Written for s i l v e r a u r o r a's 'The Talented Challenge'.
Character + Talent: Mandy Brocklehurst and a talent for the flute.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Mandy Brocklehurst had discovered the flute quite by accident.
Once, she had gotten into massive trouble. She'd arrived at Hogwarts with a few paper bags stocked full of Zonko's merchandise, which her prankster brother had snuck into her luggage. Once she';d discovered the paper bag's contents, she'd panicked, visualising detention, suspensions, even expulsion. She'd been pacing up and down the corridor near the Ravenclaw Common Room, when a door appeared in the middle of the wall out of nowhere. Curious but wary, she opened the door, only to find a room full of random objects. She'd thrown the Zonko's bags down, and on her way out, tripped over a slim silver instrument. She bent over hesitatingly, picked it up, and stared at it. Recognising it from her Muggle Studies class, she identified it as a flute.
After she wiped it, she lifted it to her lips, albeit slightly awkwardly. But much to her surprise, her fingers seemed to glide over the glossy metal with ease, the cool metal pressing against her skin. Hesitantly, she blew into the hole near the top - what was it called?
"The embouchure hole," Professor Pinkistein had explained patiently. "You blow into it while pressing the little holes, which Muggles calls tone holes."
Feeling slightly idiotic, she moved her index finger over a random hole, and blew. A melodic sound filled the room, which Mandy recognised as a middle C, and she nearly dropped the delicate instrument in surprise.
I wish I could learn how to play this, she thought. As if on cue, her eyes seemed to be drawn towards a stack of papers and a large, thin, rather tattered book, which was entitled Musical Basics: The Western Concert Flute, 1997 edition. She picked it up and started to read.
It seemed like forever since that happened. The night she received the letter, she was sitting by the window in the Common Room, staring blankly into the night sky. The piece of paper fell from her loose grip and fluttered to the ground. The letter that informed her that her parents had been taken by Death Eaters - the letter that changed her life.
Feeling numb, she bent over to retrieve the letter, but instead her fingers closed around a slender metal instrument. She remembered how she had held it reverently for weeks after she discovered the flute. She remembered how she'd learnt to let her fingers fly over the metal, how she'd practiced day and night, hugging her secret to herself. How she had shown the instrument to her parents and the looks of awe and pride in their eyes when she played the flute for them and the music had left them spellbound, just like it had left her.
Feeling tears begin streaming from her eyes, she held the delicate instrument to her lips, but didn't start playing. A temporary release, a temporary escape from reality, she knew - but right then, she didn't care. Music was her escape, the flute like an addictive drug - but right now she needed it. She needed to get away.
Inhaling sharply, she started to play, letting the music work its deceptive magic, making her believe that everything was all right.
R&R please. :D