Closed An Idle Mind... PV Bubba McGarry

Bubba was deeply engrossed in his bacon eggs as he worked on his breakfast, a goblet of pumpkin juice to the left of his plate and A History of Magic open to the right. He wasn't really paying attention to the book as he ate. It was just there and he was looking over at it every so often. Frankly, Bubba was hoping for a lazy Sunday. It had been a long week and he just wanted to relax.

As he at he was thinking about music. Bubba was a great lover of music and he considered himself fairly well-versed in the classics. Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Elton John. It was an Elton John song he was thinking of now but not as he performed it. No, he was contemplating the off-piste version that was sung by none other than Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner. The song, of course, was Rocket Man. Bubba had only seen the video once on youtube but he had been transfixed. Honestly, transfixed by how bad it was. Shatner wasn't really singing at all, it was sort of a dramatic spoken word. Gloriously cringe.

After he took another bite of bacon, he had the strangest urge. It was the urge to sing... Yankee Doodle? He hadn't heard the song in years but he still remembered the lyrics. What was still stranger, was that he had the urge to sing it. But not normally. No, he had the urge to turn it into a spoken word Shatner-rap. It just felt right and the words just flowed through him.

"Yankee Doodle... went to town... riding on a... pony. stuck a feather... in his cap... and called it... macaroni. Yankee Doodle... keep it up... Yankee Doodle... dandy!... Mind the music... and the step... and with the girls... be handy! Father and I... went down to camp... along with... Captain Gooding... there we saw the... men and boys... As thick as hasty... pudding... Yankee Doodle... keep it up... Yankee Doodle... dandy!... Mind the music... and the step... and with the girls... be handy! There was... Captain Washington... upon a slapping... stallion... giving orders to his men... I guess there... was a million... Yankee Doodle... keep it up... Yankee Doodle... dandy!... Mind the music... and the step... and with the girls... be handy! Then... the... feathers... on his hat... they looked... so very fine... oh!,,, I wanted desperately... to get... to give... my Jemima... Yankee Doodle... keep it up... Yankee Doodle... dandy!... Mind the music... and the step... and with the girls... be handy!"

Interacting: @Jack Burnett Mentioning: @ N/A

Jack watched and strained his ears over the din of breakfast in the Great Hall, struggling to hear the effects of his spell. However, when he thought he heard a few familiar words, they weren't sung. They were spoken. Well, sort of. Jack wasn't really sure what to make of it. Had he done the spell wrong? Was something wrong with the target's memory of the song? Or, perhaps, was there simply something wrong with the target himself? Was he maybe tone-deaf?

The lyrics were impressive, though. Jack thought he had known the song, but certainly not the way this kid sang it. Curious as to what had happened to cause such a peculiar outcome, Jack got up from his seat and went right up to the Ravenclaw just as he was finishing the last few words of the 'song'.

"Um...what did you just do?" Jack asked, genuinely befuddled. He had heard of suits of armor making up lyrics and getting them wrong, but not the melody of the song. This seemed to be the exact opposite - the lyrics were on point, but there was no melody to speak of.

Of course Jack wasn't about to admit he had just used a spell on the underclassman; not if he didn't suspect it already. If that was the case, though, there was a very high chance that the boy was just as confused as he was as to what had just happened and why.

@Bubba McGarry

As Bubba finished his impromptu solo, he felt the presence of someone behind him. He turned around to see an older Slytherin he knew by sight but had never spoken to standing before him, just in time to watch him ask what he'd just done. Fantastic, someone noticed, just what he needed. Bubba wished he knew as well. He hadn't thought of that stupid song in years and was surprised he still knew the words. He wasn't much of a singer and had no idea what had possessed him to do what he'd just done.

