of their magic that allows them to sense anyone being near them. Nobody can sneak up on Krinos because his powers over nature allow him to always tell when someone is close by."

"That certainly explains how he was able to avoid a prank we tried on him during the Summer," Fred said.

"Something tells me that is going to be happening a lot whenever we try and sneak a prank at a mystic soul," George says.

"Not to sound cocky, but yes," Megi said. "Nearly everyone has some part of their power that allows them to sense others. Krinos uses nature, Melody can hear everything, I sense people's minds, and many other types of detection magic."

"What about that Madison girl that Krinos once told me about," Harry could not help but ask. "Krinos told me that she has the power to turn invisible."

Megi giggled. "Madison definitely likes to use that part of her magic to mess with people. It also helps that as a former student of the Japanese mystic soul school, she was basically trained as a ninja. She is one of the few students that can actually sneak up on others."

"Something that I am not surprised about," Harry stated.

"Harry knows a thing or two about being invisible," Fred smirked.

"And he has also had fun with it," George also smirked.

Harry blushed since they were right. He has had fun with his invisibility cloak multiple times in the past. Probably the most fun he had was back in his third year at Hogwarts when he used his cloak to mess with Malfoy after using his cloak to sneak into the wizarding village because he did not have a signed permission slip. He loved throwing snowballs at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle without them ever seeing him.

"Anyway, you were talking about how having a mind palace would be able to help in a more general sense," Megi got back on topic.

"The twins were confused about how it would help and I told them that I didn't know," Harry tells her. "You haven't taught me that, yet."

"Well, a mind palace is basically something that not only can protect your mind, but it also helps you organize your mind," Megi explains. "It allows you to easily move your memories and your knowledge into the proper places. So, with a fully complete mind palace, you can have easier access to your own mind. So, you remember things easier than you would before."

"You two should also join in on our lessons," Harry suggested to the twins.

"Are you sure, Harry," Fred asked.

"We wouldn't want to intrude," George added.

"It actually is a very good idea," Megi says. "You two are obviously really close with Harry and he probably tells you a lot of stuff. So, you should learn to protect your minds as well. That way, no one can learn Harry's secrets from any source."

"I knew that it would be a good idea," Harry grinned.

"If you both say so, then we would love to join your lessons," Fred says.

"Would you also actually mind showing us a complete mind palace to help us," George requested.

"I think I have the perfect way to help you both," Megi smirked.

*****

Harry, Fred, and George honestly had no idea what was going on. All they knew was that they were currently sitting in a circle outside with Megi and some of their other mystic soul friends. Of course, Krinos and Melody were there. But, there were also their friends Vallia, Hawk, T'challa, and Hestia.

The twins looked at Harry.

"Don't look at me," Harry held his hands up in protest. "I have no idea what is going on!"

"I thought that the best way to teach about mind palaces would be to show you the many types of mind palaces that can be made," Megi tells them. 

"And everyone here has their own mind palace," Harry guessed.

"It's something that we have all decided to make either on our own or because of a previous threat we have faced," Melody said.

"I made mine after a demon tried to use demonic mind magic to make me believe that magic wasn't real and that I was living in an asylum because of my belief in magic," Hestia tells them.

"I made mine after an annoying telepath tried to use her powers to manipulate my mind in order to make me believe that I was in love with her," T'challa says.

"I was very happy that failed and we got her arrested," Megi growled at the memory. "She made telepaths very angry because of how her actions could have made all of us look bad."

"Melody and I made ours just because we wanted to," Krinos said.

"This is going to be fun," Fred stated.

"I can hardly wait," George was also excited.

"This would not even be the first time that we have done something like this," Hawk says. "We check each other's mind palaces a lot to make sure that nothing goes wrong."

"Take it from the word of a telepath that if a mind palace is destroyed, it would not end well at all," Megi stated.

Everyone in the circle then started to hold hands. Fred, George, and Harry all went along with it since they obviously knew what they were doing. Fred and George did place Harry between them, which got Krinos to smirk at Harry since it was obviously the twins' way of saying that only they were allowed to hold hands with him. It made Harry blush once again.

Megi's eyes glowed, a sign of her using their powers. Everyone closed their eyes in order to drift off into their own minds while Megi would connect them. 

*****

Harry, Fred, and George felt their feet touch solid ground. Something that shocked them given that they didn't think being in someone's mind would feel this realistic. Looking up, they were amazed that they were currently in a large and peaceful field. And in front of them was a massive garden that was surrounded by vine-covered fences with the only visible way in was a flower-covered arch.

"If this is anyone's mind other than Krinos, it would be an insult," Harry stated.

"Lucky for you that it is my mind," Krinos appeared under the arch.

Megi also soon appeared as well.

"The others will be waiting in their own minds," she tells them, the three nodding in response.

"Well, welcome to my mind palace," Krinos says. 

"I am not surprised at all that you have a garden for your mind palace," Harry commented.

"The main part about a mind palace is that you choose a place where you are the most comfortable," Megi tells them. "It makes it easier for you when you access your palace. Allows you to organize your thoughts better."

Krinos allowed them through the arch and into the actual garden. It was certainly a very beautiful place with all of the different flowers, trees, and bushes around. Harry went over to one of the roses and touched it. Much to his shock, the flower opened up and an image played over it like a circular TV screen. Harry backed away before he could actually see what had been playing.

"Each flower stores one of my memories," Krinos explained. "And each line of flowers is categorized by the type of memories they are. Educational, friendship, family, tragedy, magic, and miscellaneous."

"That is definitely very organized," Fred said.

"And also very pretty," George added.

"You have seen nothing, yet," Krinos smirked. "You haven't met my guardian, yet."

"Guardian," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Guardians are an extra layer of protection to keep your mind safe," Megi explained. "They are a subconscious defense against unwanted 'visitors."

And then as if on cue, there was a loud roar. Down came a dragon, scaring the three British people as it landed behind Krinos.

It was actually a very elegant-looking dragon. Its scales were dark purple while also having a dark red pattern on its scales as well. Most of its body was covered by giant rose petals that also seemed to double as its wings even when it almost looked like it was wearing a rose petal poncho. The petals were also outlined in dark purple, matching its scales. Giant dark purple thorn vines also were around the dragon. 

"I would like you three to meet the Black Rose Dragon," Krinos smirked.

"Well, that is certainly one way to keep people out of your mind," Fred stated.

"And a very terrifying way, at that," George agreed with his twin.

"Next mind," Megi announced.

*****

The next place that the four of them landed was some type of concert hall. Kind of like the Hollywood Bowl in California. Looking around, there were music sheets and songbooks on each of the chairs that were in the hall. They could also hear a soft song playing in the air.

"Melody," Harry guessed, looking at the twins.

"Melody," they both agreed with him.

"It may be obvious, but it's what is easiest for me," Melody said as she appeared on the main stage of the concert hall.

"Your mind palace certainly has always been a peaceful place, Melody," Megi said.

"Because my powers give me magical hearing, it's nice to have a place to go where I only hear what I want to hear," Melody says.

"These music sheets are your memories, aren't they," Fred guessed.

"Similar to the flowers in Krinos's mind garden," George guessed.

"That is correct," Melody tells them. "Of course, I do organize mine by more musical means. Such as all my sad memories in the blues/jazz section, my happy memories in the pop section, my angry memories with the rock section, and so on."

"I am definitely not surprised at all," Harry stated. "Plus, that would almost be like a defense of its own since you are the only one that would know how your memories are organized."

"A mind can also be like a maze," Megi says. "There are many twists and turns inside of a person's mind that can easily lead someone not experienced with the mind getting lost and they would end up brain dead because they could never get back into their own head."

"Your magic is pretty scary," Fred said.

"And yet also pretty amazing," George added.

"What is your mind guardian, Melody," Harry asked the music mage.

Melody then whistled, signaling her mind guardian to appear. Though, her mind guardian was definitely different from what they thought that it would be. Music got louder as it appeared, which made sense given what her mind guardian was. It was a swarm of ghost-like musical instruments that definitely looked like they could attack someone if they wanted to.

"If there is one thing that I know, it is how dangerous that music can be," Melody smirked. "So, what better to be my mind guardian than a swarm of violent musical instruments."

"Melody once allowed me to enter her mind to check her mind palace and I nearly went deaf because of her guardian," Megi said.

"Hey, it is not my fault that you accidentally went to look at a memory you shouldn't have tried to look at," Melody argued.

"Well, next time, remind me that you have memories like that so that it doesn't happen again," Megi tells her.

Melody only smirked in response to that.

"Between you and your brother, you two have got to be the most scary people that I have ever met in my life," Harry stated.

"Wouldn't be the first time we have scared people," Melody shrugged.

"Next mind," Megi then said.

*****

The minds of everyone else were just as interesting as Krinos and Melody's were. Vallia, Hawk, T'challa, and Hestia were definitely very well protected when it came to their minds.

Hestia probably had the most natural and obvious kind of mind palace since she had decided to make her mind palace a library. Not that it was an easy mind palace to look through since part of her defense was that her entire mind library was one giant maze. Anyone that would ever try looking into her mind would most likely get very lost among all of the shelves. And that was before they would even meet her mind guardian. Which was actually the library itself since there were shelves that could move around you in order to trap you like a makeshift cage while there were also books that could fly, chase after you, and even explode as their way to attack you.

T'challa's mind palace was just as beautiful as Krinos's. He had chosen to make his mind palace into a village high up in the trees. Just like his magical home country. Each house in the village would be the home to a different category of his memories. Fred had tried to look into one of the houses, but instantly slammed the door when he said that it was T'challa's VERY early memories from the time that he was being born. T'challa laughed at how Fred said that he was now scarred for life because of that. And if that was not terrifying enough, T'challa's mind guardian was a giant black panther, which made sense given the African teenager's powers. While it acted like a kitten around T'challa, it certainly looked like it could do some damage to any unwanted visitors to his mind.

Hawk's mind palace was probably the least expected out of all of the ones that they were visiting. His mind palace was actually designed to be an underwater castle. Kind of like something you would think you would see in Atlantis. Hawk explained that while he was half-harpy and loved to fly, he also loved the ocean. Some of his best memories were from times when he would go flying over the ocean and would sometimes even have dolphins swim up to greet him as he would be flying. Every room of the underwater castle housed one of his memories with every corridor of the castle being a different category of memories. There was one locked corridor that Hawk warned them housed some of his worst memories from times that he was hunted down for being a harpy. His mind guardians were a little expected, but nice to see since he had chosen a gang of merman warriors as his guardians. Hawk was out and proud about being gay, so the fact that the mermen were all hot certainly was self-explanatory. 

Vallia's mind palace was an expected one, but it was just as breathtaking as Krinos's. Her mind palace was a giant butterfly garden. Her butterflies were her own version of Krinos's flowers as each butterfly was the carrier of one of her memories. She did not need to really organize them because she could summon one of the butterflies any time that she needed a specific memory. There actually was also a small swarm of bumblebees in her garden, which Megi took full advantage of to tease Vallia since those memories were obviously ones that were all about Buzz. The butterfly girl's crush on the bee mage was very adorable. Plus, it only then made more sense when her mind guardian turned out to be a pair of a butterfly and bee warrior. Harry thought that her crush on Buzz was definitely very cute, unlike Ginny's obsession with him.

*****

Everyone opened their eyes once they were out of their minds. The three British guys all smiled and thanked everyone for sharing their mind palaces with them.

"Of course," Krinos said. "You three are at a disadvantage since you come from a magic school so far behind every other school. We are happy to help."

"Plus, I will never get tired of remembering Fred's face at my memories of when I was born," T'challa smirked and chuckled.

"You will be paying for my therapy, T'challa," Fred glared at him.

"And mine as well since Fred will probably force me to go with him," George said.

"My family's rich, anyway," T'challa chuckled.

"Thanks again for this, Megi," Harry smiled at her.

"Never underestimate the power of the mind, Harry," Megi tells him. "It will be a mistake that nobody ever makes twice."

Chapter Text

Chapter Forty-Nine: All Hallows' Eve Introduction

It had been almost two months since Hogwarts had arrived at Crystal Rose. And things were starting to look up. Except for the students that were still firm in their "mystic souls are monsters" belief, the majority were beginning to talk and spend time with their mystical housemates.

It did help that most of the more popular Hogwarts students, such as Cedric and the twins, were openly very friendly with the mystic souls. And given that most of magical Britain, in general, are followers, they started to follow the lead set by the popular students. They started talking to the mystic souls that they were now housemates with. And while they had been scared, worried, and anxious at the beginning, they slowly started to warm up to them. Quite literally in the case of those getting to know the school's fire mages.

Harry was especially glad to see it because it made it easier for him to stay away from the annoyances by being with his mystic soul friends. And considering that Krinos terrified them, it made it even easier. Harry had no idea how scary plants could be before he met Krinos. And more time away from them meant more time training his powers. 

After having them for over a month, he was really starting to get the hang of them. There were still times when his emotions would cause specific weather to occur, but they were becoming less frequent. The most common emotional weather he caused was still the thunder whenever he did have to deal with the annoyances. Though, no one that knew about his powers blamed him whenever it would happen. They would have their powers react in similar ways if they had to deal with them as much as he does.

It was now the end of October and for some reason, the school was buzzing with activity. Everyone was looking excited about something, which was really confusing to the Hogwarts students that had no idea what was going on.

Harry grabbed the nearest student to him in order to get some answers. Luckily, he had grabbed T'challa instead of someone he didn't know. Much to his shock, T'challa was holding candles, vines, leaves, and fruit. It was the most random assortment of items that Harry had ever seen outside of a potions lab.

"T'challa, you mind telling me what in the name of Merlin is going on around here," Harry instantly asked him.

T'challa blinked for a second. But then he realized that those like Harry and his fellow Hogwarts students wouldn't know what was going on.

"Right, sorry about that, Harry," the jungle cat mage tells him. "Guess we are all so used to everyone already knowing about this time of year, it didn't occur to us to tell you guys."

"We certainly know something is going on," Fred said.

"Just not what that something is," George stated.

The twins walked over to where their friend and no-so-secret crush was standing.

"Well, it is one of the most magical days of the entire year," T'challa grinned. "It's All Hallows' Eve!"

"All Hallows' what," the twins were both confused.

"I second that," Harry stated.

"I think I might need some help to explain this," T'challa says, looking around to see if some of his friends were close by. "Hestia, Hawk, mind giving me a hand, here."

The harpy mage and healer soon walked over from where they had been walking down the hall. Both of them were also carrying candles while also carrying a few other things as well. Hawk was also carrying feathers and leaves while Hestia had crystals and books.

"What is it, T'challa," Hawk asked him.

"These three need a quick lesson on All Hallows' Eve," T'challa tells the two. "For obvious reasons, none of them have ever heard of it."

"Another thing we can add to our growing list of problems that magical Britain has," Hestia sighed. "Some places really need to stop abandoning the old ways simply out of fear or ignorance."

"Uh... Mind getting to the explaining part of this conversation," Fred requested.

"Yeah, because we are seriously confused, right now," George added.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us, boys," Hestia says, her friends agreeing. "Time for magic culture 101."

The three boys all looked at the other three in anticipation.

"Where we come from, as well as many other places around the world, All Hallows' Eve is a day of remembrance and honoring the dead and magic," Hawk explained. "For as long as magic was a part of life in Greece, we took the day to honor the power that magic granted us. All Hallows' Eve is the day meant for that."

"And Greece isn't the only place that has a holiday like that," T'challa says. "In both of the Americas, as well as Australia and Africa, All Hallows' Eve is also celebrated. Mexico and Spain have their own version called Dia De Los Muertos, otherwise known as the Day of the Dead. And I believe England, Britain, Ireland, and other countries in Europe are supposed to have Samhain. All are holidays, sabbats as they are known in the magical world, that are meant to honor the dead and magic with the rituals involved with them."

"I don't understand," Harry spoke up.

"The metaphor we use is like this," Hestia said. "Think of the magical world as a village, and magic is the lake where all the villagers go to get water. Day in and day out, more of the water is used up. We like to say how sabbats and their rituals are like the rain that refills the lake. They help replenish our cores and help us with our power control."

"Most magical children that celebrate these sabbats and have families that use these rituals often have fewer bursts of accidental magic and they're less destructive," Hawk continued. "Trust me when I say that I had a lot of uncontrollable magical bursts before I started. Mostly spontaneous teleportation and turning one teacher's hair blue."

"If these rituals do that, then why don't we know about them," Fred asked. 

"There must be a reason," George says.

"While not mundane, witches and wizards are still human," T'challa says. "And what humans don't understand, they fear. But Britain seems to take it to the extreme. They believe these rituals are 'evil and dark' so they discredit them up to the point where it is most likely that only third generations still celebrate them."

"We know that we have heard of the old ways before," Fred revealed.

"Our older brother, Bill, has told us he started practicing them after learning about them from the goblins," George admitted.

"Goblins would want their employees to know about the old ways," T'challa says. "Out of all the magical creatures in the world, goblins are some of the most traditional along with fairies, nymphs, merpeople, and vampires."

"Do they all celebrate the holidays... er... sabbats," Harry asked, curious.

"It is different for all magical creatures," Hawk tells him. "I know that harpies have their own holidays. Such as our version of Yule known as Boreas Day. We celebrate by flying up north to capture bits of the aurora borealis. It is a harpy myth that wishing on the aurora grants the wish as long as it is completely selfless."

"Can you even capture bits of the aurora borealis," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"We're magic, Harry," Hestia smirked. "We can do anything."

"If you ever get curious about magical creature culture, there are plenty of creature-blooded students around the school you could ask," T'challa tells him. "I am sure that Hawk would be glad to answer your questions about harpy culture."

"I would," Hawk was grinning. "There is also Weilan if you have questions about merpeople, the creatures of the night for information on werewolves and vampires, not to mention the centaur and fairy students that also attend Crystal Rose."

"I will be sure to ask them," Harry smiled.

"So, what else is there about All Hallows' Eve," Fred asked, getting the conversation back on track.

"Yeah, we haven't heard much since Mum would never allow Bill to talk about it if she knew he practiced the old ways," George added.

"While there are many people from many different cultures that attend Crystal Rose, All Hallows' Eve is a magic holiday," T'challa explained. "So, everyone in school bands together in order to celebrate it. We have a giant feast before everyone is then allowed to separate around the grounds in order to have private gatherings."

"And what is even done during that time," Harry was even more curious.

"All Hallows' Eve is the day that the veil between worlds is at its thinnest," Hestia explains. "During the All Hallows' Eve ritual, it allows our souls to travel to limbo, the place between the lands of life and death."

"And while we are there, we get to spend time with those in our families that have passed away," Hawk says. "We honor magic and we are given an unforgettable gift in return. Being able to spend time with loved ones that are no longer with us. We even get to meet the ancestors that were lost long before any of us were born."

"That's... incredible," Harry was completely amazed by what he was hearing. "You are actually able to communicate with the dead."

"It is actually a lot more common than you would think, Harry," T'challa says. "We have spells that allow us to summon the ghost of anyone that has died. Some spells are even used to call a ghost that is able to help us against a specific evil. Such as a victim of the evil being that knows its origins or its weakness."

"If it is so easy to talk with the dead, why now do it more often," Fred wondered out loud.

"Yeah, if it is so easy, then why is All Hallows' Eve so special," George was also confused.

"Because All Hallows' Eve does more than simply put us into contact with ghosts," Hestia explained. "When our souls travel to limbo, we can actually spend real quality time with our loved ones. We can feel them, touch them, and many other things you can not do with a ghost."

Fred and George instantly looked at Harry. He was close to having tears in his eyes from what he was hearing. They knew that the one thing Harry wanted more than anything in the world was to actually meet his parents. The only parts of them that he had were his father's cloak, the Marauder's Map, and the horrible memories of them being killed brought on by the dementors in his third year.

"Why would anyone not want to do such a ritual," Harry asked the three mystic souls.

"As we said, what people do not understand, they fear," T'challa says. "The ritual is classified as blood magic because we have to prick our finger and let a drop of our blood hit the candle in front of us in order to allow our souls to cross over."

"Places like magical Britain look down on blood magic because they see it as evil," Hawk tells them. "Though, that does also mean they are ignoring the fact that over a hundred of the most powerful healing spells and potions are considered blood magic."

"As a healer, I find it very insulting that they choose to believe that blood magic is evil simply because they refuse to understand it," Hestia huffed.

"Plus, they also believe that the All Hallows' Eve ritual is necromancy," T'challa added. "While it may first look like it could be, it most certainly is not. Necromancy is about trying to bring back the dead, or at least partly bring back the dead. The All Hallows' Eve ritual is not about doing that at all."

"Plus, it is against the laws of magic to mess with laws of life and death," Hawk says. "Demons are the only ones that mess with such black magic. And that is because they are literally beings of pure evil with no souls."

"So, we are guessing that you guys do not celebrate Halloween," Fred said.

"You guys had not even mentioned Halloween when you talked about the other holidays," George added.

"Because Halloween is an insult to everything we believe in," T'challa growled. "That is not only a mundane holiday, but it was basically meant to insult everything about the magical world. Any magical being that 'celebrates' it is doing nothing but bringing shame to themselves."

"Green-skinned and wart-covered witches, blood-thirsty vampires, monstrous werewolves, toilet paper mummies, bed-sheet ghosts, the Grim Reaper," Hestia would have growled if she could. "Literally everything about Halloween is insulting to the magical world."

"Every mystic soul knows to keep the magical world and the mundane world as separate as possible," Hawk says. "After all, you saw how even your own schoolmates reacted to us. It would only be even worse for the mundanes."

"It would be the Salem Witch Trials all over again," Hestia shivered just from the thought of that. "And I would rather not be given the dunk tank torture."

"Hestia has a fear of drowning so that torture would be complete agony for her," T'challa tells the other three.

"That makes sense," Fred stated.

"No one likes drowning," George added.

"I know that I nearly had a panic attack when I nearly drowned during the second task at the Triwizard Tournament last year," Harry admitted. "It wasn't until the gillyweed that Neville gave me kicked in that I was able to calm down since the plant allowed me to breathe underwater."

"Even if I used that plant, I would NEVER go underwater like that," Hestia shivered again. "I really do not like going underwater."

"Enough with the tough topics," Krinos suddenly appeared. "Today is a day of love and celebration. Let's just keep going with the preparations."

Krinos was definitely making full use of his powers. Given that he was able to control nature of all types, he was growing Autumn plants in order to put the school in a more festive mood. Harry almost laughed at how Krinos was basically acting almost exactly how he was when he sang that song to him in the greenhouse while showing off his powers. He was spinning around and growing plants all around him.

Everywhere he was growing, more and more Autumn plants were spreading. Along the walls, around the windows, wrapped around columns, and many other places as well. Most of what he was growing were fall leaves. As in yellow, gold, red, brown, orange, and a few green leaves here and there. The leaves were grown on vines that were completely hidden by the leaves. There were also common Autumn flowers growing around as well, such as marigolds, goldenrod, and chrysanthemums. Even mini pumpkins were growing in some places as well.

"Well, if there is one thing you can always count on Krinos to be, it would be a ray of sunshine," Hestia giggled.

"Is that just something that comes with being a nature mage," Fred raised an eyebrow.

"Or is it just a Krinos thing," George also raised an eyebrow.

"It's a little bit of both, actually," T'challa admitted. "Krinos is probably one of the most glass-half-full people that anyone could ever meet. He tends to look on the bright side of most things. It's one of the many reasons why demons hate him."

"I guess beings of pure evil would hate an optimist," Fred chuckled.

"Even I would find them annoying if they were too optimistic," George snickered.

"Well, Krinos is also a realist," Hawk says. "He knows when it is time to get serious. After all, demons not only hate him, but are also terrified of him. Especially after he turned an immortal demon into a tree."

"He has mentioned that a few times," Harry chuckled.

"What can I say, I love making demons scared of me," Krinos said as he continued to spread the Autumn plants around him.

"He looks like a Disney princess when he acts like this," T'challa chuckled.

"You know about Disney," Harry raised an eyebrow.

He had not been allowed to watch Disney while living with the Dursleys. It had too many magical elements and his aunt and uncle did not want the magic "corrupting" their "precious Dudley."  But, that didn't mean he did not mean he was not aware of Disney. He actually really liked it from the little amount of it he had managed to see without the Dursleys around.

"We might not like the magical and mundane worlds to be involved with each other, but we can appreciate their entertainment," T'challa admitted.

"Considering Krinos's habit of breaking out into song, I can appreciate it as well," Harry said.

"What's Disney," both of the twins asked.

"Well... Uh... We are going to need a lot more time to explain that," Hawk chuckled.

"But, right now, we still have the feast and the ritual to prepare for," T'challa says.

"We will be more than happy to join you," Harry said. 

"We are more than happy to include you," Hawk smiled. "I am sure you will love the All Hallows' Eve."

"We look forward to it," Harry said.

He knew that he was certainly looking forward to using the ritual. He could hardly wait to meet his parents.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty: A Sacred Sabbat

Harry, Fred, and George were definitely very curious about All Hallows' Eve. After hearing what T'challa, Hestia, and Hawk all had to say about it, they all wanted to participate in the ritual. Especially Harry.

Harry quickly went after Krinos, the twins following him.

"Krinos, wait for me," Harry called after him.

Krinos was still basically being a Disney princess by spreading nature while spinning around and dancing. It reminded Harry of when Krinos had sung him that song in the greenhouse while using his magic. Harry would not be surprised if Krinos once again burst into "What Else Can I Do."

"What is it, Harry," the nature mage asked him.

"Well, for one thing, can you stop spinning and dancing," Harry was half-joking and half-serious. "I'm getting dizzy just from watching you."

Krinos playfully pouted as he stopped dancing around while using his powers.

"You're no fun," he jokingly stated.

Harry looked at Fred and George after Krinos acted like how they usually would if someone interrupted their own fun.

"Have you guys been rubbing off your personalities onto Krinos without me knowing," he raised an eyebrow

They both held their hands up in surrender.

"We didn't do anything to him," Fred said.

"We swear that we didn't, Harry," George says.

"That's just how Krinos is, Harry," Melody giggled as she walked up to join them. "I would say that our parents magically pulled him out of a Disney movie to make him their son, but neither of them had the power to do that."

"It's true," Krinos chuckled. "Our parents were a nature witch and animal wizard, respectfully. So, neither of them had the power to bring a fictional character to life. That's Charlotte's domain."

Harry chuckled, knowing very well that Charlotte was indeed the witch with power over fictional beings. However, that did not make him curious if her powers were just limited to her book of fairy tales or if she could bring any fictional characters to life. He still had a lot to learn when it came to mystic souls.

"So, you seemed to want to ask Krinos something when you came over, Harry," Melody changed the topic of conversation.

"Oh, right," Harry remembered why he had gone after Krinos. "I was wondering if you would actually help me with the ritual."

"You mean the All Hallows' Eve ritual," Krinos asked for clarification.

Harry nodded. "Yes. The old ways are not exactly the most... common thing in magical Britain. In fact, this is the first time I have ever heard about All Hallows' Eve."

"The old ways are becoming more and more forbidden back home," Fred tells the mystic soul twins.

"Headed by those like Dumbledore that see the old ways as evil," George added.

"They see the old ways as dark, so they try and outlaw them as much as possible," Fred said.

"Especially with the All Hallows' Eve ritual since it involved giving a drop of blood and blood magic was outlawed years ago," George says.

"Something that we already know was stupid," Harry stopped Krinos and Melody before they could rant about how stupid that was. "T'challa, Hestia, and Hawk already told us about how some of the strongest healing potions and spells involve the use of blood."

"It's not like we deny that there are some pretty scary things when it comes to All Hallows' Eve," Melody says. "Probably the most common thing that people mistake the ritual for is necromancy."

"What exactly is necromancy," Harry was curious. "T'challa, Hawk, and Hestia brought that up earlier, but did not give much of an explanation."

"Necromancy is one of the blackest of magics in all of the known realms," Krinos says, his face grim. "Necromancy deals with life and death. Specifically, it is about trying to bring back the dead. The most common thing would be trying to reanimate a corpse, but it ends up a zombie or even some type of half-dead and half-alive... thing."

"There is actually something like that we know about," Fred says.

"There are these creatures known as inferi where we come from," George said.

"They are basically living corpses," Fred explained.

"Only those truly evil are able to create them," George added.

"Necromancy is the most forbidden magic in the world," Krinos says. "The laws of life and death are the most sacred laws of magic. To mess with them are the most evil thing that anyone could ever do."

"And some people think the All Hallows' Eve ritual is related to necromancy," Harry asked them.

"Whenever anyone hears how communicating with the dead, they instantly think about necromancy," Melody said. "Quite frankly, it's insulting to the ritual to even think of it being a branch of necromancy when it is meant to reunite loved ones."

