Thurs 15 July @4:25 pm
Twilfit & Tattings, Diagon Alley

"Does this come in ursine?"  A large wizard with black hair and beard held up a rust-colored robe so that the shopwizard could see to what he was referring to.  "And have you got a matching vest?"

Knox Greyfriar, Wizengamot elder, former Hogwarts Headmaster, and known werewolf and bombastic lovable loudmouth was in Twilfit and Tattings for a bit of shopping.  Time had come for a few new sets of robes.  Unlike, perhaps, other wizards of his age, he enjoyed the choosing and the tryings-on.  He'd merrily do so far more often if he had less self-control and more closet space.

The attendant slipped a long tape measure over his neck and approached patiently.  "Our tailoring charms are excellent, Mr. Greyfriar.  I'm sure it won't be a problem.  Here, let me show you some of our waistcoats..."

"Very good.  Lead the way."  Knox draped the rust-colored robe over his arm and followed the wizard towards the sunny front windows of the shop.

She not been doing much job-hunting today.  Illyria was having a day to be relaxed and no do anything at all.  Currently she was sipping on a drink she'd purchased at the coffee place before she just wandered around and looked in the window's at various stores.  She didn't really want to buy anything, but looking never cost anything.

She stopped in front of a clothing store and looked in the window.  She'd never had much use for wizarding-wear, but she supposed it could come in handy on occasion.  Taking a sip from the straw in her drink she gazed through the window and was trying to decide if she wanted to go in or not.  Illyria wasn't one to make a quick decision, especially on a lazy day like she was having today.  In the end, she decided that exploring a shop she hasn't been in before, might be interesting, so she walked to the door and went inside.

(sorry, its short as well, but I really didn't know what to write, like I said, I haven't gotten to explore Illyria's posting abilities yet.  I'm so much more at ease with male characters)

A witch clad in the more muggle-inspired attire that the younger generation preferred came in with them.  She was towering for a witch, but seemed pleasant enough.  And that was plenty for Knox when it came to speaking his mind to a stranger.

The shopwizard who was helping Knox acknowledged the new visitor politely, saying that someone would be with her to help in a moment.

"Looking for some proper robes?" Knox inquired.  "Merlin, no one's died for you, I hope!"  Even more modern witches and wizards donned traditional attire for formal occasions.  "Probably shouldn't have asked.  For all I know you could have lost a cousin to a Dementor's Kiss and this old fool is bothering you about it in the shop like it's small talk!"

For as much as he implied he shouldn't have bothered her, he seemed mighty comfortable continuing. 

"You'll forgive me, I'm sure.  There are any number of reasons a witch like yourself would walk into a place like this and no doubt less than half of them have to do with death."

Since Illyria was in a good mood and relaxed, she just tilted her head at the older man and took a sip from her drink, "I don't know, I might have a reason to buy something from here if someone had died, but no, my family is fully intact thank you.  And I don't have many friends to worry about so I'm good." She finished her drink and said, "I'm browsing, it's relaxing."

"Good! I'm glad. Oh, no, not that one."

The shopwizard held up something magenta. "I wear enough purple as it is," he said, rejecting the vest. "Rather keep things as far from that part of the spectrum as possible.  How's that one against this?"

The shopwizard obliged and pulled over a muted grey-green vest and held it against the rust colored robes Knox had on his arm. 

"Hm..."  He turned back over to the new witch.  "What do you think of this combination? Would it suit me?"

Illyria thought for a moment and then said, "Well, I wouldn't wear it."

She had a habit of spitting out whatever was running through her head at the moment and this was one of those times.  "What I meant to say is that while I wouldn't have the ... bone structure to pull off a color-combination like that, you might like it, and if you like it, then what does it matter what other people think."

Knox erupted into a startling boom of laughter! His deep baritone belly laugh.  The well-kept shopwizard jumped a few inches and upset his thin spectacles. 

There was just something about the plain speech of this stranger that was unexpected, perfectly matched, and pleasantly witty that was immediately entertaining! He didn't often meet people who shared that sensibility.

"I appreciate your honesty," he chucked and held a finger up.  "Truth be told, if I'm going to be slandered then the last thing about me to be the target would be my clothes!"

His name came up in the Daily Prophet from time to time, and it was rarely flattering.  What with having his own thoughts and being a werewolf and all - he was an easy sort to disagree with.  Thankfully, he'd never been the subject of a fashion column!  He had that, at least.

