Bringing Jess to the Headmaster

"Certainly, Vincent," She said. "I have only medical equipment in my bag. You're welcome to search it if you like. " She laid her bag in front of him on the desk along with her wand. She felt no threat here. She had absolutely no intention of striking out at Vincent. She had no need to. Jess was alive, and Vincent had called for help. So far, she had no issue with what he was doing. How it had gotten this far, she didn't know, but that was for another time. "I am unarmed," she told Vincent. "I trust I can make an assessment of Jess while you search my bag?"

Vincent pushed the bag aside.. Khaat trusted him, and unlike most people, she didn't even hate him. Perhaps it was even the opposite. He knew she called him a friend, though he had convinced himself that though they were on friendly basis, he was just using her to achieve his own aims. Befriending Khaat came with many benefits, least of all was the fact that if he ever got caught by the aurors, which was quite unlikely, the chief of the Wizengamot would be on his side. But besides that, Vincent did feel strangely close to Khaat. But did he trust her, definately not. Still, she wasn't so much of a threat now that Wilson was gone.

"Its okay, I do not doubt you, and I'm not going to search your bag, just heal the idiot. He was trying to be a hero apparently, decided to fight instead of flee, and look what happened to him," he explained contemptuously, looking down at Jess. It was only half a lie. He didn't want Khaat finding out he had done it. "By the way, thank you for listening to my advice Khaat,' he added softly. "They might of gone for you too, had you stayed there." They probably would of, as she was a known order member. He had known that, and thats why he had risked the plan to get her out of the hall.

"Thank you. Your advice was, as always, very wise. I am very glad I was not involved in that," she said. She picked up her bag and went to Jess. She could see some of the obvious wounds and began to treat those first. Her first priority was the beginnings of traumatic shock from the injuries. She laid her hand on his forehead and set a spell in place to stop that little problem. "I think you'll live, Jess," she smiled. "You might be pretty uncomfortable for awhile, but you'll live. Be glad I'm not a muggle doctor."

Her next job was to stop the bleeding by stopping the effects of the sectumsempra spell she found. She stopped the bleeding on countless other cuts that looked like they were caused by broken glass. A great deal of it. And she confirmed that when she withdrew some shards of it from some of the cuts he had. She was then concerned about all the broken bones. It took her quite awhile to set them, and she knew it was not painless for him while she did it. She set healing spells in place for the fractures and immobilized them, bandaged some of the bleeding wounds he still had, and gave him a dose of pain potion. She put his right arm in a sling to keep it still. "Try to rest, Jess," she finally said gently. "That was tough, I know, but you're a bit of a mess, in all honesty. Your left knee its shatttered, and your right arm and collarbone are both broken. Looks like your heroics are done for a bit, my friend. You're going to have an awful lot of bruises for a bit, most likely some scars. Sorry about that."

She turned and looked at Vincent. "Can I give him a botttle of pain potion? He's going to need it for awhile. I don't see him able to go anywhere for a bit, so I don't see a threat in it, unless you're thinking of something something I'm not. And I'd like to be able to check on him and make sure he's healing sufficiently well--if that's alright with you. You can bring your potions professor to confirm it is only a potion to reduce pain if you like. I have nothing to hide. It's the most commonly used pain reduction potion used today. If your potions professor can't identify it, I'd fire him if I were you, and I don't even know the man."

Jess groaned and winced whenever he was pushed or prodded. Slipping in and out of consciousness he gathered khaat was with him. Quivering, and in a heck of alot of pain he moved his lips. "Vincent," he mumbled, before falling back again.

Khaat was smart enough to get Jess's meaning. He certainly was not calling out to Vincent because Jess had any sort of endearment to Vincent Majere. She turned back to Jess and laid her hand on his good shoulder. "It's alright. I understand, Jess. Rest," she said. She didn't approve of all the damage the apparently Vincent had inflicted upon him--even if perhaps it had been self defense on Vincent's part, but Jess was a well seasoned combat veteran. He knew how to fight, and he knew certainly the potential consequences of fighting and also knew how to cope with being wounded. She'd also seen him go through worse. This was certainly painful for him, but it was not as bad as she had tended him for in the past.

She turned back to Vincent, choosing to remain neutral in this at the moment. Choosing a side would be stupid and would benefit neither Jess nor Vincent, and it certainly would not benefit herself. She knew that Vincent and Jess both already knew that when she made a friend she was stubbornly loyal--sometimes foolishly so, or else she'd have been wiser where Rob had been concerned. But the, again, she always had had the heart of a Gryffindor. The telltale mark was that inescapable tendancy that a Gryffindor had to always be willing to throw oneself under the proverbial bus for the greater good or for the loyalty to a loved one. It was, after all, the one great personality flaw that, no matter the cost, made a Gryffindor a true Gryffindor. It was as much a double edged sword as Godric Gryffindor's own legendary blade, with every bit as much potential to be fatal. She had no doubt in her mind Vincent already knew this flaw about her and saw it as pure foolishness.

He also already knew Jess was her friend. That was no newsflash to him at all. However, she did not know if her friendship with Vincent, might or might not be news to Jess. She trusted Jess to know what side she stood on, even though she did have friends on both sides of the law.

"The wellbeing of my patient is my only concern at the moment," Khaat told Vincent, and it was true. She had never once lied to Vincent, even when it would be far easier for her to do so, and she was not about to start now. She was not, however, likely to yield on providing Jess good medical care, even if she had to join him as Vincent's hostage to do it.

Vincent glared at Khaat, a touch annoyed at her. It seemed like she thought he didn't trust her at all, which he didn't really, but he didn't like the suggestion. Besides, why would she even want to try to do anything to Jess? "Its okay," he replied coolly. "I trust you." Which wasn't exactly true, but whatever. "I don't know him either, and I wish I could fire him."