"And speaking of that, I would be more than happy to help you with the ritual, Harry," Krinos tells him. "I think out of everyone here, Melody and I can understand you the most when it comes to why you want to do the ritual."

Harry softly smiled at Krinos and Melody. The two of them were in a similar boat to him. All of their parents had been murdered by someone when they were very young. Harry did not want to compare their pain, but he could not help but wonder which of them had it worse. He had not been old enough to remember his parents other than the memory of their deaths that the dementors brought to the surface and things Sirius and Remus had told him. But Krinos and Melody actually were able to remember bits of their parents, yet their parents were murdered by their own sons because they wanted the family title. He was not sure which was worse, remembering or not remembering. All of them suffered greatly because of the deaths of their parents.

"Is the ritual hard," Harry asked them.

"It can be a bit taxing on your magic energy the first time that you use it," Melody explained. "Those that have never done it before usually feel very tired once it is completed because they are not used to the amount of magic needed to transport their soul to limbo."

"It does not affect the rest of us as badly because of how we have been doing the ritual for years," Krinos says. "But, that will not have any effect on your ability to perform the ritual."

"So, I will just be really tired after performing the ritual," Harry guessed.

"That's right, Harry," Melody said. "There are those that say that magic always comes at a price, but the loss of energy is quite a fair price for the gift that the ritual gives us."

"Please do not mention that phrase," Charlotte says as she walks by. "I have had it with Rumpelstiltskin! That little imp annoys me so much!"

She walked away without another word. Harry looked at the mystic soul twins with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't even ask," they both said at the same time.

"Mr.Gardna," the voice of Professor Nightingale called from the entrance of the Main Gallery. "We would like your help in here with the decorations."

"Coming, professor," Krinos replied to her.

"Charlotte probably does have interesting stories, though," Harry says as they walk with Krinos. "I can not even imagine what it would be like to live your life with fairy tales being a part of it."

"We want to know about this Rumpelstiltskin person Charlotte just complained about," Fred says.

"Being purebloods, we do not really know anything about muggle fairy tales," George added.

"Rumpelstiltskin is a fairy tale revolving around an imp-like man that has the power to spin straw into gold," Melody explained. "The main thing about him is that he lives by the 'rule' of how 'all magic comes at a price.' But, the reality is that it is HIS magic that comes at a price."

"His fairy tale is about how he helps a woman who was trapped in a tower by a corrupt king because her father lied about her having the ability to spin straw into gold," Krinos took over the explanation. "The king tells her to spin straw into gold by morning or he would have her killed. During the night, Rumpelstiltskin comes to her and agrees to spin the straw into gold in exchange for her necklace. When the king locks her in another room to get more gold, Rumpelstiltskin returns and spins it again in return for her ring. On the third night, the king locks her in another room and says he will marry her if she spins even more gold by the morning but would kill her if she failed. She did not have anything left by that point, so when Rumpelstiltskin once again appears, he forces her into a deal where he would spin the gold again, but in exchange for her future first-born child."

"Muggle fairy tales are pretty twisted," Fred commented.

"Though, so are the magical fairy tales we grew up with," George shrugged.

"The story continues with how when Rumpelstiltskin returns for her child, the woman pleads with him not to take it," Melody continues. "So, he makes another deal with her. He gives her three days to find his name and if she manages to discover his name, then she can keep her child. She struggled to find his name but got lucky before her time was up. She managed to overhear him playfully singing a song that also included him saying his own name. So, she ended up being able to keep her child."

"Well, at least that is a better ending," Fred says.

"Still very weird, though," George said.

"And if these two say that something is weird, then that really says something," Harry laughed.

"Mundane fairy tales are strange, but they are certainly better than other things mundanes come up with," Krinos stated. "Do not get me started on the number of strange urban legends that I have heard about."

"What are..." the twins were cut off.

"He just said not to get him started," Melody tells them.

The group got into the Main Gallery and they definitely understood why Professor Nightingale had called for Krinos. Despite there being a dozen students as well as a few professors working on the room, it was not even halfway done because of the size of the Gallery. Probably didn't help that none of those working were nature mages like Krinos. So, they had to weave the plant decorations by hand while also having to make sure they stay on the walls.

"I see why I was needed," Krinos said.

"We did not mean to take you away from your other decorating duties, Mr.Gardna," Professor Nightingale tells him. "But, we needed your help to finish the Gallery. It is the most important place in the school that requires decorating given that we have the feast in here."

"I understand, professor, and I do not mind helping," Krinos smiled at his teacher. "Besides, between Lily and the other nature mages, I am sure the rest of the corridors will be decorated in no time. I am more than happy to help here."

"Go right back to being a Disney princess, Krinos," Harry could not help but joke.

"I am ashamed of nothing," Krinos chuckled.

The nature mage then went to help his schoolmates that were working around the Main Gallery. Harry smiled as he saw them all not just welcome his help, but thank him for it while also still trying to do some work themselves. Harry liked Crystal Rose more and more the longer he spent at the school. Unlike how he had been the one dealing with all of the problems at Hogwarts basically on his own, he enjoyed seeing the Crystal Rose students working together. He could not even imagine anyone at Crystal Rose going in alone if they had to deal with a basilisk, a possessed teacher, a horde of dementors, or a dragon.

"So, tell me more about All Hallows'..." Harry was cut off.

"How barbaric," came Hermione's annoying voice.

"And there goes our good moods," the twins say at the same time.

Sure enough, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all walked into the Main Gallery. And from the looks on their faces, they definitely did not agree with what they were seeing. The rest of them knew that they were probably going to have headaches by the time they either leave or they force the Annoying Trio to leave. Harry was already having to stop himself from shocking them with his lightning.

"What do you three want," Melody crosses her arms. "If you haven't noticed, we have an important sabbat to prepare for."

"I already knew you all were monsters, but this proves it," Ron snarled at her. "Practicing dark magic like this."

Melody simply rolled her eyes. "People like you will always be annoying little pests."

"You can't talk to him like that," Ginny shouted at her.

"If he can accuse me of using black magic while also calling me a monster, I can talk to him any way I want," Melody countered. "You have some serious double-standard issues, little girl."

"She does have a point, Ginny," Fred says.

"Ron insulted her first, so she has the right to fight back," George said.

"You have no room to scold her for what she said to Ron when you didn't scold Ron for insulting her," Fred added.

"Melody certainly also has a point given that you have been nothing but annoying every time you try and spread your prejudices against mystic souls," George said.

"How can you side with these fakes over your own siblings," Hermione yelled at the twins.

"Hermione, you really need to give it up on this 'fake' thing," Harry tells her. "You are literally the only person that does not believe in their powers. You do not have to accept their powers, but just give up trying to make everyone else believe it."

Harry really had enough of her superiority complex. She was annoying when he thought she was his friend. But now that she was not his friend, she was probably the most annoying person he has ever met. He already knew that other than Ron and Ginny, no one else in Gryffindor, or in Hogwarts in general, liked her. And he could not blame them.

"At least someone from Britain has common sense," Melody put her elbow on Harry's shoulder, using him as an armrest.

"Oi," Fred and George playfully protested.

"You two would be insulted for being called 'common' and you know it," Harry tells the two of them.

"Point made," the twins shrugged, smirking.

"You are still practicing dark magic," Ron accused Melody.

She rolled her eyes again. "I have a feeling that you three are going to fail the Light & Dark class. It is literally the first lesson that dark does not mean bad and light does not mean good. The grey area of magic is very large, after all."

Harry had to stop himself from bursting into laughter when he saw Hermione go really red at the thought of failing a class. He remembered from when they took their final exam for DADA back in their third year at Hogwarts, one of the things they had to face was a boggart again. And when Hermione took her turn, her boggart was McGonagall telling her that she failed everything. 

"All Hallows' Eve and its ritual are not black magic," Harry said, showing he actually understood the difference between black and dark magic. "From what I have heard, it is actually really wonderful."

"You and the rest of you, monsters, are corrupting Harry," Ginny screamed at Melody.

"You people are unbelievable," Melody sighed in annoyance. "I have never met anyone so ignorant and so prejudiced in my entire life."

"We are not ignorant," Hermione protested. "You can not call us that because we know the truth about your dark magic."

"Shut up," yelled another voice.

Looking up, Vallia came floating down from where she had been hanging decorations nearby. And she was definitely not happy.

"For a butterfly girl, she definitely can be scary when she is angry," Harry whispered to Melody.

"Trust me, you have not even begun to see her scary side," Melody tells him.

"I have seriously had it with you prejudiced British people," Vallia yelled at the Annoying Trio. "You come here and instantly start spitting on our culture and our ways without even trying to understand them. You are so biased against who we are and what we do that it blinds you to the truth. One of the main reasons why I am glad I left England when I was a kid."

"You left because there is no place for monsters like you back home," Ron glared at her.

Vallia glared at him even more. "I left because your country is one of the most backwards, awful, heartless, and corrupt places in all of the magical world. Not only is there that ridiculous and stupid blood purity nonsense, but you limit your own magic by putting them into light and dark categories. But what is the worst thing is that you all seem to believe that child abuse does not exist."

"You have no idea what you are talking about," Hermione yelled at her. "Magical Britain is clearly better since we do not practice dark magic."

"All Hallows' Eve and its ritual are not black magic," Melody stated. "It helps us connect to magic while also helping us talk to family members that have passed away. It's about magic and family, not black magic."

"I get to talk to my brother," Vallia said, a sad look on her face mixed with her anger. "That is part of the reason why I know that magical Britain ignores child abuse. I had three older brothers. But our parents were the most controlling people anyone could ever meet. They did not want any of us to do anything on our own since they wanted to control everything we did. They used compulsions and loyalty potions on my brothers to make them do whatever they wanted them to. I was too young for those things to be used on me, but I know they planned to force me into a marriage contract in order to increase our family's status and money through marriage. But my oldest brother was very magically powerful. So, his body eventually was able to break down the potions and spells they used on him. So, they gave him more potions and used more spells on him. Eventually, he overdosed on the potions they gave him. His body couldn't handle it and he died."

"Vallia," Melody rubbed her friend gently on her back to comfort her.

Harry felt his heart break for Vallia. She was normally such a sweet and light-fill person. To see this sad and heartbroken side of her showed that there really are some people that hide their pain behind a smile.

"The ritual allows me to spend time with my brother," Vallia continued. "I get to know him and he gets to know me. The only thing that I regret is that because I am a mystic soul that fled the country, I can not go back to rescue my other two brothers. There is nothing wrong with anything here. It is your horrible country that is the problem."

Vallia then flew away, probably ready to attack the Annoying Trio if she stayed and heard any more of their delusions about mystic souls and their culture.

"I bet her brothers were Slytherins and that is why her parents wanted to control them," Ron grumbled. "They wanted to stop them from being like every other evil Slytherin."

"Are you kidding me," Harry snapped. "Are you seriously kidding me right now! I can not believe that you have the cheer gall to blame her and her brothers for their horrible parents."

"Hey, don't yell at him, Harry," Hermione ordered in her usual bossy tone.

"You people are unbelievable," Harry threw his hands up in an 'I give up' way. "Vallia actually does have a point. Child abuse IS ignored in magical Britain. I know that my own certainly was. It is clear that no one actually cares about the welfare of children over there. It should not matter if someone is light or dark, what Hogwarts house they are in, or what blood status they are. All children deserve to have safe homes to live in."

"As Headmaster Dumbledore said, Harry, your family loves..." Hermione was once again going to just spout Dumbledore's nonsense about the Dursleys.

"I give up," Harry stated. "You three are hopeless. Vallia, wait for me."

He went to go after the butterfly witch, not wanting to be around the Annoying Trio any longer. Fred and George just gave the three annoyed headshakes before they also went after Harry. Melody did not even try to stick around. She went after her brother.

The trio could only leave since it was clear no one was going to be listening to them anymore.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-One: Reunion

When the time came for the All Hallows' Eve feast, Harry was ready for the sacred holiday. Ever since he had first entered the magical world, he had wanted to learn everything he could about it. It was the world he was now a part of as well as the world his parents had been a part of. But yet, he could never really learn anything fundamental about the magical world.

Everything he did learn about it was not the actual historical facts about it. All he learned was the superficial stuff that probably had not been an actual part of the magical world, such as the blood purity nonsense that was such a big part of magical Britain. And it was not like History of Magic was a lot of help given that Binns has been "teaching" about nothing other than goblin rebellions for years.

Being at Crystal Rose just got better and better by the second. He never thought a magic school could teach so much. But, then again, his only example of a magic school's teachings was Hogwarts, which already set the bar very low.

Being able to experience a magical holiday, a sabbath, was just the cherry on top of the magical sundae. All Hallows' Eve had sounded amazing from everything he heard from Krinos, Melody, T'challa, Hawk, and Hestia. He could hardly wait to get the whole experience of the Sabbath. 

When the feast was announced and all of the students were gathering in the Main Gallery, they all got to see just how decked out the hall had been made. All of the house banners were still over the house tables, but they were no longer the main decoration of the hall.

The simplest way that Harry could say it was that the Main Gallery was beautiful. The entire hall was covered with an incredible display of Autumn plants. Not just the common plants, such as red, orange, yellow, and brown leaves, but also Autumn flowers like hydrangeas, goldenrod, Autumn crocus, and Russian sage. Through the center of each table were lines of what Harry could only describe as small altars. Made out of small pumpkins, apples, maple leaves, bunches of cranberries, and some small crystals, the entire middle of each table was covered by the alters. Hovering above the tables, floating in the air, were shining crystals that glowed with peaceful Autumn colors. Orange, red, yellow, brown, and some green as well.

It was all very different from how the Great Hall at Hogwarts looked during Halloween. There were no floating jack-o-lanterns, no tables full of candy, and Harry hoped that there would also be no life-threatening situation. After all, Halloween has never been good luck for him. Every year, something bad happened. In his first, Quirrell let the troll into the castle. In his second, the Chamber of Secrets was opened and Mrs.Norris was petrified. In his third, Sirius slashed the Fat Lady's portrait to try and get into Gryffindor Tower. And he did not even want to think about his name coming out of the Goblet of Fire the previous Halloween.

Everyone sat down at their own house tables this time. Since it was an important feast, they all had to sit at their house tables rather than sitting wherever they wanted like they usually did. Once everyone was seated, Headmistress Jiwe stood up from her seat. All the students instantly were paying attention to her. She smiled at them all as she made her speech.

"All Hallows' Eve has always been the most special time of year to everyone in the magical world," she says. "From witches and wizards to fairies and gnomes. Every magical person celebrates this sacred day to honor Lady Magic and the gifts that she has granted us. And every year we make sure to spend this sacred day giving thanks while also honoring our ancestors. It is also thanks to this sacred day that our hearts and souls are filled by reuniting with the loved ones that have passed on. For those of you that are new to our sabbath, we welcome you all to experience the greatest gift that Lady Magic has ever given us. The gift of love and family."

Harry had already liked Headmistress Jiwe a lot more than Dumbledore, but her speech was making him like her even more. Dumbledore's speeches usually were either complete nonsense, vague warnings, or poorly disguised recruitment strategies where he was trying to get students to fight for him in the war against Voldemort. Jiwe was warm, welcoming, and actually spoke in a way that showed she respects her students rather than seeing them as pawns like Dumbledore does.

He also liked that how she talked about All Hallows' Eve. She was talking about it in a way that shows how they all feel about the sabbath while not making it seem that they were forcing the Hogwarts students to take part in it. They were more than welcome to, but no one was going to force them to take part in the ritual.

Harry did have to suppress a chuckle as he could see the look of fury on both Dumbledore's and McGonagall's faces. Given Ron, Ginny, and Hermione's attitudes, it did not surprise him that those two were also against All Hallows' Eve. Plus, given things Fred and George have told him, Dumbledore has spent years putting forth multiple laws that made the old ways, such as All Hallows' Eve, illegal. 

It did not surprise Harry at all given that Dumbledore is literally the opposite of Voldemort while still being so much like him as well. They were both extremists but in their own ways. It was basically like they were traveling on two parallel lines right next to each other. Instead of being biased and prejudiced against muggleborns, blood traitors, muggles, and muggle supporters, he was biased and prejudiced against "dark" magic, Slytherins, and anyone that celebrated the old ways. It was something Sirius agreed with him on. Dumbledore was a giant hypocrite.

"Once the feast is finished, you are all welcome to go to the altars you have set up in order to take part in the ritual," Jiwe continued her speech. "This is the day to honor magic and family. I am sure Lady Magic appreciates each and every single person that honors her on this night. Now, let the feast begin!" 

Everyone began eating and talking to each other as they usually did during meals. The biggest difference was obviously the topic of conversation. Many of the more neutral students as well as the muggleborns were asking about All Hallows' Eve and its connection to Halloween. They were all getting similar answers.

"Why would we celebrate a mundane holiday? We're magical, not mundane."

"Halloween is the biggest insult to the magical world! They turn us and our world into nothing but a joke!"

"If I see one more green-skinned witch costume in my life, I'm gonna lose it!"

"Everyone is welcome to have their own beliefs, but they should not try and insult another person's culture just to make their own look superior."

"The mundane and magical worlds should always be separate. They can keep Halloween for themselves because we certainly do not want it."

"I would rather become a demon than welcome Halloween into the magical world."

"All Hallows' Eve is a sacred sabbath while Halloween is the most insulting thing to ever happen to the magical world."

It was definitely clear how the mystic souls felt about Halloween. Plus, from what Harry could see, a lot of the purebloods from Britain were actually agreeing with them. Those like Malfoy and Parkinson did not want to actually agree with the "monsters" but that did not change that they also obviously hated Halloween as well.  Some of the actual nice purebloods, such as Neville, Susan Bones, Cedric, Luna, and others like them, all genuinely looked curious and excited about All Hallows' Eve.

"I think that this will probably be the biggest All Hallows' Eve we have ever had at Crystal Rose," T'challa said.

"Really," Harry asked him, shocked.

The jungle cat mage nodded. "While there are already a lot of students at Crystal Rose, there are obviously going to be a lot more of those taking part in the All Hallows' Eve ritual this year."

"Are you sure," Harry was curious and worried. "There are a lot of Hogwarts students that are still under the delusion that Dumbledore can do no wrong. And since he is against the old ways, that means they are as well."

"That doesn't mean there would not still be plenty of students that are outside of his sphere of influence," White tells him. "Especially those in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff since from what you've told us, he practically ignores that they exist."

"Despite how this only started as a way for us to help you get away from Dumbledore, Harry, we are enjoying sharing our way of life with those that were previously too scared of us to find out anything real about mystic souls," Hawk says.

"I am happy that you guys all got something good out of this," Harry smiled at them. "Especially since I did not really want all of you to be involved in this in the first place."

"Harry, you have nothing to worry about," T'challa tells him. "As you have seen from Dueling class, we can take care of ourselves."

Harry chuckled at what T'challa said. It was definitely the truth. After all, just looking at everything the mystic souls could do during Dueling proved that they were a lot more powerful than anyone from Britain. He made no effort to hide how smug he was at the fact Dumbledore would never be as powerful as anyone in this school. A fact that he was sure was driving Dumbledore up the wall.

He continued to eat with the rest of the students until the time came for the feast to end. When it did, Harry was practically buzzing in excitement. Since it was his first time taking part in the ritual, Krinos and Melody offered to help him.

After Headmistress Jiwe dismissed everyone, Harry was gladly welcomed by Krinos and Melody as they started walking to where they had set up their own altar. They had set theirs up in the greenhouse, for obvious reasons. Not just because it was where Krinos's magic was at its strongest, but it was also actually where their parent had met back when they had been attending Crystal Rose.

Their altar was a set up of candles on top of small stacks of books. Krinos had wrapped each stack with plants while Melody had placed crystal animal figurines around each stack. The two of them made sure both their parents were represented since their mom was a nature mage like Krinos while their father was an animal mage.

As they both sat down, they looked at Harry and smiled.

"Did you bring the things that belonged to your parents, Harry," Krinos asked him.

Harry nodded as he then brought out his father's invisibility cloak, the Marauder's Map, and the photo album Hagrid had given him. The two had told him that he would need things that belonged to his parents to make the connection stronger since this was his first time doing the ritual. Sirius had told him how his mother had actually helped him, his father, and Remus make the map. Her charms were always the best, so she had been very important while making the map. He placed the objects close to the altar.

Melody then gave Harry a candle as well as a knife. At first, Harry was shocked until he saw that both Krinos and Melody had already poked their fingers.

"The ritual calls blood to blood, Harry," Melody explained. "So, simply poke your finger and drop a few drops of blood into the flame."

Harry nodded as he did what she said. Given everything the Dursleys had previously done to him, a poke to the finger was basically nothing to him. After he broke the skin of his index finger, he dropped a few drops of his blood into the candle's flame.

"What now," he asked the two.

"Just repeat after us, Harry," Krinos tells him.

The two placed their hands on the candles they had dropped their blood onto. Harry followed their lead. He listened to what they said so that he could repeat their ritual spell.

 “We call on the dreams of creature and mortal.

To heal the wound that worlds divide.

From now on, we each can create a portal.

And each of us our own path decide.

Hear these words.

Hear our cry.

Spirits from the other side.

Come to me,

We summon thee.

On this the night of All Hallows’ Eve.’’

Harry gasped as he felt the magic take hold. His entire world went white and he felt like he passed out for a second.

*****

"Harry... Harry... Harrison Charlus Potter-Black, you will wake up right now," a woman's voice yelled.

"Seriously, Lily," a male voice said, obviously raising an eyebrow.

"It worked when I needed to wake you up in the morning," the female responded.

Harry slowly opened his eyes. He groaned as he put his hand on his head while trying to adjust his eyes to the light. Once he was able to see and got his composure back, he had no idea where he was. Looking around, he seemed to be in some type of living room, but it was obviously in a very large house given the size of the room.

The room was very grand with the walls looking like the best blocks a castle could have with the floors seeming like the finest wood in the world. There were also large floor-to-ceiling windows along two walls, which brought his attention up to the ceiling where a grand chandelier was hanging. There were also a few tapestries on the walls with all of them showing pictures of either dragons, lions, or griffins. There was a giant fireplace on the wall with a crest above it. The crest looked like a cliche knight's shield made of gold with a griffin standing in front of two crossed swords designed on it. From what he remembered Sirius telling him, that was the Potter family's crest. 

But then Harry's eyes widened when we saw the two people kneeling in front of him. His eyes instantly filled with tears as he saw his parents. His father was just as handsome as Sirius described him. He had the same messy black hair as Harry did while also having similar-shaped glasses. And just as Sirius had pointed out, he really did have a similar bone structure to his dad. And looking at his mum, her eyes stood out instantly since they were the same bright green that his own were. Unless he was using his mystic soul powers, of course. And with her hair, it was the most deep and stunning shade of red he had ever seen. Much deeper than the bright orange hair of the Weasleys.

Instantly, Harry basically jumped into their arms as he cried more than he ever did before.

"It... It actually worked," Harry would forever be grateful to Crystal Rose and mystic souls in general for giving him this. "I... I was worried it wouldn't."

"It's okay, Harry," Lily gently rubbed his back. "We're here. We really are here with you."

"And we will be here until All Hallows' Eve is over at midnight," James tells him.

"At least that gives us a few hours," Harry said.

He finally managed to pull himself together enough to pull himself off his parents. He wanted to look at their faces more. Sure, he had the photo album Hagrid gave him, but it wasn't the same thing. Now, he could have real memories of what his parents looked like.

"Look at you," Lily placed her hands on Harry's cheeks. "You've grown into such a handsome young man."

"Well, as my son, of course, he would grow into someone handsome," James smirked. "After all, he is MY son."

"At least you did not inherit your father's modesty," Lily says. "Or rather, his lack of modesty."

"Sirius has said that my personality was more like yours while my looks were obviously dad's," Harry chuckled.

"Tell Padfoot that we miss him," James said. "We hope that next year, you two can do the ritual together so that we can spend time with both of you."

"I will, I promise," Harry knew his godfather/blood-adopted father would really appreciate the message.

"You and Sirius will make a great family, Harry," Lily says to him. "As much as we wish we could have raised you and been a family, we know Sirius loves you as his own."

"After everything he has been doing to keep you safe from both Dumbledore and Voldemort, I knew we made the right choice to make him your godfather," James smiled. 

"How do you know about what has been going on," Harry asked, curious.

"We've been keeping an eye on you, Prongslet," James ran his hand through his son's hair. "We may not be able to interact with the living world, but we can watch you. We have been ever since we died."

"You... You have," Harry's eyes widened.

He was both touched that his parents were always watching him as well as horrified that they have seen everything he has gone through. But both his parents gave him comforting smiles.

"We are so sorry for everything you have been through, Harry," Lily tells him. "It seems that we had trusted the wrong people for a long time. You deserve so much better than what life gave you."

"We would do anything to give you your best chance at a better childhood," James says. "What was done to you, to Sirius, to so many others. It wasn't fair to any of you."

"It wasn't your fault," Harry said. "The only ones to blame are Pettigrew, Voldemort, and Dumbledore."

"There is one more person you need to know about, Harry," Lily looked like this was a painful fact for her to give.

"Who," Harry could barely believe another person was involved in the death of his parents.

"Snivellus," James sneered.

"Snape," Harry raised an eyebrow. "I know the man is horrible in every sense of the word, not to mention an adult man-child that thinks bullying children is okay, but what could possibly make him worse?"

Lily and James shared a look with each other. But, given that they have seen of their son, they knew he hated being kept in the dark. He needed the truth and the whole truth.

"There was a prophecy given to Dumbledore about Voldemort," James explained. "It spoke about a child born at the end of the seventh month to those that defied Voldemort three times. Only that child would have the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. A Death Eater heard half of it and gave it to Voldemort."

"That was why he came after us," Harry's eyes widened in realization. "Once he learned when I was born, he believed that I was the child in the prophecy."

His parents both nodded.

"It was why we went into hiding," James said. "Both us and the Longbottoms. We wanted to originally hide at Potter Manor, which is actually the place we are in right now, only this is the limbo version created for us. But, my parents had both recently died of Dragon Pox while living in the manor, so the place was still under quarantine until the disease fully vanished from the grounds. So, we had to hide elsewhere."

"But, as you know, Peter betrayed us," Lily says.

"What does this have to do with..." but then it struck Harry. "Snape was the Death Eater that heard the prophecy. He is the reason why Voldemort went after us."

Lily and James nodded. If Harry could access his powers in limbo, there would have been a serious storm brewing. Luckily for Crystal Rose, it was not happening in real life.

"I could forgive Snape for calling me a 'mudblood' while we were at school, but I could never forgive him for what he did to our family," Lily says. "And the fact he was allowed to get away with it, allowed to teach the very children of people he has either tortured or killed as a Death Eater, allowed to be such a sorry excuse for a human being... If I keep going, I am not going to stop."

James kissed his wife on the side of her head to help calm her down.

"We know you have been through a lot, Prongslet, and we do not want to add more to your plate," he tells their son. "But, we know that was something you needed to be told. You deserve to know."

"Thank you," Harry managed to say. "Thank you for telling me."

"But, there is one more thing you need to know, Harry," Lily says.

Harry gulped, worried another bomb was gonna be dropped on him.

"What," he asked them.

James smiled as he placed his hand onto his son's cheek while looking into his eyes.

"We are SO proud of you," he tells him. "You have been through so much and yet you are a better person than we could have ever hoped for. And we are not talking about your adventures or all the dangerous stuff you have done or even how you saved Hogwarts multiple times. What makes us proud of you is that you have such a big heart."

"Despite what you have been through, all those times you nearly died, all the betrayal, you have never let yourself be overwhelmed by any of it," Lily says. "Yes, you have been rightfully angry and rightfully wanting revenge, but you never once actually let that anger take hold. You chose to instead allow yourself to open up to others, to take down that wall around your heart, to choose love over hate. Nothing could make us prouder of you."

Harry was once again in their arms as he cried. Hearing that they were proud of him meant more to him than anything else he could possibly imagine. He knew that even if he had given in to the hate and allowed himself to become a more cold and violent person, they would not blame him. But, at the same time, they were proud that he did not end up like that. 

After everything he found out about Dumbledore, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Mrs.Weasley, he could have very easily gone down a path to seek violent revenge on them. But instead, he simply let them go and chose to find new friends, a new home, and a new makeshift family. He did not need to let them and their actions rule his life. He was going to make his own path by doing just as his mum said he did. Choose love over hate.

The three of them were soon sitting on one of the couches in the room. For a place in limbo that was created by a ritual, it was very comfy. Harry spent the entire time simply cuddling with his parents. Talking about everything and nothing. Having this time with them was more than Harry would ever imagine. Eventually, the world around them began to fade away.

"Guess it's almost midnight," James said.

"No," Harry instantly said. "Please, no."

Lily cupped her son's face in her hands again. She placed a kiss on his head.

"We will always be watching, Harry," she tells him. "Never forget that we are still there for you. We always will be."