He figured he'd be honest and hope this new kid wouldn't think he was clinically insane. "Well..." he shrugged his shoulders, "Aw hell, I don't even know. I was just sitting here, tucking into my eggs and bacon, thinking about an old cover of an Elton John song, where I got this... man there's no other word for it, compulsion, to sing Yankee doodle dandy. But I guess since I was thinking about the other song my mind had me do a spoken word rap of it?" He had a look of genuine bewilderment on his face as he absent-mindedly looked down at the prefect badge on his chest as something to focus on in his confusion before looking back up at the boy and hastily adding, "Look, I promise I'm not batshit crazy, I dunno I think I read about a charm that makes people sing. Maybe someone was having a little fun with me."

He didn't really know what else to say, he was very flustered and now, frankly, a bit embarrassed that someone else had noticed his impromptu performance. He wished he could just dissolve on the spot.

Interacting: @Jack Burnett Mentioning: @ N/A

At the boy's honest answer, Jack couldn't help but crack up a little. Well, he had to give him points for admitting to the truth, at least. When the kid started mentioning an old cover of an Elton John song, however, the Slytherin's ears perked up.

"Wait, the other song you were thinking of was a spoken word rap?" he asked with a snort. If that was the case, then that certainly could have explained a lot. As the boy talked, though, Jack began to feel a little guilty for having hit him with his spell, especially at the look on his face. He would have liked to know why too if such a thing had happened to him. If he didn't know what had caused it, there was always the lingering fear that it could have happened again, too, and it didn't sit well with Jack to leave the Ravenclaw with that fear.

Though unable to wipe the smile off his face, he sighed deeply and made a decision. "You're not crazy," he assured the prefect. "In fact, you're smarter than I gave you credit for. That charm is called 'Cantis'. First time I've heard it do anything like that to someone, though." Snickering, he added, "You're not tone-deaf, are you?"

@Bubba McGarry

Bubba took a moment to think about what was going on and being said before he reacted. As the boy kept talking to him, Bubba had a sneaking suspicion that he may have been the victim of a little prank. He couldn't prove it but it seemed odd that some random kid would come two tables over to talk to him. Oh well, he assumed it was amusing to watch.

"So..." Bubba took a deep breath before offering an explanation that he never thought he'd need to offer. "Okay, I don't know if you're pure-blood or what, but you may or may not know any of this - there's this really famous actor where I'm from - William Shatner - he also thought he was a singer - he's an awful singer. So anyway, he did a spoken word, dramatic recitation of a really famous song called Rocket Man. It's the best kind of cringe." He paused for a moment as he realized just how much he'd been rambling. "Anyway, that's what I was thinking of when ol' Yankee Doodle popped in my head."

Bubba smiled at the boy's admission, "I did suspect," he said with a chuckle. "You know us Ravenclaws, all purpose nerds, obviously don't know it but it was in one of the five million books I've read in the common room."

He shrugged at the question of if he was tone deaf, "Well, I love music but I'm a really bad singer, dunno if that had anything to do with the misfire."

He made a decision as he appraised the boy once again, he seemed like he was alright so he offered his hand, "Bubba McGarry."

Interacting: @Jack Burnett Mentioning: @ N/A

Jack grinned when the Ravenclaw prefaced what he was about to say by mentioning he didn't know if Jack was a pure-blood or what. "I'm muggle-born, actually, so I know who you're talking about. Didn't know he did that recitation, though. Or that I'd be hearing it described as 'the best kind of cringe'."

What that phrase meant, Jack wasn't entirely sure, but it sounded amusing. "Maybe I'll have to look that up sometime when I go back home. Is it on the internet? YouTube?" Presumably if this kid knew who William Shatner was, then he would know what the internet and YouTube were, too.

Laughing at the other boy's description of Ravenclaws, Jack shook his head. "What's the purpose of all that knowledge if you don't retain the memory of it?" he wanted to know.

Raising his brows when the prefect offered his hand and his name, Jack hesitated for a moment before taking it and replying, ""Jack Burnett. Interesting name, 'Bubba'. Is it short for something, or is that all there is to it? Also, I'm surprised you're not more pissed I spelled you like that. Is it a regular occurrence for you or something? Are you just used to it?"" he teased with a smile

@Bubba McGarry