Chapter 8:
At the moment the Wolfes (the moniker assumed by the former Weasleys upon their taking their new identities) lacked any street clothes aside from their school uniforms-which had mercifully been designed to simply appear as typical prep school attire when worn without robes. The outfits were worn with ties and jackets during school hours, but when these were omitted it was simply khaki trousers and white button-down shirts with the student's choice of shoe or sneaker. The decision to have all five of them matching as they departed the house was a bit different, but it certainly drew less attention than the attire that the Clay men had quickly shot-down. Molly had sent the siblings with their 'muggle clothes' from when they had to appear in public in the past, but given that none of the Weasleys were in tune with current fashion-being from an entirely magic-born family-it was laughable the combinations they thought were of typical attire for those outside the wizarding world.
Paul had likely the most egregious combination, but the others were nearly as bad; the teen had on a tuxedo jacket and shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of rubber galoshes as his outfit when he'd walked out of his room earlier that morning. Danny had nearly doubled over laughing as he gripped onto the banister of the stairs he'd been climbing back up.
"What's so funny?" Paul said as he crinkled his nose, a trait Danny had quickly learned was seemingly Paul's favorite pastime given the frequency with which he did it.
Danny inhaled and tried to take a breath to explain, but couldn't help but continue laughing. A moment later Wolfgang poked his head out from the master bedroom and raised an eyebrow at the older boy standing in the hallway. He stifled a chuckle as he stepped into the hall. "Paul, what are you wearing?"
"My muggle clothes. You said we were going to a shopping center to buy more clothes for outside of school and I wanted to be dressed before breakfast so that I might get re-accustomed to them." He nodded curtly at his outfit. "Apparently Danny finds something humorous about it."
"Um… yes, well…" Wolfgang tried to figure out how to phrase his response when Silas also stepped out of the master bedroom while brushing his teeth.
"Moony have you seen my razor, I can't…" He paused as he looked up. The man nearly choked on his toothbrush and a spray of whitish foam spurted onto the floor as he burst out laughing, "Please tell me I never dressed like that when we first got here…" He glanced at Wolfgang-who shot him a withering look. (When the couple had first come to the US Silas had struggled slightly with dress-being pure-blood as opposed to Wolfgang's half-blood heritage.) Silas coughed once more before he looked back at Paul, "No offense intended, of course." He paused, "But you do look ridiculous."
With Wolfgang having to explain the reaction and attempt to scold his son and boyfriend while simultaneously trying to avoid bursting into hysterics himself it was determined that the no-maj adjusted wizards would inspect the attire of their house guests prior to agreeing to them wearing it out in public. This turned out to be a good decision. James and Will had somewhat more sensible combinations than their elder brother: James had a tie-dye shirt and brown corduroy pants, while Will had a plaid dress shirt and swim-trunks. Ted had a football jersey and overalls, while Jane had the only passable-if dated-outfit: a bow-front blue and white checkered dress.
"For now just wear your school uniforms, we'll work on getting the rest once we're at the mall…" Wolfgang mused as he sent the siblings to change.
**HP**
The North Langstrom Mall was busy as the Clay family's wagon pulled into the parking lot directly outside of the Sears entrance. For most of the Wolfe family it was the first time they'd ridden in a car.
"I know that dad had been fiddling around with a Ford back home in the shed, but we never had a chance to ride in it. If it would've been anything like this I would've asked if we could've used it." Will remarked as he again raised and lowered the power window in the second row of the car, toggling the silver switch and watching as the electric motor hummed and moved the glass.
"Honestly we've been considering getting a new car-given how poor the fuel consumption is on this one-luckily we haven't, the eight of us could never fit in a Grand Prix." Wolfgang mused as he found an open space and slotted the eight year old Country Squire between a Jetta and a Metro. "Alright, everyone out-we're here." He commented as he turned off the engine and stuck the key in his pocket.
A few moments later the six children and two adults were extricated from the blue and wood-paneled behemoth and were walking toward the double sliding doors under the large blue and white "Sears" logo. The five Wolfe siblings looked around at the surroundings in a state of curiosity, but for Danny it was a typical Saturday. The sun was bright overhead and the glinting silver trim and glass on the cars cast occasional beams of light toward the small group walking across the pavement. The mall's two stories neared and a shadow began to overtake the mid-morning sun until they walked through the automatic doors and were greeted with a momentary blast of air in the vestibule between the exterior and interior of the retail center.
