Closed Sounds of a Flute PV Alyssea Brown

interacting with @Astoria Middleton

Out of all the things Alyssea could've done with her first few weeks at school, she certainly spent more time on the fourth floor than in her own dormitory. And what for, you may ask.

The Rehearsal Room.

She'd made a number of valuable memories in that room. The first time she discovered it, she never stopped coming back. It became a second home for her. Then she kept coming back again, and again, and again, sometimes meeting new people with similar interests. Sometimes it was in the middle of the night when she (probably) should've been asleep for another long day of classes. Sometimes it was after a free afternoon and homework was tossed out the window (not literally).

As she walked to the room, she hummed two different songs from a cover she heard over the summer. She would smile at a few students if she recognised them.

As she got closer to the room, she heard a sound coming from the area. Someone's inside?, she thought. It wasn't the first time she intended to use the space and someone was already there. She wasn't even mad, only curious.

She stopped humming and listened as she approached the door. The sound was... familiar. She clicked her fingers as she tried to recall her memory. The high notes came with the occasional low note. Was it in a minor key? She couldn't tell, but the vibes were definitely a sad song.

She hummed to the tune and soon, the song's name came to her head. Once Upon A December! Anastasia had been her mother's favourite animated film when she was younger.

Alyssea took the handle and slowly opened it as she quietly sang the lyrics under her breath. There in the room was another yellow-robed girl with a flute in her hands. Alyssea closed the door behind her and stood as she listened to the rest of the song.

When the girl finished, Alyssea clapped.

"That was beautiful," she said, "I hope you don't mind me coming in. I heard the song and recognized it."

She smiled at the other Hufflepuff girl. "My name's Alyssea. What about you?"

interacting with @Astoria Middleton

The girl smiled. "Oh, not at all! I hope you enjoyed it," she replied, "The lyrics are just as beautiful as the actual notes, wouldn't you agree?"

Alyssea nodded. "The lovely thing about Anastasia and its music is that the songs are all descriptive. You don't have to watch it to understand."

Forget everything the theatre industry said about Disney musicals (even though Anastasia isn't actually a Disney musical; it was bought), their songs are just as good as any Broadway-produced musical. People always told her that using Disney musical songs for her auditions would hinder her chance of getting cast, but that's not true. She's used 'Once Upon a December' for her audition before and she got cast into a lead role. It may not have been a main role, but lead was just as good.

"I'm Astoria," she said.

Astoria. As a history nerd, she could name a few historical figures with the same name, but she didn't. It was a pretty name. I wonder what it means, she thought.

"What brings you to the rehearsal room?"

"Oh!" Alyssea began. "I was hoping to spend some time alone after classes. You know, self care and stuff. Though, if you wanted to use the room, I'd be happy to find somewhere else."

If she had to move, she'd probably head to the outdoor club area, or find someone from Drama Club to practice with. Goodness, when does the grind ever end? If it wasn't too dark already, she'd head down to the Great Lake and enjoy the breeze.

"It's no problem, by the way, if you want the room to yourself. I wish the school had some sort of music wing where there were more practice rooms. Luckily, the place is gigantic."

interacting with @Astoria Middleton

"I will admit, I wouldn't have expected that some students would know Anastasia but I'm glad to hear that someone does!"

Alyssea chuckled. "I'm what you'd call a Muggle-born half-blood. Born and raised outside of the wizarding world until now. So, I'm pretty familiar with Muggle entertainment."

Luckily, she could stay. She smiled at Astoria as she took off her robe. Dancing in a robe would be too heavy, not to mention too difficult. Sure, she's worn more physically constricting costumes before, but the point of her time here was to destress and unwind. Why stress over clothing if you could just lighten the load?

"What kind of music do you enjoy? Do you sing? Dance? Play an instrument?" Astoria asked.

Alyssea hummed. "I sing and dance. Acting, too. Did musical theatre before I came to Hogwarts." She stretched her arms out and enjoyed to release of tension in her body. Goodness, she needed this. "You know, went to theatres and did some lead roles here and there."

"I'm more of just a pop music person. Chill music, sometimes slow and sad, but gotta have some upbeat songs, too."

Is musical theatre its own genre? Technically, it was an overarching category rather than a genre. Musical theatre songs would be inspired by a music genre based on its story. Like, Hamilton has a lot of rap and is a musical, but their songs aren't a representation of all of musical theatre, right?

Majority of her playlist at home was basically just from musicals. Heck, if she counted now, there were probably only five songs that weren't from musicals.

She turned to Astoria. "What about you? You've probably heard a lot of classical in your life before, but I won't assume it's a favourite."

interacting with @Astoria Middleton

"You performed in theatres? Like, grand theatres?!" Astoria asked.

Alyssea shook her head with a light-hearted laugh. "No, of course not. I could only wish. That kind of work was for the serious theatre kids in their teens. I just performed at local community theatres." Alyssea smiled as she remembered the times. "Small budgets, but they were good fun."

She thought of the time she was part of a low-budget show. It was The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Never heard of it? Alyssea didn't until she was part of it. It was so low budget that the costumes came from other productions and the set had to be sourced from the theatre's own storage. But nonetheless, she loved it. Everyone always had good spirits and, even as a young girl starting out, she felt very much at home.

She's had high-budget productions before, but they were mostly ones she auditioned for in school. They once did Les Miserables and, while she was ensemble and didn't do much, the rest of the cast was good company.

Astoria continued on about her own musical experience. "I have only performed on stage for balls hosted at our home. We would have an orchestra and I would perform with them. Then, throughout our night, I would perform solos in instrumental and vocal."

Alyssea raised her eyebrows in interest. "That sounds awesome! Man, a whole orchestra..."

"May I ask what specific artists or performers you enjoy the most?"

"Oh! Hmm." Alyssea thought. "In terms of performers, I can't remember names. I always watched what was at my local city theatre without taking a programme," she chuckled, "But for specific artists, I like Lizzy McAlpine. What about you?"

Once Astoria responded, Alyssea felt relief wash over her. So Astoria did like classical music! Phew. Alyssea thought her assumption would get her a side-eye, but Astoria took it well. When she asked Alyssea if she'd like to hear more, Alyssea agreed quickly.