Doing it Wrong

[Elt]

The Hogwarts gardens, as magnificent as they were, posed more than one threat to a teeny part-goblin. Not that Elt minded being completely and undeniably lost amongst the hedgerows and stone walls that separated each section from the next: so long as she had her violin, she was quite content to sit in a flowerbed and pluck the instrument's strings. Without a bow, producing any other sound from it was quite impossible - and Elt had tried. She'd blown on it, strummed it, stroked it, and shouted goblin expletives at it, but none of these attempts had been to any avail. Perhaps, she'd concluded eventually, it simply wouldn't sing without first being enchanted by some complex form of magic. But until she could find the correct words to ask someone to confirm this theory, plucking would just have to suffice.

 

[Zara Lovette]

With exams coming up, Zara was just about every place but her dormitory studying. She had done enough of that in class, and Zara was sure she would pass every class, which in her opinion was a definite win. With time that could be better spent practising sharp turns out on the pitch or perfecting her latest pieces on the violin --especially that-- Zara just couldn't find a justification for limiting herself to the stuffy dorm like some of her friends. She had half the mind to lure Evelyn out with a trail of lip gloss or something but she was probably with her brother, Liz was probably somewhere off studying, and Luke was doing Godric knew what with Aaron. Many of her other friends either disappeared off the face of the earth or were Ravenclaws and Zar wasn't sure even she would survive interrupting the eagle geek-offs study sessions.

At least her violin was always there for her. Lugging the case on to her shoulder Zara left the Conglomerated Arts room in search for a change of scenery. Inspiration, signs of life. Her music folder was tucked securely under her arm, her hasty cleanup apparent from its haphazard appearance. Without much thought she found herself wandering over to the Hogwarts Garden, its beauty leaving a clear subconscious impression on the young musician. As she found herself deeper and deeper in the mass of hedge, stone, and floral scents, she sat down on a rock just to take in her surroundings and bask in the sunlight for a bit. Falling in to a peaceful state, her settled and focused mind was soon startled by the undeniable sounds of plucked strings on a violin. At least the open string was clear to her trained ear; it was dissonant and distasteful, and Zara nearly fell off her rock from surprise. Never mind the fact it didn't sound pleasant, it was her first time hearing a violin other than her own at Hogwarts so far. A feeling of excitement basically pulsed through her at the thought of another violinist, and she swiftly recollected her belongings before following the sound.

Luckily the sound didn't seem to move, and after a minute or two of searching she was surprised to find the part-goblin girl from her year before her, awkwardly plucking and prodding at a violin. Without warning Zara rushed over, her concern over the poorly treated instrument distracting her from her tone of voice. "What are you doing?" Zara announced loudly, eyes trained on the violin. ​

 

[Elt]

Elt was just thinking about how much she'd have loved to see Oona when, by the grace of Merlin, a pair of footsteps rounded the corner and swiftly approached. Wearing her biggest smile, Elt looked up to greet her goblin friend. Only, it wasn't her goblin friend at all - she was much too tall, for one thing. Elt tried not to look too disappointed at this fact lest she offend the very nice girl who was now stood above her, looking very concerned at the manner in which Elt was playing her violin. She looked up, and down, and up again, bewildered. If her own instrument had come with a case, she might have observed that Zara had a violin of her own slung over her shoulder. But Elt had found her violin in this woods near her home - she only knew it could produce a better sound by the fact she'd heard a group of Muggle hikers playing it before they'd left it on a tree stump. Occasionally she paused to wonder whether or not they'd intended to leave it behind, or if her acquiring of it were the result of somebody's absent-mindedness. Unlikely as it was, she liked to think they'd seen her watching and gifted the instrument to her. If they had, she wished they'd left some sort of instruction manual with it.

"Uhm," she said hesitantly from her flowerbed; and then, assuming she ought not to have been playing at all, hid the violin behind her back, where it received further mistreatment by getting thrust into soil. "Nothing?" The Ravenclaw winced, bracing herself to be chastised for messing around instead of working.

 

[Zara Lovette]

The girl's almost scared reaction had Zara thinking twice, blinking as she took in the sight of the small Elt. Elt, yes that was her name. She had easily remembered it ever since her cute first appearance at the sorting ceremony, promising herself that she would say hi to the small goblin classmate when she had the chance. However, she had gotten too caught up during the year with the group of friends that she had quickly established and secured, promise present in her mind yet pushed back. And well here she was, the small Zara looking down to the even smaller Elt and managing to practically scare the girl too. Scare. Zara didn't think she managed to scare anyone in the last 11 years except for maybe the exception of her own cat who still often managed to get the best out of her.

"Oh... Sorry about that. Your not in trouble or anything!" Zar exclaimed, observing the way she hid her violin behind her back. "I was just worried about the way you were treating your violin because I have one too." She inched closer to the Ravenclaw, coming to a stop and bending down to place her folder between her knees and then expertly swinging off her case and quickly opening it to reveal her hand-crafted beauty of a violin. "See, same!" Her voice had a gentler ring to it than at first approach, though her volume still fairly loud. That was normal though, so she didn't find a reason to change it. She definitely didn't want to come off to anybody as mean though, and tried her best to adjust herself as reasonable. Zara eyed the violin behind the girl's back every so often, still concerned for the instrument yet thinking to approach the matter differently. Yelling probably wouldn't get her anywhere, and Zar definitely did not want to scare off the only other possible violinist she had seen ever since the start of the year. Be tactful, tactful...​