James then also kissed him on his head.

"We love you, Prongslet," he says. "And we always will."

Harry gave them both one last giant hug before the world fully faded and he once again felt as if he passed out.

*****

When Harry opened his eyes again, he felt exhausted. Both emotionally, physically, and magically. He could barely open his eyes. When he did, he could see Krinos and Melody blowing out the rest of the candles on their altar. Looking down, Harry saw the candle in his hands was almost completely gone. He guessed that it was part of the magic of the ritual. The candle almost acted like a timer. Once it burns out, it means time is up.

Seeing that Harry was aware once more, Krinos and Melody both gave him soft smiles. They both looked like they had been crying as well. Harry moved forward and gave them both a big hug.

"Thank you," Harry tells them. "You just gave me something I have wanted my entire life. Time with my parents."

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-Two: The Attack

Harry felt like he had been walking on air for the entire day after he had woken up after All Hallow's Eve. He had never been this happy before. Sure, he had been over the moon when Sirius told him about the blood adoption, but nothing could compare to actually getting to meet and spend time with his birth parents.

It really made his next decision that much easier. Ever since he had met Krinos, he had been wanting to find a way to get away from magical Britain. And since he had also discovered his mystic soul magic, not to mention Sirius getting free, Crystal Rose is calling his name. He could easily transfer to the school without any issue at all.

Of course, Dumbledore would probably try to prevent it, not wanting to lose his "weapon," but Olivia would definitely make quick work of him. After all, he had seen the time mage's skills in the courtroom. Dumbledore did not stand a chance against her if he tried to force him to remain at Hogwarts. He was secretly hoping that Sirius would use his Wild Dog magic to show Dumbledore why he should not mess with his godson.

His group of friends all chuckled and giggled as he basically floated into the Main Gallery and sat down at the Winter Wolf table. Neville also joined them with Luna coming over as well.

"Looks like someone enjoyed his first All Hallow's Eve," T'challa commented.

"The first time is always the most memorable," Vallia said.

"Memorable is the understatement of the century," Harry said. "I don't think I could be happier if I tried."

"You have that same look on your face as when Krinos and Melody did their first ritual after their parents died," Hawk says.

Harry nodded. "I only knew what people have told me about my parents. But, then again, they would usually only ever say the same things. That I look like my dad with my mum's eyes. That my dad was good at Transfiguration and Quidditch while my mum was amazing at Charms. They would hardly ever talk about them like actual people."

"It was probably the luckiest that Harry has ever gotten when he met Remus and Sirius," Fred says, sitting down next to Harry.

"They actually tell him real things about his parents rather than what everyone else says," George sat down on Harry's other side.

All the girls in their group giggled at the adorable sight of Harry being between the twins. It was pretty much an open secret at this point how the three of them liked each other while also being too stubborn to actually tell each other how they felt. It was actually pretty adorable. Hawk and Abby were trying to start a betting pool of others guessing when the three of them would get together.

"I am happy you got to have time with your parents, Harry," Vallia smiled at him as she patted his hand in a gentle way.

"Thanks, Vallia," Harry smiled back at her. "I'm glad you get to see your brother, as well."

"What about you two," T'challa asked the twins.

"We talked with our uncles, Gideon and Fabian," Fred said.

"They died when we were only toddlers," George says.

"We barely remember anything about them," Fred tells them.

"Our brothers Charlie and Bill have told us we look like them because of our darker red hair and our fewer freckles," George added.

"But, we don't really have any real memories of them," Fred says.

"So, it was really nice to get to talk to them," George said.

"Especially when they told us that they were proud of us for accepting mystic souls despite being from magical England," Fred grinned.

"They really are a lot like us," George smiled.

"This really makes me not understand why magical Britain is so against the old ways," Abby shakes her head. "Is there really something so bad about talking with your loved ones who have passed away?"

"It's not really about that, Abby," Harry tells her. "The main thing that I learned since entering the magical world is that basically the entire country is filled with those who let prejudiced nature rule their every thought. The Dark hate muggleborns, muggles, and blood-traitors. The Light hates dark families, Slytherins, and anyone who uses the old ways. And then basically everyone hates magical creatures, mystic souls, and who knows what else. While there are a lot that are getting used to you guys, this will never be enough to truly end all the hate that goes on back in Britain."

"We were already aware of the hate against mystic souls, but is there really so much hate in one country," T'challa asked them.

"To say that there is a lot of hate would be the understatement of the century," Buzz said. "You already know why Vallia and I left the country. There are still plenty of families just as bad or even worse than ours."

"Sirius's family is certainly bad," Harry says. "He told me about how his mother used to use all types of curses on him in order to force him to be who she wanted him to be. And that included using the Cruciatus curse on him even when he was a little kid."

"And that was just Sirius's mother," Fred said.

"The Black family have always been known for being evil and insane," George says.

"And while Sirius is pretty insane, he is definitely not evil," Fred chuckled a little.

"The rest of his family is, though," George sighed.

"Especially his cousin Bellatrix, who tortured Neville's parents until their brains broke," Fred said.

He squeezed Neville's shoulder to comfort him because he brought that up. Neville smiled at him, showing that there were no hard feelings.

"And his other cousin, Narcissa, is not much better given that she is married to Lucius Malfoy and the mother to Draco 'Prat' Malfoy," George groaned a little.

"The so-called 'Light' side is not much better, though," Harry made sure to point out. "After all, as Fred and George have told me, it is Dumbledore who has been at the forefront of making the old ways illegal. The 'Light' say that they fight against the ways of the 'Dark' even though they are pretty much the same thing, only going in opposite directions."

"Harry is right," Neville said. "For all of the 'Light' saying that they support equality, they sure have never done anything to change it. As the heir to the Longbottom family, my Gran has been teaching me since I was young about Wizegmont politics. So, I know that ever since Harry's grandparents died, no one has ever put forth a law to protect magical creatures nor put forth a motion to strip away all those horrible laws that give purebloods all the power."

"Our old DADA professor, Remus Lupin, is also a big example of how no one actually cares about magical creatures," Fred says.

"After years of terrible, psycho, and stupid DADA teaches, Remus was the best one we have had in years," George said.

"But when Snape revealed that Remus was a werewolf out of spite, he was forced to quit because of how many people are prejudiced against werewolves," Fred sighed unhappily.

"They only change once a month and yet people treat them as if are bloodthirsty monsters every single day," George almost growled.

"They become a monster once a month," Hawk raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like girls when it is their time of the month."

The guys at the table all laugh while all the girls throw some of their food at the harpy boy. Though, his face clearly said, "I regret nothing."

"Harry," Krinos suddenly came up to the table. "Sirius is here. He probably wants to talk to you."

"Oh, okay," Harry got up from the table. "I will see you guys later."

He followed Krinos as they both walked out of the Main Gallery. Melody was standing by the door and she joined the two of them.

"Olivia is with Sirius, so Krinos and I will be joining you, she tells him.

"How do you two even know they are here," Harry could not help but ask them.

"Magic, dear Harry," Krinos chuckled. "I can sense anyone anywhere as long as they are close to nature. And, of course, Melody's hearing is second to none."

"I hope you two at least respect people's privacy," Harry chuckled at his joke.

"Of course we do," Melody giggled. "I am able to control my hearing enough that I can focus on either specific people I want to hear or hearing no more than an average person."

"It did take her a while to learn how to control her hearing, though," Krinos chuckled. "I couldn't keep a secret from her for years because of her hearing. She ruined a lot of good surprise parties that way."

Melody playfully slapped her brother on his shoulder when he said that.

"Says the boy who used to accidentally floral swirl to the tops of trees when he was simply trying to go to his room," she countered.

"You two really are a very fun pair," Harry laughed at their antics.

"That's one thing that people call us," Krinos chuckled. "We have certainly been called things a lot worse than that."

"Fred and George would understand that," Harry said. "They are often called the Demon Twins."

"Probably the first ever demons we would not want to vanquish," Melody giggled.

The three of them were soon close to the front entrance of the Crystal Rose. That was where they saw Sirius and Olivia. Harry was quick to wrap Sirius in a hug.

"Hey, pup," Sirius instantly greeted him.

"Hi, Sirius," Harry greeted him back. "What are you doing here?"

"One, I wanted to see my pup," Sirius playfully ruffled Harry's hair. "And two, Olivia and I have been doing some more work on the Voldemort and Dumbledore front."

"Really," Harry was shocked by the news.

He had never really known any adults to ever actually help out. After all, in all of his years at Hogwarts, he had never had any help from any adult. He was the one saving the school every year, not the adults. The only adult who has ever helped him was Remus back when he was their professor. He was sure that if Remus had not taught him the Patronus charm, both himself and Sirius would be dead since Harry would not have been able to save them from the dementors.

"The Magic Council is very concerned about the lack of things done in your country," Olivia tells him. "While we can not directly interfere with how another country is run without potentially causing a war, we do not want a Dark Lord running around."

"Especially given what had happened when Grindelwald was still around," Sirius added. "He caused a lot of damage to both France and the United States."

"Sirius is correct," Olivia said. "Voldemort might have stayed in Britain during the last war, but there is no telling if that will be the same case this time."

"Especially when I am now here," Harry sighed. "And even when I don't plan to return to Britain, I doubt that Voldemort is going to leave me alone. He is too focused on killing me since he failed to do so before."

"Which is why Sirius had the idea of going outside the box when it comes to dealing with him," Olivia says.

"Voldemort has used some of the blackest magics in the world in order to somehow remain alive," Sirius explained. "Destroying him would only destroy his body. He would simply return to being a wraith to be resurrected later. So, we need to do more than simply kill him the normal way. We need to attack his soul."

"If he even has one," Harry muttered.

"Oh, he does," Krinos said. "After all, a wraith is a person's soul that is stuck on the mortal plane. Only, the soul is corrupted with black magic, which is why it is a wraith rather than a ghost or spirit."

Sirius nodded at Krinos's explanation. "Voldemort does not know about mystic souls and how our spells are different from wizarding ones. So, if we find or create the right spell, we should be able to magically attack his soul. Which could finally result in his defeat."

"Just like every other wand-user, he underestimates mystic soul magic," Melody said.

"Voldemort and Dumbledore are both pretty alike, actually," Harry says. "After all, both of them have such extreme superiority complexes. They both believe they are basically gods and that no one can match their power. Even now, after seeing what everyone here can do, Dumbledore is probably still in denial about how he will never match up against any of you."

"Some people will never know when they are beaten," Krinos shook his head.

"Sadly, that is very true in many cases," Olivia sighed. "Take it from someone who has seen plenty of people with superiority complexes over the course of history."

"Hitler," Krinos growled.

"Atila the Hun," Melody growled.

"So, what about Dumbledore," Harry got them back on topic. "What can we do about him?"

"He will actually be a lot harder to take down given that we can not simply kill him like Voldemort," Sirius says.

"So, what can we do," Krinos asked the two adults.

"Well, we plan to..." Olivia was cut off.

"Did it suddenly get really cold, or is it just me," Melody shivered.

The rest of them realized what Melody meant. They could feel the chill in the air, the same as her. But to Sirius and Harry, the feeling was all too familiar to them. And not in a good way.

"There's no way," Harry was shaking his head in fear. "Not all the way here!"

"I know they can send them out to nearby countries, but I didn't think they could come all the way to Greece," Sirius's eyes widened.

"Mind cluing us in, you two," Melody requested the two.

"Dementors," Harry and Sirius answered at the same time.

Knowing what those things were, the three Gardnas' eyes widened. That was when they heard someone on the ground gasp and yell out.

"What in the name of the gods are those things!?!"

The five of them looked outside and gasped in horror. Flying through the sky, toward the school, had to be over a hundred dementors. More than Harry had seen when he saved Sirius from being kissed at the end of his third year at Hogwarts.

"Sirius, get the headmistress," Olivia ordered the former fugitive. "Everyone else, defend the school!"

Sirius nodded his head and instantly ran toward the Main Gallery. Harry yelled out as loudly as he could so that as many of the students nearby could hear him.

"Don't let those things get near you," he yelled out. "They can suck out your soul!"

The students who heard Harry all nodded, going to warn their friends who had not heard the weather mage.

The dementors all flew right toward the entrance of the school. But, they stopped when a few of them exploded. Olivia's eyes were filled with fire as she glared at the horrible creatures. Her hands were raised as she used her molecular combustion power.

"You won't get anywhere close to entering this school as long as I am here," she declared.

"Let's teach these things to never mess with Crystal Rose," Melody said.

The three teenagers all ran out onto the grounds.

"We have to protect the younger students," Krinos says. "As powerful as we all are, the younger students do not know enough about their powers to protect themselves."

"We're on it, Krinos," Harry said. "I just hope nobody that is not supposed to know sees me using my magic."

"There will be too much chaos for them to know the difference between your magic and Hawk's magic," Melody tells him.

Sure enough, a bunch of other teenager students all started coming out of the school. Olivia was still blowing up dementors to keep them from entering the school. Magic started flying as they were all fighting against the dementors. 

"Time to show these things that coming here was a big mistake," Krinos clenched his fists.

They all ran at the dementors.

"Harmonic scream," Melody cast.

She opened her mouth and let out her sonic scream. Waves of purple soundwaves came out of her mouth. They blasted back a group of dementors that were trying to surround a group of younger mystic souls.

"Get inside, now," Vallia tells them as she flies past.

The kids all ran toward the school, listening to the butterfly girl.

"Nature's magical leaf," Krinos cast.

Raising his arms, a bunch of leaves surrounded him. They spun around him, glowing green with nature magic. Krinos sent them at the dementors, literally ripping them apart. There was nothing left but shreds of fabric when he was done.

Harry, on the other hand, was not as confident as he got close to the dementors to fight them. He could feel the depressing and fearful nature of their auras still affecting him. But, it was not as much as they formerly had. If he had to guess, it was another perk of being a mystic soul. Just as how they are naturally protected from things like occlumency and legilimency, they are also protected from the effects of the dementors. He would have to think about that later, though.

He took in a deep breath. Opening his eyes, they were storm cloud gray. Dark clouds formed overhead. As the dementors flew toward him, he struck.

"Power of the storm, lighting assault," Harry cast.

Instantly, multiple bolts of lightning shot down from the clouds he had conjured. All of them struck the dementors. The creatures soon all fizzled away, leaving behind nothing but dust.

"Nice one, Harry," Hawk called from close by.

Harry smiled at him and sent him a thumbs-up. He then ran toward more dementors. They were swarming all around, trying to attack any and all mystic souls they saw. And much to Harry's shock, he saw the teachers all fighting back against the creatures. The staff at Crystal Rose, combined with Olivia, Sirius, Remus, and Kingsley, were all really restoring his faith in adults.

"You will not get near our students," shouted Professor Lectic. "Web of lightning!"

A large display of electricity shot out of his hands, vaporizing a bunch of dementors. He obviously had electricity magic.

"You all really need to chill out," yelled Professor Gold. "Sapphire blizzard!"

She had been sliding around on a pathway of ice she was creating everywhere she was going. It was like her own personal sidewalk. She held out the hand that she was not using to make the path and a blast of icy wind and snow came out. It froze several dementors into blocks of ice that shattered when they hit the ground.

"I would like to see any of you things try this again," bellowed Professor Hero.

Wielding a glowing sword, he was slicing through dementors and instantly destroying them. From what Harry had been told about him, Professor Hero's magic was that he could summon enchanted weapons. Such as bows that fire arrows of light, shields that can freeze any attack, swords that can slice through anything, and so on.

"What are these things even doing here," Vallia wondered out loud as she sent a giant butterfly of light at a few more dementors.

Being the closest to her, Harry answered.

"I have a feeling that a certain toad is involved," he guessed.

"Snape," Vallia raised an eyebrow.

Harry almost laughed. People had been starting to call Snape a toad after Harry had accidentally turned him into one. But, the situation was no time for laughing.

"No, I mean the pink toad," Harry made his guess more specific.

"Oh great," Vallia groaned. "As if there weren't enough things about her we already hated."

Harry could only nod as they both went back to fighting. It was definitely going to be a difficult battle.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-Three: Never Mess With Crystal Rose

"Open, gate of the lion! Leo," Angela called, holding up one of her golden keys.

With a loud DING DONG and a flash of light, she called another of her zodiac spirits. This time, it was a rather handsome older teenager. He was wearing a nice black suit with a white dress shirt under his suit jacket and tie along with matching black dress shoes. He also was wearing glasses. His hair was a lion's fur shade of tan that was styled in large spikes. Lion ears could be seen poking through his hair on top of his head.

"At your service, M'Lady," the spirit instantly flirted with her.

"Not now, Leo," Angela tells him. "Take those things down!"

"Right away, Angel," Leo winked at her, his hands both lighting up with golden light.  "Regulus impact!"

From his fist came a massive blast of light with the head of a lion roaring at the end of it. It headed right for a group of half a dozen dementors. All of them were vaporized on the spot. It seemed that light magic was very effective against them.

"Jungle weapon- Panther claws," T'challa cast.

On his hands appeared metal gloves, like the gauntlets that medieval knights wear. And attached to the gloves were Wolverine-like claws. Only, the gauntlets and the claws were a dark black and purple color. His eyes turned into emerald cat eyes while his teeth fanged.

He charged at a trio of dementors that had dived a small group of younger Crystal Rose students. His claws glowed purple energy as he ripped the dementors to shreds. 

"Thank you, T'challa," one of the younger boys said to him.

"No problem," he smiled at the group. "Get inside, now!"

The group all ran toward the entrance, which was still being guarded by Olivia. The witch was definitely a very fierce protector. Not to mention downright terrifying whenever she would use her molecular combustion power.

"Butterfly barrier," Vallia cast.

A larger group of dementors was blocked from charging toward the entrance as a wall of light-created butterflies appeared in front of them. The butterfly mage floated down in front of them. And she wasn't alone.

"Pine missile," Buzz cast.

From his hands came a barrage of sharp-ended energy blasts that resembled energy blasts made from giant bee stingers. Each one made contact with one of the dementors, destroying them on impact.

"What are these things doing here, all the way from Azkaban," Vallia wondered out loud.

"Whatever reason they are here, it can not be a good one," Buzz says.

"Did they actually think we wouldn't be able to fight back against them," Vallia raised an eyebrow.

"They're creatures from magical Britain, Vallia," Buzz reminded her. "They probably have the same large egos as the rest of that backward community."

As two of the few mystic souls that had been able to escape from Britain, they did know about things like dementors and Azkaban. Just like Harry and Sirius, neither of them was happy to see the dark creatures attacking their school. They always found the dementors to be one of the biggest examples of the cruelty of magical Britain. After all, no one deserved to have their soul removed. Not even the worst criminals. If they were so bad, then simply put them to death. There was no need to do something as horrid as removing their soul.

"Sapphire arrows," Abby cast.

"Ruby shower," Mason cast.

The two Enchanted Gem mages stood back-to-back as they unleashed their spells. From Abby's hands came a volley of ice arrows that looked sharp enough to puncture steel. They ripped through the dementors as if they were made of paper. Though, that was certainly a better fate than what happened to the dementors that Mason hit. He had shot a fire blast into the air and it exploded into a shower of flames. Every dementor within the range of the fire rain burned to death. And if dementors could scream, then they definitely were.

"Who says that fire and ice don't mix," Abby smirked.

"That stereotype should have been thrown out the window a long time ago," Mason chuckled.

No one would ever guess that the ice and fire mages would be a couple. It had taken a while before they had gotten together, but that was mostly because the Sapphire and Ruby mages do not traditionally get along. But, the two of them ended up sharing a kiss under some mistletoe during the previous year's Yule and they have been together ever since.

Inside the school, Headmistress Jiwe was taking full control of the situation. Having already sent most of the teachers out to fight the dementors, she and Sirius were helping calm the younger students who had been sent back into the school. She was also directing all the students with any form of healing magic to aid anyone who was injured. They had their own little shelter set up in the Main Gallery.

Sirius had to hand it to the mystic soul headmistress. She was a lot better at handling the situation than he would have thought. Unlike Dumbledore, who usually takes full control and doesn't listen to anyone other than himself, Jiwe actually pays attention to what others are saying to her. Both for those who need help as well as any advice given to her that could help the situation.

"I have never been so disgusted in my entire life," Jiwe growled as she saw all the fighting happening outside through the windows. "I know wand-users hate us, but this is still a school full of children!"

"Unfortunately, there will always be people in the world willing to go to such extremes," Sirius tells her. "If my mother was still alive, she would certainly be cheering for the dementors."

"Sounds like a lovely woman," Jiwe sarcastically said.

"Lovely is most certainly a word that no one would have ever used for her," Sirius said. "Not even my own father. Though, it's not like arranged marriages create real love most of the time."

"Arranged marriages," Jiwe had a disgusted look on her face. "How barbaric."

Sirius shrugged. "That's magical Britain for you. Always living in the Victorian era. Nothing can be done given how they choose to ignore the world around them just to save their egos."

"Considering that mirror phones and mirror pads were invented nearly two decades ago and magical Britain still ignores their existence, I am not shocked," Jiwe says.

"If there is one thing that magical Britain does best, it's sticking their heads in the sand," Sirius said. "They will forever deny anything and everything that does not fit into their narrow view of the world."

"Yeah, that sounds right," Jiwe snickered.

"Headmistress," Hestia came over to the two adults. "Do you want me in here to heal immediate injuries or should I go to the infirmary with the other healers?"

"You should stay here, Miss.Apolla," Jiwe tells her. "If there are any serious injuries, it would be better for them not to wait."

"Okay, headmistress," Hestia says.

She went over to a younger student who came in with a limp. She probably twisted her ankle or something while running away from the dementors.

"Your students are certainly better at handling situations like this than the ones at Hogwarts would be," Sirius tells the headmistress.

"We deal with demons nearly every single day," Jiwe shrugged. "When you deal with beings like them, everything else is pretty easy in comparison."

"Harry is going to run into a demon at some point," Sirius facepalmed. "I know it."

"The life of a mystic soul is never boring," Jiwe smirked.

"The life of a Potter never is, either," Sirius said.

"Olivia and I are working on making sure Mr.Potter can stay at Crystal Rose, Sirius," Jiwe put her hand on Sirius's shoulder. "He will be safe here. I promise."

"Aside from demons, though, right," Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, demons make for excellent target practice," Jiwe tells him.

"You're a very unique character," Sirius says. "I hope you know that."

"I'm the headmistress of a school of powerful children that could easily take over the world if they wanted to," Jiwe said. "I am very aware of how unique I am."

"I know that I should be scared at the idea of a bunch of children taking over the world," Sirius chuckled. "But, in all honesty, I would like to see what they would do with it. Especially Krinos."

"Mr.Gardna would have the entire planet covered in flowers and trees before lunch," Jiwe giggled.

"You seem very fond of the Gardna family," Sirius noticed.

Jiwe nodded, smiling both sadly and fondly.

"I have been the headmistress of Crystal Rose for twenty years while also having been a teacher here for another twenty years before that," Jiwe says. "Jax and Selena were two of my best students. Not just with their powers, but with their personalities. Jax couldn't go a single day without showing a bully that their actions had consequences. Selena would volunteer in the infirmary in her free time to help the school healer brew healing potions. And they did those things because they wanted to, not because they thought they would gain anything from it. Miss. and Mr.Gardna both take after their parents in so many ways."

"I feel the same way when I spend time with Harry," Sirius tells her. "His parents would be very proud of the man he is becoming."

"Mr.Potter does seem like a really good person," Jiwe smiled.

Sirius nodded. "Harry is one of the best people you could ever meet. He has the biggest heart and loves with a force. For someone who has been through as much as he has, it shocks me sometimes how willing he is to still help those around him."

"There is a reason why no one listens to British magicals during any international meetings," Jiwe says. "Because everyone knows that they're all idiots."

They would have kept going until they heard a very loud and very bad CRACK.

Both adults, as well as everyone else in the room, looked at the windows. The dementors, most likely knowing they couldn't get by Olivia at the front entrance, decided to get into the school by breaking through the windows.

"Well, that's not good," Sirius gulped.

"Everyone, away from the windows now," Jiwe yelled out her order.

All of the students in the room immediately bolted away from the windows. Seconds after they did, the dementors managed to break the windows and started to fly in. Given how quickly their numbers were falling outside the school, there were only half a dozen dementors that had gotten into the school.

Sirius immediately got out his wand. Since the Hogwarts students and teachers were all still in the Main Gallery with them, he couldn't risk using his mystic soul powers. He might have been given sanctuary in Greece, but they still needed to work out making sure Harry could not be forced back to England. So, he couldn't risk Dumbledore doing anything more insane than usual in order to take Harry from him.

"Expecto..." he started to cast.

Jiwe raised her arm in front of him, stopping him from casting the spell.

"I got this, Sirius," she said to him.

Knowing that she was the one with more experience with her powers, not to mention that she was the headmistress, Sirius stepped back to let her do her thing.

"Be my guest," he says.

Jiwe stepped forward, barely affected by the dementors' ability to bring up her worst enemies. Her eyes glowed gold as she glared at the creatures. Soon, animals started coming in to aid her. From the broken windows came many types of birds. Especially falcons, hawks, and eagles. Other animals came running through the doors, including the lion that had pushed in the big cauldron of sorting powder at the opening feast. All of them had similar golden auras around them, matching with the gold of Jiwe's eyes.

"The animal kingdom is always ready to defend," Jiwe said. "This is my school and these are my students. I will defend them until my dying breath. I don't care who or what you are. Nobody comes to my school with evil intentions and lives to tell the tale!"

Around her neck appeared a lion's head pendant. Sirius was quick to figure out that was the sign of her power usage. Whenever she would use an animal's abilities, that animal would be represented by the necklace that would appear around her neck. 

With one nod sent to her animals, all of them attacked. When she did, Sirius felt the need to cover Harry's eyes even though he wasn't there. It was the fatherly instincts inside of him that were telling him to protect any innocence that was left inside of his godson/son. Jiwe was showing that even though her powers were not as flashy and big as other mystic soul abilities, she was not to be underestimated. Between her and her animals, there was very little left of the dementors beyond the shreds of their cloak-like bodies.

Though, the most terrifying part, to Sirius, was that after she and her animals were done, she had not even broken a sweat. The woman had to be either in her fifties or her sixties and yet she did not even look the slightest bit tired after fighting. The most she did was fix her hair and hand out treats to her animals.

"I just... I have no words," Sirius said to her.

"My powers allow me to copy the abilities of any animals that I touch," Jiwe tells him. "But, it also gives me a connection to the specific animal that I had touched. Which is why they usually stay around. Just in case I ever need them again."

Her lion stayed by her side while all the other animals left back to wherever they had been before.

"Well, your animals are certainly more loyal than most of the wizards that I know," Sirius chuckled.

Soon after that, Olivia, Harry, Krinos, Melody, and everyone else that had been fighting outside came back in. They all walked into the Main Gallery and Olivia did not look happy at all. She looked more pissed off than most of them had ever seen her.

"You," Olivia's glare shot right at Umbridge.

The Crystal Rose students were all wise enough to take steps back. Given Krinos and Melody scaring them whenever they would get angry, they were all well aware that a pissed-off Olivia was scarier than any demon in the Underworld.

"I want some popcorn," Melody whispered to her brother.

Umbridge raised her wand, probably about to curse Olivia. But, Olivia's powers were a lot faster. It was one of the biggest differences between mystic souls and wand-users. They did not have to rely on words to cast spells. Their abilities could easily be done wordlessly. So, with a flick of her hand, she blew up Umbridge's wand.

"Do you really think your little stick can hold a candle to what I can do," Olivia raised an eyebrow. "I can travel across time and space in the blink of an eye! The timeline is my playground. You don't even come close to being the biggest threat I have faced."

"I know that Olivia loves to verbally slap people, but is she always this entertaining when she does," Harry asked the mystic soul twins.

"Trust me, the show is only just getting started," Krinos smirked.

"When it comes to our cousin, she is one of the most badass and confident people ever," Melody tells Harry. "So, that also means she never holds back when she verbally slaps someone. Especially when they deserve it."

Umbridge, while still mostly shocked by what just happened to her wand, still tried to make herself seem like she was above Olivia.

"You... You just destroyed a pureblood's wand," she attempted to glare at Olivia. "I will see you in Azkaban for that!"

Olivia yawned, showing how little she cared for anything Umbridge had to say. But, then she glared back at the toad woman. The anger in her eyes had more fire than an entire volcano.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear, little miss toad," Olivia was practically radiating with magical power. "I can vanquish you with a flick of my wrists. I can banish you all the way back to the ice age. I can drop you off in the middle of Salem during the infamous Witch Trials. You can't even begin to imagine the things I am capable of doing. Let alone be able to do anything like them yourself."

