Closed Unplugged

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie didn't miss much about home, but he did miss his guitars. He owned several: a run-of-the-mill acoustic, a vintage yellow electric that had cost hundreds of dollars, and a cheaper electric that he didn't feel so guilty about shredding. Susie had assured him there were loads of guitars in the arts room, and this was true, but none of them felt quite like his. And there was no electricity. Rock and metal were his genres of choice. How was he supposed to practice his favourite solos on an acoustic?

He put one guitar down, and pulled the next down from the rack. This one was interesting. Semi-hollow body, light-gauge strings. He picked it experimentally. It wasn't too dissimilar to the sound of his cheap one, unplugged. Maybe he could get used to it.

 

[Priyanka Bakshi]

Priyanka felt a little sad because she missed music, because at home she played the piano or danced to dispel her sadness. It was heard that there was an art room in the castle, where everything could be, even including the piano. It would be nice to play to drive away the sadness, because music usually sang everything. That's what Grandma always said. She asked the tower members where the art room might be, then went there as directed.

She came to the art room, heard the sounds of a guitar. It seemed interesting who else could be here seeking solace in music. As Priya entered the room deeper into the room, she noticed Freddie from her house. "Hi, Freddie," she greeted.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie might as well have been caught stealing the guitar, for the look of horror that flashed across his face when Priyanka came in. He made a swift enough recovery, to an observer, though he hung the guitar back on the rack immediately. "Hi," he said. "Priya. Do you go by Priya, or Priyanka?" He hadn't had much of a chance to get to know his housemates yet and didn't like to assume he could shorten anyone's name.

The room was empty but for the two Ravenclaws. Freddie glanced around, his gaze landing on a drum kit. Small talk. Right. "Cool stuff in here. You play something?"

 

[Priyanka Bakshi]

Priyanka glanced around the room, there were all sorts of instruments here, but then her eyes stopped at a large piano in the corner of the room. She just wanted to sit down at it and play some classical or rock tune. Then Freddie's words made her look away from the piano and look at her housemates."You can safely call me Priya,"she said, because it seemed better than the long name that only her grandmother called her. The others called her by her shortened name.

Priya could definitely agree with the boy that there were really cool things here. She followed Freddie's gaze, and noticed that it was directed at the drum kit. "Yes, I agree. I play the piano." she replied. "And what do you play?"

 

[Susie Lagowski]

(Please delete)

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

"OK. Priya," Freddie repeated. It didn't escape his notice that her eyes lingered on the piano in the corner. It was a nice one, vintage, shiny, and, if his experience with the guitars was anything to go by, probably in tune. He suspected some kind of charm was at work. In any case, he was unsurprised when she revealed she could play it. "Guitar," he said. "But... mostly electric. These are just acoustic. Except that one - that one feels electric, 'cause it's got lighter strings, but obviously it's not. Kind of a bummer." That was understating it. On an average day, Freddie spent at least four hours practising. But he'd long known electricity didn't work at Hogwarts. It wasn't a surprise; he'd had time to emotionally prepare.

He turned back to Priya. "Um, if you're gonna be in here a lot, we should have a schedule. Cause I have to practice." It hadn't quite hit him that he was sharing this room with the entire school. "OK? Yeah?"

 

[Priyanka Bakshi]

"Do you have an abbreviation for your name?" Priyanka wanted to know, because not many people had one, but she decided to ask just to be sure. She could stare at the piano for a long time, but it wouldn't be polite to stare at the whole conversation. Then when she heard Freddie playing an instrument, a cry of delight escaped her lips, "Wow!" she exclaimed. "Is there something wrong with the acoustic? What's the difference between them?" Priya really wanted to know, so she decided to ask. She herself practiced on the piano at home for five hours a day, although others thought it was too much, but she didn't think so.

She looked at Freddie, then he said about the schedule, it made her scratch the back of her head. How could he want to make a schedule if others might come here and also want to practice. "How could we make a schedule? Others are coming here too." She didn't really understand the right way to do it. "Okay, we can try to do it like this. Just how exactly."

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie shook his head. "No. Just Freddie," he said. He'd never really been a fan of Fred, and Wilf didn't suit him. Wilf didn't suit anybody, except maybe really old men who played golf. Freddie thought golf was the most boring game to ever be invented.

He blinked, taken aback by Priya's enthusiasm. "They sound different," he said. "Electric is, like... louder, and distorted. Well, it can do a lot of stuff. You can make an electric guitar sound like an acoustic guitar, but an acoustic just sounds the same whatever. Look, I'll show you." He chose a guitar at random and sat down, balancing it on his leg. "This is an electric solo. It won't sound very good, but, you'll see." His hands were shaking a bit, and the strings were way too heavy, but he only fumbled a few notes as he played through one of his favourites. It usually sounded more impressive, but that was because it was supposed to come out of an amp. As soon as he had finished, he hung the guitar back up. "Yeah. If that was electric, it would've been, um, probably better."

Others? Freddie frowned. Others like who? The music room at his old school had only had a couple of regulars, but then again, there were all sorts of arty things in here - easels and mannequins and scraps of wood and everything. All the painters and fashion designers of the school would probably be hanging out in here while he wanted to play. "Oh. Maybe I can just take one of the guitars. I should probably ask," he said. His hands were still shaking from the adrenaline. He stuffed them in his pockets. The room felt too big, too quiet all of a sudden. Glancing around, his eyes came to rest on the piano again. "What can you play? Do you wanna show me?"

 

[Priyanka Bakshi]

Priyanka heard what her housemate said, then thought before answering. "Okay. It might sound intrusive, but Fred would be shorter." she said, but it would be better to stick with what the boy wanted and call her exactly as she needed. "Oh, okay, I'll call you Freddie." Priya refused, smiling at her housemate.

Then Freddie started talking about guitars enthusiastically. Priyanka listened with great surprise and excitement, because she was really interested in learning a little more about guitars. She not only learned the difference, but also understood how all the guitars differed in sound and appearance. "So if Hogwarts had electricity, the sound would be different, right?"

There was no way to know how often other students came here, but they probably had to make some kind of schedule where students could sign up and take their time from time to time to time they wanted to spend time here. "Speaking of schedules, we can talk about when we're coming here. What days would you like to take?" she asked. Priya frowned when Freddie mentioned taking the guitar. "Thinking about taking one of the guitars to the common room. Better ask, so you don't start trouble." she refused. Then she noticed the boy's gaze returning to the piano. "What do you want to hear? I can play classical, rock, pop and metal. Tell me what you want to hear and I'll try to play it." Priya said, moving closer to the piano, sitting down at it and looking at Freddie, waiting for his wishes.