The Search Is Over

Chapter 124

"How do you use it," Regulus asked Mag.

"The bardic ability, that is," he clarified.

They'd just played So Afraid by Fleetwood Mac for the fourth time, and it was finally perfect.

She blinked, lowering her fiddle to peer over at him in perplexed confusion.

"Use it? What do you mean?"

"Well you say I am a bard, so how do I...well use it? How do you use it?"

She shrugged.

"I was just using it."

"Well obviously," Regulus said."But if I wanted to use it more often...you know for something to do that I actually care about. I don't do enough, and I know it. I once had dreams and aspirations, but none of those are really applicable anymore if they ever were and I need to be doing something."

Mag gave a pleased smile.

"Oh! Well that's nice if you're wanting to do more...Wonderful really. Especially as you've chosen to give music a larger role in things. Bards make people feel, so that's the sort of magic you're working with, and trust me you can do a lot with feelings.

Practice is a big part of learning to use your bardic gift to its fullest. If you want to take it professional, my grand parents actually tour. They get paid to play in various places around the world. Do you think you'd want to do that? You're definitely good enough."

Regulus paused to take in that possibility.

"I've never considered anything like that but it could be interesting," he said slowly.

"A new experience, certainly and with my particular circumstances, a change is good."

"I can ask my grand parents how they go about booking places to play, if you'd like," Mag said and Regulus nodded, giving her a grateful smile.

"Yes, that would be brilliant, thanks."

"Of course if you end up touring, Severus and I shall definitely have to come and see you," she said eagerly.

"You could always share the bill," Regulus invited.

"We do seem to amplify one another's abilities, so it would make for a great show. I assume any two bards would do that, but you're the only one I know."

Mag nodded.

"Yes any two would, but I do feel that you and I make a particularly good team. Our voices and instruments blend very well, and we have a natural instinct for improving the song in a way that suits what the other is doing."

Regulus nodded.

"Very true," he said.

"I wouldn't like to interfere with your teaching job, so we could always apparate from gig to gig rather than traveling on the road. Kreacher could take us...and he and Severus could even sing sometimes. They both have great voices, even if they aren't bards," Regulus said, his enthusiasm growing the more he considered the possibility.

Severus's tenor was astonishingly musical and Kreacher's raw vocals were comparable to that Brian Johnson bloke from the Australian rock band AC/DC when you could get him to really let go and give it his all.

Mag nodded. When she spoke, her words reflected Regulus's own thoughts to an astonishing degree.

"I love hearing Severus sing, though it embarrasses him to no end for me to say so."

She chuckled.

"Kreacher may not be a bard, but he certainly has a raw power in his voice that deserves to be heard. It certainly has its own magic. Even Severus has commented on that fact more than once. It just seems to be a matter of convincing him to let go and let it out."