Looking around, Harry noticed that even with Olivia being as terrifying as she was, there were actually a lot of Hogwarts students who looked to be gaining respect for her. It made Harry remember why so many wizards flocked to either Dumbledore or Voldemort. It was because of how obviously powerful they were. Meaning that they had people who respected them for their power. So, Olivia, being a badass in both magic and the political world as a member of the Magic Council, was easily able to gain their respect.

"You can not talk to me like that," Umbridge's temper was helping her overcome her fear. "I am the Senior Undersecretary for the Minister of Magic and I demand..."

"You demand nothing," Olivia shouted at her. "You have no power! Not against me, not against Crystal Rose, and especially not against the Magic Council."

Krinos and Melody noticed that the gemstone on Olivia's bracelet was glowing. They both smirked since they knew what that meant. The gemstone was worn by all members of the Magic Council. It was used to summon the Guards whenever they were needed by any member of the council. Since Olivia activated her gem, there would soon be Guards arriving to arrest the pink toad.

"You are nothing compared to me," Umbridge yelled at Olivia. "You're nothing but a freak! A monster! Such a disgusting creature like you and your... species... should not be allowed to live, let alone be near perfect pureblood such as myself!"

"You have got to be the most stupid person that I have ever met," Olivia looked so done with the woman in front of her. "And I have met a man who literally believes that squirrels secretly run the world."

"Huh," Harry could not help but raise an eyebrow when he heard that.

"Don't ask, you'll get a headache," Krinos tells him.

"How dare you," Umbridge would have tried to curse her if not for her destroyed wand.

"I 'dare' because it's obvious to me, Headmistress Jiwe, the staff, the students, and blind gremlins that you were the cause of what happened today," Olivia yelled back at her. "You would have thought that since your plan failed when Harry was your only target, you wouldn't have tried again. But, you have shown to have a brain the size of an ant. And now because of you, every dementor you called here has been destroyed."

"Impossible," Umbridge instantly denied.

"Another difference between wand-users and mystic souls," Olivia smirked. "Now, I do believe it's time for you to get a big dose of karma."

And as if summoned by her saying that, Guards walked into the Main Gallery. There was a reason why they were the police force of magical Greece. Because they were just that good at their job.

"I seriously love this country," Harry grinned.

"Guards, arrest that toad," Olivia ordered them. "For charges of child endangerment, attempted murder, racism, and being ugly."

That last one was not a real crime, but Olivia never missed a chance to be sassy.

The Guards immediately arrested Umbridge. And they literally had to drag her out kicking and screaming. She obviously never heard of the term "going quietly."

"Well, guess I have found my new patronus memory," Sirius smirked.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-Four: Olivia Rocks The Court

To say that Umbridge was doomed would be the understatement of the century. There was not a mystic soul in Greece that was not after her head. Even after she had been arrested, she had to be placed in a private cell away from other prisoners awaiting their trials. And that was because she did the one thing that no one could forgive. She attacked children.

Despite how powerful mystic souls are, attacking children is the most horrible thing anyone could ever do. So, when the other prisoners learned why she had been arrested, they tried to attack her. That led to her being given a private cell. She needed to properly be given a trial before they threw her to the wolves by sending her to prison. After all, they no longer had to care what happened to her once they did.

It wasn't like the Magic Council was cruel. They did make sure their prisons were not torture chambers for criminals. They ensured all prisoners got three meals daily, hot showers, and medical care when needed. But, they did not care about how the prisoners treated each other. Because they knew things like that were all done by the prisoners themselves. They had no control over that. So, if the inmates attack each other or go after a single person, that is on them and not the Magic Council.

Plus, given that it was Umbridge, the Magic Council had even less sympathy for her. No one attacks the children of their country and gets away with it.

"You guys certainly dressed up for this," Harry says as their group walks toward the courtroom.

"While it is not mandatory, we should dress nicely during trials," Krinos tells him.

"As the future heads of our families, we must make the best impressions we can," Melody added.

"Even though none of us would be as stiff as some of our parents can be," T'challa chuckled.

Not all of Crystal Rose had come to the trial. But, the ones with the most political power did come. They were all from the most powerful families in magical Greece. Especially those like Krinos, Melody, Hestia, Daisy, Madison, and White since they were all descendants of the Olympian Mages. Other students that Harry knew who came were T'challa, Hawk, Angela, Charlotte, Mason, Abby, Kryo, Weilan, Celest, and Atem. There were a lot of other students, but Harry had not personally met them, yet.

Only a few Hogwarts students came. And that was because Dumbledore ordered all of them to stay behind. But, Fred, George, and Neville did not listen to him and came anyway. Other students that came were Luna, Cedric, Daphne Greengrass, and Blaise Zabini. There were also a few others from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, but Harry did not know their names.

All of them were dressed as nicely as they could. Wearing, cloaks, suits, dresses, and jewelry to present them as being from the important families of Greece. Not to mention students from all over the world who were attending on behalf of their own countries. When Umbridge had the dementors attack Crystal Rose, she made a bigger mistake than she would ever realize.

Not only was Harry impressed by the students, but the Magic Council was also proving to be so much better than the British Ministry of Magic. When he had gone there for his "trial," he was honestly underwhelmed by the ministry "building." With how many wards, spells, runes, and enchantments they had access to, he did not understand why the entire ministry was underground. Plus, the entire place was made up of just office buildings with no sense of imagination. Harry also disliked the main fountain. It made it look like goblins and centaurs worshipped wizards, which neither of them would ever do. It was more like a symbol of how delusional the ministry was about how other magical beings see them.

The Magic Council building, however, was one of the most incredible buildings that Harry had ever seen. The entire building was located on the side of a cliff. Literally. The entire place was built against the cliffside of a mountain. Mount Olympus to be specific. Not the mythological version, for obvious reasons, but the actual Mount Olympus. It was the perfect place for the leaders of the Greek magical community. Plus, the view from the many windows along the walls was breathtaking. Plus, even with the dozens of wards, enchantments, and spells used to hide the build, the whole place was actually built with stone-colored slabs similar to what was used to build medieval castles. It helped to camouflage the place in case any of the spells that hid the building failed.

Everyone had arrived using another portal. But, unlike the nature-made portal that took them to Crystal Rose, this was one a magical doorway that Headmistress Jiwe had access to in case she ever needed to get to the Magic Council for an emergency. Most of the teachers came with them with some staying behind to watch the remaining students at the school.

They all soon entered the courtroom, where the Magic Council was already set up. 

The courtroom was a giant room set up for trials like this. There was a long table, for the council to sit at, on one side of the room. Against the right wall was the area where those like the court scribe sat but separated from the high-ranked officials and lawyer interns who sat there to gain courtroom and law knowledge. Where the trio sat was the area for witnesses and their family members. Between the council table and the benches for court trial observing people was the stand for where the accused would be for the trial.

Olivia was only one of twelve members of the Magic Council. The other members were not nearly as young as her. She was twenty-four while the rest were no younger than thirty-five. The trio was quick to explain the rest of the council to their headmaster to keep him up to date on anything he might see if emotions ran high and powers reacted.

The council was evenly split between males and females.

Next to Olivia was Lux Heavens, a thirty-five-year-old woman. She was a guardian angel mystic soul, meaning that she had angel-like abilities with a slight hint of light manipulation. Next was Darling Marvel, a thirty-eight-year-old healing mage. She was in charge of the most well-known magical hospitals in magical Greece. Third was Selena Breeze, a fifty-year-old mermaid mystic soul and mother of Weilan. Having the powers of a mermaid enabled her to act as an ambassador of sorts to the merpeople community. The fourth female is Kynthia Vale, a forty-three-year-old woman with weapon-creation magic. Her family owns a weapons shop where most requip mages go to buy new weapons or armor. The final female is sixty-year-old Talia Summers. She was the first-ever woman to be born with a mostly male-dominated power of King Arthur magic, which is a knight-centered power.

The men started with thirty-six-year-old Kamui Machine, a technopath. He had the power to control technology and used it to create technology-magic hybrid devices. Next to him was Draconis Smoke, a businessman of seventy years of age. He owned a very successful glasswork shop, using his power to bend glass, until he decided to retire and become a member of the council. Third was Austin Thanatos, a thirty-five-year-old ghost mage. He runs a business to help lost souls move on to the afterlife with his abilities over ghosts. The fourth man was Redus Guardian, a forty-one-year-old mystic soul that could create any type of force field or shield. He is the head of the Greek version of the Aurors, known as Guards. Then you have Aragon Archer, a mystic soul with hunter magic at thirty-seven years of age. He is a teacher at the Delphi school. Last is the head of the council, Lion Mythica. A forty-eight-year-old with the ability to channel the powers of mythical creatures and is also the former headmaster of Delphi before he started to focus on politics.

"Wow," Harry gasped as they all took their seats.

"That's usually everyone's first reaction to this place," Krinos chuckled. "The Magic Council is very impressive."

"The Ministry of Magic has nothing on this place," Fred says.

"Who knew a giant building on the side of a mountain could be this cool," George said.

"It simply makes sense for the leaders of our community to use Mount Olympus as their base of operations," Hawk says.

"Plus, it helps them stay even more hidden and away from mundanes," Melody added. "The only way to get here is through magic."

"Safety from mundanes is one of the top priorities of the Magic Council," Hestia tells the Hogwarts group. "No one wants a repeat of Salem."

"Hey, Melody," Neville tapped on her shoulder.

"Yes, Neville," Melody looked at the Herbology expert.

"You told us about the council, but who are those other people," Neville pointed across the courtroom.

They all looked at where he was pointing. On the other side of the courtroom was another large group of people. All of them had the same "I am an important person" aura that the Magic Council did. All of them were nicely dressed, but they also looked like they were not from Greece. Between their skin color, choice of clothes, and hairstyles, they looked to have come from many other parts of the world.

"I have no idea," Melody admitted. "My best guess is that they are representatives from other countries."

"Why would they be here," Harry wondered.

"Crystal Rose has students from all over the world," White says. "They would need to be here to make sure Umbridge faces charges from all their countries even when she will be serving her prison sentence here." 

Lion soon banged his gavel a few times, letting everyone know the trial was about to begin.

"Time for the show," Krinos smirked.

Everyone quieted down, sitting quietly while waiting for the council.

"Bring in the prisoner," Lion ordered.

Two Guards came in through a side door. They were dragging Umbridge in, who certainly looked like she had seen better days. Her clothes were dirty, her hair was messy, and she looked as if she had aged ten years while waiting in her private cell for her trial. But, even then, she was still not going quietly. Nearly everyone rolled their eyes at how she was ranting about how "they couldn't do this to her" and that she was "the senior undersecretary for the Minister of Magic" and a bunch of other egotistical rants that were not paying attention to. After she was forced into her seat, a silencing spell was cast on her just to keep her quiet since she did not seem to have the ability to shut up on her own.

"Now that she is here, let her legal council in as well," Redus ordered.

They had only been waiting to let them in for very obvious reasons. Because once the doors were open and the Guards let them in, more yelling started. Harry was both shocked and not shocked at all that Fudge was here. He was shocked because he didn't think Fudge would want to be around mystic souls, but not shocked at Fudge defending Umbridge.

"You will release my secretary at once," Fudge ordered. "You, monsters, have no right to do this to her!"

"We do not take orders from walking bowling balls," Selena said.

Everyone had to stop themselves from laughing at what she said. If there was one thing most mystic souls had in common, it was that they were all sassy and sarcastic. Not as much as Krinos, Melody, and Olivia, but still really sassy and sarcastic.

Lion banged his gavel a few more times.

"You will sit down for the trial," he ordered. "We do not have the time to deal with your delusional hatred of mystic souls."

"I am the Minister of Magic," Fudge continued to yell. "You do not speak to me like that!"

"We are the Magic Council and you are in our country," Talia stated. "You have no power here and the only reason you are here is to defend this criminal."

"So, in other words, sit down and shut up until you have permission to speak," Olivia glared at him.

Seeing that he was way outnumbered, Fudge sat down and stopped yelling. He still glared at the council but barely paid attention to him. Something that was even more insulting since people like Fudge thrive on attention.

"Dolores Umbridge," Lion started reading the charges. "You have been accused of 2840 counts of child endangerment, 2001 counts of attempted murder, breaking the International Statute of Secrecy in 14 countries, threatening the lives of children from over two dozen countries, and terrorism."

"Terrorism," Fudge was on his feet again.

"Once those dementors crossed international borders, it was considered terrorism," Austin stated. "Especially since they were summoned to attack the citizens of multiple countries."

"You are just lucky that this did not set off a magical world war," Darling glared at Fudge. "Those dementors were such horrible creatures that many countries would take it as a declaration of war to have them in their country."

"This is ridiculous," Fudge yelled. "All these charges are nonsense!"

"And exactly what makes them nonsense," Olivia raised an eyebrow. "You come in here, shouting for us to release the toad woman, claiming these charges are bogus, so many other things. But, I ask you this. Do you have any proof?"

"Excuse me," Fudge glared at her.

He still remembered her from when Harry was put on trial. The only person who "dared" to defy him. Her being a mystic soul now made sense to him.

"This is why I was so easily able to beat you when you tried to illegally expel Harry from Hogwarts," Olivia says. "Because I had what you did not. Proof. I had his memories, his vow, and other witnesses that proved his innocence. But, can you say the same? Do you have any proof of her innocence? Do you have anything other than demands and orders?"

Fudge was actually rendered speechless by Olivia. He was so used to being able to do anything he wanted whenever he wanted that an actual courtroom where proof and evidence were needed was completely foreign to him.

"This is more serious than you care to admit," Lion tells the minister. "You not only broke Greek law, but international laws."

That was when the other group of important people stood up. All of them were glaring at Umbridge and Fudge.

"These fine men and women were sent by the UM," Aragon introduced them. "The United Magicals. They are representatives from France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Belgrade, Hungary, Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. All the countries where those Dementors passed through to get to Greece."

"There are also representatives from many other countries whose citizens are currently attending Crystal Rose," Kynthia said. "The United States, Japan, Russia, Egypt, Argentina, and Spain have all stated they would gladly take her if we did not send her to one of our prisons."

"So, even if you managed to get her out of Greece, there are many other countries that would be after her head," Olivia smirked. "Not that anyone would want her literal head with how she looks."

Everyone had to once again stop themselves from laughing at that. Olivia's insults were some of the funniest they had ever heard.

"You are not even allowing her to defend herself or allowing me to defend her," Fudge tried to find some ground for his case to stand on. "How are you so sure she is guilty?"

"Common sense," Olivia answered. "Something you are obviously lacking."

"We also have actual evidence of her guilt, unlike how you do not have any to prove her innocence," Kamui said.

"The dementors had been summoned here by a magical order," Redus explained their evidence. "Meaning that there was a magical signature we could trace from what was left of those disgusting creatures. And we found her signature."

"You do not even have her signature," Fudge shouted.

"We got it the moment she entered Crystal Rose," Lux said. "Everyone that enters Crystal Rose has their magical signature recorded and filed. It makes locating criminals much easier."

"Of course, we also have to officially question her," Olivia smirked. "And because of the nature of her crimes, a truth spell will be used."

"There is no such thing as a truth spell," Fudge yelled.

"Maybe to wand-users like you, but that is another great thing about being a mystic soul," Lion stated. "Council Member Gardna, go right ahead."

"With pleasure, Council Member Mythica," Olivia said.

She looked at Umbridge as she cast the spell.

"For those who want the truth revealed,
open hearts and secrets unsealed.
From now until it's now again,
after which this spell will end."

Spheres of light appeared around Umbridge for a second before they vanished. It was the sign that the spell had worked. The silencing spell was then taken off her. They started asking questions before she could start ranting and screaming again.

"Did you summon those dementors to Crystal Rose," Talia asked.

"Yes," Umbridge immediately answered.

Fudge instantly turned as pale as a ghost.

"Did you intend for the students of Crystal Rose to have their souls sucked out," Redus asked.

"As many as possible," Umbridge answered. "And if the Potter brat got kissed as well, that would have been a nice bonus."

"And what about the 840 Hogwarts that are currently visiting Crystal Rose," Lux asked.

"If any mudblood were kissed, the world is better off without them," Umbridge sneered as she answered. "If any purebloods were kissed, then they would simply have been collateral damage."

The more Umbridge answered their questions, the more everyone looked ready to kill her. The truth spell was different from the truth potion normally used by wand-users. The truth potion basically turned people into truth-telling robots. They would remain stone-faced while answering any questions they were asked. But, with the truth spell, they could still show their emotions. So, they could see that Umbridge held no remorse over anything she had done. In fact, she looked angry that no one had died.

"Why did you summon them in the first place," Lion asked.

"Because you are abominations that need to be wiped out," Umbridge sneered again. "The dementors should have gotten rid of as many of those monsters you call children as possible. They don't deserve to live and be near proper purebloods like myself."

If they were not close to cursing her before, they sure were now. Even Hestia looked ready to kill the toad woman. Which was a rare event itself given that as a healer, Hestia barely had a mean bone in her body.

"I believe we have heard enough," Olivia stated.

"I agree, Council Member Gardna," Lion said. "All those in favor of guilty?"

"Aye," was said by every member of the council.

"It's decided," Lion said. "Dolores Umbridge, you have been declared guilty as charged. For your crimes, we hereby sentence you to life in Tartaros prison. May Hades have mercy on your soul once you enter his kingdom."

He banged his gavel and the two Guards from before dragged Umbridge away. She was kicking and screaming again, but that was put to an end when one of the Guards "accidentally" knocked her head against the doorframe of the side door they were going through and knocked her out.

"Now," Olivia glared at Fudge. "You have any other delusional rants to go on or should we just skip over that and send you to prison as well."

Fudge ran out of there faster than anyone thought he was capable of. Olivia smirked at how she scared the egotistical man away.

"You enjoy scaring people a little too much," Lion tells her.

"I scare most people," Olivia looked a little too proud of that fact.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-Five: Heart of the Storm

There were not many things that could make Harry optimistic. After everything he has been through, he was not the type of person to look on the bright side of things nor have hope that things will work out in the end. But, for once, he could focus on things that were not the next attempt on his life.

After Umbridge was sent to prison, it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. While she couldn't do much to him while at Crystal Rose, seeing as she had no power while in the school, it didn't stop him from worrying about her. Especially since after seeing her at his hearing, then seeing that she was the new DADA professor, and finally seeing how much of a blood purist she is, he was not surprised at all to know that she had sent the dementors after him the past summer.

He was a little worried about the potential of Umbridge getting broken out of jail by Fudge's minions, but his worries were put to rest when Krinos and Melody explained the Greek magical jails to him. In magical Greece, there were four main prisons. The first two were known as Styx and Acheron, named after two of the rivers in the Underworld. Styx is the river of hatred that the gods are known to make oaths and vows over. Acheron is the river of misery where all hopelessness is found. They were the lower-level prisons, the Styx for women prisoners, and Acheron for male prisoners. They were meant to hold those arrested for small things like theft, breaking and entering, shoplifting, and accidental manslaughter.

The next prison was Asphodel, named after the Asphodel Medows of the Underworld. In the Underworld, it's the place where souls go when they have not committed any crimes bad enough for the Fields of Punishment but also did not do anything great enough to go to the Elysian Fields. But for the prison, it is where criminals guilty of medium crimes go. Like assault, kidnapping, abduction, arson, or assisted suicide.

The worst is Tartarus Prison, the place named after the worst part of the Underworld. Where the most evil of monsters and titans were kept, including Kronos. The prison relates to that since it is where the badest of the bad are kept. Almost all prisoners there are there for life sentences, really long sentences, or were to stay for a short time before they were executed. Their crimes ranged from murder, mass murder, rape, or even treason, use of black magic, and attempting to break the stature of secrecy. It had been used for thousands of years since it was established, and no one could break out. Krinos and Melody even admitted to him that was the prison where their older brothers were sent after the two murdered their parents.

So, he had nothing to worry about regarding Umbridge ever leaving the prison. Fudge's minions would never stand a chance of ever even getting near the prison, let alone passing the guards, to her cell, and then getting out with her. It was more likely for a unicorn to give birth to a dragon than it was for a wand-user to escape a mystic soul prison.

Everything was, for once, looking up. Sirius, Olivia, and Remus were looking up ways to defeat Voldemort. Dumbledore was too busy dealing with Headmistress Jiwe, who was delaying him as much as she could about "potential mystic soul allies for the Order of the Phoenix," to annoy him. Krinos and Melody were so terrifying that they were keeping away Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Snape had not approached him since he had turned the adult bully into a toad. Harry was finally having a good year in the magical world, for once.

His luck also seemed to have been increasing as well. Such as how the trial took place on a Friday, so they all had the weekend to relax after Umbridge was sent to jail. And they all really needed that.

Harry had chosen to sleep in since he had been incredibly tired after everything that happened at the trial. When he had woken up, he was one of the few still in Winter Wolf. Most of his other housemates were gone. He figured not all of them would have slept in as late as he had. So, he chose to go out and look for his friends after he got dressed and ready for the day.

After he left Winter Wolf, he found many of his friends were nowhere in sight. He looked in the library, the greenhouse, and the Main Gallery. They were nowhere to be found. It was strange given the fact that they were usually in at least one of those places. Especially given that Krinos practically lived in the greenhouse.

As he continued to search, he saw a small group of students racing down a corridor. They all looked excited about something. Curious, Harry followed them. As he followed them, he could hear music starting to build. 

Following the group, they led him into an area of the school he had never been to before. And to a room he had not seen before. It was a stage. Not just a stage, but an entire concert hall inside the school. It looked big and grand enough to host Broadway plays. It was made of golden brown wood with carpet on the stairs as well as the rest of the floor. Not only were there rows of normal padded seats on the floor, but there was also a second floor of even more seats along with some balconies with a few more seats.

The stage itself was made of the same wood but with two columns on either side of it. The curtains were a very expensive-looking red silk that went along with the golden ropes used to control them. Above the stage were magically powered lights that were used to light up the stage.

Then, much to the shock of Harry, Krinos was on the stage with a bunch of their friends nearby. They were sitting either on the stage, on the edge of the stage, or in the front row of the seats. There were also a lot of other students that were sitting in the other seats. Melody, of course, was the one creating the music. After having been through some of his musical moments, Harry knew exactly what Krinos was going to do.

Sure enough, the nature mage started singing. 

"Sunshine, sunshine, raining sunshine."

"When you think all hope is gone
There's a place somewhere beyond
Take a chance and realize
It's right before your very eyes."

Harry was not at all shocked by the choice of song. Krinos was anything but a "glass half empty" kind of guy. And it was quite easy to see why. He was always surrounded by so much life because of his powers, not to mention always being able to sense those closest to him through nature. So, he always knew how his loved ones were doing. 

Plus, what only made it all make more sense was that Krinos was a being of nature. So, a song all about sunshine fit him really well. Both for his personality and his powers.

"Leave the dark clouds far behind
And step outside, the weather's fine."

"It's raining sunshine
It's raining sunshine
All over mankind
It's raining sunshine."

As he sang, his powers and the stage were affected by his emotions. The lights all turned brighter as they lit up the stage. And not just with regular light. It was an entire rainbow of colors. Which helped to further illuminate all of the plants that were growing around the stage because of Krinos.

Vines slithered up the columns as if they were incredibly long snakes. After they stopped, a rainbow of flowers bloomed on each one. More vines spread around the concert hall while other plants also grew on the ground. It was as if Krinos's song was summoning a garden. And all the students looked to be enjoying themselves.

"As real as it can be
Believe in what you see
It's not just in your mind
It's raining sunshine."

Harry smiled as he walked down the steps toward the stage. Krinos was certainly having the time of his life. He found it both ironic and fun that despite their magic, Krinos was the one who loved to sing while Melody provided the music. The two of them balanced each other out perfectly. He knew they were twins, but they were completely different Fred and George. While they had their differences, Fred and George liked to pretend they were the same person. Krinos and Melody, on the other hand, fully embraced being different.

"Sunshine, sunshine, raining sunshine
Sunshine, sunshine, raining sunshine."

The others were either dancing or taping to the beat. They all looked to be having the time of their lives.

Harry had to hand it to them. Despite the dementors, the trial, and all the annoyance from the still-prejudice Hogwarts students, the Crystal Rose students were still as carefree as the day he met them. None of them were letting all the disasters get to them. Though given everything he had heard about in terms of them having to deal with demons all the time, it made sense to him how they so easily could handle other disasters. They dealt with disasters on an almost daily basis. So, they have all adapted for them to still be able to live their lives without becoming paranoid about the next potential enemy.

"Something's in the atmosphere
Don't be scared of what you fear
Look around the storm has passed
Just hurricanes of happiness."

"Raise up your umbrellas high
And stand beneath, the clear blue sky."

The stage then lit up with even brighter rainbows of colors. It was a magnificent sight to behold. Between the magical lights, Krinos's plants, and the music, it was better than the Frog Choir at Hogwarts could ever even dream of being. No disrespect to Flitwick, since he ran the choir, but it was quite obvious how mystic souls knew how to put on a great show.

"It's raining sunshine
It's raining sunshine
All over mankind
It's raining sunshine."

"As real as it can be
Believe in what you see
It's not just in your mind
It's raining sunshine."

"Too many wonders to explain
Rays of sunlight, drops of rain
Coming down from up above
Cloudy with a chance of love."

"Can't you feel it in the air?
Sweet sensations everywhere
Whatever weather is in store
Bring it on, 'cause I want more."

Harry had never seen such an overjoyed group of people. The way they danced, sang along with Krinos, and used their magic to create more of a beautiful display. There has never been a sight brighter than the one in front of him.

"Sunshine, sunshine, raining sunshine."

"It's raining sunshine
It's raining sunshine
All over mankind
It's raining sunshine."

"As real as it can be
Believe in what you see
It's not just in your mind
It's raining sunshine."

The song ended and everyone cheered as Krinos playfully took a bow. But, it was obvious he was only doing it playfully. He would only sing to make his friends happy, not for the praise. This was the fourth time that Harry had heard him sing and he got more impressed by his talent every time he did.

"Oh, hey, Harry," Krinos smiled as he noticed the former wand-user. "I hope you enjoyed my little show."

"If that's what you consider 'little' then I am not sure I want to see how bright of a show you would put on for a 'big' show," Harry chuckled.

"None of us ever do things halfway," Melody giggled. "What would the point be in doing anything less than that? It's not as fun."

"Do you sing often, Krinos," Harry asked the nature mage.

"Every chance he gets," Hawk stated.

"More like every time Melody plays music and forces me," Krinos scoffed.

"Huh," Harry was confused.

"Krinos tends to burst into song whenever Melody plays the right music," White said. "If he knows the words, he will sing."

"It's more of a curse," Krinos grumbled.

"You love performing and you know it," Melody giggled.

"When I want to, not because you play music," Krinos argued.

The two of them instantly started to playfully argue with each other. It reminded Harry of whenever Fred and George would get into one of their "who is the more handsome brother" arguments. Meaning that it was not a real argument, but just them being playful with each other. 

Harry was about to ask the others how often the two would act like that, but they were interrupted. Harry sighed as he knew the peace and his lack of annoyance wouldn't last. As the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end." Most of the joyous talking and feelings stopped as the Crystal Rose students looked at Hermione, Ron, and Ginny entering the room. Krinos and Melody had also stopped their playful argument.

All of those who knew Harry personally were all ready to defend him against the three. But, only if Harry could not defend himself. They were hoping to see more of Harry's sassy side since it was always a fun sight to see.

"Yes," Harry looked at them, crossing his arms. "Can I help you?"

Given that Harry was usually one of the most cheerful and friendly people they could meet, it was easy to see how he felt about others. Whenever he wasn't being friendly and cheerful, it meant he really did not like someone. And given how they trusted Harry's judgment since he knew the Hogwarts students better than them.

Hermione was obviously already irritated by Harry's tone.

"I have had it with your attitude, Harry James Potter," she was already yelling.

"My ears hurt," White complained, holding his sensitive ears. "Any type of animal magic and a girl who loves yelling is not a good combination."

"What attitude," Harry raised his eyebrow. "Is it wrong to ignore those that do nothing but cause problems for me?"

That only served to get under Hermione's skin even more.

"That attitude," Hermione glared at him. "You have been incredibly disrespectful toward us and Headmaster Dumbledore."

"As I said, what is wrong with ignoring those that only cause me problems," Harry asked the same question.

"You are the one always causing problems, Potter," Ron yelled at him. "If it wasn't for us, you would have died back in our first year."

"I was the one always telling you two that we needed to get teachers," Harry argued. "Ron, you were the one that decided to get that idiot, Lockhart, when we were heading to the Chamber of Secrets. I wanted to get literally any other teacher. Both of you denied going to get any other teacher after McGonagall ignored us about the Sorcerer's Stone. For all you talk about me being the reason we got into danger, you ignore the truth."

"His life is so crazy that it would make a great book," Charlotte could not help but comment.

"Charlotte, now is most definitely NOT the time," T'challa slaps her on the back of her head.

