Avalon opened the door to Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, ready to purchase her school uniform. She had always worn robes at home as well, but this was special! There was nobody there – at least, it seemed that way. The store was filled with all sorts of robes and cloaks – winter cloaks, ball gowns, evening dresses… There were some walking sticks as well, which reminded her of her father – he had one too, but it looked far more luxurious than the ones they sold here.

She had a couple of galleons in her pockets, but did not want to spend them all at this shop. She was only required to purchase some plain black work robes and a hat, and she was not planning on buying anything else at Madam Malkin's. Clothes had never really interested her all that much, and that money could be saved for more interesting items. Maybe she would dare to visit Knockturn Alley, to see if they had any oddities that may be useful to bring to Hogwarts? Or some new books to add to her collection…

The shop owner appeared from the room behind the counter, and greeted Avalon. “You’re here for your Hogwarts uniform, correct? It’s your first year, I assume?” Avalon nodded, and the shop owner pointed to a little stool. “Please stand on there, then. It will just be a moment, as I’m taking your measurements. Ah, you already got your wand! That’s wonderful. It’s always a special moment for a new witch or wizard to receive their wand, isn’t it?”

Ava simply nodded again, and the witch handed her some robes. “See how this fits, and I’ll adjust it for you if needed.” Just as Ava finished putting on the robes, the shop owner excused herself and walked to the front of the store again, to greet the customer who had just entered.

Adam's eyes went wide at the sight of so many robes. There were work robes, dress robes, winter robes...he wasn't sure where to begin. Peering down at the letter at his hand, he confirmed what he needed to buy and looked around for someone that worked at the store. Luckily, a woman had heard him come in, and now rushed to his aid.

"Welcome, dear, I'm Madame Malkin. Here to buy your school robes? Exciting, isn't it?" Adam smiled and nodded, and the woman laughed. "Just follow me, dear. I'll take your measurements and get your robes fitted."

Adam followed the woman into a different part of the store, decorated with mirrors, measuring tape, stools, and piles upon piles of robes. Madame Malkin directed him to stand one of the stools while she took his measurements, and he noticed that there was another girl already undergoing the same process. He spent the first few moments in silence, then began to wonder if he should start up a conversation. Was it strange to talk to someone you didn't know in the middle of a robe shop? His older brother had taken him to Diagon Alley to buy his school supplies today, but Dean was caught up at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes down the street, talking to some old friends. Adam looked at the girl and tried to judge if she was in a talking mood. Finally, as Madame Malkin left the room to retrieve more supplies, he tested out a greeting.

"Hi. I'm Adam. Exciting, isn't it?"

The customer was a young boy with blonde hair, and he seemed to be quite tall. Ava wondered if it would be his first year at Hogwarts as well, as he did seem to be around her age. Would they be classmates, or housemates even? Ava could not hear the conversation Madame Malkin and the boy had, but the shop owner made the boy stand on a stool near her and took his measurements as well. He must be a first-year then, otherwise there would be no need to purchase new robes – or had he had a sudden growth spurt already? Ava kept silent as the newcomer had his robes fitted. She noticed the measurement tape was floating about on its own, and a quill was writing down some numbers on a piece of parchment. She looked at herself in the mirror – her robes were almost perfect, just a bit too long. She was quite short, after all. She beamed at her reflection. She looked like a real witch, finally! 

“Madam,” she said, “could these robes be shortened a bit, please?”
“Oh, naturally,” the shop owner responded, and she walked away to the room in the back to get her supplies, leaving her and the boy alone. He seemed to have been waiting for them to be alone, as he introduced himself as Adam. His words confirmed her suspicion that he would be a first-year student as well. It was her first time talking to a wizard her age, and Ava hoped to make a good first impression, so she turned to him and smiled.

“Very exciting,” Ava answered honestly. “I’m Avalon – but you can call me Ava. So, you’re going to Hogwarts as well this year? Already have a house in mind?”

