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.