After the chaos that was the welcoming feast for the foreign schools, they were finally all able to get away once they were dismissed. The trio and the other Crystal Rose students were out of their faster than even a mage with super speed. If they were in a cartoon, there would have been a cloud of dust left behind after they all ran out of the Great Hall. Any first-generation mage would probably make a Loony Tunes joke and then reference Roadrunner with the bird's usual "Beep Beep."
They all high-tailed it back to the tree that Lily had conjured to get them to Hogwarts in the first place.
"Well, raise your hand if you knew that would be a disaster," Harry said.
All of them raised their hands. There was not a single one of them that had thought things would have gone smoothly.
"I swear, if one more person calls us monsters or freaks again, they will suddenly come down with the world's fastest case of frostbite," Abby threatened.
"I might also start collecting homemade ice statues," Kryo growled.
Their hands both started to release an icy mist and the ground froze under their feet. Most of them took a step away just to keep themselves from freezing to the ground.
"I wonder how they will react to those like me," Hawk says, messing with his cloak that was also hiding his harpy bird wings.
"Yeah, I'm with you there," Vallia said, her own butterfly wings hidden under her Crystal Rose cloak.
"This is definitely going to be an interesting year," Krinos said.
"Interesting, and also us trying our best not to murder most of our schoolmates," Melody added.
"I've been trying not to murder them since day one, so that is not an issue for me," Harry shrugged. "Unless that Human Garbage Disposal opens his mouth again. Because I will not stop my animal instincts from causing him harm if he insults any of you like he did Krinos in our second year."
"Don't tell us about that, because we will probably all try to kill him if you do," T'challa says.
"Not me," Hestia said. "I'm a healer, not a fighter."
Sofia, T'challa, and Harry soon all turned in the same direction. Their animal hearing was better than any security system. It was why none of them ever could get pranked since they always were able to hear it coming before it got a chance to hit them.
In the direction that they turned, they all saw their Hogwarts friends running up to join them. Well, the boys were running. Luna was skipping as if she was on a yellow brick road and off to see the wizard.
Most of the Crystal Rose students were about to get into defensive positions until they took notice that they were all the students that had joined them when the trio had sat down with them as well.
"You guys are way too fast," Cedric was breathing really hard as they came to a stop.
"Well, we have to sometimes run from demons in order to lure them into a trap," Harry smirked.
"Plus, Harry can channel a cheetah, so he could definitely run really quickly if he wanted to," Melody giggled.
Their Crystal Rose friends looked at them in shock. They were so casually talking about Harry's mystic soul powers with British wand-users. Sure, they knew that Fred and George were probably related to Charlie and Percy based off of the freckles and red hair, but that did not mean that the group knowing about the trio's powers was any less shocking.
"You told them," Buzz gasped.
"They proved themselves trustworthy enough to know about us," Krinos tells their mystic soul friends.
"Plus, there is also the added fact that Luna is one of us," Harry said.
"You are," Hestia asked the blond girl.
Luna nodded. "Crystal Enchantment magic. I got it from my mum. She taught me everything that she could about our magic before she died. She also made it clear to trust few with the knowledge of the Lovegood gift."
"I guess it's only natural for there to be those that are like us," Buzz says to Vallia.
"Yeah, but she did not have to flee to another country when she discovered her powers," Vallia crossed her arms.
"Many might need to flee if bitter chocolate keeps messing with the bumblebee's workplace," Luna stated.
"Huh," the Crystal Rose students looked at her like she had lost her mind.
"That is just the way that Luna talks," Melody tells them. "She knows things. Before we officially met her, she called us the jungle beast, siren, and flower."
"Sounds like we need a translater," T'challa says.
"I think I might actually know this one," Cedric said, having grown used to the way Luna talks since he lives close to the Weasleys and Lovegoods. "When some of the more annoying purebloods insult Headmaster Dumbledore, they call him bumblebee because of the similar-sounding names. And bitter chocolate is most definitely referring to the only person I know that connects that well to it, Minister Fudge."
The trio almost instantly facepalm.
"Great, we'll have to deal with that idiot again," Harry groaned.
"He really needs to learn that he can not get the better of Greek magical beings," Melody says.
"Especially since he has failed each and every single time that he has tried," Krinos shook his head.
"Maybe Olivia can get you guys a magical restraining order against him," Hestia suggested.
"But what's to stop Fudge from breaking it," Neville asked. "He does not seem like he would even care if you guys got a restraining order against him."
"Magical restraining orders are different where we come from," Harry explained. "We know that here, they only alert the law enforcement department if the order is broken. But back home, the orders magically keep the person away. It's like a force field."
"The fact that you guys still chose to come here," Fred started.
"Even knowing all the differences is amazing," George finished.
"Yeah, we are really starting to regret coming here," Harry admitted. "We will never regret the friends that we have made, or the things that I have learned about my bird parents, but everything else is either useless or just annoying."
