Closed I Hear It Calling

Obsidian Harbour wasn't quite the same as bustling Auckland, but Weston was still enjoying himself. This was the first time he had visited, and he was relishing the chance to explore a new city. Though it wasn't very big, he liked that there was one main street where all the action was happening. It made it much easier to engage in his favorite pastime — people watching. And there were certainly a lot of interesting people here. Wizards could dress very strangely, and half of them were accompanied by animal familiars. He'd had to dodge a swooping owl more than once.

The sound of music caught Weston's ear, and he followed it to a small crowd of people gathered on the side of the street. He had to jump up and down a couple of times — being short could be so annoying — before he finally got a good glimpse of the source. A witch was playing a clarinet while an enchanted accordion floated next to her, playing on its own. The song was winding down, but it didn't take long for Weston to get caught up in the energy of the crowd. When the song ended, he burst into enthusiastic applause, accidentally jostling a nearby person in the process.

The sound of a voice beside him got Weston's attention, and he looked over, a bit startled to see another boy. "What? Oh, sorry," he said with an apologetic smile. He'd felt something brush against his elbow but had barely registered it. "Guess I got kind of caught up in the music." Weston turned back towards the musician, standing on his tiptoes to try to get a better view. It was hard to tell what was going on. "Can you see anything? Do you think she's done?" The other kid looked like he was a couple of inches taller; maybe he had a better view. "I'm Weston by the way." Despite the height difference, the other boy looked like he could be the same age. Maybe he would also be going to Hogwarts in September? It wasn't like there were many other well-known magical schools around.

"Awww, really?" Weston said when the other boy mentioned she was packing up. He jumped a couple more times to try and see for himself but finally gave up. It definitely didn't sound like she was about to play something else, and a couple of people were starting to walk away.

Weston beamed when Isaiah introduced himself. "Zay is a cool nickname." Creative, too. He wouldn't have thought to shorten "Isaiah" that way. "Should I go by Wes?" he mused aloud. He wasn't really sure how the whole nickname thing worked and whether you could give yourself a nickname. He sure hoped so because the only nickname he'd ever gotten from someone was from his grandmother, and it was embarrassing.

The music still hadn't started back up yet, and Weston was forced to accept that the mini-performance was over. He glanced around, trying to see if anything else interesting was happening. "Are you from around here?" he asked Zay. "Do you know if there are usually street performers working in Obsidian Harbour?" Maybe they could try to find another one.

Weston grinned. He felt at least ten times cooler now that he had a real (and non-embarrassing) nickname. It was a bit strange to think of himself as Wes, but he was sure he would get used to it soon enough. And the timing was perfect. A new name for a new school year.

Zay explained that he wasn't from the area, causing Weston to frown slightly. Did that mean Zay didn't go to Hogwarts? Weston had so been hoping that he had already met one of his future classmates. Though he was confident he would be able to make friends at Hogwarts, it definitely wouldn't hurt to start off school with a couple already made. "Where are you from?" he asked curiously. "What school do you go to?"

At Zay's last remark, Weston nodded eagerly. "Let's go find some!" If he was a street performer, he'd definitely choose to work a day like this when the streets filled with families doing their school shopping. "I think I saw someone doing tricks with their owl over there," he pointed toward one end of the street. "Either that or their owl was trying to attack them." Wizards were an interesting bunch, and it was fun being in the middle of so much chaos.