((hope you don't mind if I join! If you do, it's fine to just delete this comment))

An extremely tiny redheaded girl burst into the shop at a run, then taking in the scene halted. "Um," her face turned scarlet taking in the two other children. What if they were students too? "Hello," Eris said to get Madam Malkins attention. "I need robes for school please." Did she have to say something special to get Madam Malkin to know she was from Hogwarts, or did she understand straight away. Eris was really new to this whole magic thing. Madam Malkin seemed to get the point though, to Eris's great relief, as she lead Eris to a stool near the other children.

As Eris waited to get her robes fitted, she chanced a look at the other students, and finally opened her mouth to speak, hearing they were having a conversation. "Are you going to Hogwarts too," She almost whispered the words, then repeated them again in a much louder voice. "Are you going to Hogwarts too?" She asked, studying them. They looked to be about her age, though the boy was much taller. The other girl seemed to be nearly as short as Eris. That was good.

(Of course not, Eris! Glad to have you!)

"Are you going to Hogwarts too?"

Adam looked over at the girl that had spoken. She was short, very short, and he almost thought that she might be the little sister of a new student. But she had asked them about school, and used the word "too", no less. He chided himself on making such an assumption and answered happily, "Yeah! Can you believe it? We're finally first-years! I've spent all afternoon walking around with my brother buying supplies. He's a sixth-year now, so I don't think he--" Adam cut off when he realized that he was getting totally off track. "Anyways, yes. We are. Ava just asked a great question: I wonder what houses we'll be in??"

Adam didn't know which house he would prefer. His brother was a Gryffindor, so of course Adam had grown up leaning towards the House of Lions. But he knew there was so much more to each house than what the stereotypes said about them. He would be happy ending up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw...or even in Slytherin. His brother might disown him, but that might not be the worst thing.

He tried to picture where the girls he had met might end up. Avalon, the short, black-haired witch, struck him as a potential Ravenclaw. She seemed smart, knowing, like she always had a joke or a secret piece of information that was in demand. That being said, she could make a good Slytherin, too. The newcomer, the girl with long, red hair, might get Sorted to Hufflepuff. She was very polite, but seemed a bit timid. At the same time, she had come running into the shop, and had worked up the bravery to talk to them without much delay. Maybe she would do well in Gryffindor.

It was hard to Sort people that you had just met. He was glad the school had the Hat to do it for them. Realizing that he hadn't even answered his own question, he laughed and said, "I can honestly say that I have no clue. I'm just waiting to see where the Sorting Hat puts me. What about you, Ava?"

Eris frowned. She didn't really know anything about the houses, other than that her mum had been a sytherin. Therefore, she didn't want to be one. She didn't want to be anything like her mum, so any other house would do. She wondered if Adam and Ava- those were their names right?- would laugh at her if she told them her mother had never really told her about the houses. Then again who cared if they laughed at her? if they did, Eris would just make sure not to hang out with them around school. She waited as Adam finished talking, wondering who his brother was. Her sister had ditched Eris and made her walk around Diagon Alley alone. Finally she couldn't wait any longer to learn about the houses, even though Adam had asked Ava a question.

"What are the houses again? Nobody ever told me." Eris said in a calm, loud voice, though inside she was extremely confused and worried that the other kids were going to laugh at her. She couldn't help being worried, she had never really talked to other kids her age before. They had always stayed away because she was a "freak", so she had just played pranks on them. Even her sister.

