Closed Music By The Lakefront

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene loved Hogwarts, he hadn’t been sure he would but every single day he found something new to love. The hall ways, the ghosts, the taking portraits, everything about this place was just so cool. His dormmates seemed chill, and most of the people he’d met so far were pretty nice. It had given him such inspiration for his song writing, and for his playing, but he could say that was also because he didn’t have much else to do. Classes hadn’t quite started, and he no longer had the muggle devices that provided ample distraction. So, he’d been playing a lot, exploring a lot and reading the occasional chapter to get himself more to grips with what he needed to learn. He had done enough reading for today so he headed outside, it was a little dreary but he didn’t mind, an older student had placed a charm on his notebook which protected it from the rain and he had his warm thick (and only warm thick) jumper. He put on his hat and headed outside.

At the waterfront it wasn’t too bad, he liked it, the chill in the air and the way the countryside felt. He’d only ever lived in a city, he’d gotten used to the smells of such a place, and this...this was so entirely different. He now understood why friends went to the countryside for holidays, just how calming it could be. Eugene started with some warm ups with his guitar, tuning it and then letting himself get ready to play. He did some scales and sang along with them. He had been given a few pointers by his grandfather and by his old music teacher and he always made sure to warm up before he got started. He wasn’t sure what he’d work on today, but he started with his own song, the one to his mother. He had been feeling quite distant from her - more so than usual - and he knew it was good to start with a song he knew and this was where he could start.​

 

[Benji Killian]

Benji had finally unpacked everything that needed unpacked and organized his part of the dorm. It had not taken him long because he did not bring a lot with him for his first year. Jamie, his stepdad, want to send him with several suitcases full of stuff for his first year, but after some convincing, he agreed to limit it to just two for Benji's sake. The castle had been an interesting place, but the adjustment really came with being surrounded by so many people. He had not grown up with tons of people in his life. It was mostly his two dads and him. When his biological father died, it ended up being just Jamie and him left. Benji had friends, of course, but this was very different.

At times he liked the hustle and bustle, but other times, he felt exhausted by it. It was why he took to walking the school and its surrounding grounds. It gave him a chance to recharge his batteries and to exist for a moment by himself. Solitude was nice in smaller doses, especially in such a strange and foreign place. The french boy had found New Zealand to be a wild exotic place that had been so very different than what he used to, having grown up in France. He felt he had just gotten used to New Zealand when he was thrown into a whole new world at Hogwarts.

Benji had taken to walking around the lake; the water seemed to help him relax. It reminded him of his home in France, where they lived close to the beach. The ocean and the lake were not quite the same, but they also were not so different that he could not enjoy them equally. He seemed to be walking on autopilot when he heard the sound of music nearby. Off in the distance, a young boy played a song he had never heard of on a guitar. Walking over, he stood nearby and watched with awe as the fingers plucked and slid over the strings. The kid was quite good for being so young. Benji knew how to play the piano but not quite as good as the stranger. Once the song was over, he gave the boy a small round of applause.

"You play so good. Did you write that?" Benji asked as he placed his hands in the pockets of his down jacket.

@Eugene Nestor

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene hadn’t heard someone approach, if he had known that someone was close by he might not have picked it to practice but it was in his mind his best song so far, and he had with his cousin just put so much work into it. So when he stopped and someone applauded him he was both surprised and a little embarrassed. He gave a friendly smile to the boy, he knew he wasn’t a hufflepuff but wasn’t sure which house he was. ”Thanks bro. I did, with a little help from my cousin, it’s one of two songs I've written. My other song is far more up beat,” his cousin had helped him figure out chords and figure out how to make his lyrics fit what he was trying to do. He didn’t know much about song writing, it was something he’d only recently gotten into. He would need to work twice as hard now if he wanted to be able to write well. He gave a little shrug, obviously trying to play down his own talents with it. ”I’m Eugene,” he leaned over his guitar with a hand outstretched to the boy. ”Hufflepuff,”​

 

[Benji Killian]

"Benji, Ravenclaw," Benji said as he shook the guy's hand before replacing his own back into his pocket. "Well you and your cousin are pretty good if the thoughts of an eleven-year-old matter much in the world," Benji said with a small smile. He did know enough about his own likes and dislikes to know that it was impressive for a kid his age to play as well as he did given the attention span of kids his age. Benji had been the victim of short attention spans, as he had been lured away from the piano more than his fair share. "I think another life I was meant to be a Hufflepuff, how are you liking it?" Benji asked as he rocked backwards on his heels.

@Eugene Nestor

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene blushed lightly at the complement but mostly just smiled at Benji. ”I’ll be sure to mention that in my next letter.” his cousin liked to say she wasn’t musical but really, Eugene had found her to be pretty musical, at least insofar in how she helped him. He frowned slightly at Benji’s words, another life. ”I like Hufflepuff bro, it’s nice,” he said, though he didn’t really have anything to compare it to and little knowledge of what the others were meant to be like. ”What’s ravenclaw like?” he was sure if he was fractionally more intelligent he might’ve suited ravenclaw but he was happy with where he was (which he would’ve been wherever), but he was curious as to what the other houses might be life. His fingers hovered over the guitar strings as he spoke.​

 

[Benji Killian]

"It is," Benji said for a moment as he searched for the words that came first as French, "Épique et génial" He said with a small smile. "Epic and awesome," He added in way of translation. "The sorting hat knows me better apparently than I know myself. I won't say they are all geniuses but most of Ravenclaw seem rather smart or at the very least are too smart for their own good." He said as he though about the people he had met along the way. "How are you liking all of this?" Benji asked as he motioned to the school behind him.

Benji had grown up in France and to a magical family and so Hogwarts was something new to him. Magic, was common but his step dad had a strong connection to the muggle world and often wanted Benji to remember that just because he was able to use magic, it did not mean that he should ever forget about the muggle world. That it was merely genetics that separate a wizard and a muggle. Benji often agreed and he found that for all their short comings, there were things that muggles did that were beyond comprehension in the best ways imaginable.

@Eugene Nestor

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene absolutely perked up as Benji spoke french and then gave the translation, ”That’s so cool bro,” he complimented, he knew little pieces of the traditional native maori but he’d never been very good at it, and he hadn’t picked up on anything, music he could do but languages he couldn’t. He nodded along as Benji spoke about the hat, ”That hat was cool as,” he said, he’d been so in awe of it and of how it sung, it was just such a cool thing to him. ”Bro its all very cool,” he told him. ”I’m enjoying like just the way the school like...feels.” he replied. He liked much more than that, he liked his classes, he liked the way the building was, he liked the arts room and quidditch, there was just a whole host of things that he really liked about the school. ”What about you?” ​