Author's Note: If you'd like to read more of Mag and her own Bardic journey before Hydra and co were even born, check out Knowledge Is Power, also uploaded here with our other stories.

Chapter 32, Greybo

"I may have found a drummer for us," Mag told Hydra excitedly. Everyone was once again gathered in the Snape's sitting room. Hydra and her friends were studying, while Mag and Severus read the newspaper that was split between them. Three days had passed since Mag asked Hydra to start a band.

"Really?" Hydra leaned forward in excitement. Graven was bringing the goblin with the weird hair to meet her and Mag tomorrow, but after that initial burst of good news, their band forming success had slowed a bit. Leaf was prompt in getting back to the Daddies, but she did not know anyone who played an instrument. Sadly neither did Greok. Both promised to come and see the band play when it was formed, though, and Hydra planned to insist that they bring Ballan.

"When I asked if he knew any elves or goblins who may be interested in our band, Griphook told me that an elf who works at Gringotts is always tapping beats throughout the work day. You know, on his desk." Mag chuckled. "Griphook thinks this elf has natural rhythm, and that he could easily learn the drums. He has promised to ask this elf if he would be interested in playing with us when he sees him at Gringotts tomorrow. If he is, we could perhaps meet with him in Hogsmeade this weekend. What do you think?"

Sounds great!" Hydra agreed eagerly. "If the goblin Graven knows is interested, we could invite him to meet us there as well. That would get all four of us together."

Mag nodded. "And we'd have a goblin and an elf, just as you wanted. It seems to be coming together nicely, you know as if it is meant to be." Hydra returned Mag's excited smile with one of her own. Mag's words had struck her. They were electrifying.

"This is going to be so great," she said. Her former doubts and concerns that she and Mag would not find any musicians with whom they connected were quickly fading in the face of things seemingly coming together.

"So is this goblin that Graven knows coming here tomorrow, or were you planning to sneak out of school?" Mag asked. Being half elf, Apparating off Hogwarts grounds presented no challenge, but Hydra saw no reason to sneak out if Albus would not mind a goblin or two popping over for a visit. As one of them was quite likely going to be his future daughter-in-law, she was sure he would not mind. That and Wulfric was likely coming along with Graven and like any parent, Albus was always happy for any opportunity to visit with his son.

"I told them to come here," Hydra told Mag. "I don't sneak out for no reason," she added with a slight frown.

"We're currently outnumbered by Slytherins," James reminded her with a laugh. "Don't hold it against them."

Mag and Severus were both former Slytherins, so always looked away if any of them broke the rules as long as no one was in danger.

"Well as they're coming to Hogwarts, you may as well entertain them here at ours," Mag said. "You and I can play with the goblin. Hopefully he will think to bring his instrument."

As it turned out, he did. Hydra was glad of it, because if a musician came to a potential audition without an instrument, she would have to wonder how serious he truly was. Graven introduced him as Greybo. He did not look at all like the neatly suited Gringotts goblins to whom Hydra was accustomed. Even Greok looked like one of them, because not long ago, he had been.

This Greybo wore black pants and a loose fitting long sleeved shirt that appeared to have been stitched out of several different pieces of cloth. Each had its own color and texture, leaving him with an interesting colorful collage of a patchwork shirt. What Graven had meant by 'weird ass hair' consisted of lots of tiny braids. The goblin's entire head of shoulder length black hair was set into these tiny braids. Hydra had never seen such hair before, but she supposed it looked interesting. Not until she heard a small clacking sound when the goblin moved his head did she notice that each braid sported several gemstone beads studded along its length. The stones appeared to be black obsidian and orange carnelian by her guess. "Halloween colors," she said without thinking.

He glanced in her direction, then shrugged. "I was more going for fiery night, but yeah, I guess it is.

"I like Halloween," Hydra said. "When we were kids, my brother and I would make our parents dress up with us to trick or treat. After I saw Lord Of The Rings,I made my daddy Kreacher be Gollum several years in a row while my twin and I were hobbits. It was epic."

Greybo snickered. "I bloody bet it was." He glanced at the fiddle in Mag's hands. "So we gonna jam?"

Mag nodded. "I suppose we should learn what you like to play first to see if we know any of your favorites."

"We can in time, but just start playing and I'll come in." Greybo grinned. "That'll impress you more as well as showing us if we have musical chemistry." As he glanced toward Hydra, another clacking sound came from his braids as the stones gently struck together. "What about you? Do you play?"

"Piano, but as that's too big to lug about, I'm just singing today."

He bobbed his head, causing his braids to click together again. "Fair enough."

Mag began to play the song Hydra had been singing along to when the idea for forming the band came up a few days ago. It was an old song about an equally old mad house called Bedlam. Mag loved telling the story of how she actually inadvertently traumatized younger Slytherins when she played it in the common room in her seventh year at Hogwarts. Never had she suspected simply practicing her bardic craft would terrify Slytherins of all people.

Mag began to sing and Hydra waited, joining in on the chorus. Greybo had caught the melody before then, though, so by the time Hydra was harmonizing with Mag, his guitar was also playing counterpoint to her fiddle. When the song ended, Greybo grinned. "I think I can work with this. That was fun."

"Want to do some more," Hydra asked.

"Sure," Greybo said.

"Of course," Mag chimed in brightly. "What's next?"