"And I am sure that we could all do without the egotistical politicians in our lives," Krinos crossed his arms.
"Let's just relax in the tree," Hawk suggested. "That is probably a lot better than just standing around and complaining."
"Relaxing in a tree," Cedric chuckled. "There is something you don't hear being said every day."
"Speak for yourself," Krinos, Harry, Sofia, T'challa, White, and Hawk all said.
"I walked right into that one," Cedric admitted.
"Well, you are around mystic souls," Fred started.
"With nature and animal powers," George finished.
The Crystal Rose students all chuckled. Krinos then raised his hand up and that caused the vine swings to come back down from the branches. There was even more called down because of the added number of people than before. They all took a seat and Krinos commanded them to all be brought up into the tree. And even with all the stress going on, some of the students still found joy in the ride. Some of them even shouted "WEEEEEEE" as they shot up and into the tree.
There was a small rush of leaves and branches before they all ended up in a large room. It amazed the wand-users that such a thing can exist inside of a tree. It was like they put an actual house inside of a tree.
Well, a house that was fused with a tree. The whole place was made out of leaves, flowers, and tree branches. The furniture was all formed from twisted together tree branches and covered with leaves, making it seem super soft. There were chairs and couches made of that combo. Magic seemed to make the leaves as soft as any fabric could be. Tables were also around as well. The ground under their feet was also made from grass-covered branches, also charmed to be softer and fluffier than any carpet could ever be. The lights were all sunflowers on the walls that glowed like they were all light bulbs.
There were two separate hallways as well. One had small pink flowers over it that says "Girls" while the other has blue flowers that spell out "Boys." So it was obvious that one lead to the girls' rooms and the other to the boys'.
It definitely looked a lot bigger on the inside than it did on the outside.
The Hogwarts group definitely was in a lot more shock than the mystic souls. The Crystal Rose students simply got off the swings and sat down on the couches and chairs as if there was nothing odd or amazing about where they were.
"Is this seriously normal to you guys," Neville asked, having a mini fanboy moment as he looked at the breathtaking piece of nature.
"I'm a nature mage," Krinos reminded. "So a house made out of a tree is one of the least interesting things that I've seen done with plants."
"Not that it makes Lily's work on this tree any less impressive," Melody added.
"Thanks," Lily smiled as she walked out of the girls' hallway. "I wanted to make it bigger, but Headmistress Jiwe did not think that was appropriate."
"I'm on your side, but I am probably biased for you since I am a fellow nature mage," White says.
"Yeah, I'm with White on that," Krinos agreed.
"You guys are unique, I'll give you that," Cedric said as the Hogwarts group all sat down as well.
"Can you blame us," the Crystal Roses all smirked.
"Okay, we officially like you guys," Fred said.
"But hold off on speaking at the same time," George says.
"That's our thing," they finished together.
"You guys are magical twins, aren't you," T'challa asked. "I noticed your behavior when you visited Crystal Rose."
"We're the only magical twins that we know off," Fred says.
"We've always been able to talk in each other's heads and combine our magic," George said.
"Only Bill, Charlie, and Percy have ever understood what being magical twins means," Fred says.
"The rest of our family sees no difference between us and identical twins," George said.
"I know that there is a difference, but I am still confused," Neville admitted.
"As the other set of twins in the room," Melody started.
"We can help with this," Krinos chuckled, finishing his sister's sentence.
They all chuckled and giggled at the Gardna twins' antics. The two did twin talk every now and again, but they were nothing like the tennis match that was Fred and George. So it was always funny whenever Krinos and Melody would talk like that.
"Identical twins are just that, identical," Melody says. "Even if they both have magic, being magical twins is something completely different from that. Take Krinos and me as examples. We are fraternal twins that happen to both have magic. While there may be times where we could combine our powers, that is just a mystic soul technique called Perfect Harmony."
"Magical twins are literally one soul in two bodies," Krinos explained. "They are almost always identical, but that is because they share the same soul. Neither is complete without the other. They can read each other's thoughts, share their magic with each other, and can even defend each other's minds if attacked. Two people, two hearts, two minds, one soul."
"But they are still different people, right," Cedric did not want to insult the twins by asking if they were the same person.
"Exactly," Harry said. "Just because they share a soul does not mean that they are not still their own people. Fred always starts their sentences while George always finishes if they don't finish them together. Fred also loves potions and alchemy while George is more interested in spells and runes. Fred also has a preference for spicy food with his desserts being more on the tart side like when they include raspberry or lemon. George prefers sweet desserts while he takes his savory food with more herbs than spices. They share a soul, but are still their own people."
Fred and George visually beam at Harry knowing them so well. It made most of the others snicker around them. They can tease the three boys all they like, but they were all seriously oblivious to the fact that they like each other. Blind people could tell that the three liked each other and yet the three could not see it themselves. Harry knew that he liked the twins, the twins knew that they liked Harry, but none of them knew that the other liked them. It was both very entertaining and frustrating as hell.