Avalon looked away from Adam as a commotion in the front of the store caught her attention. Someone had entered Madam Malkin’s with much noise. She seemed to be another first-year student, as Madame Malkin positioned her on a stool next to them and started measuring her. The girl’s face was scarlet as she asked them a question. Ava just smiled encouragingly at the newcomer, who had introduced herself as Eris, as Adam explained what they had been talking about. Adam then seemed to be engrossed in his own thoughts. Maybe he had never thought about what house he would be in before? Avalon was almost sure he would not join her in Slytherin, the house she had been looking forward to joining ever since she knew of its existence. Even though her parents had not said so directly, Ava knew they did not want her to join any other house, or they might just consider her a disgrace.
When Eris said that she did not know what the four houses were, Ava grinned. This was her chance to show them just how much she knew about Hogwarts! Or rather, just how much she had read about it. “I will try to explain,” she started. “First of all, there is Slytherin, the house I want to be a part of. Slytherins are ambitious and loyal to their own, and have high expectations of themselves. Then there is Ravenclaw, which is also kind of a respectable house, who care about knowledge more than anything. Gryffindor is the house for the bold and brave, or reckless as I’d like to call them. And then there are the Hufflepuffs… you get sorted into Hufflepuff if there’s no other house that wants you, basically. They’re all about honesty and hard work.”
She looked at the others again, and considered them carefully. Adam seemed like a good Hufflepuff, or a Gryffindor even. Eris seemed rather bold as well, so Gryffindor would also fit her nicely. Ava sighed. From what she understood, the Slytherin and Gryffindor house did not really get along, but she did not want to mention that now. She simply smiled again, and asked: “Does that answer your question? Can you make a guess now?”

Eris repeated Ava's words in her mind, eyes wide as she nodded her head. The way Ava said it, sytherin didn't sound so bad. Maybe it had changed since her mother was in it, or maybe Ava was just lying. She did seem sort of pompous, the way she had described the other houses., but she did know a a lot about Hogwarts. She must of been really smart to know so much about their future school.
For all Eris knew she was going to end up in Hufflepuff and the way Ava described it, it seemed horrible. Like a house of rejects.

Definitely where Eris was headed. She was a total reject, but she wasn't into being honest. So maybe not.
"I think I'd like to be in ravenclaw. I like to read. Or maybe gyffindor, I want to be an auror when I grow up." She said proudly, although Eris didn't know about the houses, she had read some books at the bookstore in Diagon Alley-- what was it called?-- about aurors and the ministry. It seemed like an awesome job. "What about your parents, what houses were they in?" She asked the others, not wanting to admit her mom was a sytherin. She didn't really want anybody knowing about her toad-of-a-mother and how she had never told Eris about her heritage.

Adam was excited to have so many things to talk about. Not even at Hogwarts yet, and he was having so much fun! He listened to Ava describe all of the houses, and Eris talk about her hopes in and out of school. Sensing a good place to jump into the conversation, he spoke up. "My family's had a good history in Gryffindor. Both of my grandparents on my mom's side got sorted there, and my dad did, too. My brother Dean is still going to school -- he's a sixth-year, and he's a proud Gryffindor. My mom is a Hufflepuff, which is not just the reject house, no matter what you hear." He glared at Ava as he said the last line, but he didn't really mean it. It just felt like he should defend Hogwarts' often-teased House.

"My mom's a nurse at St. Mungo's now -- you know, the wizard hospital -- but my dad found a Muggle job. I'm not really sure what it is. He just said he wanted to step back from the Wizard World for a bit. I think Dean's going to do something dueling-related. He really likes that." Adam felt like he was talking for an unnecessarily long amount of time, again, and decided that he should let the girls answer, too. Where had Madame Malkin gone? Not that it would be the worst thing, but were they going to be in this shop forever?

Avalon whistled. “An Auror, wow… that’s an honourable profession, really. I would like to work with magical creatures. At the Ministry or as a professor, either sounds great.” Adam then shared his family history, and seemed to have been slightly offended by Ava’s description of Hufflepuff. She narrowed her eyes in response, but said nothing of it. She had not said anything that was not true, had she now? Maybe it had sounded a bit biased, but then again, she had already picked her side.
Adam seemed to come from a wizarding family. Ava was curious if she could find his last name in one of her books. She did not want to ask for his last name now, though – she would find out at the Sorting, anyway.
“My mother was a Slytherin. My father did not go to Hogwarts, though, but I assume that he would have been a Slytherin as well if he did.” She did want to say much more about her parents, since she knew her family was not viewed positively by most. This is why she had not mentioned her last name; she took pride in her heritage, but had noticed that it caused people to already think of her in a certain way. Just then, Madam Malkin returned with the materials to shorten her robes. “I might be done here soon,” she said. “But it was nice to meet some other first-years. I hope to see you two at Hogwarts soon. Let’s stay in touch!”