"Alright then, not the green - let's go gold."  The shopwizard obliged and handed over a vest a few shades darker than the rust-colored robe, but in the hue of a burnished gold.  It had just a hint of shine at the hems.  When laid next to each other, Knox found he liked the combination.

"They don't match too much, I hope.  They tell me, that matching too much is too much."  He raised an eyebrow at the witch.  "And I would never want to be that."

And he laughed again loudly in spite of himself.

Illyria, to her credit, didn't jump when the man laughed.  It was louder than she expected and well, it was kind of contagious, but she didn't laugh with him, she did smile though.

"I've never much cared for letting others dictate what I should and shouldn't wear, hence the muggle clothing, it's more comfortable than what most wizards wear and I like to be comfortable."

She looked at his new choices and said, "They don't match too much, I think you'll be fine."  She held out her hand, "I'm Illyria by the way."

"Comfort!" Knox was actually surprised.  Who wore muggle clothes for comfort? 

He spread his arms wide to show the loose-fitting layers.  "I don't even need to wear pants.  I do, but should I decide I need to be a bit freer no one would be non the wiser.  Have you seen those tiny skinny trousers muggles wear[1]? I know they don't use magic, but how else can they climb into those? And I'm sorry, but I'll never see the point of neckties."

The shopwizard had stepped away to make arrangements, and Knox began to look through a rack of sashes.  He certainly sounded every bit the curmudgeon his students had thought he had been, but it was a cheery enough diatribe.

"Wear what you want, of course, do as you please.  But there's a great deal to be said in favor of a relaxed waistband."

He had dabbled in muggle fashion in the 1970s but it had been mostly sweaters.

1.	Skinny jeans!

Illyria ignored most of his talk about stuff, but she laughed aloud when he mentioned skinny trousers, "You are talking about skinny jeans aren't you?" she inquired, "I wouldn't be caught dead in those.  I'm more comfortable in something I can move around in that doesn't feel like I'm being squeezed into something I have to be cut out of." She started to peruse the shelves, to see if she actually might find something to buy in this store.

"You're here - you might as well consider a worthy garment.  What about a hat? A witch isn't a witch without a pointed hat."  It was a common magical adage: a tall, peaked, wide-brimmed hat had been a classic topper for magical women of this country for centuries.  It had been re-imagined by every generation since, but, "they never seem to go out of fashion.  Even the Minister of Magic wears them."

He wrapped a sash around his middle to see if the width suited him.  He made a face - one that indicated he hadn't yet made up his mind about it - and tried the same of a different one, this one of a striped fabric.

"I'm reminded of a buccaneer..." he  muttered at how he looked in that one.

Illyria cocked her head to one side at his suggestion for a hat and smiled, "I don't know, I've never been too fond of the traditional pointed hat, it's too stuffy." She walked around the store for a bit, looking at different things, "I really don't think that this store is for me."

She stopped in front of the older wizard and tried.. but failed, to suppress a smile, "Would you like a pirate hat, or maybe a parrot?" she asked, her voice full of laughter as she looked at him, "It might be an interesting look."[1]

1.	It's short, I know... but I'm using all my writing ability right now for Shade.

Knox was easy to laugh and Illyria's thoughtful evaluation of the shop amused him.  What a witch she was, to wander in, to chat with him, and to find it all to be lacking. 

"I really don't think..." he began, equally as thoughtfully," that the pirate life is for me..."

The striped sash went back to its hook, and one with a small leaf motif was taking down.  "Ah, this does me better, I think." He held it up and let the light from the street hit it.  There was something iridescent in the edges.

Sensing a lull in the conversation, he chose a reliable tack.  "What do you, then? By day and by night?"

She couldn't help the small frown of disappointment in not being able to make fun of his pirate life anymore when he took the sash off and replaced it with one that actually might suit him.  She didn't know, she wasn't fashion oriented at all.

"I'm unemployed at the moment.  I was actually out today taking a break from looking for a job." she said as she looked at a rack of robes to her right.  "Nothing's feeling right yet though."

"Oh?"

Knox perked up immediately and nearly forgot his sash shopping entirely.  He had, perhaps, an unhealthy devotion to nurturing the next generation.  Meddlesome and inspiring, opinionated and empowering.  With his former students all doing so well, his son having gone off and become independent, he realized how much his missed his favorite past-time. Offering his opinion and interfering. (All with the best intentions, of course.)

"Fascinating!" Probably the last thing an unemployed young witch was likely to hear on this topic.  "Where have you tried so far? What's your area?"

His mind was ready to offer dossiers from his myriad connections all throughout Wizarding Britain.