Closed The Beginning

[Jordan Harris]

If there was one place Jordie knew he had to see, it was the arts room. Ava practically lived here, Onyx and Sapphire would play here often when they were together. He skipped down to the ground floor, brimming with energy as he slid into the room. He laughed loudly, running around and checking everything out. He ran a hand over the drums, picking his way through the instruments available as he tried to decide what to play. He loved the sounds of everything so much, he couldn't decide where to place his attention. He was lost in thought, hardly paying attention to anything around him.

 

[Weston Stirling]

The instant Weston had overhead an older student talking about a music room, he had made it his life's mission to find it. He had of course brought his guitar to Hogwarts, but the idea of a room with all the instruments he could ever want to play was intoxicating. Especially if those instruments were somehow magical. He didn't know how a magical guitar differed from a normal one, but he wanted to find out. Unfortunately, the castle was a confusing place, and the stairs and corridors seemed to purposefully lead him to dead ends. But after some searching, he was pretty sure he'd found the right place.

Weston opened the door, and his eyes grew wide at the sight before him. "Whoa." The room was enormous, stuffed with arts and music supplies of all kinds. Though the endless rows of color-changing paint and markers looked like a lot of fun, he had eyes for only one thing. He nearly tripped over himself in excitement as he ran to the section filled with instruments, where another boy his age stood. "This is so cool!" He gently tapped a piano key. "Do you know if the instruments are actually magical?" Even if all this stuff was normal, that would be more than enough for him.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie looked up as a boy appeared, smiling widely. "Hi!" He greeted cheerfully. "Isn't it the greatest place you've ever seen?" He asked in return, running his hands over a trumpet. "My older sister and brother used to play here all the time; all the instruments are magical. They'll teach you how to play and sometimes if you're really playing well, I've heard that the instruments around you will pick up on your energy and play along," He sighed, before laughing. "I'm Jordie, by the way. What's your favorite instrument?" He asked, turning to face the boy better.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston nodded in agreement, his eyes still roaming over the endless array of instruments. He was pretty sure he could live here forever. This had to be the best room in the castle, and he knew he would be spending a lot of time down here. The other boy explained that the instruments could teach you how to play and sometimes played on their own, causing Weston to gasp. "No way. We should try it out!" He had a sudden vision of himself at the swirling center of all the different instruments, each one accompanying him. That would be incredible.

At the other boy's introduction, Weston turned to him and beamed. "I'm Weston! Definitely guitar, I've been taking lessons for a while." He had actually been worried about how he would continue to improve while he was at Hogwarts, away from his guitar teacher. But it seemed that would no longer be a concern. "What about you? Which one's your favorite?"

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordan laughed, pleased by the boys enthusiasm. "We definitely should," He smiled. He made a point to remember the other boys' name as he introduced himself, not recognizing him from his dorm but thinking he was at least in Jordan's year. He glanced to a nearby guitar, thinking it was a good instrument to learn. "I'm not sure, I haven't decided yet. I can pick a few strings on a base and guitar, and I can keep a basic beat on the drums." He looked around. "I have a really musical family, but I haven't picked anything really for myself yet," He told Weston.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Three instruments? Weston's eyes widened, impressed. He wanted to learn another instrument, maybe piano or drums, but guitar was hard enough. He'd been playing and practicing for years, and he still wasn't as good as he wanted to be. "Guitar's the best. If you choose that one, I can give you tips," he said, puffing up his chest importantly. He paused for a second before adding, "But if you choose drums, let me know. I've always wanted to learn!" There was no doubt in Weston's mind that he and Jordie would hang out again. He'd already decided that they were friends. Anyone who liked music was good in his book.

