A/N: Hey, sorry I didn't update a second time like I had said I might. I had to go visit my grandma...
Enjoy the LONGEST chapter I've ever written for a fic!
I'll be skipping the reviewers response again, as I have a lot of things to do (like read my required summer reading) before I go get my pupils dilated at the eye doctor...sorry!
Part Five: A Castle, a Bass Guitarist, and a Spell
The next morning at breakfast, Luna came up to the Gryffindor table and practically yelled, "Harry, my dad wrote back with Hedwig! He said the Weird Sisters' bass player, Donoghan Tremlett, will be at the front door by one o'clock this afternoon!"
"All right!" said Harry, giving Luna a hug. "Thank your dad for us, Luna." Ron could be heard whooping in the background.
"Yes, I will," Luna said, blushing at the fact Harry had just hugged her in front of the entire school.
Hermione appeared to be in deep thought for the next few moments. Ron finally broke the silence. "Okay, Hermione, what's going through your head?"
"It's only just occurred to me…how will we get Tremlett get inside the castle undetected? It's not like we actually have permission to be going on with this," she said.
"I know!" said Ron. "He can Apparate!"
Hermione sighed. "Ron, how many times do I have to tell you—no one can Apparate or Disapparate inside Hogwarts grounds."
"Oh, yeah," Ron said as his face fell.
The friends concentrated on this. How do you get a famous wizard into an enchanted castle without anyone noticing?
Dean then entered the Great Hall with his arm around the youngest Weasley, who was apparently giving Luna the cold shoulder. "What's going on? Any news?" Dean asked.
"The Weird Sisters' bass guitarist is coming," said Harry, "—thanks to Luna. But we don't know how to get him here without any teachers finding out. Do you have an idea?"
"Couldn't we simply ask Dumbledore?" Dean suggested the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yes!" Hermione replied happily. "Dean, I could kiss you—"
"Hey!" said Ron indignantly.
"—but my boyfriend wouldn't like that very much. Now we don't have to break the rules!"
"But that's half the fun of it, Hermione," Ron said, grinning toothily at her. His anger at the expression Hermione had used seemed to subside.
"Ronald!" Although Hermione and Ron were dating now, they still disagreed on many topics and bickered regularly.
Harry decided to quash the argument before it began. "All right, all right. We have it figured out now. Let's go see Dumbledore."
Ron and Hermione reluctantly consented, and the whole group headed straight for the headmaster's office.
On the second floor, however, they were stopped by a certain greasy-haired potions master.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Snape asked, his lip curling.
"Please, Professor," Hermione said, determined. "We want to speak with Professor Dumbledore."
"And what is it, Miss Granger, you wish to address with the headmaster?"
"Excuse me, sir," said Harry, "but we'd like to discuss that with our headmaster."
"The headmaster is currently in his office, holding a meeting with certain elite members of the Ministry of Magic," said Snape, looking Harry in the eye. "They will be discussing nothing that would concern you and your…band, Potter."
Band? Is it really that obvious? If not, Snape has a strange choice in words.
"Professor," Luna spoke up, much to everyone's, including Snape's, surprise, "this matter can wait, if you have other business to attend to." Luna then glared at him. Harry had no idea that Luna contained courage similar to that of a Gryffindor.
With one final sneer at the Ravenclaw, Snape left.
"Way to go, Luna!" Ron said, utterly amazed. "That was pretty clever."
"Of course, Ron, she's a Ravenclaw! Seriously, sometimes I think no one could be more dense than you!" Hermione said exasperatedly.
"But that's what you like most about me, 'Mione," Ron said with an innocent air.
"True," Hermione confessed, smiling. Harry caught Ron wink in her direction. "Erm…Ron, I wanted to look up school rules on new organizations in the library. Care to join me?"
"Sure. Later mate," said Ron, putting an arm around Hermione.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Harry called after them. He had a sneaking suspicion that his two best friends were really going off somewhere to snog instead.
Ron turned his head back, giving Harry a glance of mock confusion. "Why, Harry, I have no idea what you're talking about…"
Without Dumbledore's sanction, the band members were waiting for Tremlett outside the castle after lunch. It had taken Harry a considerable amount of time to locate Ron and Hermione. They actually were in the library, much to his surprise. Although when he discovered them, they were definitely not looking up information for the band.
"Look!" said Ginny, pointing skyward.
Somewhere in the distance, Harry could make out what seemed to be a figure on a broomstick, only this broomstick was specially carved in the shape of a quarter note. The broom and figure advanced and advanced, until they landed clumsily on the well-kempt Hogwarts lawn.
This abrupt landing caused the pilot of the broom to yelp a few colorful phrases very, very loudly. After regaining his composure, Tremlett turned to the group of onlookers. "Where's Miss Lovegood?" he wanted to know.