"As if," Ron scoffed. "You always want all the glory for yourself. Just like last year."

"Here we go again," Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know, Ron, you are the biggest hypocrite on the face of the earth."

"Hey," Ron instantly protested.

"Don't insult my brother," Ginny screamed at Harry.

"As the saying goes, the truth is out there and it hurts," Harry glared at the three of them.  "In fact, all of you are hypocrites."

"How dare you, Harry James Potter," Hermione yelled at him again.

"Does she think she's his mother or something," Abby raised an eyebrow.

"From what Harry has said, she's so focused on everyone doing whatever she wants that she fully believes she has the right to scold them like a parent," Vallia said.

"I feel sorry for any kids she does end up having in the future," Mason stated. "My family might be full of hot-heads and psychos, but not even we would be such horrible parents."

"You ARE hypocrites," Harry was not going to hold back. "You never see anything wrong with your actions while getting angry if you don't like does the same thing. You go after me for my fame, my money, the attention I get. But, you three are the greediest most fame-hungry people I have ever met."

"Harry, you don't really think that," Ginny said. "These monsters are just corrupting you."

"More proof that you are hypocrites," Harry nearly snarled. "You say that the Light is all about being good and spreading equality. But, in the end, you're even more prejudiced and biased than Voldemort."

"WE ARE NOTHING LIKE HIM," all three of them yelled at Harry.

"Your views are the same as his, only set in reverse," Harry glared at them. "You spread hate against Slytherins, dark wizards, creatures, mystic souls, and anything that isn't on Dumbledore's approved list. Where are your dark marks? Hasn't Dumbledore started branding his loyal followers?"

"Don't you dare call Dumbledore a dark lord," Hermione screamed. "He's the greatest wizard since Merlin! Maybe even better than him!"

"Wow, talk about an ego," Krinos rolled his eyes. "Saying they are better than Merlin. He is respected even among mystic souls."

"He is a manipulative old man who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children," Harry shouted. "He doesn't care about anyone or anything other than himself."

"He's done more for magical Britain than you could ever hope to," Ron looked ready to start throwing punches or curses.

"Why should I care about magical Britain," Harry's eyes burned with hatred. "No one in that country ever bothered to help me. Sirius and Remus were the first and both of them have given up on Britain the same as me."

"You can't give up on Britain," Hermione yelled at him some more. "It's your home."

Thunder could be heard from outside. All the Crystal Rose students who were aware of Harry's powers knew that the black-haired boy was really getting pissed. The more angry he got, the less control he had over his magic. He had made plenty of progress when it came to controlling his abilities. But, emotions supercharged their powers, which made them harder to control.

"It stopped being my home the second I was abandoned at the Dursleys to ten years of abuse," Harry stated. "The second Dumbledore allowed Sirius to be sent to jail without a trial. The second the so-called 'Light' allowed Remus and everyone like him to be treated as a second-class citizen."

More thunder could be heard.

"Uh oh," Melody could not help but gulp.

But, rather than getting worse, the thunder soon calmed down. Looking at Harry, they could see he was calming himself down. Unknown to them, it was because of the time Harry spent with his parents.

Harry remembered what his parents had told him on All Hallows' Eve. They had both said that one thing they were proud of was how he never gave in to hatred. He moved on and let go of those who hurt him. He was not going to disrespect his parents by giving in to hatred now. He was angry and he did hate them, but he was not going to let it rule his life.

"You can yell, scream, and shout all you want, but I no longer care," Harry tells the three annoyances. "None of you have any place in any heart or my life anymore."

Harry walked away, not letting the annoyances get another word in. If one thing was made clear at that moment, it was that Harry had truly grown. He had the heart of a storm inside of him. And when it comes to any storm, it does not able to be controlled.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-Six: A "Sirius" Confrontation

"Harry does seem to be adjusting very nicely," Sirius tells Jiwe as he sits across from the headmistress.

"Even with him not knowing about his mystic soul powers for so long, he appears to be taking to them like a fish to water," Jiwe smiles as she goes through Harry's class files.

"You would know something about that given your own powers," Sirius chuckled.

"When it comes to being mystic souls, a lot of us tend to make puns related to our powers," Jiwe giggled. "Though, I am sure that Mr.Gardna has gotten very sick of the whole 'flower power' joke at this point."

"Krinos is a good kid, but I would have gotten sick of that joke too if I were him," Sirius chuckled. "Though, I can fully admit that I take way too much joy in using my name as a pun. I don't think my parents ever planned on having a son who likes making 'Sirius-serious' jokes."

"It was bound to happen eventually," Jiwe said. "After all, no matter how a family has behaved for so long, there will always be the chance for a black sheep."

"Though, in my case, it's more of a white sheep," Sirius snickered. "I can count on one hand how many good people are in the Black family. And I am not afraid to cut off fingers."

"I am sorry for whatever you had to deal with while growing up with them," Jiwe eyes him with sympathy. "I can only imagine how difficult it was as both a mystic soul and someone with such a different personality than the 'typical' Black family member."

"As sad as it sounds, I grew used to how I was treated," Sirius sighed. "For a long time, I actually believed it was normal. Normal to be cursed on a daily basis for being myself. Normal to be locked in my room for days on end just so that I wouldn't have to be seen by my own parents. Normal to have to hold my baby brother as he cries and asks why our parents don't love us. I never could answer his question."

Jiwe gave Sirius a sad smile as she placed a hand on his.

"No one should have to deal with that," she tells him. "At least you have a good heart. Most who have gone through all that would surrender themselves to the darkness. But, you didn't."

"I could never be what my parents wanted me to be," Sirius says. "If I let myself get taken over by the bitterness and hatred, I would become exactly what they wanted me to be."

"I know the dark families of magical Britain are very serious about how they raise their kids," Jiwe said. "Is it as bad as I have heard?"

Sirius shook his head. "It's worse. Even those who are not physically abusive like my parents are still incredibly mentally and emotionally abusive. The ones who always place too much pressure on their kids to follow the path in life they set them up for rather than letting their kids be themselves. I lost count of the number of childhood friends I used to have who all ended up breaking under the weight their parents would put on them. By the time we got to Hogwarts, I could barely recognize the friends I once had."

He still remembered seeing the light no longer in their eyes. No more fire of rebellion or self-preservation. Not even the shine of their independent soul behind their eyes. They simply couldn't handle the constant pressure from their parents. Ursula Flint, Perseus Parkinson, Felix Rosier, Bertie Higgs, Corban Yaxley, Thaddeus Travers, and others. All of them eventually lost their strength and could no longer fight against their parents. If it were up to those like Dumbledore, they would have all either been killed or sent to Azkaban for life. No regard at all for everything they have gone through.

(AN: I took actual names from the series, but I have NO idea if they are around Sirius's age. So, just go with it.)

"No one ever thought to help them," Jiwe's voice was filled with concern.

She might have never had any kids of her own, having been too busy with her career to have any type of romantic relationship, but she has always been a caring person. One of the main reasons she had been chosen to become the headmistress of Crystal Rose was because of her kind and loving nature. She cared for her students as if they were her children. Several times she has gotten students out of abusive households because she refused to allow any student to live anything less than a happy life. So, her hearing about kids being left in abusive situations made her heart hurt.

Sirius scoffed. "No one wanted to even if they thought something was wrong. We all came from 'dark' families. The ministry is always taking bribes from our parents to keep all their evil actions secret. And those like Dumbledore believe we are doomed to be evil from birth, so he would never even dream of helping us."

"Your country needs a serious wake-up call," Jiwe nearly growled at the thought of how many kids had to have been lost because of such a broken system.

"Less of a wake-up call and more of a complete overhaul," Sirius says. "Between Dumbledore, Voldemort, and the ministry, it's no wonder why I want Harry out of there so badly."

Jiwe nodded. "It won't be a problem at all. You are his guardian, even if the British ministry doesn't believe that, so it's very simple to transfer Harry here as a full-time student rather than just a visiting one."

"You have no idea how much this means to Harry and me," Sirius tells her. "Magical Britain has failed Harry so many times. He doesn't deserve everything they put him through. Treating him as a hero one minute and then as a future Dark Lord the next. Constantly using his name and image for their own gain. Forcing unbelievable expectations onto his teenage shoulders. And it's only made worse by how none of them see anything wrong with their actions."

Jiwe placed a calming hand onto his again.

"We'll protect him," she promised Sirius. "From what I've seen, Harry has a constantly growing circle of friends he's made here. They won't let anything happen to him. And even if someone tries, they would have to get through Olivia and me before they'd even get to those kids."

Jiwe's lion, who was currently looking more like a kitten as it napped in the corner of the room, growled a little in agreement with her. Sirius was slowly getting used to seeing things like that, so he was barely affected by how Jiwe's magic basically turned the "king of the jungle" into a house cat. Not to mention how there were also a couple of hawks and eagles on some bird stands on top of some bookshelves as well as a bear that was in another corner of the room. It was very easy to get used to seeing so many animals around given the nature of Jiwe's magic. It helped Sirius that his own mystic soul power was also animal-related.

"I can never thank you and Olivia enough for all you've done for us," Sirius tells her.

"Mystic souls protect our own," Jiwe gives him a soft smile. "We protect with the force of nature. That is the way of the mystic soul."

"Well, most of you, anyway," Sirius said.

Jiwe shrugged. "It can't be helped. After all, we're only human. So, naturally, we would still have our brand of 'bad seeds."

"But, as Krinos would probably say, a few bad seeds don't ruin the whole garden," Sirius said.

"Looks like Harry is not the only one taking advantage of his new friends," Jiwe giggled.

"Krinos was the one I first met when I went looking for help," Sirius says. "Without him, I don't think I would be anywhere close to giving Harry the life I know he deserves."

"He always has had the biggest heart of the remaining Gardna family," Jiwe smiled. "He is always willing to help others. Especially when he gets to be extremely sassy."

"Makes me imagine how magical Britain wouldn't survive if he and the other Gardnas were born there," Sirius chuckled. "Between the three of them, there is no way the country would survive that amount of sass."

"The country would be doomed from Olivia alone," Jiwe giggled.

But, their fun soon came to an end when there was a knock at Jiwe's door. The headmistress waved her hand over a mirror she had on her desk. The mirror revealed itself as a magic mirror, showing who was on the other side of the door. Kind of like a magical version of a security camera. Much to the annoyance of both adults, Dumbledore was on the other side. 

"Well, at least this time he doesn't have McGonagall or Snivellus with him," Sirius sighed.

"Since he knows you have been hanging around to be close to Harry, he's most likely looking for you," Jiwe guessed.

"Let's get this over with," Sirius said.

"If you want, I could just send out some of my friends," Jiwe smirked as the animals around the office all looked ready to do whatever she wanted.

"As much as I would love to see Dumb-as-a-door get mauled by a lion and bear, we still have to play nice before we can take him down," Sirius says.

"Aren't you likely to yell at him at some point while he is here," Jiwe raised an eyebrow.

"By playing nice, I mean pretend we are on his side," Sirius corrected himself. "But, I can still yell at him over whatever nonsense he feels the need to talk to me about."

Jiwe nodded at that. She knew there was no way Sirius would not end up yelling at Dumbledore. Especially since he was likely going to talk to him about Harry. So, she was going to sit back and enjoy the show. While probably also having to resist the urge to sic her animals onto the old headmaster.

She sat back in her chair as Sirius went over to the door. He tried to keep himself from scowling as he opened it to let Dumbledore in.

"Hello again, Mr.Dumbledore," Jiwe greets him. "What brings you to my office?"

Sirius had to stop himself from smirking. Dumbledore always made sure others used his "proper" title, but yet he never did the same. He would always skip right over calling someone else by their title, such as calling someone "Lord" or "Lady," and go right to calling them by their first name. No one ever called him out on it because of the classic "he is Dumbledore" reason, but it was a serious breach of etiquette. Everyone in the proper circles knew you needed to be given permission to call a lord, lady, or heir by their first name. Not that Dumbledore ever cared given his ego was too big to think of anyone's title other than his own. Or whenever he was trying to force others into calling Snape "professor."

"I came to talk to Sirius, my..." Dumbledore once again tried to ignore her title.

"I have told you time and time again, Dumbledore," Jiwe cuts him off. "It's Headmistress Jiwe or Madam Jiwe. I am NOT 'your girl."

Sirius decided to interfere before Jiwe could not stop herself from sending her lion at Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, what do you want," Sirius asked him.

"We should talk somewhere more private, my boy," Dumbledore said. "It's about Harry."

"If it's about Harry, then Jiwe should be here as well," Sirius said. "After all, he is currently her student."

"And I will always protect my students," Jiwe says. "After all, no matter how powerful they are, they are still children and all children deserve protection."

That was also a subtle call-out to how Dumbledore has done the opposite of that. He has pretty much done nothing to protect the students of Hogwarts. In fact, he has done more to place the students in danger than he has done to protect them. Especially considering he purposely brought the Sorcerer's Stone, the Triwizard Tournament, and many other threats to Hogwarts.

Dumbledore tried to give Sirius all his focus. Most likely to try and keep up his "kind grandfather' persona when he was clearly anything but that. He could not allow a clear secret hatred of mystic souls to break that persona.

"What concerns could you have about Harry," Sirius tried not to sound annoyed. "From what I've been seeing, he is doing really well. Isn't that right, Headmistress?"

Jiwe nodded. "He is. His grades are some of the highest out of all the Hogwarts students and every student I have seen him talk to looks to have enjoyed speaking with him. He is certainly a joy to be around."

"Yep, that's Harry," Sirius chuckled.

He was purposely making sure to include Jiwe in the conversation. He was not going to let Dumbledore lead the conversation. Mostly because he was used to doing that, so Sirius was once again taking another bit of his power away from him. He never did like it whenever Dumbledore led a conversation. Mostly because whenever he did, he'd hardly ever let anyone talk. And even if he did, he would usually continue on as if they had not talked at all. Especially if they had given a different opinion or plan than his own.

"He is not spending time with his friends," Dumbledore did, indeed, ignore what they said in favor of what he had to say. "It is not like Harry to abandon his friends."

"Harry's been spending loads of time with his friends," Sirius replied to the old man. "He sits next to them in class, works with them on homework, and is always with them during meals."

"And even when they are in separate years, I have seen him spending time with others," Jiwe adds. "He seems especially fond of those redheaded twins."

"Harry has always enjoyed being around Fred and George," Sirius tells her. "He said they helped him with his trunk on his first train ride to Hogwarts. They've always been adorably protective of him."

"I mean his real friends," Dumbledore was obviously trying to hide his anger at being mostly ignored. "Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Harry has not been spending time with them. They're his best friends. He should not abandon them after all they've been through together."

"If they were his real friends, they wouldn't have abandoned him first," Sirius crossed his arms.

"They did not abandon him," Dumbledore argued.

"Harry had been forced to take part in a deadly tournament, was nearly killed by the bastard who told Voldemort where his parents were hiding, was used in a dark ritual to bring back their murderer, and was then sent back to people who hate him rather than being with those who actually care about him," Sirius glared at Dumbledore. "And none of them bothered to send him an actual letter. All they sent was nonsense with the constant reminder of how 'they can't say much. So, yes, they abandoned him first."

"It was too dangerous for them to send letters that told him anything," Dumbledore did not like his orders being questioned like this.

"They didn't have to send anything about the Order or anything like that," Sirius countered. "They could have talked about literally anything else! They could have asked how he was doing, comforted him over the trauma he went through, offered advice on how to deal with the trauma, or done literally anything except remind him over and over again about how they were not allowed to say much."

"Doesn't sound like they are very good friends," Jiwe commented.

"They were doing the right thing," Dumbledore said with his usual 'I am superior to you' tone. "They did nothing wrong and Harry needs to get over his childish tantrum."

Sirius was close to exploding at Dumbledore for saying that about Harry. It was always the one thing he hated the most about the headmaster. His refusal to admit it whenever he did anything wrong or made a wrong decision. 

"Harry is not throwing any kind of tantrum," Sirius said through clenched teeth. "He simply realized that he deserves better than such toxic people in his life."

"Where is all of this sudden hostility coming from, my boy," Dumbledore tried to sound worried. "Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are good kids. They don't deserve to be treated like this by you and Harry."

"This is not sudden at all," Sirius stated. "This is me being a loving and responsible godfather. Harry has been saying ever since he got here that the friends he's found here have been better friends to him in the last few months than almost everyone at Hogwarts has ever been. Harry is finally happy and I am doing everything in my power to keep him that way."

"You are causing a divide in a time when we need to be working together," Dumbledore's fists were clenched.

"It's not my fault those three abandoned Harry," Sirius said. "That's your fault given that you once again involved yourself in a student's life when you had no right."

Dumbledore lost the twinkle in his eyes as he looked like he wanted to take out his wand and blast Sirius. Or, at the very least, cast spells on him that would make him do as he said. But, with Jiwe right there, he didn't even try. Especially since he still didn't know what spells would work on a mystic soul.

"I have always done everything in Harry's best interests," Dumbledore tried to stay calm.

"No, you haven't," Sirius said. "You've interfered in his life in so many ways you had no right to. Putting him with the Dursleys, giving him that ridiculous 'boy-who-lived' title, keeping Remus away from him for most of his life. I could keep going, but we would be here all day."

"Everything I've done has been to guide and protect Harry," Dumbledore argued. "The Dursleys are the safest place for him to be until he comes of age and his mother's protection fades away."

"He was never safe there," Sirius glared at the meddling old coot. "They abused him from the second he was placed with them. And it only got worse ever since Harry learned he was a wizard."

"There is no abuse," Dumbledore continued to argue. "They're Harry's family. They love him."

Jiwe coughed into her hand. Sirius had to stop his chuckle since he heard the "idiot" that Jiwe had hidden in her cough.

"I shouldn't be surprised you think that," Sirius shook his head. "You've always turned a blind eye to abused kids."

"I have not," Dumbledore declared, letting some anger slip through.

"You certainly turned a blind eye to mine," Sirius glared at him some more. "But, then again, you always have defended the wrong people. You are always defending Snivellus, so I'm not surprised that you defend other child abusers."

"Severus does not abuse anyone," Dumbledore was slowly losing control of his temper. 

"The three-quarters of the school that he bullies and torments while also allowing his Slytherins to do whatever they want to those same three-quarters would say otherwise," Sirius said. "That man refuses to grow up. Allowing his grudge against James to turn him into the thing he said he hated the most. A bully."

"Severus is not a bully," Dumbledore continued defending Snape. "You do not have room to talk about that, anyway, my boy. After all, I seem to remember you being quite the delinquent back in your day."

"I admit that some of our pranks went a little too far, but we never actually tortured someone," Sirius said. "We changed robe colors, covered them in glitter, dropped slime on them, temporarily removed hair, things like that. Unlike Snivellus, who actively used more and more dangerous spells on us for his 'revenge.' Not to mention all the things he did with his other future Death Eater friends."

"You call sending someone to get eaten by a werewolf a prank," Dumbledore thought he had Sirius with that.

Only for Sirius to instead throw his head back and laugh.

"Are you seriously still telling that lie," he was not surprised. "I did not send Snivellus anywhere. We both know what actually happened. I was talking with Marlene Mckinnon about Herbology since that was her favorite subject and I was trying to help Regulus get in her good books since he had a crush on her. So, I would tell her Herbology facts and say that Regulus was the one who taught them to me. And I mentioned the knot on the Whomping Willow's trunk that causes it to freeze. Snivellus was the one who was eavesdropping because he was always spying on us to try and get us in trouble. He chose to follow us during the next full moon. He chose to butt into our business simply because he wanted us to get in trouble. He chose to hold a grudge when James saved his life rather than be grateful."

"I wish I had some popcorn," Jiwe muttered to herself.

"Snivellus was the one who made up the lie about me purposely sending him to the willow," Sirius continued. "Don't act like he was innocent. So we changed his robes, his hair, and messed up his homework. That doesn't give him the excuse to poison me, curse James in the back, and try to get Remus killed. We played pranks, but he was a psychopath."

Dumbledore had no words. No way to argue with anything Sirius said since it was all true. That was when Jiwe stood up from her seat. Her lion, who had woken up, stood by her side.

"I believe you've overstated your welcome, Dumbledore," she tells him. "Now, get the Hades out of my office!"

A roar from her lion caused Dumbledore to get out of there faster than either of them thought his old legs could carry him. Sirius sighed in relief that he was gone and he no longer needed to fight the urge to punch someone in the face.

"Well, I guess you can say that was a very 'Sirius' confrontation," Sirius couldn't help but make a joke.

Jiwe playfully groaned. "Well, at least you are a master at puns. We'll make you a proper mystic soul in no time, Sirius."

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Demonic Housecall

Harry had been in the Crystal Rose library with Fred, George, and Neville when an alarm suddenly sounded all across the school. They all had to cover their ears because of how loud it was.

"What in the name of Merlin is that," Neville could barely be heard over the alarm.

Looking around, the small group was shocked to see that even with the alarm definitely not meaning anything good, the students did not look panicked at all. In fact, they all got looks of determination on their faces as they closed their books and headed out of the library.

"While I doubt it's anything good, no one seems to be scared or panicking," Harry says.

"Those are the same people who could take over the world if they wanted to," Fred said.

"I doubt there are many things that could actually scare them," George added.

Harry had to give them some points there. He had seen the powers of a lot of different students at the school. Even the ones who would be seen as "weaker" were still crazy powerful. There were students like Krinos, Melody, Hawk, Abby, and Mason, who would all be considered literal forces of nature. But then there were students like Charlotte, Angela, Hestia, and T'challa, who did not have powers as strong as the elemental students but could still handle themselves very well.

The four of them quickly made their way out of the library. Just like the students who had also been in the library, every other Crystal Rose student looked to be on some type of mission. They all had the same determined and fierce look on their faces. All the Hogwarts students they could see seemed just as confused as the group of four.

"What is going on," Harry wondered out loud.

"We've got a demon break-in," a female voice suddenly near them making the group slightly jump.

Turning to face the voice, they saw it was Melody. T'challa, Buzz, and Vallia were all with her.

"Demons," Neville suddenly turned very pale. 

Demons had been one of the topics completely new to those who came from Hogwarts. Learning about them in some of their new classes gave them all a big shock. They had never heard of demons before beyond what the religious muggleborns had read in the Bible. But, they quickly learned that actual magical demons were a lot different than what was written in that book.

"We thought the school had powerful wards around it," Fred was worried and confused.

"How did demons manage to get into the school," George was confused and worried.

"There is no such thing as a perfect spell," Melody says as she waves for the four to follow them. "Protection spells and wards are the most difficult kind to cast."

"Plus, when dealing with a school filled with a massive amount of magical teenagers, there is bound to be accidents that happen," T'challa said.

"You're saying that a student brought the demons to the school," Harry did not want to have to deal with having to save another school.

"It's only one possibility," Vallia said. "Sometimes, a student could forget not to read certain spells out loud, which accidentally summons a demon. Or, a magical accident could occur that rips open a hole in the school barriers. Or, a demon is powerful enough to break through on its own. Or, and this is something that has happened before, a demon possesses a student and forces them to open a gateway to the school."

"I am so done with possession," Harry groaned.

After having to face a literal two-faced Professor Quirrell, Harry did not want to deal with possession ever again. He didn't think his stomach would be able to handle it.

"Trust us, so are we," Buzz stated.

"Do you have any idea what type of demon managed to get in," Fred asked the mystic souls.

"Because we would rather know if we should avoid them or try and fight," George added.

Given that this would be their first demon encounter, they did not have a single clue if their wand-user magic would have any effect on them. Plus, Harry's control over his powers was still not the best. He was getting better at using them, but he was still unable to fully control them. So, they didn't want to try and rely on them.

"I think you will find this to be enlightening," Buzz tells them.

The four boys looked at the bee mage with confusion until they made it to a more open area of the school rather than just one of the corridors. Their eyes widened as they saw the type of demons that somehow managed to get into the school. But, it was more out of confusion than out of shock.

The demons looked as if they had jumped right off the screen of the movie Aladdin. They were all men, from what they could see, in long tan robes with some hints of dark red. On their heads were hat-head-scarf-things that were also dark red. Their faces were mostly hidden with their eyes being what could be seen the most. They were all also holding the classic curved sword from Indian culture, often called a sikh.

"I feel like I am in a deadly version of Aladdin," Harry said.

"Krinos says the same thing whenever he has encountered demons like them," Melody had to fight the urge to giggle because of the serious situation.

"What are they," Neville asked.

"They're called the Demonic Forty Thieves," Vallia tells them.

(AN: Whenever I use demons, they are based on the ones from the original version of the magical show, Charmed. I do not own them.)

"As in the forty thieves from Ali Baba," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Who," Fred, George, and Neville all looked confused.

"We are going to have to remember to have Charlotte give you guys some lessons on fairy tales later," T'challa said, making a mental note.

"The short version is that a man named Ali Baba discovered a group of forty thieves and they unknowingly revealed to him that they were aware of a magical cave filled with treasures," Vallia gave a quick lesson on the fairy tale. "Using the magic words he had overheard, Ali Baba got some gold coins. But, his greedy brother found out about the coins and forced Ali to tell him about the cave. But, the brother forgot the password to get out, so he was stuck in the cave until the thieves eventually came back to the cave and killed him. But when Ali went back and took his brother's body so that he could be properly buried, the thieves realized someone else knew about the cave. They tried several times to kill Ali after they managed to locate him, only for a servant girl to ruin their plans every time. Including killing every thief other than their leader. After she managed to kill him, Ali thanked her by letting her marry his son."

"That's a fairy tale," Neville did not like the sound of that story.

"Considering some of the original Grimm versions of fairy tales, that is one of the least gruesome tales there are," Harry tells them.

"We read 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' growing up," Fred said.

"The tales in that book were worse than that story," George says.

"Anyway, these demons are most likely what originally inspired that fairy tale," T'challa says. "While they are not the most powerful, they make up for that with their numbers."

"Unlike other demons, they don't travel by themselves or in small groups," Melody says. "When you come across one of them, there are bound to be at least another dozen close by."

Some of the demons who were not already fighting a student or a member of the staff then finally noticed the group. Three of them charged toward them. Which turned out to be a mistake on their part.

"Harmonic scream," Melody cast.

She opened her mouth and unleashed her sonic scream. It sent all three of the demons flying back.

"Butterfly assault," Vallia cast.

She fired out butterflies made out of light from her hands. They blasted through the air as if they were shooting stars, including leaving a trail of light and sparkles behind them. The moment they hit the demons, all three of them exploded with screams and bursts of fire. 

"Did... Did you just kill them," Neville had a look of horror on his face.

"We vanquished them," Melody tells him. "They may look human, Neville, but they are nothing but beings of pure evil. Vanquishing them is no different from when we destroyed those dementors."

"They don't have souls, Neville," Harry reminded his friend. "They see nothing wrong with attacking a school of children. There is not a single bit of humanity in them. They deserve to be vanquished."

Neville had to give into the logic of what Melody and Harry were saying to him. He remembered hearing how evil demons were in some of the classes at Crystal Rose. He got sick to his stomach whenever he would think about them. Especially ones he learned tended to explode in explosions of slime when they would be vanquished. Plus, he also agreed with Harry when he said they deserved to be vanquished. While he was not the most violent person in the world, he certainly did know there were those who did deserve to die. Bellatrix Lestrange and the Lestrange twins were perfect examples of those who deserved to die.

"That was three down, so only thirty-seven more to go," Buzz says. 

"Thirty-six, actually," Harry pointed to where he saw Professor Gold vanquish another demon with an ice sword through its chest.

"They don't seem all that powerful," Fred noticed.

"You guys did say their strength was mainly numbers," George added.

The four mystic souls nodded at what the twins said.

"The Demonic Forty Thieves are basically demonic guards for hire," Melody explained. "Mainly used by upper-level demons to do their dirty work for them. Most demons that use the Forty Thieves tend to be after some kind of magical treasure."

"No wonder that fairy tale was inspired by these guys," Harry said.

"If they are mostly used by demons going after treasure, then why are they here," Fred asked.

"Not to mention how could they have gotten into the school," George was also concerned about that.

"The upper-level demon that hired them is likely using them as a distraction," Buzz guessed. "Crystal Rose had a vault under the school that is home to hundreds of powerful magical artifacts."

"Why is something like that under a school," Harry was shocked.

Given how he already had to deal with the Sorcerer's Stone during his first year at Hogwarts, he did not want a repeat of that year. He thought Headmistress Jiwe would have more common sense than Dumbledore.

"It's been there since the school was founded," Melody explained. "When the Olympian Mages founded Crystal Rose, the Magic Council of that time knew it was the safest place in all of magical Greece. Between the barriers around the school, the powerful teachers who swear to protect the school and its students, not to mention the super strong students as well, it's nearly impossible for demons to get anywhere near the vault."

"We get attempts maybe once every few years when a demon gets cocky, but they never get very far," Vallia says.