"Your family sounds awesome," Weston said. His parents liked music well enough, but they weren't musical. They didn't do much more besides stream songs in the apartment and go to the occasional concert. "Do you guys play together like a band?" Playing music with other people would be so fun. Maybe he should write home and tell his parents that they should pick up an instrument as well.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordan laughed a little bit, kicking around the idea a bit as well. "Well everyone plays guitar," He mused, "Maybe I could go with drums, Onyx likes them well enough," He mused to himself, running his hand over the neck of a guitar. He chuckled as Weston said he wanted to learn. "What if you work on guitar and I work on drums then when we're both decent we can switch and give each other pointers?" He offered.

Jordie nodded at his question. "I'm the baby of the family; my uncles play but they haven't performed in over two decades, but my oldest cousin makes her living performing. The twins just graduated, Amaya graduates this year and Jasper graduates next. My oldest cousin, Jasper and the twins would play together sometimes, Amaya is a dancer." He shrugged.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston grinned as Jordie pointed out that everybody played the guitar. "Yeah, cause it's the best!" he said playfully. Truthfully he did respect other instruments, but he knew that if he ever picked something else up, he'd always come back to the guitar. He nodded at Jordie's offer, eyeing the set of drums in the corner. "Deal!" It was still hard to believe that all of this equipment would be available for him to use for the next seven years.

As Jordie spoke about his family, Weston struggled to keep track of them all. "Wow, so you have four siblings? Five?" He'd always wanted a brother or even a sister, and he couldn't imagine having a family that big. Especially one where everyone was musical. It sounded like Jordie's family was definitely large enough to start a proper band. "Who's your cousin?" Weston asked curiously, wondering if he'd heard of her. "Is she famous?"

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie chuckled at the boys enthusiasm. He was kinda cute when he did that. "Guitar is pretty epic," He agreed. He looked over to the drums and nodded. This was a good idea, it meant he could practice with Onyx when he was home. He turned back to Weston as his attention was caught again. "Oh, no. It's just the twins and I, they graduated last year. The other three are our cousins. Amaya and Jasper are still here in school. He shrugged at Weston's next question. "She's not famous, but she has an underground following. Ember Michaels?" He didn't really expect the boy to have heard of her. "If you're looking for famous, though, I heard that the lead singer of Ashes, Asher Beckett? Has a cousin and twin sisters that go to school here," He offered.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Two siblings was not quite as exciting as five, but it was still two more than Weston had. "That's cool that you have so many family members at Hogwarts." Weston's own family unit was fairly small, just him, his parents, and his grandmother. Sometimes it got a bit lonely. There were a couple of other extended family members, but they were scattered across the globe and he only ever saw them every other holiday.

Weston shook his head, not recognizing the name Ember Michaels. "What kind of music does she play?" Even if he hadn't heard of her, he still thought it was impressive that she made a living as a musician. That's what he wanted to do when he grew up. The next name was slightly more familiar. "I've heard of the band but haven't really listened to their stuff." He paused, a thought occurring to him. "Are there lots of famous people's relatives here at Hogwarts?" He didn't know of any other prominent magical schools in this part of the world, so it wasn't too far-fetched that some of the kids here might be related to someone famous or famous themselves. Meeting a celebrity would be kind of cool.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie smiled and nodded. He might have been adopted in, but he loved the Michaels family. They were all so close, he loved it. And everyone seemed to love him, so that was always good. He shrugged when Weston said he hadn't heard of Ember, not many people had. "She's kinda punk rock really," He smiled. "Her style reminds me a lot of Avril Lavigne," He chuckled. "I know there are some quidditch player relatives and I think the Minister's kids and the last ministers kids are all here," He mused, "But I don't really know of any like mega famous kids here," He shrugged.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Well that would explain why he hadn't heard of her. "I don't really listen to punk rock. I like softer music better, like folk." Weston had a rule where he would listen to anything once. And he had heard some pretty good acoustic covers of punk rock songs in the past. But he generally gravitated towards folk and genres where it was easier to hear individual instruments and the production was sparser.

