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 in 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 U 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 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.