"Well, that's certainly a better explanation than I thought it was gonna be," Harry said.

It was better than why Dumbledore brought the Sorcerer's Stone to Hogwarts. It was tradition for the vault to be there while it had also been there from the start. It wasn't simply placed there by a manipulative headmaster. Plus, he also had to give the point to them that they were correct that between the school barriers, the teachers, and the students, the vault is incredibly protected. 

"Wait," Neville suddenly realized something. "If these demons are minions-for-hire, that means there is a more powerful demon here."

The mystic souls nodded.

"We know," Melody tells them. "It's why not everyone is fighting the demons."

"One half is keeping the Forty Thieves busy while the second half is searching for whatever upper-level demon that hired them," T'challa says. "Plus, there are also those protecting the ones who came from Hogwarts."

And then, as if summoned by the sheer mention of their task, the group heard Megi's voice in their heads. Neville jumped a little when he heard her voice. He was the only one not used to Megi's telepathy.

"We found the upper-level demon," she said.

From the looks the group was seeing the other mystic souls around them give each other, Megi's message was being sent to everyone. Her telepathy really was very powerful despite how she was only a teenager.

"Great work," Jiwe's voice was also heard in the telepathic connection. "Where is he or she?"

"He," Megi tells the headmistress. "And he is making his way down one of the deeper corridors. He's made it farther than most demons when they go looking for the vault."

"Who else is with you, Miss.Bright," Professor Lectic's voice was then heard.

"Krinos is currently hanging from the ceiling as if he is Spider-Man using his vines," Megi answered. "Charlotte and Mason are by the entrance to the corridor."

"Evidence that my brother reads too many comic books," Melody giggled.

"Says the girl who watches too much anime," Krinos responded.

"Should we engage the demon," Charlotte asked.

"Have you seen any of his powers in use," Jiwe wanted to know more before her students confronted the demon.

"I saw him use fireballs against some of the suits of armor Jake had brought to life earlier," Mason tells her. "Copycat!" 

"Mr.Bronze, you take point since you have the best chance against his fireballs," Jiwe informs the group. "Aichi, Nyx, you two head to them just in case he is stronger than he seems."

"Yes, Amaya," the two teachers responded.

"Do you have a clue how he and the other demons got in," Professor Gold asked the four.

"He looks to have some type of medallion or amulet around his neck," Krinos informs everyone. "It could have either given him a power boost big enough to get them through the barriers or has the specific ability to grant access through protective wards."

"Be careful in case it does give him a power boost," Jiwe says.

"Gotcha, headmistress," the four responded.

The connection was then cut off after that. Which did make sense since it wouldn't help anyone to constantly have the thoughts of others in their head.

"Should we go and help them," Harry couldn't help but ask Melody. "Krinos is your brother, after all."

Melody simply smiled at Harry. "As much as I am sure Krinos and the others would appreciate you wanting to help them, they can take care of themselves."

"With Krinos there, I would be more worried for the demon than I would be worried about them," Buzz chuckled. "Power-boosting amulet or not, they can handle any demon they face."

Harry was about to say something else, but then he saw one of the Demonic Forty Thieves trying to sneak up on Abby, who was fighting another of the demons. Meaning that she didn't notice the demon behind her. His eyes turned stormy gray as a mini storm cloud formed overhead.

"Power of the storm-lightning," he cast.

A bolt of lightning came crashing from the cloud. It hit the demon and instantly vanquished it. Abby formed an ice shield in front of her to block the demon she was fighting to look behind her to see what had just happened. Seeing the sword on the ground and the small scorch mark, she easily figured out what happened. She smiled as she saw Harry nearby.

"Thanks for the help, Harry," she called out to him.

"No problem, Abby," Harry responded, then enjoyed the sight of her freezing the demon she had been fighting into an ice statue before she shattered it to vanquish the demon. 

Meanwhile, the other demon was doing just as well as his hired minions were. Meaning he wasn't doing well at all. Megi, Krinos, Mason, and Charlotte could have taken him on their own. So, together, they were quite the force.

"This is almost too easy," Mason smirked as he continuously blocked the fireballs the demon tried to throw at them.

"Guess it's now clear that necklace of his was only to get him and the Forty Thieves into the school," Krinos said. "Nature's vine whip!"

Two vines came from around his wrists, acting as whips. They slapped the demon so hard in the face that they broke his skin. It looked like he had been cut by some type of two-clawed creature. 

"No matter how many we vanquish, there will always be upper-level demons that believe they can take us on," Megi sighed.

The demon tried to throw some fireballs at her. Big mistake. Megi simply held out her hand and the fireballs stopped midair. Megi brought them to her, controlling them with her telekinesis. With a smirk, she hurled them back to where they came from. The demon barely dodged out of the way.

"Legend come- Big Bad Wolf," Charlotte cast.

Out of her book appeared a giant wolf. Different from how one would think the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood would look. It was a white wolf that had to be at least three times the size of a normal wolf with red eyes and teeth that looked sharp enough to rip apart steel. It charged at the demon, who barely could keep up with both the wolf along with all the others attacking him at the same time.

"How should we finish this guy," Mason asked the other three.

"Even as an upper-level demon, he is not the strongest," Megi says. "A simple spell cast by three of us at the same time should do it."

"I'll distract him to give you three the needed time," Charlotte said. "Legend come- Excalibur!"

She pulled the legendary sword out of her book and charged toward the demon to aid her wolf. Charlotte may not be the most violent of mystic souls, but she certainly had power of her own. Her ability to call fairy tales and myths from her book gave her a wide variety of things she could summon. While limited to fables, fairy tales, and myths, her powers still gave her a wide range of possibilities.

The other three took advantage of her distraction to figure out the spell to use against the demon. They knew he was upper-level since he was able to hire the Demonic Forty Thieves, but he was not that powerful on his own. A lot of upper-level demons had vanquishing spells specific to them, but some could still be vanquished with more general vanquishing spells. They hoped this would be one of those cases.

Remembering previous classes, they quickly got the spell they hoped would be the perfect fit for the demon. They joined their hands together to cast the spell.

"Evil that has traveled near,
I call on you to disappear.
Elementals hear my call,
Remove this creature from these walls."

Charlotte and her wolf both jumped back when the demon started to turn red. And not the type of red caused by a blush or by a sunburn. By the way he also started steaming and smoking, he literally was being burned from the inside out. He soon exploded, leaving behind a small scorch mark on the floor.

"If only demons would stop leaving scorch marks behind every time they are vanquished," Krinos commented. "We would save a lot on cleaning time."

The others nodded in agreement, but Mason did huff given that fire was his magic.

Back upstairs, the Forty Thieves were dropping like flies. Swords were not very useful against the mystic souls of Crystal Rose. Even Harry was able to help more of his new friends with his powers. 

"If I was a lesser person, I would be jealous of how quickly you've been getting used to your weather powers," Hawk chuckled as he floated down next to Harry.

"You can literally create storms in your hands," Harry reminded him.

"That's why I said 'if I was a lesser person,' Harry," Hawk chuckled again. "One thing we are taught here is that no matter the type of powers we have, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. None of us are perfect. We all simply have our strong suits."

Before Harry could respond to Hawks, Fred and George called out to him.

"Harry," both of them yelled.

Instantly turning around, Harry's eyes widened as he saw another two of the Demonic Forty Thieves only a few feet away from him. Even if he managed to get one of them, it would leave him vulnerable to the other. They were too close to allow him to think of anything to do.

But that was when something else happened that truly shook Harry to his core. Both demons were vanished by blasts of fire and water. But that was not what caused the feeling in Harry. What shook him was seeing where the blasts had come from. 

Fred and George were behind where the demons had been. And both of them now had different appearances. Fred had fire around his wrists and neck while George had water around his. Both of them also had fox ears and nine fox tails that matched their elements. Harry's jaw hit the floor.

The twins looked at each other and could only say one thing.

"Guess we're not as identical as we were before."

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-Eight: More Mystic Souls

Harry had no idea what he was looking at. He wasn't sure if he was in shock or if he was falling even harder for the twins. He was guessing that it was a little bit of both.

But, the one thing he knew for certain was that he was very interested in finding out what in the world happened to the twins. He was likely to find out soon since he was currently watching the two of them test out their new abilities with Krinos, Melody, and Megi watching over them. Mason and Abby were also nearby because they were the only ones around who could help in case the twins lost control.

He watched as Fred and George would turn their fire and water powers on and off. Every time they had them on, they would regain their aquatic and firey fox features. Their tails would flick around like real tails rather than ones simply made out of fire and water.

"I'm not sure if I should be shocked, scared, or just numb by this," Neville says from his place next to Harry.

"There were bound to be others," Harry tells him. "I highly doubted that I was the only hidden mystic soul in magical Britain."

"But your powers were bound and needed a ritual to release them," Neville said.

They had brought Neville up to speed not too long ago. As he was one of the few true friends Harry had made at Hogwarts, it was only right to include him in the secret of Harry's mystic soul powers and how they had been bound. Neville was a very trustworthy person, so they knew he would never tell anyone.

"I'm sure we will find out how this happened soon enough," Harry says.

Soon, Fred and George turned off their powers and did not turn them back on. So, Harry and Neville felt it was safe enough for them to get near the twins without anything bad happening.

"You guys know what happened to them, yet," Neville asked the group helping them.

"Well, it's obviously different from Harry and his powers," Krinos said. 

"Did they not have their powers bound like mine were," Harry was both confused and curious.

The group shook their heads.

"They were bound differently," Melody explained. "Rather than being magically bound, their powers were suppressed by themselves."

"They did that to themselves," Neville was also confused.

"It would not be the first time we had seen something like this," Megi says.

"You've seen something like this before," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Suppressing one's own powers is more common than you would think," Megi tells him. "The most common would be for the first-generation magic-users. The ones who are the first ones to have magic in their families. A lot of them tend to be abused for being different even before their magic fully develops. So, they subconsciously suppress their powers since they would view their abilities as the cause of their abuse."

"There are cases like that for wand users, too," Fred says.

"Especially for muggleborns or magical orphans adopted by muggles," George said.

"The most famous case was back during Newt Scamander's time," Fred remembers.

"He had to deal with one of the strongest Obscurus anyone had ever seen," George adds.

"I remember reading about that," Neville says. "It was an orphan wizard who ended up in the care of a woman who badly abused him and his foster sister since she ran an anti-magic group. He was incredibly rare because most wizards who suppress their magic die by the time they reach ten. But he was twenty when he became an Obscurial. And he nearly destroyed all of New York when it happened."

"That event was famous even among mystic souls," Abby said. "Especially since it nearly exposed the magical world."

"It was lucky that New Scamander and his thunderbird were able to spread a memory-erasing potion to the entire city," Mason added.

"Anyway, Fred and George were doing something similar to their powers," Megi continued. "Because they grew up in magical Britain, a place totally against mystic souls, they would subconsciously suppress their powers because they knew how badly mystic souls were treated in their country. Plus, given they were raised in a wand-user household, that would also make them believe they were also wand-users rather than mystic souls."

"That makes a lot of sense," Harry stated.

"We always knew we were different," Fred said.

"This only makes it even clearer," George says.

"The only thing that confuses us would be why are our powers coming out now," Fred was confused.

"Yeah," George agreed with his twin. "We don't know enough about mystic souls to know why they emerged now."

The five Crystal Rose students smirked at each other. It was clear they knew why the twins' powers had come out. And it was for a reason that was very sweet to them.

"Most mystic souls whose powers come in late usually are in the middle of a demanding situation," Krinos says.

"Demanding or deadly," Melody added. "Usually deadly."

"But, their powers came out in the most adorable way possible," Megi giggled. "Coming out in the name of protecting someone they care about."

That caused Harry to burst into a blush brighter than Fred and George's hair. And despite how they never hid their feelings toward Harry, the twins blushed as well. It made the Crystal Rose students chuckle and giggle at how cute the potential couple was. The three were lucky that Hestia wasn't there because she would have locked them in a closet by then. She was known as the main matchmaker of Crystal Rose for a reason.

"If there is one thing that a mystic soul can appreciate, it would be protecting your loved ones," Abby says. "I know that I would have done the same thing they did if someone I cared about was being attacked by demons."

"You would go full werewolf on their soon-to-be sorry butts," Mason chuckled.

"Don't talk as if you wouldn't poison them with your were-snake fangs," Abby responded.

That certainly got the attention of the Hogwarts students. They had not known that about either of the two elemental mages.

"You're a werewolf," Neville's eyes widened as he looked at Abby.

"I'm more curious about Mason being a... were-snake," Harry sounded confused as he said that. "I had no idea there were were-creatures other than werewolves."

"Every animal has a were-creature form," Abby explained. "Werewolves are just the most well-known because of the murderous ones who like spreading lycanthropy."

"We know about that," Harry sighed. "My honorary godfather, Remus Lupin, was bitten when he was only six years old. The werewolf that bit him, Fenrir Greyback, is still at large even to this day. He's bitten countless people. Mostly children."

"It's were-creatures like him that give the rest of us a bad name," Mason sneered. "Especially for those who aren't bitten and are born this way."

"You can be born as a were-creature," Fred curiously asked.

"I didn't know that was possible," George added, also curious.

Abby and Mason nodded in response.

"We don't know about others, but it is a trait passed down in our families," Abby says. "All of the families in the Enchanted Gem clan have were-creature forms. They are based on the sacred animals each of the families honor. Wolves are the sacred animal to the Enchanted Sapphires."

"And it's the same for snakes being the sacred animal to the Enchanted Rubies," Mason said.

"And it's the same for the others as well," Harry asked for clarification.

The gem mages nodded again.

"Each gem family in the can have their element and their animal," Abby says. "Sapphires have ice and wolves, Rubies have fire and snakes, Emeralds have earth and panthers, Pearls have water and horses, Amethysts have air and hawks, Diamonds have light and falcons, Opals have sound and butterflies, Rose Quartz's have nature and deer, Tiger-Eyes have animals and bears, and Tourmalines have lightning and eagles."

"And they all have were-creature forms," Neville asked.

"We do," Mason nodded. "All of us have forms that have been passed down through our families for generations."

"Unlike those bitten, we have full control of our creature forms," Abby adds. "It's the main difference between born were-creatures and bitten were-creatures. However, we're not even sure that if we bite someone they will turn. There's no record of anyone in the gem families ever biting someone."

"Not that many would survive if they were bitten by a Ruby," Mason snickered. "Our venom is nearly twice as deadly as a western taipan's."

That caused the Hogwarts guys to all take a step away from him. Something that did make Mason chuckle, knowing that it was a scary thing to say.

"The more I learn about this world, the more amazed I get," Harry said.

"If there is one thing that the world of mystic souls is, it is never boring," Krinos chuckled.

"There will always be many things about the magical world that make it the fantastical world it is," Melody said.

"So, getting back on track, what about Fred and George," Harry got back on topic. "What are their powers?"

That got them back on track. Things like this tended to happen often. They would get caught up talking about something new they learned about the magical world that they would accidentally ignore what they were originally talking about. Of course, they would try and keep things on track as best they could, but it was only natural for the Hogwarts group to want to learn more than the backward stuff they learned at their school.

"From what we can tell, Fred and George have a mixture of different types of powers," Krinos started the explanation. "For starters, they have clear elemental-type magic. Fred has fire and George has water."

"It's more than that, right," Neville asked. "They do have those fox features, after all."

"There are some animal magic elements to their abilities, as well," Melody says. "Our best guess would be kitsune, mischievous fox spirits native to Japan. Known for their trickery and creating chaos."

"Talk about a match made in heaven," Harry chuckled. "If there would be a magical creature fit for the twins, it would be kitsune."

"We don't even lie about it," Fred smirked.

"We love a good tricky prank that causes some chaos," George snickered.

"There really is no better creature for these two," Neville chuckled in agreement. "I feel bad for anyone that gets on their bad side, now."

"Not that there is any reason to feel pity for them," Harry said. "After all, anyone who is dumb enough to get on Fred and George's bad side deserves what is ever coming to them."

"That does explain why Snape keeps getting hexed with a prank spell that makes him croak like a frog," Neville said.

"You mean toad," the twins smirked.

"That is never going to die as long as the twins are around," Harry smirked. "Not that it should. It was about time Snape got some consequences for his horrible attitude. It just adds to the karma of the situation that I was the one who delivered that karma."

"You guys will have to tell us about some of those pranks you've done," Mason said.

"It would be our pleasure," Fred and George stated.

If there was anything that would get Fred and George excited, it was talking about their pranks. Even now that they were mystic souls, they still wanted to be the pranksters they were. They would just have to balance out their time between training their new powers and experimenting with their prank products. And given Fred's new fire powers, that also meant trying their best not to cause too many explosions.

"Kitsune fit them better than you would think," Megi took over the explanation. "While in general, kitsune are tricksters, there are also elemental kitsune. The ones who have ties to the elements. They are not as common as regular kitsune, but they are still around."

"It's why we can sense both animal and elemental magic in Fred and George," Melody says. "But, there is also one more type of magic in them. You two said that you're magical twins, right?"

Fred and George nodded in response.

"Yeah, we are," Fred said.

"It's why we're always together," George says.

"And also why it's easy for us to do our 'twin speak," Fred added.

"One soul in two bodies," George said.

"A bond completely different from normal twins," Fred says.

"We're different while also being the same," George stated.

"That explains the other type of magic we could sense," Megi says. "Because you two are magical twins, it also means your magical cores are connected. Your minds, souls, and magic have a deep connection that is only found in magical twins."

"It's why you have similar powers that are also opposites," Krinos said. "Because of your connection, your powers formed in a way that would be connected while still being unique. That type of magic is known as 'opposites attract magic.' Not to be confused with the relationship stereotype."

"Fire and water are already powerful," Mason says. "Take it from someone who also has fire magic. It's no joke to have magic like this."

"Ice and water are closely related, so I know how powerful that magic is, as well," Abby added.

"Add in the kitsune elements and there's no telling how different your powers would be from theirs," Megi said. "All we've seen, so far, are water and fire blasts on top of your elemental fox features."

"Between Harry's weather powers and now elemental kitsune magic, there are some very powerful abilities hidden away at Hogwarts," Krinos says. "How many mystic souls have been lost to the world because of how they treat our kind?"

"Too many," a new voice suddenly was heard, making them all jump.

They all turned to where the voice came from. Much to the shock of the four Hogwarts boys, it was Luna who had spoken.

"Luna," Fred and George gasped.

"Hello, Fred, George," the blond girl smiled at them.

"How did you find us," Neville asked her.

It was definitely a shock to see Luna enter the room. It wasn't known where they were since they didn't want anyone else coming in. Especially in case Fred, George, or both lost control of their powers.

Luna only smiled in response to Neville's question. But, the Crystal Rose group in the room all gave each other looks.

"She found us because she's one of us," Megi said.

"WHAT," Fred, George, Harry, and Neville all yelled.

Luna giggled. "I didn't think I would be able to keep it hidden for very long. Not while attending here, anyway."

"You're a mystic soul, Luna," the twins asked her.

"I got it from my mum," she tells them.

"You're mother," Fred gasped.

"We had no idea," George's mouth hung open.

"You know, very well, what would have happened if my mother was revealed as a mystic soul," Luna says. "At best, she would have escaped the country with my dad and me. At the worst, she would have been killed. I likely dying with her out of the fear that I would have gotten her powers. Which I ended up getting, anyway."

"She must have been a very talented witch to hide her powers for so long," Krinos praised Luna's mother.

"We grew up next to Luna our whole lives," Fred says.

"Her mother was more of a mother to us than our own," George added.

"Pandora Lovegood was a goddess among women," Fred said.

"She always had more love in her heart than most people have in their entire bodies," George says.

"So, what are your powers, Luna," Melody asked the girl.

"Mine is Crystal Enchantment magic," Luna stated in her dreamy voice. "Channeling different types of gems gives me specific abilities. An aquamarine will let me breathe underwater, crystal quartz enhances my natural mind abilities, emerald gives me earth-bending powers, and many more after that." 

"That is a very versatile and strong magic," Krinos says, amazed by her powers. 

"Not to mention completely different from the Enchanted Gem families," Abby added.

"Of course they are different," Luna says. "After all, no two mystic souls are alike in terms of their powers."

"She's got a point," Mason stated.

"So, what were you saying, Luna," Megi asked her. "You said something about other mystic souls being lost to the world?"

Luna nodded. "My mother had been worried back when she had been at Hogwarts. She had sensed other mystic souls, or potential mystic souls, during her time at school. But, they would all soon disappear after going home. After that, she would notice the number of potential mystic souls decreasing every single year. I noticed next to none by the time I started school."

"It's already known how bad it is for mystic souls over there," Krinos says. "But, this makes it clear how mystic souls are becoming a dying race in magical Britain."

Luna nodded again. "That is exactly what is happening. Cases like Fred and George are more common than ever. They are denied their powers without even knowing they have them because of the influences of the environment around them."

"And then there are also the cases like Harry's," Krinos says. "The ones who have had their powers blocked by an outside source. Dumbledore can't possibly be the only one behind that. There would also be the parents who don't want mystic soul children so badly that they would bind their own child's core to make it happen."

"There are so many things wrong with magical Britain," Harry says. "Too many. We're all just teenagers. It shouldn't be up to us to fix any of this. Between the dark lord trying to kill me, the fake light lord trying to control me, and everything else going on. It's all too much."

Fred and George went up to Harry and gave him the biggest twin hug they could give him. He definitely needed it.

"It will be alright, Harry," Fred comforted him.

"You have more help than you could ever hope for," George reminded him.

"We may be teenagers, but we're strong ones," Fred says.

"Not to mention adults like Sirius and Olivia are on our side," George said.

"They're right, Harry," Neville says. "It is unfair that we have to deal with all this, but that doesn't mean we can't handle it."

"Coming from you, the most timid member of Gryffindor, that says something," Harry managed a chuckle.

"We're all going to help, Harry," Krinos tells him.

"By the time we're done, magic is going to be free for everyone," Melody says.

"Especially for the mystic souls denied their birthright," Megi stated.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-Nine: What Happens Next

"I appreciate all of you coming," Jiwe says while sitting at her desk. "We have much to discuss."

"We certainly do," Sirius agreed with her.

In the headmistress's office was probably the most diverse group of people anyone could ever see. Adults and teens alike were in the room. It almost could remind a person of a "war room" scene from a movie where a bunch of characters were gathered around a table to plan out an attack.

For the adults, it was Jiwe, Sirius, Olivia, Remus, Kingsley, Professor Gold, and Professor Nightingale. For the teens, it was Harry, Krinos, Melody, Fred, George, Luna, Megi, and Neville. All of them were gathered there for the same reason. To talk about taking down Voldemort and Dumbledore.

"The first thing we should discuss is which threat we should take care of first," Kingsley says. "Both are big threats in their own ways, causing similar yet completely different problems."

"As much as I want to take down Dumb-as-a-door, Voldemort is the more physical threat," Sirius admitted. "He might be lying low at the moment, but he could make a move at any time."

"I agree," Olivia says. "From what Sirius has told me, Voldemort waits for moments of 'weakness' to strike. With Dumbledore out of the country, he could view that as his time to get his forces ready and attack."

"Who would he attack," Crystal asked. "Everything from the last war tells us most of it was him and Dumbledore having a battle of egos. With Dumbledore here, as well as all of Hogwarts, who else would he want to attack."

"Voldemort will likely go for the Ministry of Magic," Remus guesses. "Other than wanting Dumbledore and Harry dead, he also desires to rule magical Britain."

"Does he even know how little that would mean," Nyx raised an eyebrow. "Every other magical community in the world knows not to pay attention to magical Britain because of how behind they are compared to everyone else."

"Guess even so-called Dark Lords can be oblivious," Krinos commented.

"At least Grindelwald knew magical Britain meant nothing even if he ruled it," Melody said. "It was why he chose to attack the United States and France instead."

"Sirius, you said that you and Olivia have been working on ways to kill Voldemort for good," Harry looked at his godfather. "Did you find one?"

Sirius nodded. "We believe we may have found a way. Or, at least, a potential way. It's not like we can test any of our theories, after all."

"The type of magic it would take to escape death is nothing less than the blackest of black magic," Olivia says. "The kind that would have someone sent to Tartarus prison for the rest of their life."

"So, you have an idea what Voldemort did that kept him from truly dying," Jiwe asked them.

"We knew it had to be soul magic," Sirius explained. "The only way Voldemort could have come back would be if he found a way to anchor his soul to the mortal plane. Since Harry told me about Voldemort's time as a wraith, it was further proof that he black magic that affected his soul."

"You've said how your family is one of the darkest in magical Britain," Crystal remembered. "You find anything from your family library that helped?"

Harry couldn't help but see the irony of Sirius using the books from his family's library to help them eventually defeat Voldemort. After all, Sirius had told him how much of a fanatic his mother had been for the Dark Lord. It was why his parents forced Sirius's brother, Regulus, to become a Death Eater. After Sirius ran away, they were determined to make sure a Black would become a Death Eater. Especially since Sirius's cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa, became Death Eaters along with their husbands. But, since they no longer had the Black last name after getting married, Sirius's parents were desperate to have someone with the last name of Black to be a Death Eater. If they knew Sirius was using their library to finally kill Voldemort for good, they'd likely have heart attacks.

"There is only one thing I found that could keep a person from fully dying," Sirius says. "Horcruxes."

"That sounds familiar," Megi got an 'I am thinking' look on her face. "I know I've either heard it before or read about it somewhere. But, for some reason, it's escaping me."

"Guess even a telepath can't remember everything," Harry whispered to Krinos.

"Megi is the most talented in the school when it comes to mind magic," Krinos whispered back. "But, just like everyone else, she's not perfect."

"It's a good thing you can't remember it," Sirius tells Megi. "Horcruxes are such dark magic that not even other dark families dare to go that far no matter how evil they are."

"They're that evil," Neville was shocked.

He didn't think it was possible for there to be something that not even the dark families of magical Britain wouldn't dare use. Especially given how freely most of them used the Unforgivable Curses with no remorse. It certainly was true for those like Bellatrix Lestrange.

Sirius nodded at what Neville said. "Horcruxes are soul magic. Specifically, it is the use of a ritual to split your soul and place that piece of your soul into an object."

The reaction was instant as soon as Sirius told them what a horcrux was. None of them could believe there could be something so horrible as being able to split your soul. They understood why not even the dark families of magical Britain dared to do something like that. The idea of splitting your soul was not just the blackest magic any of them could think of, but it was incomprehensible. 

"Flight from death," Luna says.

"What was that, Luna," Fred and George asked their blond friend.

"Think like a Frenchie," Luna answered.

That got her some stares from the others in the room. Not everyone knew what it meant when Luna would speak. She always had her own unique way of talking that usually took some time to get used to. Everyone looked at each other as they tried to figure out what she meant.

It was Melody that ended up figuring it out.

"I got it," she blurted out.

"Well, don't keep it a secret," Harry tells her.

"Luna means that his name is French," Melody says. "She told us what his name means. Voldemort literally translates to 'flight from death."

That got everyone else to understand what Luna meant. It also helped them piece together why Voldemort would make a Horcrux.

"He's afraid of dying," Nyx realized. "He wants to avoid dying so badly that he is willing to deal with the blackest magic ever created to make it happen."

"That is likely the truth," Kingsley said. "Even during the last war, he rarely went out on his own. He always either sent out his Death Eaters to do his bidding or he had himself surrounded by his Death Eaters whenever he did show himself."

"He wanted them as his human shields and they didn't even know it," Crystal shook her head.

"In a way, this does give him something else in common with Dumbledore," Sirius says. "Dumbledore was always sending members of the Order out on missions and having them fight on the front lines against the Death Eaters. And yet he barely ever went out himself. He was usually safe within Hogwarts."

"Neither of them wanted to get their hands dirty if they didn't want to," Olivia sighed the cowardly behavior of the two men.

"While rare, it is something Dumbledore's been criticized for before," Fred said.

"During the war with Grindelwald, many people complained about how long it took Dumbledore to fight him," George says.

"It's one of the few times the public was not one hundred percent on Dumbledore's side," Fred says.

"Unless you include our mum, who would rather die than hear anything bad about Dumbledore," George rolled his eyes.

"It didn't even bother her that many people's lives could have been saved if Dumbledore fought Grindelwald sooner," Fred said.

"But, it's not like we would ever accuse our mum of having common sense," George shrugged.

"When it comes to people that others put on a pedestal, it's hard for them to accept anything bad about them," Jiwe shook her head. "It's why Dumbledore and Voldemort were so easily able to rise in power. People saw how strong they were and immediately wanted to be on their side even if it meant refusing reality."

"The reality being that both of them suck," Harry couldn't help but comment.

"He's been spending too much time with you," Remus playfully pushed Sirius on the arm.

"Don't look at me," Sirius held his hands up in 'surrender.' "He was sassy long before I came around."