It was kind of disappointing to hear there were no celebrities at the school, but Weston supposed the relatives of celebrities was still better than nothing. "Do you think the minister will ever stop by Hogwarts?" He didn't really know anything about politics, but it would still be cool to see the minister in person.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie nodded. "Folk is nice to listen to, I generally like anything you can really sing to," he shrugged. He thought about Weston's question a minute. "Well, I think one of the ministers kids is graduating this year, so I bet the Minister will be here for that," He mused, leaning against the wall a bit. "I don't think I even know of any famous kids, do you know any?" He asked, looking to Weston.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston was a bit surprised at Jordie's answer. "Do you also sing?" Where had he learned all these musical skills? Though Weston could carry a tune and often hummed along to his guitar, he'd never had voice lessons before. He looked around the room. "Do you think there's anything in here that can also teach people to sing?" By the time he left Hogwarts, maybe he'd be a musical genius.

Weston made a mental note to see if he could get into the graduation ceremony this year so he could meet the minister. He shook his head at Jordie's question. "No, no one magical anyways. I barely know any other normal magical kids," he admitted. He'd gotten lucky and run into Zay before Hogwarts, but he hadn't met anyone else from Hogwarts until he'd boarded the train. "I'm an only child, and my family lives in the muggle part of Auckland," he explained. The only other magical children he'd met before Hogwarts were the ones who lived in his grandmother's neighborhood, but most of them had been much younger than him.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordan shrugged. "I mean, I can, but I've always been more interested in the instruments, they're so much more complex than the voice," he laughed lightly. He looked around, considering the question. "Ummm... maybe? I'm surprised they haven't hired an arts teacher," He mused, looking back to Weston.

Jordie nodded, listening to Weston talk. "I only met a few, like just before school. I live out near Brightstone, in the village," He told Weston. "Maybe you can come over during break?" He asked. He liked Weston, he was fun. "You can meet my uncles. Uncle Colin is really fun, I love him. Uncle James used to play in a band, he knows a lot about music. I learned all I know from him," He smiled warmly at the thought of his family.

 

[Weston Stirling]

"That's still cool that you can sing." Though Weston agreed that instruments were more interesting, it'd be nice to be able to sing as well. He nodded at Jordie's next statement. It really was strange there were no arts teachers at Hogwarts. He knew muggle schools had them, and it wasn't like art was only a thing that muggles could enjoy.

Weston was a bit surprised at Jordie's invitation and it took a second for it to register, but after it did, he nodded eagerly. "Yeah, that would be fun!" He'd never been to a friend's house before. Probably because he'd barely had any friends his own age before Hogwarts. Jordie's Uncle James sounded nice, and it would be pretty neat to meet an actual musician who wasn't his guitar teacher. Well, retired musician. "Do you live with your uncles then? And your cousins?" That was a lot of people.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie laughed lightly. "Thanks," He smiled. His grin widened when Weston agreed to come over, clapping his hands together. "Yesss," He laughed. "I live with my uncle Colin, my Uncle James, and my big brother Onyx," he grinned. "I was adopted, the twins lost their dad and Onyx grew up with Uncle James." He explained quickly. He was bouncing with excitement. "When do you want to come over? It's a short break if you wanted maybe you can just come right over off the train then we can come back, too," He offered, smiling widely.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Okay, that was — Weston counted it out in his head — four people. Much fewer than the nine or so people he was picturing, which was kind of shame since nine people in a household sounded like a lot of fun. He was having some trouble keeping track of how everyone in Jordie's family was related, but he just nodded eagerly. He'd hopefully get to meet them soon enough, and he could figure it out then.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Weston said, nodding. He briefly wondered if he needed to tell his parents but figured it'd be fine. "I can't wait to meet Onyx and your uncles! And you can give me a tour of Brightstone!" He liked exploring new cities and after visiting Obsidian Harbour over the break, he was eager to check out more magical towns. Just then, his stomach growled loudly, and Weston looked up, startled to see the time. "We should probably head to dinner," he said with a laugh. He looked out at all the instruments sitting there, still untouched, before turning back to Jordie. "But we have to hang out again soon. I'm not leaving Hogwarts until I play everything here!" he vowed.