Echoes

I loved all music, so I was rocking out to the song, but Grant turned it off and looked upset at me.

"Nope." He said he was taking out the tape. "Eddie, while I'm not questioning your music taste, we're in a school, and there are rules," he chastised me.

"Fine," I said, throwing my hands up. "At least it works." I did a little dance. "You stopped the music, so you get to choose something else." I pointed at Grant.

Grant sighed, went to the rack, and returned with a banger of an album he had handed me.

"Queen. A night at the opera," I smiled. "Awesome" 

"Yes!" Tim yelled. I put the cassette tape on side one and hit play. We spent the night with Queen playing in the background as we caught up.

The next day, I was up early and did a solid run through the school. My walkman plays upbeat music to keep up my pace. I fall into a groove, and when I complete my route, I'm not tired, so I continue exercising in the courtyard. When I was done, I walked off the routine, heading for the dorms, singing when I heard it. •Wake me up before you Go-Go by wham•

♫Wake me up before you go-go

Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo♫

I sang softly and heard it echo back from somewhere in the castle; I stopped and removed my headphones. I continued to sing.

♫Wake me up before you go-go

I don't wanna miss it when you hit that high♫ 

the echo came back, but it was odd. It wasn't my voice; it sounded like it, but it wasn't; I knew it wasn't. I was about to follow the echo when I heard from behind me.

"Mister Carter, are you not afraid of the Slytherins this year?" Professor Snape said from behind me.

"ah no, not really" " I jumped and turned around. "They could come at me, but I'm not a dumb First-year anymore; that will be taken unaware." 

"Good, but again, I must tell you something you will find most important," he said gravely.

"What, sir?" I asked hesitantly

"Breakfast is in 20 minutes, so hurry up", Snape said with the straightest face ever and then walked away. I think my brain short-circuited because I didn't know what happened next, but when my brain rebooted, I was showered, dressed for the day, and eating breakfast in the great hall. 'snape made a joke.' I thought as I ate some jam toast. 

It was a Wednesday, and unlike last year, we didn't have a grace period. So it was a full day. Double charms with the Ravenclaws first, then history of magic, and finally, Defence against the dark. 

Charms's class was excellent, and Professor Flitwick once again proved he was the best teacher here. His enthusiasm and love of teaching made learning and following what he was talking about easy. He was so excited when one of his students achieved anything that made you want to succeed. At lunchtime, my friends sat and talked about when the study group would start again; I told people next week have this week to catch up and get used to school again, but the room will be open in the afternoons if you want to hang out. I started to sketch something on a piece of paper; I continued the sketch all throughout History of magic, too. Professor Binns wouldn't care. I'm not sure he even knows who he is teaching or if anyone is paying attention. In fact, I would go one step forward and say if no one showed up for his class, I doubt he would notice. Once I was done, I showed it to Grant and Tim. It was a flyer for auditions for the band, and I left the day and date blank because we still need to discuss that.

"Really, you still want to do auditions," Tim said a bit angrily.

"yeah, of course," I said, not understanding why he was angry.

"so what if you find a better drummer? Am I out?" Tim asked, staring into my eyes.

"what? No, of course not. Tim, why the hell do you think I'm going to replace you?" I asked, generally confused.

"because, like I said, we don't need a bassist. We have a grant on piano, but you are still going ahead with that," he accused me.

"um, Tim, I don't want to make you sound stupid, but if we find a bassist, it will free up Grant so he can do more intricate things on said piano", I explained to him. Grant nodded as we looked at him in concern.

"oh", Tim said, then he flushed with embarrassment. "so no one is getting replaced", he said.

"of course, nobody is getting replaced; you guys are my brothers and founding members; you also get to help pick people", I explained.

"What is this other part?" Grant asked. "Any other instrument may apply," he explained his question.

"Well, we're looking for a bassist and a female singer, but I don't want to exclude anyone, like maybe a saxophone player or a cellist", I explained. "So anyone can apply, but again, who knows what we will get, maybe a banjo player. More instruments means more options." 

"Please, no banjo. You would turn us into a bluegrass band so fast," said Tim. I smiled and thought, 'he's not wrong.' then I laughed.