"Magical twins are very rare," Melody continued. "Only a handful are born every hundred years or so."
"While twins, in general, are more common in the magical world, magical twins are not," Krinos says.
"Why is that, anyway," Cedric wondered out loud. "There are you guys, Fred & George, the Patil twins, and I know a few other families that also have twins. Why are twins more common in the magical world."
Hestia was the one that answered this time.
"Because of the fact that magic does not discriminate between genders, women get a physical boost because of their magic," she explained. "Like how witches and wizards can easily live over a hundred years even if they have weak magical abilities. It's why there are almost no cases of witches ever dying in childbirth. Because our bodies are given strength from our magic. So, twins are more common in the magical world because our bodies can handle the stress more than mundane women."
"Guess that explains how mum was able to have seven kids in only eleven years," the twins say at the same time.
"Well, there are actually some mundane television shows that feature mortal families with almost twenty kids," Abby says. "They are not my tv show of choice, but I know that they exist."
"What's a TV," the twins, Cedric, and Neville all ask.
"Purebloods," the Crystal Roses all groan.
"Hey," protested the Hogwarts group.
They all then laughed. Hawk, Buzz, and Vallia were all scratching at their backs and cloaks. They wanted to take them off but were still a little nervous because of the wand-users around. Some nods of encouragement were given from the Gardna trio. The three of them took deep breaths and took off their cloaks.
The Hogwarts students, minus Luna for obvious reasons, all gasped. Hawk let out his deep red bird wings, which ironically looked like they came from a falcon. Buzz released his shimmering, almost see-through, bumblebee wings that actually buzzed when they moved. Vallia's monarch butterfly wings basically burst out as if they were sentient and sick of being covered up.
"Wow," Fred gasped.
"Bloody hell," George was shocked.
"Cool," was all that Cedric could say.
"Merlin," Neville's eyes widened.
"Hailey is not the only student at Crystal Rose that is half-harpy," Harry said. "Hawk is as well. Buzz is a bumblebee mystic soul while Vallia is a butterfly witch."
"There are actually a lot of mystic souls that gain physical changes when we gain access to our powers," Melody says. "Some gain claws, some gain shining or animal eyes, some even look like magical creatures."
"Sometimes it even gets hard to tell the actual creatures from those that simply use their powers," Kryo laughed.
"Let me tell you that it can be very embarrassing if you mistake a creature for a mystic soul or a mystic soul for a creature," White stated.
"You guys are most definitely different from those around here," Cedric said.
Most of Crystal Rose just shrugged. They expected as much. And since they were from all over the world, that certainly spoke volumes about how different the rest of the world was also different from magical Britain and not just Greece.
And as the Hogwarts group looked at Hawk, Vallia, and Buzz, they were all sure that their schoolmates would completely lose their minds if they see their wings. Most of them would hate the idea of werewolves or veela in their school, so students with wings would make them go mad. They would have to be very careful, especially with Luna's warning about Fudge. And when Luna warns them about anything, they make sure to listen. She was weird, but Luna always ended up being right.
"So, which of you guys is entering the tournament," Harry asked them. "Most of you aren't even seventeen."
"Well, Headmistress Jiwe and Headmaster Dumbledore thought that our age group would be better than the older students," Sofia said. "We are still powerful, but not as strong as the older students."
"They figured that would make the tournament a more even playing field even with us being mystic souls," Hawk added.
"When they bring whatever they use to choose the champions to Hogwarts, they were going to let us put our names in before the age line is drawn for the wand-users," Kryo said. "Of course, the rest of them will not know that since the younger years will probably be jealous even though they know of our powers."
"We know that Ron," Fred started.
"Will certainly be jealous," George finished.
"That does seem to be his main personality trait," Melody said. "Other than hunger, stupidity, and being a pain in the behind."
"He always has been like that," Luna says.
"And that is coming from a girl who is a year younger than him," Cedric said. "But she is still right. Ron is the most jealous person on the planet. There is a muggle saying about being green with envy. Well, he has been that color since the day he was born."
"Probably because he is also so lazy that he will," Fred started.
"Never work hard enough to get anything that others have that he wants," George finished.
"Very true," the Crystal Rose students all agree.
They had seen his horrible attitude when the Weasleys had visited their school. His attitude had definitely left a lot to be desired.
"Well, I see you three have already made yourselves at home," Jiwe says as she comes out of the tree trunk elevator again.
"Geia, Headmistress Jiwe," the trio greeted her.
"It is good to see you three again," she smiled at them. "You planning on returning to your Crystal Rose classes while we are here?"
"We can do that," Harry asked, shocked.
"Headmaster Dumbledore has already agreed to let you if you desire it," Jiwe says.
The trio was quick to agree.