The Sears was somewhat busy-as would be expected for a Saturday shortly after the start of the school year-but for the Wolfe siblings it seemed as if everything was moving in slow motion. As the soft white light filtered from the overhead florescent lights the most immediate thing that struck the eldest brother present was the sheer number of options. When purchasing robes it was normally a relatively simple affair-the hardest choice was whether to get black or navy (only those looking to stand out chose another color). But here there was a sea of different colors, textures, and styles of garments-some of which he had no idea even the name for.
"There are many different articles of clothing to choose from." He stated, glancing between the multitude of men's racks. "How do you choose what to wear?" He looked to Danny, then shifted his glance to Wolfgang.
"Normally what feels comfortable, that and trying to make sure the colors and patterns go together okay." Danny shrugged, "Don't ask me what that means, though-dad buys all my clothes for me."
"I'll get the boys set up. Can you help Jane with the girl's apparel?" Moony asked Padfoot.
Silas rolled his eyes slightly, "Fine, though I'll have you know this is leaning into a stereotype."
"Oh, come off it. We're both gay." The shorter man chuckled. Even if you were the first one to come out about it.
"Fine." Padfoot sighed, "We'll meet you back here in an hour."
**HP**
Figuring out ones taste in attire is somewhat difficult for most young adults, but for the Wolfes who had never before had the opportunity to experience the breadth of attire afforded no-majs it was nearly overwhelming. The first thing was determining their sizes. The school uniforms were enchanted to automatically fit whoever wore them, so there were no tags to check. This led to Wolfgang guessing the boys' sizes based upon how much larger than Danny they were and what size he wore and figuring out about where between the two of them they fell. After straightening out that the next task was choosing what to wear.
Ted opted to mostly copy Danny, given that he seemed to be a fairly typical boy of his age. It turned out that the two were the same size for shirts as well, so the main focus was buying clothes similar enough to Danny's but not identical-given how the wash would likely end up comingled. He ended up with a few t-shirts of various geometric designs and after a twenty minute conversation on what the Simpsons was ended up also grabbing a red Bart Simpson shirt. Will and James both got clothes similar to Ted, with a few button-down flannels mixed in (as they'd seen a large group of teens walk past sporting them). Paul had decided to skip over most of the young men's department and headed straight toward the men's casual-wear. Three polos, a few khakis, and a number of sweaters later and he was done. Jane and Silas returned with a handful of jeans and shirts and they checked out shortly afterward.
"I suppose it's getting close to lunch, do you want to get something at the food court?" Wolfgang asked as he checked his wristwatch.
"Sure, just as long as I avoid the Taco Bell. It didn't sit well with me last time." Silas replied.
"What's a food court?" Ted asked as he fiddled with the plastic bag holding his clothes.
"It's basically a bunch of restaurants all stuck next to each other." Danny replied as he followed his fathers from the clothing section of the Sears towards the home electronics that would lead into the mall proper.
The Wolfes nearly froze as the Clays continued walking through the electronics. Danny eventually grabbed his pop's sleeve to let him know that their guests were fixated on a wall of television monitors projecting their image.
"I thought muggles didn't know about magic…" Paul whispered as he watched the televisions track his hand waving in front of the camera.
"Dude, it's a video camera." Danny pointed at the device. "They've been around for, like, twenty years."
"Wait, so… this thing takes our picture and makes it move on there?" James asked as he pointed at the camera, then the wall of televisions. "How?"
"Science." Danny shrugged.
"It's a bit more complicated than that." Wolfgang replied. "We can explain more later, but for now let's get some food."
After pausing twice more and nearly getting totally derailed in the music department-and discovering that none of the Wolfes knew about modern music-the party exited the Sears and walked into the central court of the mall. As the light filtered through the glass panes on the ceiling a small crowd of shoppers milled about going between stores.
"This place is amazing… What are all of these things?" Jane asked as she glanced at the Radio Shack window.
"Computers mostly, a couple of printers in the back." Silas replied. "I guess Hogwarts really hasn't updated their Muggle Studies course recently…"
"We'll have to schedule some 'field trips' in the future to help you all better understand all of this." Wolfgang replied, "But for now, I can smell Cinnabon, so it's time to eat!"