Details for Meeting With Mopsus |
Summary: | Professor Mopsus speaks with Gabrielle and Jackson about their encounter with Callus Vengal, and what to do about Gabby's cursed wand. |
Date: | February 16, 1938 |
Location: | Hospital Wing, Hogwarts |
Related: | A Dark Stranger |
Characters |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Hospital Wing, Hogwarts Castle
Rows of like cast-iron beds flank a long center aisle that leads from the entryway door to a stained glass window at the end of the room. Each bed is accompanied by basic furnishings; a bedside table, an eating table, a chair and a screen to be pulled around that area when someone is in need of more privacy than is normally afforded. Medicine cabinets - perpetually restocked with all the basic necessities and remedies such as bandages, cough potions and the like, are positioned between large window that reflects any light against the glass cabinet doors. The opposite wall to the window is punctuated by a series of doorways leading to the Nurses' offices and private rooms for isolation cases.
Gabrielle , jacket off, but otherwise dress normal for a Hogsmeade weekend, is sitting on a bed, pressed against the backboard looking out the window. Her legs are curled up underneath her, but she is clutching her wand in her right hand. She'll glance over as soon as she hears anyone enter the room. She looks upset.
Jackson opens the door to the hospital wing, entering and moving towards Gabrielle, "Are you alright, Gabby? What did Nurse Spleen say?" Similarly, he has not quite let go of his own wand yet either, his knuckles seem with the death grip he is keeping on it.
For having such short legs, Professor Mopsus can certainly move at a brisk pace when he wishes to. An intimate knowledge of the castle's layout helps him to navigate without assistance, and just the occasional touch of a stone or piece of furniture to get his bearings. He is right on Jackson's heels, stepping up to the foot of Gabrielle's bed. "Miss Evans. I understand you've had something of an ordeal this evening." He tilts his head slightly. "Let's have those wands away, children. You are quite safe here, I assure you."
Gabrielle will make eye contact with Jackson, and will nod and lay down her wand. It takes her a moment though. She'll try to keep her voice steady, "I'm ok. Just sore from the spell, and I have a bit of a bruise, nothing too bad."
Jackson nods as eye contact is made. He even puts his wand away first. He wiggles his fingers, working feeling back into them and silently cursing himself for letting his hand get too numb to hold a wand properly. He looks towards Mopsus, then shakes his head, "She's understating it of course."
Mopsus smiles. "Of course." He knows Gabrielle all too well. She's one of his best students, after all. Nevermind the fact that Professor Mopsus has a way of just…knowing. "There are signs of a heavy shadow being cast tonight. Perhaps it would be best if you told me what happened."
Gabrielle gives a small glare at Jackson. there's no real anger behind it,and says to Mopsus, "Madame Spleen said I was ok, and could go once I talked to you, sir." She'll pause and bite her lower lip, glancing at Jacks, not quiet sure where to start, "I went today to talk to Hawthorne about my original wand…and this man came in, and attack us, demanding the wand…He threatened to kill me, by name. Jackson saved me."
Jackson nods his head after Gabrielle finishes her explanation. He continues it, "The man's name, according to Mister Hawthorne, is Callus Vengal. Mr. Hawthorne intimated that there was a family involved, they attempted to catch us before Mr. Hawthorne disapparated with us." He reaches behind himself with his left hand, drawing a different wand than the one he had earlier, "This is his wand. I don't expect him to remain disarmed, seeing as I knocked him out in a wand shop. I can tell you he was a skilled duelist, so his wand may offer some insight into his origin."
Jackson nods his head after Gabrielle finishes her explanation. He continues it, "The man's name, according to Mister Hawthorne, is Callus Vengal. Mr. Hawthorne intimated that there was a family involved, they attempted to catch us before Mr. Hawthorne disapparated with us." Damn it.
Mopsus' brow knits, obviously concerned. "I'm so sorry that you've suffered like this, Miss Evans. Mr. Potter, you have my utmost thanks for your heroism." He nods respectfully in Jackson's direction. "Now then…Callus Vengal. I wish I could say I knew the name. But he was after your old wand, Evans? I assume you have it with you?" He extends his hand, palm up, toward Gabrielle.
"Mister Hawthorne counted at least 5 of them," Gabby offers as well, shifting slightly in the bed. she'll give Jacks a small smile, the first since this whole thing started in thanks as well. Her whole body tenses when Mopsus holds out his hand. She knew this was coming and will look to Jackson with a worried look, before dropping her shoulders in defeat and leaning over to her jacket to pull out the shorter wand. "It's…Mr.Hawthorne believes it may have a curse….So…please don't cast with it." When she places it in his hand, he can feel her shaking slightly.
