Dumbledore Plays Bass

Dumbledore Plays Bass

WANTED: BASS PLAYER for gig at end of term. Apply to Dean Thomas, Gryffindor Common Room.

Dumbledore smiled happily at the little posters that had appeared around the school, and hummed a little tune, thinking back to his days playing with the Scratch Quartet.

They had been quite good, and Albus had loved the excitement of playing before a crowd of wizards and witches when he'd been a young teacher at Hogwarts.

He was glad to see that his students were getting as much enjoyment from music as he did, and wondered again about perhaps putting music on the curriculum. It was so difficult getting time in the packed schedule, and he determined that he would speak to the heads of house, to allow musical students a practice room, perhaps the Great Hall after supper. He recalled Neville had had a pretty nasty twitch in his hands the last few days at supper time.

!!WANTED BASS PLAYER WANTED!! Needed for prestigious gig at end of term! See Dean Thomas, Gryffindor for details.

These posters were a bit larger, and the capitalised letters were red. Dumbledore hummed a bit of his favourite tune, and wondered what he'd done with his bass. It had been a beautiful instrument, with a fine, full sound. He resolved to find it; had he last played it the year Minim left, or was it the following year? It was a shame not to use such a fine instrument.

Minerva had said that it would be better for musicians to practice in the rooms by the greenhouses, all the students would find it more convenient. Severus's Slytherins were the only other students interested in using the space. Minerva had also said that Neville had apparently suffered a series of 'Twitchfinger' curse attacks recently. She'd glared at Severus whilst telling Dumbledore this. Severus had smirked and said, "Longbottom really should learn to defend himself better."

Neville did seem to be dropping his cutlery at supper a great deal.

DESPERATELY WANTED!!! BASS PLAYER NEEDED NOW!!! This is your chance - turn up at the Green Room 6:00 pm Monday, or see Dean Thomas, Gryffindor.

Someone had added a 'k' to the end of the word 'Gryffindor' on the large poster, and the capital letters were flashing in a red - green - red sequence which Dumbledore thought quite attractive. Humming a little jazz tune he'd written once, a variation on Pachebel's Canon, he resolved to try playing it tonight on the bass he'd found at the back of a very deep cupboard in his office. He'd also found a pair of ice skates, a large stuffed bald eagle, several pairs of yellow and green winter socks and some natty long coats in bright velvets that the moths had gotten into. He'd spoken to the house elves about mothballs, and a few 'Reparo' charms later, the coats were as good as new. He thought the plum-coloured one might be nice to wear to the Leaving Feast. The turquoise one seemed a bit too much - he couldn't think why, until he remembered Lockhart had sported one in a very similar colour.

PLEASE! IF YOU'VE EVER WANTED TO PLAY BASS, COME TO GREEN ROOM TODAY 5:00 pm

Dumbledore stroked his beard. The poster was large, with arrows and all the letters were flashing different colours. He thought it was somewhat over the top, but then, the poster sounded like a desperate last-minute plea.

Well, why not? He'd played his jazz improvisations and some of the chamber pieces he knew, though none of them sounded very satisfactory on just a double bass. His fingers were not as nimble as they once had been, but he could still pull a reasonable tune from the fine old instrument. Musing on the way Neville kept dropping his knife and fork at supper, he fetched the instrument and his bow, and made his way to the Green Room.

There seemed to be quite a lot of noise coming from the room as Dumbledore neared it, but as he got to the door, everything went quiet. He knocked and opened the door.

Dean was standing at the front of the room with a microphone, dressed in some very tight velvet trousers and a ripped t-shirt. Ronald Weasley was behind a set of drums, holding the sticks at the ready. Seamus had a strange flat red guitar, with a curly wire coming out of the side of it.

They all looked at him.

"Professor?" Dean asked.

"Ah," Dumbledore smiled and indicated his instrument, "I believe you might have been requiring a different sort of bass."

"Sir? Oh!" Dean's face cleared of its puzzled look as he saw the bass.

"Well, at the moment, we're really rather desperate. We're due to play tonight. We're throwing a surprise party for Harry, and we'd arranged with Professor McGonagall to use the Hall after supper."

Albus gazed at the boys, all attired in tight velvet trousers and ripped black t-shirts with "Puppy Love" printed in red letters across the chest.

"Would you do it, Sir? We really are desperate, and the band sounds dreadful without bass."

His eyes twinkling, Albus said, "I don't know if I would be able to carry off your costume requirements, but I will certainly try to meet your instrumental needs."

He noticed Neville sitting disconsolately in the corner, his hands doing a lively St. Vitus' dance in his lap, a flat red four-stringed guitar by him.

"May I try my own instrument, and we can see how it sounds?" he asked the boys.

Dean shrugged, saying "Sure. It's got to be better than nothing, Sir. Let's do 'Quidditch Final'."

The boys swung into a number that was very loud and fast.

This was nothing like Pachebel, Dumbledore found, and yet, as his fingers searched for the notes on the fingerboard, he felt a little frisson of joy. He'd forgotten how exciting it was to improvise, to join with others in producing sound.

When the piece came to an end, he smiled gently at Dean, saying, "I believe I need a little more volume, to match your instruments."

Performing a sonorus on his bass, he tried a run of notes, producing a very pleasing sound.

Dean grinned at him as Seamus followed his lead, chasing his notes and filling in others of his own. Ronald tapped a soft background beat, and they were off again.

"We're set, I think," Dean grinned.

Dumbledore looked over at Neville, who was slumped even lower in his seat, looking the picture of misery.

"I think perhaps that we might do something about Mr. Longbottom's condition," he said, doing a complex little wave of his wand.

Neville's hands stilled, and awed, he tried a little run on his red guitar. It sounded fine, if not as intricate as Dumbledore's playing.

"Oh, Sir! No one was able to stop it at all!"

"I would ask only one thing in return of you," Dumbledore smiled.

"Oh, sure! What can we do, Sir?" Dean asked.

"I should like to come and share music with you all sometimes when you're practicing."

"Of course," Dean said, "What was that thing you were playing, Sir?"

"Variations on a theme by Pachebel," Dumbledore replied happily, removing the sonorus from his bass.

As the boys trooped out with their instruments, Dumbledore was intrigued to see that each boy's t-shirt had a red pawprint printed on both shoulders.

END