Laws, Shaw's, and Lack of Security

Katrina-Carlotta threw back her head and laughed. "I was wondering how long it would take you to ask that," the dark witch informed the man with an amused smirk. Settling back into her seat, she pondered exactly how much she should be telling the man. Taking yet another small sip of wine, the woman began to talk.

"Unofficially, the Death Eaters are separated into two basic groups. There's the new recruits, the young ones, those whom don't hold much power or usefulness. They tend to do the basic dirty work, and don't attend meetings. They get their orders from those higher-up. Then we have the group that does attend meetings, the strong, powerful, influential, or those of great intelligence. Any dirty work done by us, is because the mission is complicated, or above the abilities of others. The whole enterprise, is currently lead by me," Katrina-Carlotta explained, taking another sip of her drink.

"Now, I'm sure you're intelligent enough to figure out where you'd fit in. There is currently no ladder of influence within the higher group, if that's what your wondering. There is myself at the top, and my predecessor directly below me. Other that that, everyone else is on equal footing. To garner more respect, you prove yourself useful," the dark witch set her glass down with a soft clang, emphasizing her point in the near-silent office.

He tsk-ed playfully. "Oh, please. It didn't take me long at all. Let's not get all patronizing and whatnot, Miss Dark Lord." Miss Dark Lord. Oh, dear, he loved that. He was sure he would be able to irritate her with that far longer than he would grow tired of it.

He listened with interest. It sounded pretty basic, and he did like the idea of entering as one of the top forces. He didn't like the value based on work ethic - he hated to work. But at least he wouldn't be a cadet. If he decided to do it, that was.

He did have a serious expression. "Now, you would understand my need for anonymity. What precautions do you have in place for someone who was caught and forced to give names? As you can imagine, this would not be a great political move."

Katrina-Carlotta couldn't decide if she wanted to narrow her eyes, or raise a brow. Honestly, Miss Dark Lord? When it came down to it, the dark witch considered that both a complement and an insult. Sure, she respected the dead wizard for his power. To be compared to that was rather flattering. But on the other hand, the wizard had made so many idiotic mistakes. Of course, one can't forget how the man died. It was a rather pathetic way for one's life to end, and there were so many ways that such an accident could have been prevented. Beyond that, the European didn't share the same beliefs as the insane Lord. Where Voldemort had believed in blood, Katrina-Carlotta only believed in power.

Yes, the name was far more of an insult than a complement. Especially when spoken in such a mocking tone. Pursing her lips, the woman rolled her eyes at the male's wit.

"Of course Mr. Shaw, you're hardly the only person who doesn't want such things shared with the world. We've got members whom pretend to be anti-dark, Quidditch players, even someone else working for your precious little Ministry," the woman stated, drawling out the last three words.

"But I must say, you've certainly misjudged me if you think I'd be willing to tell you exactly what precautions I've placed. Especially to someone whom I'm not even certain is on my side," Katrina-Carlotta announced almost lazily.

He liked the idea of other Ministry officials, though he was certain there were people he knew, and closely, in the Death Eaters. Hell, his best mate Elijah was at least partially involved, he very well knew. It was a comforting thought at the least.

"I suppose the basics will suffice," Jude said. "I have no want to dissemble, nor is my knowledge on magical theory good enough to know how to dissemble any spells more complex than necessary. I don't even need to know exactly what is in place, but I'm sure you can indulge me a bit in comforting me in a bit."

(Sorry love. The next responses will be better!)

Katrina-Carlotta studied the man carefully. She didn't doubt his words, Jude Shaw was hardly one to bother mastering the art of warding, or the type of spells that the woman had used to ensure the safety of her Death Eaters. That didn't mean, however, that she trusted the wizard with such knowledge. She would not put it past the Shaw to hire someone if he could benefit from revealing certain members of her group. Nor did she trust that the Undersecretary would be able to keep someone truly determined out of his mind if it ever came down to it.