Jackson nods once again to Gabby, "This has to be done. We don't have the resources to delve into this on our own." He then looks towards Mopsus, "Professor, there is no doubt in my mind that the wand is funny. I'm not sure if its cursed or if something else is altering the magic, but I know it doesn't work magic in the correct manner."
Mopsus nods silently in response to both of them. Indeed, he does not cast with the wand. Rather, from his robes he produces a fine cloth, embroidered with various rune-like symbols. Gabrielle might be one of the few students that has ever seen this cloth, given the amount of time she has spent in the Professor's presence. It is a special branch of Divination that he has developed himself for someone with his particularly keen tactile sense. He wraps the cloth around the wand, binding it tightly. Once so bound, he traces his fingers over it, feeling along the patterns formed by the folds and embroidery. "Your…mother's wand," he says distantly, "It is a key…to unlocking…something stolen. Something…coveted. But…fire bars the way."
Gabrielle nods to Jackson, she knows, it's just hard. She'll lean a bit forward when the cloth comes out, knowing what's coming. She should have guessed he'd do this right away, "Yes…I believe it's a memory…of something bad that's been set up….a plot. It can still happen…Mr. Hawthorne thinks that the curse is there to stop anyone from accessing it.."She'll take a shaky breath, looking at teh wrapped wand, "Apparently I"ve been trying to access it for the past 4 years…" She'll start pressing on the scar on her right palm, from where the crystal cut her, "I think…I think it may be what Vengal was after…the memory.To restart whatever it is.this bad thing."
Jackson remains quiet at this point, watching the transfer of the wand in question and the very peculiar form of divination practiced by Professor Mopsus. He tilts his head at that part, listening to the recountings of the professor. He'll then glances towards Gabrielle, nodding his head, "Seems almost certain that this is what he was after."
Mopsus nods pensively as he slowly unwraps the wand. "A memory. Interesting. A memory contained within the wand, but inaccessible behind a curse. Clever…and sinister." He turns in Gabrielle's direction. "Evans, I'm about to say what you most dread me saying. Brace yourself. You do realize that possessing this wand now puts you in danger?"
Gabrielle blinks, and with a slight hint of scared amusement, because at this point it's all she has left, "I've kinda figured that out sir." She'll give another small smile towards Jackson.
Jackson considers it for a moment, and then adds, "Professor, if the curse can be broken, will you assure Gabrielle that her wand will be returned to her? It is, I believe, one of the few (if only) possession she has of her mother's."
"Of course," Mopsus nods. "I am not in the habit of stealing from my students. But now, it must be decided what to do with this wand. Obviously, we should try to break the curse. But given the cleverness involved in this, I would not be at all surprised if there were failsafes in place against it."
Gabrielle tenses up as Jackson asks about the wand, but relaxes marginally at Mopsus and the use of the word "we", that she's hoping includes her. She'll even lean forward more, "There //has // to be a way! We have to stop it…so many people are going to get hurt!" She'll start pressing on the scar again, "I…if my mother was involved…on either side, I need to help right this."
Jackson nods his head to Mopsus, "I agree and have given some thought to that during my time with Gabrielle. The curse seems centered around fire. Or perhaps that is the failsafe. I'm sure a Flame Freezing or an Impervius charm will go a long way towards breaking the curse or getting someone closer to the source of the curse." He then continues, "From there, I postulate that a pensieve will come in quite handy for actually extracting the memory."
Jackson glances towards Gabrielle, adding, "We will."
Mopsus smirks. "A pensieve? I'm surprised that you even know of such a device. But yes, it could be useful. Not so much for extracting the memory, but for viewing it. Your other suggestions might be helpful as well. Though, I'll be the first to admit that I'm no expert at curse-breaking. Where do you suppose we might find such an expert, Evans?" Suddenly he's adopting his teacher voice.
Gabrielle nods, "I know there's potions that can make a person safe from fire…that may help."She'll nod to Jackson, thankful for his support. Gabrielle turns to Mopsus, back going a bit more straight as he uses teacher tone, "I believe Mr. Hawthorne is good place to start…if Vengal had been following me, to stop me only once I went into his shop would imply they were scared it could be done." She'll nod, that logic is sound and starts to fidgets a little , but then stops, and blinks. And will slowly turn to look at the wand again. "Could that start a real fire?"
