Matching Dress Robes

[Humphrey Williams]

Humphrey Williams entered a clothing store on Diagon Alley called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. The Hogwarts Ball was certainly an occasion and he was going to match the style and color of his dress robes to that of his date, Keiba Namid. Her dress choice was really gorgeous, it was a chocolate brown with gold beads that accented the dress' style and cut while not being overly showy or flashy. He thought that Keiba had excellent taste. She had sent him an owl containing her response after he had asked her if she would accompany him to the Hogwarts Ball. She had said yes and had sent her the picture of her dress selection so he could get dress robes that accented or matched his Keiba's dress that was ordered.

Scanning the shop for anybody at all, he explored the different racks that held ever scrap of clothing he could think of. He finally found a lady in the back of the shop sorting dresses into stacks based on size of dress. "Excuse me, are you Madam Malkin? If you are, then I was wondering if you could possibly find me a set of dress robes to match this specific dress or compliment it. If you are not, then could you please take me to her?" he asked her. She seemed to be intelligent and had a bright, intelligent cast to her eyes.

The lady snatched the picture from Humphrey's hand, so this must be Madam Malkin, he thought to himself. Well, she certainly didn't waste any time. She examined the dress for a minute and a half, and then she started walking towards the front right side of the shop, motioning with her right hand for him to follow her. As they walked towards the front right corner of the clothing shop he noticed that he was walking through different styles of dress robes. He couldn't help but admiring the workmanship in some of the dress robes. And when Madam Malkin abruptly stopped he nearly ran into her.

The rack they had stopped at appeared to be similar to the style of the dress robes Keiba had picked out. Madam Malkin eyes Humphrey, and then began riffling through the racks of dress robes. Finally, she stopped, pausing to stare at a set of dress robes. She pulled it out and held it up next to Humphrey and her eyes kept darting from the picture, to the dress robes, and then to Humphrey at a rapid fire pace. She nodded her head slightly and thrust the set of dress robes into his arms. Pointing to the back of the shop, he noticed a sign that said fitting rooms.

Humphrey walked into the men's side of the fitting rooms. He pulled the dress robes over him, and he noticed that everything was too big for him, did this person know what she was about. But, he just simply shrugged and exited the fitting rooms. Then he approached Madam Malkin and he noticed she had set out a small box for him to stand on. Walking towards the box he then stepped onto it. Madam Malkin started walking around him in a circle and sticking pins through the dress robes. Slowly but surely they began to shrink to the right size. She placed the last pin in his robes and examined her handiwork. "Is that all, Madam Malkin?" he asked after the brief pause she had spent staring at him. She shook her head from left to right. Walking up to the cashier's desk she stepped into the employee side of it while he remained on the other side.

Madam Malkin quickly typed a series of numbers into the register. He heard a soft ding, and then the shopkeeper wrote down the price of the robes on a slip of paper. Price, three galleons, four silver sickles, and eight bronze nuts. Please return tomorrow morning to pick up your dress robes that will be completed to match the picture he had shown her. The time was 11:00 a. m. Good, he thought, that would give him time to get back to the school and prepare for the ball.

He paid the full price of the robes then, and then took the slip of paper and thrust it deep into his right jeans pocket. Then he exited the clothing shop with a sense of pride in what he had done. First he had asked and convinced a nice Ravenclaw to accompany him to the ball. Then, he had gotten the dress robes he would need by himself. He realized that wizards and witches were much more self-sufficient than the Muggles his age. Odd.