"He's not wrong," Fred and George stated.

"So," Jiwe looked at Sirius and Olivia. "You two think you found a way to destroy his Horcruxes?"

"That would require finding them," Sirius says. "There is no locator or summoning spell that would work on a Horcrux. And that's without considering the type of extra protections Voldemort could have used in case anyone was able to find any of them."

"So, we figured what we needed to do was find a spell or ritual that would affect his soul as a whole," Olivia explained. "Even if he split it, the spell or ritual would target every piece of his soul at the same time regardless of the Horcruxes."

"Are you sure that would work," Neville asked.

He wanted Voldemort to be gone the same as everyone else did. But, that didn't mean he didn't want to be completely sure about the plan. Voldemort was considered worse than Grindelwald because no one was safe from him. Voldemort killed anyone and everyone, including his own followers if they upset him. But the only people Grindelwald killed were those who fought against him or betrayed him.

"Voldemort likely doesn't have a single clue how mystic souls and their magic work," Olivia says. "He wouldn't have any kind of defense against our spells."

"Even if he tried, no spell or ritual done by a wand user can stop mystic soul magic," Crystal added.

"The best example of that was how I was still able to teleport into the family area of Sirius's home back in magical Britain even though it had blood protection around it," Krinos said. "I may have had a rough landing, but I still managed to do it."

"Do you have a spell in mind, Sirius," Harry asked his godfather.

He, more than anyone else, wanted Voldemort gone. He and Dumbledore took so much from him. He wanted them to pay. It was the words of his parents from All Hallows' Eve that kept him from getting too into the thought of revenge. Taking down Voldemort was not just about him. Voldemort and his Death Eaters took away so much from so many people, not just him. Neville's parents were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix, Fred and George's uncles were killed when they went to protect the Bones family, Susan Bones lost her parents in the same attack that killed their uncles, and so many other people lost loved ones because of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

And just because Dumbledore's main goal was controlling him, Harry was aware the headmaster hurt many other people on his quest for power and control. Such as Sirius, who Dumbledore let rot in prison for a crime he didn't commit just so that he couldn't take custody of him. Or Remus, who Dumbledore lets get tormented by society by never doing anything about the number of horrible laws against werewolves. Not to mention all of the muggleborns and half-bloods who get bullied by Snape, Malfoy, and every other blood purist like them and he never does a single thing to stop them.

"From the research Olivia and I have been doing, we're going to need to do some spell fusion," Sirius says.

"There are many vanquishing spells we can use that would work on an evil wizard the same as they would work on a demon," Olivia tells them. "So, if we find the right spells and join them together, we should be able to kill Voldemort for good."

"Alright," Jiwe nodded at what the two said. "Voldemort is being handled. So, now we need to talk about Dumbledore."

"As much as I hate to say it, has he done anything actually illegal," Crystal asked the room. "He's manipulative, controlling, and hypocritical, but has he done anything he can be arrested for?"

"There is his 'custody' of Harry," Sirius said. "Dumbledore was the one who had Hagrid collect Harry from Godric's Hollow after Voldemort killed his parents. Clearly, I was still alive at the time. I also was witness to James and Lily's wills. Neither of them named Dumbledore in any way. Especially not when it came to where Harry would live. So, his placement of Harry at the Dursleys and his claiming of magical guardianship was all illegal."

"He would be able to talk his way out of that, though," Kingsley says. "He'd bring up how Harry was in danger in the magical world because of Voldemort's followers who escaped justice. He'd also bring up the 'blood wards' that are supposedly around their house."

"He does like to use those 'blood wards' as the excuse to send Harry back to them every single Summer," Remus groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It's always the legal way that makes these things harder," Olivia complained. "Things would be so much easier if I was allowed to blow him up."

"As much as we'd all love to see that, it would more than likely cause a war with magical Britain," Nyx says. "We all know we would win, but it would just be incredibly annoying to deal with. Especially for the magic council, who would have to do trials for all of the wizards we'd have to arrest."

"What about casting a truth spell on him," Harry suggested. "He'd spill all of his secrets and wouldn't be able to lie his way out of it."

"We appreciate the suggestion, Harry, but truth spells are only legal when done in court," Olivia tells him. "If it's cast on him outside of court, nothing he says would be legally allowed to be used against him."

"It was worth a shot," Harry shrugged. "I figured it wouldn't be that easy."

"Nothing ever is, unfortunately," Krinos patted Harry on the shoulder. "As much as we wish it was easy, it isn't."

"There is one thing Dumbledore wants more than anything," Kingsley says. "If we take that away from him, all of his plans will fall apart."

"Kings, if you give me a way to keep my godson safe, I will give you the biggest kiss of your life," Sirius stated.

It was only after the words left his mouth that Sirius realized what he said. Immediately, he and Kingsley both blushed. Remus couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's lack of thinking things through. He loved Sirius like a brother, but there were times when Sirius was practically begging to get slapped on the back of his head to see if that could literally slap some sense into him.

Kingsley quickly recovered from what Sirius said.

"I am talking about Harry," Kingsley continued. "All of Dumbledore's plans revolve around Harry. Without him, everything Dumbledore planned would come crashing down."

"I know he wants to control me, but would all his plans really fall without me," Harry asked him.

"Dumbledore has been building up your image ever since your original encounter with Voldemort that All Hallows' Eve when you were a baby," Kingsley explained. "Given how much that man loves attention, he would only do such a thing if he had plans for you and your fame. He likely had a hand in everything that happened to you that ended with you coming out as heroic and brave."

"That does make a lot of sense," Neville says as he looks at Harry. "Dumbledore was the one who brought the Sorcerer's Stone to Hogwarts rather than simply moving it to one of his vaults at the bank."

"There is also no way he didn't know about the basilisk," Fred added.

"He's also been headmaster for so long, and a teacher before that, so he had to know where the Chamber of Secrets was," George also added.

"And as headmaster, he simply had to refuse and Fudge would have had no power to have the dementors at Hogwarts," Fred said.

"It's also without a single doubt that it was his idea in the first place to bring back the Triwizard Tournament," George says.

"All of this stuff only started happening once you started Hogwarts, Harry," Neville tells him. "Dumbledore's been a puppet master for years. There is no way all of that happened and he did not have a hand in it."

"Dumbledore was also the one using his magical guardianship of Harry to get things done his way," Kingsley continued. "He was the one who permitted companies to use Harry's name for things like saying he approves or recommends one of their products. Not to mention those ridiculous 'Harry Potter Adventure' books."

Harry got a look of disgust on his face at the reminder of all those things he had seen during his shopping trips to Diagon Alley. He hated seeing them around, but didn't have anyone to help him stop those products from being made.

"I'm all for permanently severing all connections with Dumbledore, but how would that happen," Harry was confused. "Dumbledore won't let me go that easily."

"I kept up my mystic soul reading even while living in magical Britain," Kingsley says. "Including legal ways to keep two people separated without a big and long court case. A magical restraining order."

"There are magical restraining orders," Sirius raised an eyebrow.

He was still new to being so open with his mystic soul magic. So, he still didn't know a lot when it came to how mystic souls dealt with things like this.

Kingsley nodded. "A magical restraining order would force Dumbledore to stay away from Harry. And the best part is that it can be written so that it specifically can say that any country Harry is in, Dumbledore can not enter."

"That's possible," Harry was shocked at what he just heard.

"Anything is possible with magic, Harry," Olivia smiled at him. "And Kingsley is right. With the right wording, Dumbledore will never be able to cross the border of any country Harry is currently in. That way, no matter where Harry goes, Dumbledore can't touch him."

"I didn't think I could love this place more than I already do, but I was wrong," Harry was beaming with hope.

Chapter Text

Chapter Sixty: Hogwarts VS Crystal Rose

Dueling class quickly became one of Harry's favorite classes at Crystal Rose. He loved seeing all of the different abilities the mystic soul students had. He had already seen many abilities from casual displays in the halls, previous Dueling classes, and the demon attack a few weeks prior. But, there were still students he wanted to see using their magic.

It helped that he was feeling petty enough to enjoy the looks of jealousy on the Hogwarts jerks who still were not accepting of mystic souls. Even they had to admit it wasn't possible for even the most powerful of wizards to be able to do what mystic souls can do. He also enjoyed seeing Professor Lectic punish them whenever they tried to talk down to any of the Crystal Rose students.

While Winter Wolf had no classes with Dryad, he had heard how often Malfoy got punished. Even after being at Crystal Rose for months, he still hadn't learned his lesson. Likely because between his father and Snape, he never got punished for any of his actions. With fifteen years worth of that type of behavioral conditioning, it would take a miracle for him to learn how to properly act. He never learned how to shut his mouth and keep his opinions to himself.

"I hope you one day will be able to fully join us in Dueling class, Harry," Krinos says. "You've come a long way with your powers."

"I'm sure I will," Harry responds. "With Sirius now having custody of me, thanks to Olivia and the Magic Council, I can become a full student of Crystal Rose. So, once the Hogwarts students leave, I can openly embrace my powers."

"Good," Hawk smirked. "Because I've always wanted another weather mage to spar with."

"Is there really no one else here with weather powers," Harry asked the harpy boy.

Hawk shrugged. "Magic evolves with every generation born. So, there are those with specific powers and those with powers with many capabilities. The two of us are the only ones with magic over general weather even if my powers are focused in my hands."

"Take Weilan, over there," Melody pointed to where their mermaid friend sat. "As a mermaid, she can manipulate weather, but only ocean-related weather. Such as hurricanes, tidal waves, and even flash floods."

"Even Mason and Abby have some weather-manipulating capabilities," Krinos says. "But it's only for their respective elements. Like, Abby can create blizzards and Mason can make heatwaves, but they can't do much more than that."

"All of you know so much about magic already that it's hard to believe you still need to attend school," Harry chuckled.

"It's a lot easier to know these things when you grow up the way we have," Hestia explains. "Lots of us have been coming to Crystal Rose for years, even before officially becoming students."

"That's possible," Harry was confused.

"The school is more like a home," T'challa says. "There are those who live here year-round because of either distance or because they are wards of the school. But, some simply choose to live here because it's easier for them."

"Take Melody and me for an example," Krinos said. "We've lived here for years. Ever since our parents were killed."

"Vallia and Buzz live here as well," T'challa added. "For obvious reasons, of course."

Harry nodded at that. Given that the two insect mages literally fled from their home country, it made sense for them to live at Crystal Rose. Once he and Sirius found a place and completely settled into Greece, he would be certain to visit Crystal Rose as much as he could during the summer. Sure, he'd still spend plenty of time with Sirius, but every teenager enjoys visiting their friends whenever they could.

They would have continued talking but were interrupted by a very annoying voice. One that made Harry want to give up his secret just to zap his mouth shut.

"Well, well, well," Draco sneered as he walked over. "I'm not surprised Scar Head has allied himself with the other freaks."

"You clearly have no self-preservation since you should know by now that angering a mystic soul is a bad idea," Hawk glared at the blond boy.

"Just be happy Sofia isn't around this time," Melody also glared. "I doubt any of us would be able to hold her back once she shapeshifts into a lion."

"You make it sound like any of us would want to hold her back," Krinos stated.

"Fair point," Melody shrugged.

"Malfoy, I've always known you are stupid, but do you really have to continue proving me right," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Watch it, Potty," Draco sneered at him again. "Once we're back in Hogwarts, I'll push you back into the dirt where you and the rest of your mudblood friends belong!"

"What makes you think I'm going back," Harry crossed his arms. "Crystal Rose has proven time and time again how much better it is than Hogwarts. With Sirius as my guardian, now, I can finally get a proper education."

"Please," Draco rolled his eyes. "You're one of the worst students in Hogwarts history. The only reason you haven't failed out is because you're Dumbledore's golden boy."

"I do my work just fine for getting such a sub-par education," Harry said. "Especially with Snape as my Potions professor when he shouldn't be allowed within a hundred miles of a child."

"Don't insult Professor Snape," Draco snapped at him. "The only reason you hate him is because he doesn't cater to you because of your fame!"

"You mean the unwanted fame that I only got because my parents were murdered," Harry clenched his fists. "Murdered by the same madman your parents kiss the robes of."

"Watch your mouth, Potty," Draco pulled his wand out. "No one talks bad about my parents and lives to say another word!"

"Someone is a hypocrite," Krinos rolled his eyes.

"Not to mention he can't be as tough as he says he is if he can't take what he dishes out," T'challa says.

"You, freaks, don't have the right to say anything like that to me," Draco pointed his wand at the group.

None of them so much as blinked. They were not threatened in the least by the wand. Their only reaction was to raise their eyebrows and give each other "Is he serious?" looks.

"You do realize you are no threat to us, right," Krinos said. "The animals in the school stables are more threatening than you. Even the baby ones."

"Though, that is because no one is prepared for being set on fire when a baby dragon sneezes on them," Melody giggled.

"You act all high and mighty, but I bet you're nothing but weak mudbloods," Draco sneered at them some more.

"If you keep making that face, it's going to get stuck like that," Hestia commented.

Harry would say he was impressed, but he expected this type of reaction from the mystic souls. No one with a wand, no matter how powerful they were, was no match for them. All Krinos had to do was wave his hand and their wand would be turned into a flower or something similar. Plus, they were acting in the perfect way to deal with Malfoy. Bullies like Malfoy relied entirely on their "victims" reacting to them. They got a kick out of seeing their insults and taunts affecting their target. So, with how the Crystal Rose students were responding to him, it made it clear Malfoy was never going to get anywhere with them.

"Go back to your pathetic wand-user friends, Bleached Peacock," Hawk waved him off. "If we wanted to deal with insects, we'd spend time with our friends Buzz and Vallia."

"What did those two do to you that you compare them to wand-user pests," T'challa playfully slapped Hawk on his shoulder.

"That's it," Draco snapped. "You have no right to disrespect me like this! It's time you're shown your place!"

"We already know our place," Hawk says. "Far above you. Quite literally, in my case."

He spread his wings a little to show what he meant. If he wanted to, he could always be above Malfoy. Right above his head, in fact.

"You're nothing," Draco shouted at them. "And we will prove it!"

"And who is this 'we," Melody crossed her arms.

"Hogwarts, obviously," Draco got a smug look on his face. "We will have duels! Hogwarts' best and brightest against you freaks!"

"I am getting flashbacks," Harry muttered.

He remembered the last time Malfoy had declared a duel. He never bothered to show up. He simply tattled to Filch that there would be students in the trophy room after curfew and likely got a good night's sleep that night. Too bad for him that his plan failed.

"Do you seriously think you can take us on," Krinos asked the blond brat. "Have you already forgotten what you've seen us do from that demon attack not too long ago?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's forgotten given that most wand users typically don't have much mental space," Hawk snickered.

Malfoy went even more red in the face from anger than he already had been.

"You, freaks, will learn your place when we kick your mudblood butts at the duel," Draco declared.

He then stormed off without another word.

"With students like him, it's a wonder why Hogwarts never formed a drama club," Hestia says. "He's certainly dramatic enough for it." 

*****

Later that day, there was a large gathering at the Dueling class field. Word of Malfoy's challenge had spread throughout the school faster than a magically powered wildfire. Many students from both schools were at the field to watch. Both sides were confident in the loss of the other side, but the Crystal Rose students knew how delusional the Hogwarts students were.

Harry stood with his Crystal Rose friends as they waited for whoever Malfoy showed up with. 

"I wonder how many he will have with him," Harry wondered. "Not many considering how many are just watching."

"It shows how they really feel about this 'duel," Krinos says. "They all may be saying how Hogwarts is going to win, but none of them volunteered to fight us."

"Meaning that they don't actually think they can win, but would rather be delusional than admit it," Melody said.

"This should be annoying," Hawk rolled his eyes.

Eventually, Malfoy arrived with those "brave" enough to go against the Crystal Rose students. To no one's shock, Pansy Parkinson was with him. She was the type of girl so obsessed with her crush that she would do anything to get on his good side. Crabbe and Goyle were also with him, but they both looked extremely reluctant to be there. Marcus Flint was with them as well. 

Harry also recognized a few who had been with Malfoy when he had that confrontation with the "creatures of the night" students. The group included Cormac McLaggen, Marietta Edgecombe, and Zacharias Smith. Not surprising Harry, he also saw Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"Why am I not surprised that trying to show up Crystal Rose is the only thing that could get them to team up with Malfoy," he rolled his eyes.

"Well, they will soon learn how much of a mistake that was," Hestia stated.

Professor Lectic stood between the two groups. When the staff got wind of the duel, they knew there was nothing they could do to stop it. There was too much animosity between the two sides to stop the duel from happening. Given that the Crystal Rose teachers saw that the Hogwarts teachers weren't going to do anything, they took it upon themselves to at least play mediator. So, Professor Lectic was there to make sure things did not go too far.

"I want a nice clean fight," the electric teacher pointed to all the students who would be fighting. "Each fight will be decided when one side is either knocked out or can not move. Once the result of the fight has been decided, neither side is allowed to cast another spell after that."

While he wasn't making it obvious, he was looking more at the Hogwarts group than the Crystal Rose students. Unlike Hogwarts teachers, who never do much to hide it when they favor someone, the Crystal Rose teachers were once again showing how much more professional they are.

"Let's get on with this so we can finally show these freaks their place," Draco sneered.

"Detention, once again, for your bullying language, Mr.Malfoy," Professor Lectic looked so done with Malfoy's attitude.

Malfoy grumbled and crossed his arms. He was mumbling something, probably very rude, but no one could hear him.

"I'll be going first for Crystal Rose," Sofia stepped up from the mystic soul side. "Which one of you will be my mid-day snack?"

She showed off a large fanged smile to make herself even more intimidating. The Hogwarts group gulped before one of them stepped forward.

"You're going down," Marcus Flint glared at her.

"We'll see about that," Sofia smirked.

The groups sat on different benches on either side of the duel field. Sofia and Marcus stood on opposite ends of the field.

"Begin," Professor Lectic called out.

"Stupefy," Marcua cast.

"Hummingbird shift," Sofia cast at the same time.

Marcus's spell missed her completely. Not that it was hard to miss her given that Sofia had shifted into a hummingbird. She was too small and too fast for the spell to hit her. Marcus tried to hit her with more stunning spells, but none of them hit their mark. She zipped around him so quickly that Marcus was looking ridiculous with how much he was spinning around while trying to hit her.

"Looks like things aren't going too well for Hogwarts," T'challa smirked.

"Stay still," Marcus yelled, still trying to hit Sofia.

Sofia's only answer to his demand was to change into a rabbit. She may no longer be able to fly but never underestimate a bunny's speed. Sofia was easily able to jump around with incredible agility, avoiding every spell sent her way.

"She's cute, but people always underestimate cute," Krinos stated.

And Sofia proved him right in more ways than one. Using her rabbit speed and jumping ability, she made a quick turn and jumped right at Marcus. She shifted midair, changing into an eel. She landed right on his chest, giving him a quick and strong zap of her eel electricity. Marcus dropped like a sack of potatoes. 

Sofia changed back, standing up.

"Well, that was disappointing," she said. "I didn't even need to use any animals of prey."

Professor Lectic had one of the Crystal Rose students who could teleport bring Marcus to their medical wing. Hawk was the next one to come forth.

"So, which of you thinks they can take on a harpy," he spread his wings out in a similar reason to why Sofia had her fangs out.

Pansy stepped forward, hoping to get a victory after Marcus's humiliating defeat.

"I'll show a monster like you how you're nothing but a bug to be squashed," she declared.

Hawk yawned. "I'm bored already."

They got into the same positions Sofia and Marcus had been in before.

"Begin," Professor Lectic called out again.

"Bombarda," Pansy immediately cast.

Just like Sofia, the spell never hit Hawk. He was easily able to fly out of the way. If there was one advantage to being half-harpy, it was that his flying skills were a natural part of his DNA. He glided through the air, away from her spells, as if he was doing an ariel ballet.

"Harpy blizzard," Hawk cast.

His storm clouds appeared in his hands again. They unleashed a strong force of icy wind and snow. Even as Pansy tried to cast more spells, the wind was too strong. All of her spells were sent flying off course. Slowly, Pansy was being buried by snow.

"I won't let you beat me," she screamed. "I will show you how powerful a real pureblood can be!"

"You want power? This is power," Hawk said. "Harpy lightning storm!"

His blizzard stopped but was immediately replaced by a barrage of lightning bolts. Pansy shrieked as she ran around like a chicken with its head cut off while trying to avoid being blasted. Judging by the look on his face, he was just messing with her. He was having fun with his fight.

"Never underestimate a harpy," Hestia said.

"This is likely his revenge for the Bleached Peacock calling us freaks," T'challa says.

"You can't blame him for that," Harry said. "My own issues with that word made me want to do the same thing."

"You know, I'm actually bored now," Hawk stated. "Harpy thunderclap."

Hawk aimed his clouds at Pansy and unleashed his powerful sound wave. It sent the pug-faced girl off her feet, crashing a few yards away. She was instantly knocked out. Professor Lectic had her sent to the medical wing as well.

"This is turning out to be easier than I already believed it would be," Harry chuckled.

After Pansy, the other students were dropping like flies.

Cormac McLaggen went next against Celest, a friend of Krinos and Melody's who had the power to control water. She didn't even need to move when Cormac was firing spells at her. Her magic made it so her body was literally made out of water. So, all the spells went right through her body and did no damage. All Celest had to do was blast him with a single strong aquatic beam of water to knock him out.

After him, it was allowed for Crabbe and Goyle to work together. Mostly because everyone was convinced the two shared a brain cell. They went up against Angela, who was perfectly fine with it being a two-on-one fight. Not that it was two-on-one for very long. Angela was quick to summon one of her most terrifying Celestial Spirits, Leo the Lion. He was not scary in terms of appearance since the spirit was actually really handsome and human-like. It was the amount of power he had that was terrifying. On Angela's order, Leo blasted the two Slytherins with a massive beam of fire-like light with a roaring lion head at the front of the blast. They were another instant knockout.

Marietta Edgecomb went up against T'challa. To say that what they did was a fight would be an insult to the word "fight." The moment T'challa changed into his panther were-cat form, she ran away from him while screaming. The girl was an insult to every other Ravenclaw that has ever attended Hogwarts.

Zacharias Smith was as arrogant as ever when he took his turn. He tried not to let it get to him when Abby was revealed to be his opponent. By that point, everyone knew Abby was related to Professor Gold. So, they were aware she also had ice magic and that it was incredibly strong. Something that was shown the second their duel started. Every spell Zacharias sent her way ended up frozen solid. Not only was it shocking that Abby could freeze their spells, but it was incredibly scary as well. Soon, Zacharias found himself frozen into an ice statue. He would be fine once unfrozen, but that didn't mean he didn't lose the duel.

Ginny was next with her opponent being Charlotte. It was clear Ginny thought she had the upper hand because she didn't think fairy tales would be of any use against her. She did have somewhat of a strategy when she tried to use "Expelliarmus" to disarm Charlotte of her book since that was what she needed for her powers to work. That quickly failed when Charlotte simply stepped to the side and the spell flew past her. After that, Charlotte fought back with a smirk as she summoned the Nemean Lion from her book. Since the lion was legendary for having an indestructible hind, none of Ginny's spells worked on it. Her focus on the lion allowed Charlotte to sneak up behind her and trap her by sucking her into the Magic Mirror. She would release her after she was declared the winner.

Ron went up next, determined to show off himself and "avenge" his sister. That was not in the cards for him when Mason stepped up as his opponent. The ruby mage of fire didn't even bother to look like he was going to take the fight seriously. While that served to piss Ron off, it didn't make Mason take him any less seriously than he already was. Even as Ron was firing spells off like a madman, Mason yawned as his fire served to blast apart each spell before they could reach him. Mason actually showed a lot of self-restraint since even when he knocked out Ron with a fireball to the chest, he made sure the fireball was more force than heat. So, even when his clothes were singed, his body was not damaged beyond knocking Ron out.

Hermione went after him and faced Melody. Their fight was almost as fast as T'challa and Marietta's. Before Hermione could have sent a single spell, Melody snapped her fingers and Hermione's throat glowed. When she tried to cast a spell, nothing happened. And that was because Melody had used her powers to cast a silencing spell on her. So, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't verbally speak to say any spells. She might claim to be the brightest witch of her generation, but she had no talent for silent casting. So, with a simple sound wave attack, Melody easily knocked her out and won.

Last, and probably least, Malfoy stepped up. Krinos stepped forward as his opponent.

"I'm surprised you didn't run away with your ridiculous robes between your legs," Krinos snickered. "Are you that eager to meet the same fate as all your other 'teammates?"

"They were all weak and pathetic," Draco snapped back. "I'm a pureblood of the powerful house of Malfoy! You won't beat me!"

"Every single one of you claimed the same thing," Krinos stated. "You all said you were going to beat us. And look at what happened. You all lost. Badly."

"Confringo," Draco cast before Professor Lectic even called for their duel to begin.

His blasting curse shot at Krinos instantly.

"Nature's shield," Krinos cast.

A giant flower of light formed in front of him, easily blocking the spell.

"Incendio," Draco cast.

Fire burst from his wand, heading right for Krinos. But, just like the precious spell, it didn't do anything against the flower shield.

"Is that all," Krinos asked in a bored tone.

"Lacarnum Inflamari," Draco angirly cast.

The blue fire spell shot at Krinos this time. But, it also did no damage to Krinos's shield.

"Normally, I would say it was a good idea to use fire against Krinos," Hestia says. "But, no wand-user spell will affect his plants."

"Even if they did, I doubt Krinos would be defeated that easily," Harry said.

"Not even Mason has an easy time with Krinos whenever they duel each other," Melody says. "Krinos's weakness may be fire, but he doesn't let that discourage him from always doing his best."

None of his spells doing anything against Krinos's shield was noticeably pissing Malfoy off. Especially since Krinos looked just as bored with their fight as all the other mystic souls had been during their fights.

"I'm getting bored," Krinos taunted. "Are you going to give me an actual fight or can I just finish this already?"

Malfoy turned red with anger. He continued to launch more and more fire spells.

"Why can't you just die already," Draco shouted. "None of you monsters deserve to live! Just die like all of you should!"

That was the wrong thing to say. Krinos's eyes glowed as he waved his hand, using a wave of his powers to knock away all of Malfoy's spells. Both his hands were glowing with his powers. The plants around the field were already reacting to his anger.

"I am so DONE with listening to your psychotic delusions," Krinos yelled. "We have just as much of a right to live as everyone else. EVERYONE deserves to live no matter how you feel about them! If I can't verbally convince you of that, then I will simply BEAT THAT LESSON INTO YOUR SKULL!"

With a thrust of his hands, Krinos sent a hurricane of nature at Malfoy. And it was probably the first time Malfoy was truly scared of any mystic soul at Crystal Rose.

(AN: Happy New Year!)

Chapter Text

Chapter Sixty-One: We're Done, Old Man!

"I can't tell if they were stupid or delusional," Krinos shook his head as they walked through the corridors. 

"I'm pretty sure the answer is 'both,' dear brother," Melody responded.

"That is the only answer when it comes to any wand-user who thinks they can defeat a mystic soul," T'challa says.

"You probably had the easiest 'fight,' T'challa," Hestia giggled.

"To call my match a 'fight' is an insult to the word 'fight," T'challa shook his head. "All I did was change into my were-panther form, and she ran away."

"Which made for a very entertaining sight," Harry remarked.

"Who even was that girl, Harry," Angela asked him.

"Marietta Edgecomb," Harry answered the Celestial witch. "She's a Ravenclaw back at Hogwarts. But, from what I've heard from Luna, she's more focused on trying to get a rich and handsome husband than actually doing well in school."

"And she somehow ended up in the house for bookworms," Krinos raised an eyebrow.

"When it comes to sorting, I feel there are a lot of mistakes being made," Harry admitted.

"With only four houses, I guess there would be times when someone isn't sorted into the right house," Melody said.

"It's why we have seven houses," Angela says. "More houses mean a wider range of personality types the houses represent. Which also means those sorted there fit incredibly well with their new housemates."

"That's definitely better than the four houses at Hogwarts," Harry nodded. "I understand why it's only four since they represent the four founders, but I've seen and met a lot of people who don't fit into their house at all."

"You've told us that they use a magic hat to sort the students," T'challa remembered hearing before.

Harry nodded again. "The Sorting Hat is placed on our heads and looks through our minds to see which house we belong in. But, I don't think it works very well."

"Who are those you've met that you don't think fit into their houses," Hestia asked.

"Well, you guys have already met Hermione," Harry says, making most of them groan. "Well, she might have been sorted into Gryffindor, but she's never fit in. All she does, when not being incredibly annoying, is read and work on schoolwork. She would fit much better in Ravenclaw. Most of the house tends to question how she got sorted into Gryffindor when she's nothing like what Godric Gryffindor had in mind for his house."