Luna stepped forward.
"Donoghan Tremlett, at your service," he said, taking her hand and kissing it. Harry could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy. "Your father, Miss Lovegood, was kind enough not to mention my affair with Celestina Warbeck in that paper of his, so I owed him a favor. He said you and your friends were in need of a few musical pointers, and here I am. Let's get inside before I get a chill. And I'll need to use the loo. Flew all the way from Bristol without a pit stop, I did."
They led the musician inside after asking that he Disillusion himself as a safety precaution.
"Right, then," said Tremlett, plugging his bass guitar into an amp. The party had moved themselves into the Room of Requirement, where they were able to concentrate without any interruptions. "Whatcha got?"
None of the teenagers spoke, but all looked down to their feet.
"That much, eh? Don't feel so bad, I started out horribly myself," he assured them. He proceeded to play a little on his instrument (A/N: I don't know much about the bass; I play the acoustic guitar myself…just go with it). The musical students watched in shocked silence. He was so talented!
"Mr. Tremlett, we'll never be as good as you," said Ron, grimacing at his own ignorance.
"Of course you will be. Give me five minutes, and I'll make each of you into musical sensations," said the musician confidently.
"Five minutes?" echoed Hermione disbelievingly. "I would think at least five hours would—"
"Hold your tongue, missy. I'm a professional when it comes to magical music."
"Magical music? How is there a different type of music? Isn't music, well, music?" Ginny asked. Tremlett was confusing the lot of them.
The musician sighed. "Did any of you honestly think a man such as myself could get anywhere without a little magic?"
No one knew how to answer that, and so no one did.
"The secret behind my success—and you best not be telling anyone else this, mind—is magic. Spells exist to enhance abilities that would otherwise be strictly Muggle; it enhances talent. These spells are called the Augere Incantations."
Hermione's mouth gaped open in shock. "But that's cheating!"
"Not cheating, my dear…more like helping yourself do what you want to do, only the easier way. Because we can!"
The others did not have a problem with it, apparently. They were all fighting to line up for their first and last lessons with Tremlett.
"First, you with the scar…oh, my God! You're Harry Potter!" cried the musician.
"I know," said Harry dully. "Can we get on with it then?"
"Yes, yes of course. What instrument do you play?"
"Lead guitar."
"So your spell would be 'Auge Citharam.'"
"Auge Citharam?"
"That's it, and you point your wand at yourself. Then, whatever guitar you pick up, you can play. Who's playing the bass guitar?"
"I am," said Ginny.
"Same incantation as Mr. Potter."
"But I can already play," Ginny said, insulted.
"Doesn't matter. How about the drums player?"
"That'd be me," Ron replied.
"'Auge Typana.' Keyboard?"
Hermione stepped forward, frowning.
"All right, missy. It's just going to be 'Auge' for you; the Romans didn't have any pianos. Lastly, I believe it's Miss Lovegood."
"Yes, sir," she said. "And I'm doing the vocals."
"'Auge Cantus.' That's all of you, then? Now let's try 'em out."
The students cast the incantations and picked up their instruments.
Ron tapped his drumsticks together and boomed, "One, two; one, two, three, four!"
And…wow. The bass sounded again and again, building up the tempo of the song.
Luna brought the microphone closer to her face as Harry began strumming to the beat. Hermione joined in with her keyboard, and then Luna began singing.
I've been cheated by you since I don't know when
So I made up my mind, it must come to an end
Look at me now, will I ever learn?
I don't know how but I suddenly lose control
There's a fire within my soul
Just one look and I can hear a bell ring
One more look and I forget everything, w-o-o-o-oh
Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again?
My my, just how much I've missed you
Yes, I've been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know,
My my, I could never let you go.
I've been angry and sad about things that you do
I can't count all the times that I've told you we're through
And when you go, when you slam the door
I think you know that you won't be away too long
You know that I'm not that strong.
Just one look and I can hear a bell ring
One more look and I forget everything, w-o-o-o-oh
Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again?
My my, just how much I've missed you
Yes, I've been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know,
My my, I could never let you go.
Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again?
My my, just how much I've missed you
Yes, I've been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go
Mamma mia, now I really know
My my, I could never let you go
They finished the song expertly.
Tremlett was crying. "You"—he sniffed—"rocked! I wasn't even that great my first time…never was the best caster…but, oh am I proud of you. I might call my manager to see if he could hook you up with a gig…"
"That won't be necessary, Mr. Tremlett."
Everyone in the room turned around to see Professor Dumbledore standing in the doorway.
A/N: Um...do you hate the cliffhanger? Just wondering...
BTW, Dean isn't at the music lesson, as he doesn't have to learn anything...didn't fit it into the story...