Jackson shakes his head, "I disagree. Vengal attacked you at Hawthorne's because it was a place out of the public eyes with a person who couldn't defend you from him. If you want the best cursebreakers, you go two places. Hogwarts or London." He looks towards Gabrielle, "It burned you, didn't it?" He looks towards Professor Mopsus, "Hogwarts has Professor Merrythought. London has the Auror office."
Professor Mopsus taps the wand with his fingers. "The curse? I suppose, perhaps it could start a fire. But curses are not my forte. As Mr. Potter suggests, if anyone in this school knows about undoing the Dark Arts, it is Professor Merrythought. Though Mr. Hawthorne is certainly the wand expert."
Gabrielle 's paled some, as her brain is putting pieces together. She'll not agree or disagree with anything said, but does look at Jackson "Burned and Fire are two different things."
Jackson frowns slightly, peering towards Gabrielle, "Maybe." He then looks towards Professor Mopsus, "So how to we proceed from here, Professor?"
"It's your wand, Evans," Mopsus chimes in. "The choice is yours. If you'll allow me, I'll take this to Professor Merrythought, and have her examine it."
Gabrielle looks back to the wand, and right hand twitches some, and then she'll nod, "Yes…please. But I'd like to be there when she talks to you about it? If we could both be?" She'll include Jackson, he's earned it, Hero bit and all.
Jackson smiles towards Gabrielle, then nods his head to Professor Mopsus, "Yes, please, if it's alright with Professor Merrythought."
Mopsus inclines his head, gathering up the wand and tucking it into an inner pocket of his robe. "I'm sure it will be fine. If that is all, I'll take this to her immediately. The sooner we can access the memory, the sooner we can find out how this relates to your attack, and the heart of power." He looks so directly at Gabrielle when he says this that one might swear he fakes his blindness.
Gabrielle actually manages to pale even more , and while she doesn't whimper, she look scared. She'll softly, almost whisper, "I think it's what their planning to try to get…." She'll look back down at her own wand, laying on the bed next to her, and start messing with the cuff of her right sleeve.
Jackson blinks, "Oh, heart." He looks towards Gabrielle, "I did some thinking regarding your vision, and I came to a conclusion about something." First thing's first, he looks towards Mopsus, "Thank you for coming, Professor. We really appreciate this."
Mopsus shows no sign of surprise at the mention of the vision. Then again, he's always had that "everything is going according to plan" sort of quality about him. "We'll speak again soon. Oh…while I'm sure this doesn't seem terribly important, given current circumstances — twenty points to Ravenclaw for facing danger and keeping your wits about you…and seventy points to Gryffindor for saving the life of your classmate. Well done, both of you." With that, the diminutive Divination professor excuses himself from the hospital wing.
Gabrielle nods, realizing that Mopsus knows, or kinda knows, or maybe knew all along…"Yes sir. Thank you." And she'll watch the head of her house leave the room. She'll slowly unfold her legs and swing them over the side of the bed, deep in thought.
Jackson blinks, "Wow, only about a thousand more points until I recoup all the points I've lost over the year." He then looks towards Gabrielle, "The image you made on the wagon. The heart was divided into four sections. The only thing I've ever seen divided in four sections is a coat of arms, but never on a heart. I'm sure there is meaning to that. I also found it odd that the only the blood-smeared and twisted things reaching towards the heart actually touch it. I'm sure there's meaning behind it, but it eludes me now."
Gabrielle will smirk lightly at the points. she'll look up to Jacks with a tired look, "So…like a Family?Or an Army? Maybe with the word heart in it?" she'll nod again, "Yeah…When I looked at it…it felt like the..blood was on purpose…Like my hand was cut on purpose, maybe the blood itself meant something?" She'll glance down at her hand real quick and then sigh, "I can't say thank you enough…"
Jackson shakes his head with a small smirk, "I don't know. I don't think creatively enough to interpret visions." He then continues, "I don't know if blood served a particular purpose in your vision, but generally blood is essence or life force." He shakes his head, "Don't mention it." He then asks, "Are you tired?"
Gabrielle sighs and nods, visions are new to her too….she'll need to think on this more. She'll blink, "Unless it was the act of getting the blood…like…blood letting?" She doesn't sound sure herself on that. She'll huff a bit, "I'm mentioning it, because I can. If you hadn't come when you did…I wouldn't be able to." She'll shiver slightly, and wrap her arms around herself, "I don't think I'm ever going to sleep ever again…Ever."
Jackson sighs, then nods his head as he crosses his arms across his chest, "Fair enough, you're welcome." He pauses, "I didn't think about blood letting." He then looks towards Gabrielle, "Try to sleep. I'll stay if you want me to."