"Since you have practically insisted," the dark witch started after a moment of intense eye contact, "one of my precautions is a layered spell-ward. If someone decides to betray us, the ward is triggered and informs me. From that, I can access the exact location of the betrayer." No words needed to be spoken about what would happen once she arrived at the betrayers location, the wicked smirk on her face said it all.

If nothing else, the woman hoped that this would impress the man. The magic had been far from easy, and required no little amount of power. She didn't really want Jude to be afraid of her per say, more respectful of the power she held.

((Don't worry lovey, you gave me plenty to work with. ))

Jude kept his eyes comfortably on Katrina-Carlotta, used to the oh-so feminine tendency to make unrelenting eye contact. He was used to it, though. He had been raised by his mother and strict grandmother, so he knew what it felt like to be picked apart by the eyes of a powerful female. He was used to it - hell, he flourished in. He was never uncomfortably with any sort of attention.

He listened and raised an eyebrow. "Impressive." He paused for a moment. "Is that all?" Half of this was a power play, the other was sincere questioning. "I appreciate that someone who leaks my private life will be known and punished, but I would rather see something in place that prevents the leakage from ever happening at all." He knew it was a tall order, but perhaps it would sway the woman to look into it, and to see that his mind was worth more than his brute force.

Katrina-Carlotta had to admit, every minute she spent in Jude's presence was just endearing her further towards the man. He might've been largely talk, but he certainly knew how to play the game. It was all too common that people would cower in her presence, and as convenient that often was, it could get quite tiring. The way Jude appeared to almost effortless hold eye-contact with the dark witch pleased her more than she'd like to admit.

"Of course not," the woman responded in an easy drawl. Katrina-Carlotta was aware that their entire conversation was basically one big power play, and the witch was hardly going to give Jude anything. No matter how good he was. "It is, however, my favorite security precaution, and certainly the only one I'll be telling you," the woman continued, wicked expression returning.

She had to admit, the idea was a decent one. Perhaps she would take the man's words to heart. After all, there certainly could be a time when she was otherwise occupied and unable to drop everything and run after a possible information leak. Katrina-Carlotta refused to admit such a thing, however. She wouldn't give Jude the pleasure.

Jude smirked ever so slightly as she assured him that it was not the only precaution set into place - which, of course, he could not be sure of. But he liked her response. Either she was very confident in her other precautions, or she was now determined to replicate his example.

He sat back and hummed deeply in the back of his throat, swilling his drink and then finished off the glass. He set it on the table and reached for the bottle, beginning to pour another glass - because, why the hell not? His eyes flicked up to Katrina-Carlotta. "Say I accepted the offer here and now. Then what?"

Katrina-Carlotta felt her lips curl upwards as the politician spoke. She had him, she knew she did. The question was less of a hypothetical and more of Jude putting out feelers to get an idea of what would happen after agreeing. It was a smart enough question, one that most people never thought to ask. She liked that.

"Well, I could either walk out of this office a happy witch, or we could spend a while talking about exactly what you would be involved in and do with the Death Eaters. Everyone has their own role, the two of us could discuss what yours would be," the woman stated casually. It might've been a bit cocky of her to use the word "would" instead of "could", but such confidence could gain her much more than it could hurt her.

Tipping the last of the wine down her throat, the dark witch smiled at the thought that she'd gained at least one thing from this meeting. Hopefully, that number would be shortly raised to two.

"Let's chat," Jude said. "You're offering to talk about my favorite subject after all, myself, followed by my second favorite subject, all the wonderful talents I am equipped with." He flickered a confident smile, for the joke was only funny because of the truth so apparent in it. But truthfully, he wanted to be prepared. He hated the idea of arriving to his very first meeting, feeling as though he knew absolutely nothing of what was to be done. He always liked to feel comfortable and in charge of things.

She finished off her wine, and Jude deftly picked up the bottle, uncorking it, and pouring her some more, all in one flourishing movement. He did not ask if she wanted more - with powerful women, it was a bit of a power play to assume they drank. They had to match his drinking, and if they got drunk - win-win.

"So what would you want your most talented new recruit to do?" he asked.