He watched patiently as Khaat healed him slowly. Soon, he went back to the letter, but then looked up sharply when Jess muttered his name. Vincent wasn't stupid, and he knew Khaat wasn't either, surely she would know what Jess was trying to say, so there was no point pretending. Khaat, however, seemed to be choosing to not talk about it, which suited him perfectly. However, Jess being semi-conscious was not a good thing, he might tell Khaat something important. Still, he couldn't do anything about it now, he should of stunned the fool before Khaat came inside.

"Of course. He is your leader after all," Vincent replied in a slightly mocking tone. He couldn't help himself there. "So how long till he gets better do you think? You can cure him can't you?" he asked. Sending Jess off to Mungo's was not an option, and him dying would provoke the order, something Vincent did not want to happen yet.

Sandra apparated into Hogsmead with a furious crack. She was a complete mess, her hair and clothes in disarray, her body covered in scratches and bruises, and her face nearly soaked with blood. Clean up magic had never been Sandra's forte.

She snarled, dropping to a knee as a sharp pain spiked through her gut, but pushed herself back to her feet and began walking towards Hogwarts Castle, looming off in the distance. That, she thought to herself as she stalked towards the castle, is the last time I let my guard down outside Lucious' manor. It's far too dangerous.

Nearly an hour later, she arrived at the doors of the castle. A flick of her wand and a snarl forced the doors open, and she suppressed a shudder of pain before heading up the stairs towards Majere's office. She was late. Very late. She was supposed to attack during the graduation. Hopefully everything had gone according to plan...

It occurred to Sandra, midway up the stairs, that the leader of the Death Eaters bursting into the middle of Majere's office wasn't the best idea, given the sensitive company he might be having. She straightened herself and performed a few simple spells. While nothing short of polyjuice potion or metamorphogus could truly change your appearance, there were a few illusion spells that could darken the hair and eyes, narrow the chin. She was already very beat up, and with luck she should be able to pass for someone else as long as they didn't scrutinize her too closely.

Arriving at the door to Majere's office, Sandra knocked once before letting herself in. Majere had instructed the gargoyles not to give her much of a fuss if she needed to enter the room for any reason, and she was thankful for that precaution now. "Sorry I'm late. I was...held up."

Those children were a nuisance. He needed to take care of that. Upon returning back, he was sure someone had been here not long ago, meaning that Majere had another guest. He climbed up, opening the door. ''Vincent, please tell that bloody idiot of a professor and his little puppet to stop harassing the staff and people around the castle, do not force me to intervene there'', he said, noticing another person here. ''Held up? I dare say you are good fabricator... your state clearly shows you had some unfinished, but not immediate, work... probably a clean-up job, which is not quite suited for a leader of a large fraction such as yours. Finally, we meet in person, James Wilson, deputy Headmaster and Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. So you are the woman that thinks she is going to control my every movement from now on... I dare say... I had expected someone more... more Hitler-like, but I guess you can pass. I trust we shall meet more frequent from now on'', he commented, looking at Khaat and Jess.

Khaat wanted to laugh but she maintained the stone faced look on her face. She had been pleased that Wilson had called Sandra Archer outright on her transparent disguise. More disguise charms. Khaat had no stomach today for anymore of those. She'd seen all sorts of Death Eaters with no courage to show themselves--Rob. Jen, Ne'Os, now Archer. The woman was hurt and it didn't exactly take Khaat's healing skills to see it. What was with them anyway? Grown men and women running about in Halloween masks? And it wasn't even October. Ruddy ridiculous cowards. Was Vincent the only one who had enough courage about him to not need to try to hide his face behind a mask like some stereotypical muggle villain? They didn't deserve Vincent. If she'd have been alone with him, she'd have cornered him and asked him what in the deuce he thought he was doing by lowering his standards to hang out with them. It made her want to shake some sense into him. He didn't need them from what she could see, except for sheer brute numbers. But they, by far, needed his intelligence, his position, and his skills.

Furthermore, clearly Vincent was the only one who was intelligent enough to not underestimate her. She guessed it must have slipped their minds that she was raised, from birth, by one of the most famous Hogwarts DADA professors of all time? She didn't spend all those years playing with dollies and teasets. She could see through all those stupid charms a mile away. And Wilson was equally skilled. It had been a pure waste of magic for the Death Eaters to try to fool them. She was angered and irritated most of all that they seemed to think she was stupid, much as their understimations worked towards her advantage.

She pushed her annoyance aside, and turned, instead, to Wilson. "Professor, I believe you have a fair knowledge base of potions. Would you do me a favor, please? " She handed him the bottle of standard pain potion. "Would you be so kind as to identify and check the legitimacy of this potion, for the record and for the benefit of all those present. Ms. Archer does not know me from Adam's cat, I do not believe, and, as long as we are obviously in a hostage situation, I would prefer to keep this all on the up and up for all our sakes. "

She looked back at Vincent. "In answer to your question--it will take at least a week for the bones to mend, no matter how quickly I expedite the healing spells. It's going to be a couple of days until his head clears and he regains his strength enough for you to talk to him without endangering him. I will let you know when that happens because I do realize you might like to talk to him. I will let you know when he is conscious enough and strong enough. " Then she turned to Archer, unafraid, "Khaat Lupin, Ms. Archer, Director of St. Mungos,as well as Chief Warlock." Khaat figured the introduction really wasn't necessary. Khaat got enough press as it was, especially from that grandson of Rita Skeeter, that she was sure that Archer most likely already knew who she was.

Whoops...