Hydra drew in a deep breath and began to sing quietly. "I can feel it comin' in the air tonight, oh Lord."" Mag gave a slight nod of recognition and began to play as Hydra continued to sing. Before long Greybo picked up the melody. It wasn't Phil Collins's version, but the three definitely made it their own in a good way. The guitar and fiddle wove a somber sound around Hydra's high voice. As she sang, she channeled all she knew of what Daddy Kreacher had suffered in that black lake at Voldemort's hands. When the song was over, Greybo lowered his guitar and gave a low whistle.

"So was that supposed to be extremely creepy?"

"Yeah," Hydra said, giving him a smile as she attempted to shake off the grip of the song. That was the way of being a bard, though. One had to feel the song, and become the situation the words told. "It was my daddy Kreacher's song to and about Voldemort."

"Shit," Greybo murmured. "Dark."

Hydra nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, what do you have to throw at us," Mag asked and Greybo shrugged.

"The thing is, I don't really sing. I like reggae beats. Do you girls know about reggae?"

Mag and Hydra exchanged a brief glance. Hydra could tell by the small twitch of Mag's lips that she'd enjoyed being called a girl. She certainly didn't look old enough to be Sortia's mum, that was for sure. Tall and willowy with long straight red hair tied back with a silver scarf, her face was still smooth and youthful, and her large green eyes were always thoughtfully observant. "Never heard of it myself," Hydra said. "But you could play something and I'd get the idea."

"I have read of it a little, but I am not truly familiar either, so I'd like to hear your style as well," Mag said. Soon both 'girls' were swaying and tapping their feet as Greybo played. Mag plucked her fiddle in time to the beat, keeping it simple for the moment. "You're definitely in if you're interested," she told Greybo once the song was over.

"We're interviewing an elf in Hogsmeade this weekend for drums, if you'd like to come," Hydra added.

"Yeah, drums would be good," Greybo nodded, a playful grin twitching up the corners of his lips. "What's up with the elf, goblin, human, half breed shtick, though? I mean I'm fine with it and all, but..." He shrugged. "I assume there is a method to the intentional seeming madness?"

Hydra nodded."Yes. We want to present a strength and a unity for all three races in these newly developing times."

"And nothing delivers a message more powerfully than music," Mag said.

Greybo nodded. "Alright. I'm down. So what do we know about this elf?" He asked curiously.

"We know that he has good rhythm according to Griphook," Mag replied with a chuckle. "He is one of the elves who were hired at Gringotts last year when so many wizards lost their magic, you know." Though all the goblins knew what had been done, tact was still a necessary habit to keep up appearances. Any slip of the tongue in the wrong company could run the risk of magicless witches and wizards overhearing things that they should not. "Apparently he enjoys playing the drums on his desk," Mag concluded.

"I figure we can meet at the Hog's Head and give him a table to work with," Hydra said, lips twitching in amusement. "If he's good and interested, I shall buy him a drum set."

Greybo gave a slow blink, looking an amusing mix of confused and concerned. "What if he could buy his own and then he's all offended and shit," he wondered.

Hydra's hand flew to her mouth as she let out a groan of horror. "Oh I didn't mean... I just meant if he doesn't already have one and we're wanting him in a band, I thought I could at least not expect him to,"

"To buy his own equipment," Greybo pressed gently.

Hydra could feel the heat in her cheeks. "I didn't mean... I only meant to help."

"I get that, but don't send him running the first day with your well-meaning girl weirdness. I think it's a human thing, because goblin girls are never well meaning."

Graven gave a pleased appreciative grin from where she sat on the Snape's sofa beside an openly amused Wulfric. Was it a human thing or an elf thing, or did humans and elves share the thing? Hydra found herself frantically wondering. She would have to ask Leaf. It would give them an excuse to socialize. Hydra did not know many elf women, after all. Perhaps only one, aside from Leaf, who she hardly knew at all.

An elf named Mira worked for Mag's family, but Hydra did not spend time around her unless visiting Sortia. She had nothing against Mira, but Daddy Kreacher had drama with her. Granted Daddy Kreacher tended to have frequent drama with people, but Mira was special. She had openly disapproved when he and Daddy Regulus came out to their friends upon Regulus's return to wizarding society. Daddy Kreacher had never gotten over that for some reason. The disapproval of an elf had really gotten to him, and Hydra did not quite understand why, considering he did not seem to truly like most elves and never, ever cared what people thought of him.

"So he buys his own drums, and if he wants in, we could go jam at my place if you all like," Hydra said, bringing the topic back to the matter at hand and hopefully away from her own embarrassment. She'd only intended to help. Hopefully this would not become a thing... Where she started feeling wrong about offering help if needed. If so, she'd just blame Greybo, she silently vowed, struggling not to cast a dark look at said goblin.

"Albus is going to allow us to just pop off to yours," Mag wondered. "Hogsmeade weekends do not involve visits to #12 Grimmauld Place, after all."

"Yeah, but I can Apparate us all to my manor super easily, and Aberforth may not want us rocking out in the Hog's Head. Besides, you're a Slytherin, so what do you care?"

"Hey, he may bloody love for us to rock out in the Hog's Head," Greybo protested. "It's providing him free entertainment for his customers, after all, plus gives us a free place to practice."

Hydra shrugged. "Fine. If he is willing, I see your points. If he is not, my family's manor is available and my piano is there." She sighed, realizing that she'd need to sort a way to get a piano into the bloody Hog's Head. A shrinking spell, then enlargement of a certain area of the bar to hold it, then another shrinking spell for the...

"You'll probably want to invest in a fancy keyboard for yourself," Greybo said, breaking through her train of thought. His lips twitched. "You could always use the galleons you were going to give our elf for his drums," he suggested.