29 Aug 2024

AngelFyre had to admit, entering Diagon Alley from the back of the Leaky Cauldron had an altogether seedy feel to it, and her father was having none of it. He insisted that he accompany her to the entrance, and AngelFyre had no desire to fight him over it. She loved that he loved her enough to be the protective Papa Bear when it came to his little… but growing… girl. He took his leave after she entered by tapping the brick three up and two over from the dustbin. Before that time, however, Iain McCubbin confirmed with her no less than three times when and where they were all to meet later that evening for dinner. "Got it, Daddy. Simon, Aunt Maggie and Mark, and I, will all be there on time, and maybe even earlier than that." She lifted on her toes just a slight bit to be able to kiss his cheek. He hugged her, telling her to be careful, and she kissed him one more time, expressing her gratitude before leaving him. "Thank you for allowing us this time to ourselves. You know I appreciate it... we both do."

Once on the Alley, AngelFyre looked at her list. She was early by design...very early... even by Simon's standards, and wanted to get as much of her shopping out of the way as possible so that she could focus on the main attraction of the day; her reunion with her fellow after a lonnnnnnnng summer apart. First on her list of places to hit would be Madam Malkin's for some new school robes. She had outgrown last year's trio and did not want to show up this year looking like she was waiting for Noah's biblical flood with the “Highwater” style. Fashionistas would know that was so 2300 BC, back when everything was just drip but no dry.

It was late in the season, and she had worried that she had not left the staff enough time to get her alterations done before school started in just a couple of days. As with most businesses, almost anything can be accommodated if one is willing to pay the price. AngelFyre was willing, particularly since she had no choice in the matter. It was a good life lesson. Procrastination is costly.

She opened the door and heard the bell ring above it. As she always did in such moments, she smiled and uttered just under her breath, “And another angel gets its wings.” As her eyes adjusted to the light, she heard a female voice call out to her, “I’ll be with you shortly. Please have a look around while you wait.”

“Thank you, I will.” She wanted to check-in, however, to let someone know she was there for her fitting, so she walked up to the counter and discovered it was not manned. Off to the side, where the fitting area was, were the gilded, rococo, triptych mirrors, standing nearly floor-ceiling in height. The woman who had called out to her was on her knees at the base of the fitting station, pinning a hemline on a first year’s robe. The soon-to-be-student was not at all happy about much of anything in the moment and was going off on some mini diatribe about the quality of the robe material, the temperature in the shop, the abysmal service as she was STILL waiting on her glass of pumpkin juice, and those were but a few of the things on her exhaustive list of things to be unhappy about.

AngelFyre felt the harangued woman on her knees was dealing with quite enough in the moment, so she did as she had been asked to do, and turned to focus her attention on the items in the shop. Just as she stepped away from the counter, the bell above the door rang again and AngelFyre glanced over to see a young, dark-haired boy enter. She smiled at him before turning her attention to the display of Hufflepuff Scarves, thinking they had both picked a terrible time to be in this shop. As she had done when AngelFyre entered, the woman called out to the newest patron to take a look around.

“OUCH! You stuck me! Pay attention to what you are doing! That better not draw blood on my pink leggings or you will be replacing them. My mother will see to that,” the girl hissed. The seamstress leaned back on her heels and looked up calmly as the ill-mannered girl bent over to rub the back of her calf where she had presumably been pricked.

“Oh, for the love of Merlin, put a pin in it, child, before I put another pin in you. This is your first and only warning. One more word out of your mouth, unless to directly answer any question I might ask of you, will result in my casting Mimblewimble on you,” and she drew her wand and twirled it between her fingers threateningly. “Understood?”

The girl, clearly not used to being reined in by “staff”… or perhaps by anyone… became nearly apoplectic as her face twisted into a tomato red fury. She looked down at the seamstress and then over to AngelFyre and the boy who had just entered, and it looked as if she were only getting angrier. With hands now raised on her hips, she started to open her mouth again, but seemed to catch sight of the wand being twirled in the woman’s hand, so she wisely thought better of saying what was on the tip of her tongue to say.

“I asked you a question and require an answer - a polite answer. Do you understand?”

The girl’s anger looked as if it were now being replaced by fear and confusion. “I-… I understand.”

“Excellent. Now that wasn’t so hard was it?” The seamstress bent back down and continued pinning the hemline. “I’m almost done. Please be still and then you will be free to leave, and I will be free to help my next customers.”

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@Roberto da Silva Taylor

29 Aug 2024

AngelFyre was not one to generally pay attention to the conversations of others, but this one was hard to miss. What a doozy! One would have to be stone cold dead not to have heard it, and even then, she would not take any bets that there was not some kind of stirring taking place six feet under, and most likely in multiple plots.

She smiled when it seemed to have ended after the more than patient seamstress threatened a Mimblewimble casting. AngelFyre was far from a perfect child or daughter, but one thing she had never done... had never thought to do... was anything close to that despicable display. Her mother would have marched her out of here faster than one could say boo. She sighed and went back to looking at the Hufflepuff robes, wondering what her mother would have done after that. Luckily, she did not know because the occasion had never arisen.

It was then that the boy who had entered the shop near the beginning of the tirade walked over to her and started up a conversation. "No. It most certainly is not always like this, but to be fair, I have only been in this shop three times before today" and she smiled broadly at him, making the assumption that he was a First Year since he did not seem familiar with the shop. "I would like to hope that shameful display was a rarity. I am not used to it either. I never would have thought to embarrass my parents, or myself, like that. She is either going to soar at Hogwarts with that attitude or crash and burn. Unless she course corrects pretty darn quickly, I am betting on the crash and burn scenario."

AngelFyre did not want that for the girl OR for her professors, dormmates, or anyone else in her vicinity. She might be very spoiled or just scared at the realization that she was going to be leaving home, probably for the first time in her life, for an extended amount of time without her parents.

AngelFyre hung her two robes back up so that she could devote her full attention to the younger boy. "To be honest with you, I am not certain I can give you the most accurate answer to your question about well-off wizards as I do not know many. I am a Muggle-born myself (and a person of means as well, she thought to herself), but I do not know many Purebloods. Well, I do know a few, but do not know them well, except for one. Even so, I have not seen anything like that from anyone at school," she tried to reassure him. "My name is AngelFyre McCubbin, a Hufflepuff at your service, but please call me AF. It is a real pleasure to meet you, too, Roberto."

"I presume you are here because you are getting ready to start your wizarding education at Hogwarts in the next couple of days? I have not seen you around the castle, so I am guessing you are going to be attending as a first year? Are you more excited or scared...or equal measures of both?" and she laughed easily, hoping it would put him a bit more at ease.

I did not know a thing about magic, except for what I had seen in movies, before coming to Hogwarts. Spoiler alert: the real thing is very different than in the movies. I can attest to the fact that even those with the knowledge of magic's existence still find themselves flummoxed at all of the mysteries that await them at Hogwarts, so get ready for a wild ride," and she chuckled, thinking about the moving staircases awaiting him.

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@Roberto da Silva Taylor