"From what you've said and also from what we've seen of her, she doesn't seem very smart," Angela says.

"Especially considering that I've heard her go on several rants about how our magic is 'fake' simply because she views 'wandless magic' like ours as 'impossible," Krinos shook his head in annoyance.

"It's all book smarts," Harry tells them. "She takes whatever she reads and spits it back out. She has no concept of thinking for herself. Everything she reads, she believes is completely factual."

"Has she never heard of fiction books," T'challa raised an eyebrow.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I doubt she would ever read one. Though, given the Lockhart situation, she doesn't seem capable of telling the difference between fact and fiction."

"Gilderoy Lockhart," Melody looked curious and angry.

"Yes," Harry answered her, confused. "You know him?"

"Know him," Angela looked pissed. "He's a wanted criminal in this country!"

"What," Harry never expected to hear that.

"My mother caught wind of a group of wild harpies who were close to a mundane campground," Angela explained. "They had already murdered several mundanes ever since they moved into the area. So, my mother took it upon herself to vanquish them. After she did, she encountered Lockhart, who had apparently also heard of the harpies. He grilled her for details of her fight, making her extremely uncomfortable the entire time. She knew something was up with him. So, when he pulled out his wand and tried to erase her memories, he kicked him where the sun doesn't shine and immediately reported him to the Guards. Unfortunately, he had a portkey on him and managed to escape before the Guards got there. He's been wanted ever since."

"Well, while it might not be the justice you or your mum wanted, he's been dealt with," Harry tells her.

"Dealt with how, exactly," Hestia asked.

"For reasons I will never understand, Dumbledore hired Lockhart as our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in my second year at Hogwarts," Harry said. "During the events that happened that year, Ron and I eventually tried to force him to help. Only for us to discover that everything he's ever wrote in his books was a lie. He did the same thing he tried to do to Angela's mom to others. He would interrogate them about their heroic deeds, obliviate their memories, and then claim their acts as his own."

"The way he treated my mom did make it obvious he had done something like that before," Angela says.

"He's done it to many others, given the number of books he's published," Harry said. "I managed to disarm him, but he managed to grab onto Ron's wand when we were distracted. He tried to erase our memories as well, but Ron's wand had been broken all year. So, trying to cast the spell with the wand caused it to backfire. He erased his own memories. All of them. From what I've heard, he's been in the Spell Damage Ward of our magical hospital ever since."

"Well, at least you can give your mother the good news," Hestia tells Angela.

"Talk about karma," Angela says.

"He is also another example of the failed sorting at Hogwarts," Harry says. "Lockhart was sorted into Ravenclaw. But he's an idiot. He could barely hold his wand the right way. How he ended up in Ravenclaw probably made Rowena Ravenclaw roll over in her grave. Given his sneakiness, he would have been better in Slytherin."

"Our sorting powder is looking better and better by comparison with everything you've told us," Krinos says.

"A monkey could sort people better," T'challa crossed his arms. "As an animal mage, I would know. Even if my magic deals with jungle cats only."

"And that's with people who would fit into other houses," Harry says. "I've met others who don't fit into any Hogwarts houses at all."

"With only four houses, it's not much of a surprise that there would be those who don't fit at all," Angela said.

"The traitor, Peter Pettigrew, who told Voldemort where my parents were hiding and framed Sirius for his crimes," Harry explained. "From everything Sirius and Remus have told me and from what I've seen of him, he's not brave, not loyal, not smart, and not cunning. He's a coward who latches onto who he believes to be the current powerhouse. The 'winner' in his eyes."

"I'm not surprised," Krinos says. "I've met some low-level demons who try and make themselves look more powerful by being connected to a higher-level demon."

"First, it was the Marauders," Harry tells them. "Then, it was Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix. After that, it was Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He wanted to appear bigger than he actually is."

"Really is a person who did not belong at Hogwarts," T'challa says. "Or any other magic school, at that."

"I bet I can name another one who doesn't belong," Melody remarked. "Ron."

"You're not wrong," Harry agreed with her. "He's not brave since he only ever does anything when he knows he's at an advantage. He's not smart, given his awful grades. I know more than anyone that he's certainly not loyal. And I think he'd rather die than end up in Slytherin."

"The prejudice against that house is ridiculous," T'challa shook his head. "Sure, Winter Wolf and Dryad don't get along, but it's because of our conflicting personalities. We don't think one house is evil while the other is good."

"We've heard the same thing about other magic schools that also have houses," Hestia says. "This rivalry is purely a Hogwarts problem."

"Lucky us," Harry groaned.

"Harry," the group suddenly heard.

They looked over and saw Sirius walking over to them. He had a big grin on his face.

"Sirius," Harry met him and hugged him.

"Are you going to hug me every time you see me, pup," Sirius chuckled as he returned the hug.

"I spent twelve years without you, Sirius," Harry says. "I'm making up for lost time."

"What do we owe the visit, Sirius," Krinos asked.

"I came to give Harry some good news," Sirius said. "I just came from a meeting with Headmistress Jiwe. It's complete."

"What is," Melody asked.

"Harry's transfer," Sirius grinned. "He is now an official student of Crystal Rose and no longer a Hogwarts student."

"Really," Harry was both shocked and excited.

Sirius nodded. "Yes, pup. I've been working on it for a few weeks. There was a lot of interference from the ministry, and it was also hard to do it under Dumbledore's nose. But we finally managed to get it done."

Harry could hardly believe it. He knew Sirius had been planning for him to attend Crystal Rose. It was only natural, given the school's reputation as the oldest and best school for mystic souls in the world. Even if they all say they were constantly competing for the top spot with the schools in the United States, India, and Italy. Unlike Dumbledore and magical Britain, none of them had giant egos about their school and knew other schools were just as great as their own.

"I can't believe it," Harry hugged Sirius even tighter. "Thank you, Dad! Thank you!"

One word. One single word was nearly enough to take Sirius down. The canine mystic soul's eyes filled with tears as he held Harry in his arms. Krinos, Melody, T'challa, Hestia, and Angela all watched the scene and found it hard not to tear up as well. They were all aware of a lot that the two had gone through. They both deserved to have a loving family, and they found that family with each other.

"Of course, son," Sirius whispers into Harry's ear. "I will do anything to protect you and make sure you're loved."

Harry was not going to be letting go of Sirius any time soon. That was for sure.

"I swear, if someone ruins this moment..." T'challa began.

"Sirius, Harry," an annoying familiar voice was heard.

"Crud," T'challa swore.

"You jinxed it," Krinos slapped the back of his friend's head.

"Sorry," T'challa rubbed the spot where Krinos slapped him.

Much to their annoyance, they all looked over and saw a clearly irritated Dumbledore. He was holding a letter in his hand. Most likely, he was notified about Harry's transfer. They haven't had a confrontation with him in a while, but that didn't stop them from being annoyed at his presence. 

"Well, there goes my good mood," Harry grumbled.

"Better to get this over with now rather than later," Sirius said.

None of the other teens made any move to leave. Harry was now officially one of them. They were going to protect him from any type of threat. Especially since they were all aware of how Harry still needed to keep it secret from Dumbledore that the block on his mystic soul powers had been broken.

"What is the meaning of this," Dumbledore held up the letter.

"I take it you've been notified about Harry's transfer," Sirius kept hold of Harry's shoulders protectively.

"You can not be serious about this," Dumbledore demanded information.

"I am serious, twice over," Sirius chuckled, once again using his name to his advantage.

"Why would you ever think of transferring Harry out of Hogwarts," Dumbledore demanded to know.

"Because Hogwarts has clearly fallen from grace," Sirius says. "Between Binns constantly putting students to sleep, Trelawney predicting the deaths of her students non-stop, Snape being a sorry excuse for a human being, and the yearly near-death experiences, Hogwarts is not the great school it used to be."

"Hogwarts is perfectly fine, my boy," Dumbledore tried saying.

"If you really think that, then you have gone senile in your old age, Dumbledore," Sirius said. "Harry has nearly died every single year he has been attending Hogwarts. He's been safer here than he's ever been at Hogwarts."

"Probably because no one's stupid enough to attack a school of mystic souls," Krinos smirked.

"Not unless they have a death wish," Melody added.

"Those demons from a few weeks ago certainly learned that lesson," T'challa remarked.

"You would rather have Harry attend here with all of these..." Dumbledore cut himself off before he could break his "kind grandfather" persona.

"These' what, Dumbledore," Krinos crossed his arms.

His and Melody's eyes started glowing. T'challa's eyes turned emerald green and became jungle cat eyes. Angela already had a hand on her gold keys. And while Hestia was a healer, even she radiated power.

"Crystal Rose is known across the globe as one of the best schools in the world," Sirius says. "They have more classes than Hogwarts while also having more after-school activities, more helpful teachers, more opportunities to learn beyond one form of magic, and more potential for friendships because of the lack of rivalries between the houses."

"You're going to take Harry away from all his friends," Dumbledore tried going a different route.

"While I am going to miss Neville and Luna, Fred and George are graduating this year," Harry says. "So are Lee, Angelina, and Alicia. Katie's been a good friend as well, but she's graduating next year. I'll keep in contact with all of them, even though Fred and George said they'd want to open up a shop at the magical market that Krinos and the others said is in Athens."

"I'm talking about Ron, Ginny, and Hermione, Harry," Dumbledore says. "Why would you abandon your best friends?"

"They abandoned me first," Harry stated. "They chose you over me. You are only their headmaster. You have no power over what they did during the Summer holidays. And yet they still followed your orders not to write to me. So, as I said, they abandoned me first. I have found better friends here than they have ever been to me."

"Harry's allowed to have good and loyal friends, Dumbledore," Sirius says. "I told you this back when you tried to force me to make Harry make up with those three. Which was never going to happen. Harry has his own free will and I would never take that away from him."

"And you believe I would," Dumbledore had the gall to look offended.

"Given how much you try and control so many aspects of Harry's life, I do," Sirius said. "You placed him with the Dursleys even when both James and Lily's wills said he was never to even meet them. You sent Hagrid to bring him back to the magical world, despite how that's a teacher's job, not his. You ordered his friends not to write while also trying to force me to do the same."

"You were writing to him the entire time," Dumbledore looked genuinely insulted that anyone would "dare" not follow his orders.

"Because, unlike you, I will never believe that isolating Harry is a good idea," Sirius tells him.

"Isolating is a strong word, Sirius," Dumbledore tried to calm down the dog animagus.

"Sugar coat the word in any way you like, Dumbledore, but it's still the correct word," Sirius says. "I am doing this to give Harry the support he deserves. Something you never gave him."

"Everything I have ever done was for Harry and for the Greater Good," Dumbledore argued.

"The Greater Good of who," Harry raised an eyebrow. "Because it certainly wasn't me. If it was, I never would have gone to those horrible mundanes."

There was pride in the eyes of the other mystic souls as they heard Harry using their terminology for mortals so easily. He was already adapting to their world much faster than they expected. Not that they expected anything less from someone so open to their world and being one of them.

"As I have told you many times, my boy, the blood wards made it the safest..." Dumbledore was cut off.

"It was NOT safe," Harry interrupted him. "I was NEVER safe there! I was abused from the second you dropped me off there! My bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs for over ten years! I was barely fed a single meal a day. If you can even call a can of cold soup and a stale piece of bread a meal. I was forced to work from the early morning to late in the evening on more chores than even a house elf would be told to do. I've had to work through broken bones, bleeding cuts, multiple concussions, burns, and many other injuries that I got from those abusive mundanes! If I weren't magical, I doubt I could have survived all of that!"

"Now, my boy, you shouldn't make up lies about your family," Dumbledore said. "They love..."

"They're not capable of love," Harry shot back. "They don't love anyone. No one except themselves. I didn't even know what my name was until primary school. All they have ever called me is 'Freak' or 'Boy.' If it wasn't for school, I bet I'd never have learned my name since they would likely rather die than use it."

"Harry," Krinos and Melody both wanted to hug him.

Out of anyone else, they were the only ones who came close to knowing what Harry had been through. But that was only because their parents were also murdered with those same killers, the older Gardna brothers, having sneakily abused the twins when they were younger. And even to this day, all the two ever talked about in prison was getting out to kill Krinos and Melody.

"Whether it's because you don't believe child abuse is real, or maybe you simply don't believe 'family' would abuse each other, but that doesn't change the facts," Harry's glare could have killed Dumbledore if his mystic soul magic had a laser-eyes aspect. "And the fact is that I was abused and you would rather ignore it than admit you were wrong."

"I have no idea where all of this hostility is coming from, my boy, but I have always done everything to protect you," Dumbledore says. "Besides, you can't possibly want to leave Hogwarts. It's your home."

"It was my home," Harry corrected him. "It stopped being my home when I saw how you allowed the place to become a breeding ground for bullying and abuse. It stopped being my home when I saw how little you cared about the students under your care. And most of all, it stopped being my home when I discovered the warmth and love that comes from being surrounded by the people of Crystal Rose."

"And we gladly welcome you into our family, Harry," Krinos places a hand on his shoulder.

"Because that's what Crystal Rose is," Melody placed her hand on his other shoulder. "A family."

"A place where we look out for each other and protect each other," T'challa says.

"A place where we can heal and grow," Hestia said.

"And most of all, a place where we can all be ourselves with no shame and only acceptance," Angela smiled.

"We're done, old man," Harry tells Dumbledore. "And you only have yourself to blame."

The group then walked away from Dumbledore, not allowing him to say anything else.

Chapter Text

Despite the annoyance that was Dumbledore, Harry was on cloud nine. He was now an official student of Crystal Rose and not just a visiting student. He knew that Sirius transferring him to Crystal Rose was something they had talked about, but it hadn't felt real until it actually happened.

Now he didn't have to worry about being forced back to Hogwarts at the end of the year. There was a part of him that wanted to see what would happen if Dumbledore tried to force him back. He was hoping that if he did try, Headmistress Jiwe would send her lion after him.

"So, does this mean that my dorm room at Winter Wolf is permanently mine," Harry chuckled as he looked at the mystic souls around him.

They all laughed at his little joke.

"Well, not fully permanent since you will eventually graduate, but it will remain your room until then," Krinos tells him.

"Good," Harry smiled. "That has to be the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in."

"It's a common rumor that all of the beds have the same comfort enchantment on them that Sleeping Beauty had on her bed during her 100-year sleep," Hestia said.

"Now knowing that fairy tales are real, I wouldn't be surprised if that rumor was also real," Harry chuckled.

"It's the more subtle magic, such as a comfy bed enchantment, that can be real because of how subtle it is," Krinos says. 

"And this is also why some mystics can easily make a lot of money in the mundane world," Melody commented.

"I thought mystic souls were very clear about keeping the magic and muggle worlds separate," Fred was confused.

"Especially since you've all made it clear how you view magical beings as being more advanced than muggles," George added.

"It's not that we have the type of unethical hatred of mundanes that the 'purebloods' of your home country do," T'challa says. "We simply prefer to remain separate from them. But, there are those who open businesses that blend into both worlds."

"Things like repair shops, furniture stores, photography studios, and other businesses like that have footholds in both the magic and mundane worlds," Melody explained. "The businesses simply have two sides to them. There is the boring side where nothing magical is around so that mundanes can do their business there, but then there is the side where all the best stuff is for magical beings."

"By that, Melody means the magical and mortal merchandise are kept separate," Krinos explained. "They don't sell bad products to mundanes. They simply sell the stuff that has no magic in it. Except for the stuff they can get away with. Such as the comfy bed enchantment we mentioned."

"Repair shops run by magical beings also do have an advantage over the mundane ones," T'challa said. "Magic can fix anything, even technology. Plus, it doesn't take anywhere near as long as fixing it by hand."

"While it may be a bit unfair, that is why we do still tend not to mingle with mundanes," Hestia says. "They do have the side that they present in the mundane world, but they market more on the magical side."

"Let's hope our dad doesn't learn about those shops," Fred says.

"He will never leave them once he's found them," George said.

"I mean no offense to your father when I say this, but maybe visiting those stores would teach him some actual facts about mundanes," Harry says. "For someone who's supposed to be the head of a mundane-related department at the ministry, he doesn't know anything about mundanes."

"No offense taken, Harry," Fred waved off.

"Even we know that Dad doesn't know anything about muggles," George says.

"Honestly, he's incredibly embarrassing in regards to his love of muggles," Fred sighed.

"We love Dad, but it's obvious he cares more about his love of muggles than anything else," George stated.

"He spends more time in his shed of muggle stuff than in the house with the rest of us," Fred said.

"Which gives Mum free rein to treat us as she wishes, with him never doing anything to stop her," George says.

"Especially with how she punishes most of us for simply not doing what she wants while letting Ginny and Ron do whatever they want," Fred said.

"Not to mention how he stays in that muggle-focused department at the Ministry," George shivered as he remembered that.

"We might hate the extreme favoritism shown to purebloods, but it would work in Dad's favor," Fred says.

"He simply chooses not to use it, even if it's more because of how much he loves muggles rather than because he hates the favoritism," George said.

"Dad could easily use that to get a better-paying job, but he's so obsessed with muggles that he doesn't even try," Fred crossed his arms.

"He knows how low his pay is and he also knows we don't have a lot of money, but he still prefers working with his muggle stuff than trying to improve our situation," George groaned in annoyance.

"On some level, we understand that he doesn't want to be like the corrupt purebloods who do use their blood status to get things they want," Fred says.

"But, eventually, he should put that aside to give the rest of us a better chance at not being bullied over both our financial situation, on top of being labeled as 'blood traitors," George said.

"We love our dad, but he's too busy in his own world to see the damage around him," Fred stated.

"Which makes us glad we're graduating this year and already have taken lots of steps to become independent," George said.

Harry couldn't help but feel bad for the twins. He knew how much they loved their family, even the members who were pains in the butt like their mother, Ron, and Ginny. Plus, Harry also knew that Arthur was a gentle man who truly did everything he could to avoid being a "pompous pureblood." However, in his case, that also left his family in a financial situation he could have easily resolved. On some level, Harry gets that Arthur didn't want to feed a corrupt system. But he also had seven kids to think about, along with a wife who didn't work. He was the one bringing in all the money, so he should have focused more on that and less on his hatred of pureblood favoritism.

"Excuse me, guys," Harry tells the group. "We need a moment."

He took the hands of the twins and guided them away. The group was outside that day, hanging out in a clearing that was in the woods around the school, so Harry took the two further away from the group to give them some privacy. They could still be seen by their friends, to keep them from worrying, but far enough away so that they couldn't be heard. And unlike the Annoying Trio, they could be trusted not to eavesdrop.

"Harry, we're fine," the two tried to convince their "friend."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I may not have empathy as my mystic soul magic, but I can still tell you two aren't feeling the best."

The two of them sighed. Harry was one of the people who knew them the best, along with Lee, Oliver, Luna, and the girls from the Quidditch team. So, he could tell that something was bothering them.

"Being here has opened our eyes a lot," Fred admitted.

"We knew there were a lot of problems in magical England, but it only became clearer this year," George added.

"And that also made it clear the issues that the so-called 'Light' have that match a lot of the same behaviors of the 'Dark' they claim they're fighting against," Fred says.

"They're a bunch of hypocrites, and there is no real 'good' side of that war," George said.

"Both sides are awful, and everyone not on their side is caught in the crossfire," Fred stated.

"Anyone who tries to do real good usually ends up taken out by either side because their actions go against their own plans," George crossed his arms.

"Voldemort kills those who oppose him in any way," Fred said.

"And Dumbledore takes out anyone who goes against whatever plans he has," George says.

"Not to mention they both always have help from their minions," Fred rolled his eyes.

"The Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix aren't the soldiers they see themselves as," George scoffed.

"Hey, hey, hey," Harry tried to calm them both down. "Everything is alright, you two. You've told me how you plan to leave once you graduate. Magical England won't be a problem for you anymore once you leave. You can leave it all behind."

Despite knowing that Harry was right, the twins still looked worried and anxious. Harry took their hands again, trying to comfort them as best he could.

"We just wish our family wasn't part of the problem," Fred admitted.

"Our dad always told us how the Weasleys have always been loyal to their family above all else," George tells Harry.

"But yet he would rather play with his muggle stuff than see the issues in the family," Fred said.

"And that's not even counting all of the problems caused by Mum, Ron, and Ginny," George sighed.

Harry had never seen the twins like this before. They sounded so defeated. For two people who have always been so full of life ever since he met them, it was hard to see the weight of everything they've been through to hold them down like this. The twins were different from others who have family members who are a part of the problems in magical England. They genuinely loved their family, and they always would, even when they were well aware that their family was a part of the problem. It was something he greatly admired about the twins. They didn't stop loving their family even while accepting the problems they caused. Accepting the fact that family members are bad people doesn't mean they have stopped loving them. They are still family, after all. And the twins took it very seriously when their father told them that the Weasleys are always supposed to be loyal to their family.

"I'm not going to tell you that it's not hard," Harry tells them. "I know more than anyone what it's like to have family members who aren't good people. While the Dursleys are very different from your family, I still can connect to you two on that level."

Fred and George would never compare their situation to Harry's. What he had been through with his uncle, aunt, and cousin was awful. He spent over ten years being abused physically, mentally, and emotionally. He had never known love until he met Hagrid, and Hagrid became his first-ever friend. While their parents and siblings were part of a much bigger problem, they would never believe that was worse than going so long without knowing love.

"You're lucky to now be a student here, Harry," Fred says.

"This place is incredible," George added.

"We know we're escaping after we graduate at the end of the year," Fred started.

"But it's like a 'too late' type of moment because of the awful so-called education we had at Hogwarts," George finished.

"You guys can take Summer classes here," Harry tells them. "Krinos and the others have told me how they have classes in the Summer for those who sign up for them. And they do welcome older students who feel they need the classes."

"They do," the twins didn't know that.

Harry nodded. "Yes. I know you two have been working hard on your powers, but I'm sure those classes would be a big help."

Fred and George agreed with Harry completely. The two of them had been training with some of Krinos's friends ever since they discovered their elemental kitsune powers. Mason would help Fred with his fire while their friend Celest would help George since she had powers over water. They loved to prank and have fun, but it didn't mean they were reckless or stupid. They knew powers like theirs could easily get out of hand and become dangerous. They needed to train so that they would never hurt anyone.

"You always know the best ways to help, Harry," Fred said.

"We were in full-blown panic mode, and yet you easily talked us down," George says.

Harry couldn't help but blush at the praise and the looks the twins were giving him.

"Don't let your family keep you guys down," Harry tells them. "Life isn't just about your circumstances. It's what you make it. I could have easily given up and not done anything about the control that Dumbledore is determined to have over my life. I have been beaten down from so many angles that no one could blame me for giving up. But I didn't and my life is on the fast track to becoming a dream come true."

Unknown to the three of them, their friends were giving them looks from where they were on their side of the clearing. Krinos gave Melody a smirk and she got his silent message.

"Harmonic Arena," she cast.

A small wave from her hands sent a little pulse of her magic at the trio. Now, they just had to sit back and enjoy the show.

Harry- This might sound kinda crazy
But I recognize your smile

Fred- Well we must both be insane
Because I swear I've known you a while

They had no idea what was happening, but they couldn't stop. Harry could remember Krinos saying how he could never help himself but sing whenever Melody would play music. But he never had a habit like that. Either Krinos was rubbing off on them, or there was magic at play. The second option was more likely.

Harry- It's good to see you crystal clear
Had a vision, now you're here
It's you, yeah

George- Yeah, it's you, yeah

Harry- It's really you
And your smile shines even brighter
That I've seen it in my head.

Fred- And we're from two worlds apart, but
Still there's a common thread and

Harry- Now it's finally been revealed
I'm in some magnetic field with you, yeah

George- Oh, with you, yeah

Harry-Oh, it pulled me to you

George- Pulled me to you, yeah

All three of them were blushing as the magical effect they were under also made them dance in a very romantic way. It felt like one of those "meet-cute" or "love at first sight" type of moments that would be common to see in a rom-com movie.

Harry- And you don't have to say another word
I already heard ya

Fred- I feel you

All Three- I feel you

Twins- I hear you

Harry- loud and clear

Harry- I know that we've just met

All three- But you know me

Harry- Don't know it all just yet

Twins- But you've shown me exactly where I've been runnin'
I've always knew you would comin'

Harry- I'm being pulled to you,

All Three- like a magnet

Harry- I don't know what it is,

Twins- but we have it
I've never met someone like you

Harry- You're kinda like a dream come true

All Three- A dream come true (Twins- A dream come true)
A dream come true (Twins- A dream come true, ah)

Fred opened his hand and let out a small ball of fire. He threw it up, and it exploded into a bunch of beautiful small fireworks. George then did something similar by creating some bubbles with his magic that burst into cute, tiny showers of water over them. Smaller feats of magic like that were a lot easier for beginners like the twins.

Harry- I don't know much about fire
But I recognize a spark
You've spent your life with your guard up

Fred- And you've spent yours in the dark

Harry- Yeah, but finally I see the light

Fred- Mm, I won't burn you

Harry- I won't bite, not you, yeah

George- Oh, not you, yeah (Harry- No, I won't bite you)

All Three- No
And if this is just a daydream
I hope that it never ends
And I know I'm supposed to hate you
Guess we'll have to play pretend

Harry- We'll ride the wind and face it all

He waved his hands and summoned wind to surround them. It was fast wind, but also felt gentle at the same time. The wind closed in on them and lifted the three off the ground. They grabbed onto each other's hands as the wind held them up. Their dance continued in the air as they held onto each other.

All Three- Hope you'll catch me if I fall for you, yeah
If I fall for you, fall for you (Twins- I fall for you)

Harry- You don't have to say another word
I already heard ya (Twins- In my head)

All Three- I feel you (Twins-I feel you)
I hear you
loud and clear
I know that we've just met
But you know me
I don't know it all just yet
But you've shown me

Harry- Ooh, I'll lift you up if you trust me

All Three- Yeah, I never thought that I'd be

Harry- Feelin' somethin' this new

Twins- I know the wind blew me to you (All Three- Wind, it blew me to you)

The wind picked them up a little higher as they continued to hold onto each other's hands. It was the closest the three had been since they arrived at Crystal Rose. Sure, they had their moments together, but this was the "breaking point," so to speak. They had been teased about their crushes on each other, but this seemed to finally allow them to accept that there was something between them. 

All Three- Never met someone like you
You're kinda like
A dream come true
There's no place I'd rather be
There's no place I'd rather know
Improve me just a little
Meet me in the middle
I don't wanna let you go
Don't wanna let you, let you go
Don't wanna let you go
I know what you've been through,

Fred- yeah, it's heavy

Harry- I will look out for you,

George- if you let me

Harry- 'Cause I'm tired of complying (All Three- tired of complying)
And you make me feel like flying
I don't see nothing else

Twins- when I'm with you

Harry- Even before we met, yeah, I missed you

All Three- Never met someone like you
Kinda like a dream come true
A dream come true

The wind finally let up as the music also stopped. The trio was still in each other's arms even though the song was now over. They were all blushing, but still felt the romance of the song they had just done.

"Well, at least I now know that I'm not the only one who can put on a good show," Krinos smirked.

The mystic souls walked over to join the trio.

"What just happened," Harry immediately asked them.

"I call it my 'Harmonic Arena' spell," Melody explained. "It creates a literal musical area. I can turn a select area into a musical right out of Disney."

"But I've never even heard that song before," Harry was still confused.

"And we're not familiar with muggle stuff," Fred says.

"So, how did we even know the song," George was equally confused.

"My spell doesn't require you to know the song you end up singing," Melody explained some more. "It simply chooses the song that is most appropriate for the moment."

"And it seems that this time, even magic was showing how much it is shipping you three," Hestia smirked.

The blushes quickly darkened on the trio.

"Okay, we'll take her away now," Krinos says.

The group had to practically drag their healing friend away. They knew she was a matchmaker at heart, but she never knew how to turn it off. Harry looked at the twins, not knowing what he should say after the very romantic song they just did together.

"So... I guess Krinos isn't the only singer around- MMMPH," Harry was cut off.

Fred had cut him off with a kiss on the lips. Harry quickly melted into the kiss. Fred soon stopped, but then George quickly took his place and also kissed Harry. Any sense that Harry still had after Fred's kiss quickly left his body once he felt George's lips. Once both of them had their fill of Harry's lips, they finally stopped and let Harry breathe again.

"There is no way we couldn't do that after basically pouring our hearts out to you in song," Fred said.

"We knew it was now or never, so we chose now," George says.

"I... I uh... That was nice," Harry needed a reboot after those kisses.

"FINALLY," the three of them heard.

Looking over, they saw Hestia burst from behind a bush. The rest of their friends quickly pulled her back toward them.

"Pay no attention to the mystic souls hiding behind the bushes," Krinos tells them.

They all ducked back down, hoping that Harry wouldn't blast them with lightning.