6 Sept 2012
4:30pm, a Thursday
Day 2 of Tara Sallow's detainment at the Lapin raid

Talisha Crowe was affordable and effective and was one of the many lawyers clamouring to get access to their clients on Level Two. Word was that three dozen people had been detained at the secret underground werewolf club two nights ago. They were all being held while they sorted out who was a werewolf, who was registered, who had knowledge of the unregulated Wolfsbane Potion distribution going on there. All of this only days after the Werewolf Wing announced amnesty for unregistered werewolves. It boggled the mind.

Among those detained was an anomaly: Tara Sallow, a bonafide hitwitch, one of Level Two's own. Someone had given her Talisha's card. Talisha was setting up in the small interview room when Tara arrived, escorted by Magical Law Patrol. Talisha left her papers and welcomed her in with open arms. Her false eye looked her up and down up and down.

"Oh, look at you, haven't slept a wink looks like. Let me look at you - have you had access to a healer? They're supposed to provide one if you ask. C'mon, sit down."

She put her hand on Tara's upper arm. She clicked her tongue. "Ooh, hard as a cauldron bottom."

Tara still wasn't sure entirely what would happen, she knew the process of course, she'd been responsible for alot of arrests over the years, however she wasn't used to being arrested, especially when it was over something like this. And now she was getting sent to an interview, to be interrogated. So of course she had gone for a lawyer, she knew her rights and would exploit what she could to make life annoying for the Aurors and WCU.

The purpose of all this she wasn't sure on, she had a faint idea of what happened and why the raid happened, though she hadn't had much of a chance to ask, she only faintly knew of Lapin as it was, she guessed this would help the Ministry to keep the whole thing hush hush, after all she knew them finding a Hitwitch in a raid would never look good.

Entering the room she looked at the woman already there, noting the fake eye, she'd known of Mad Eye's fake eye, and the supposed magical qualities it had...and she felt rather under dressed all of a sudden.

"I'm fine." She lied, she was exhausted, the cells were doing something to her, she knew it wasn't a charm, however ever since her capture she hadn't liked cells, and the silence brought on by the cells was deafening. "They aren't from the aurors." She said quietly about her bruises. She hadn't been coping well in the cells.

She smirked a little at the feel of her arm. "Maybe if I get out, you can feel my abs also." She teased as she sat at the table. "So what's it looking like? How screwed am I?"

Talisha sat down on the other side. Tara's escort left them in peace. Talisha shuffled around a few papers. She brought extra papers sometimes, irrelevant to the case at hand. It was to her advantage to look very prepared and important, and the thicker her file, the more prepared and important she looked. Her false, enchanted eye buzzed around, before settling in and joining Talisha's real eye in normal eye contact.

"Not as bad off as some of the others," she was able to say. "Let's see, you're registered - good idea. No letters in your Werewolf Wing file - nice job. Criminal record, none, you love to see it. Really, all that we need to contend with is the small matter of possible charges of conspiracy to brew and distribute unregulated Wolfsbane Potion en masse."

Alright, that sounded bad.

"If you want my Prophecy, I don't think you'll see the Wizengamot. But, that all depends on what they might have on you. So far, I haven't had access that, because, frankly, we're very early stages."

Tara slumped back in her seat once her escorts had left and it was just the two of them in the room, her eyes not leaving or breaking contact with the other woman as she considered the situation she was in, just like the other woman was doing, or she hoped her Lawyer was.

The comment of no criminal record made her raise an eyebrow, that was very surprising something she did following the war wasn't flagged but she did jump country early in her hunt. She lowered the brow however and frowned on the potential charge against her, while she wasn't against people brewing their own wolfsbane, or illegally taking it, she didn't do it herself.

"I'm not capable of brewing wolfsbane, nor would I advocate for it, I've seen what bad wolfsbane has done to people," She said with a sigh as she lumped forwards onto the table, eyes half closed as she spoke.

The fact she wouldn't go to the Wizengamot was a relief, and she put her head on the table, the coolness of it was relaxing on her.

"I only found out about the place a few days ago, and that was to go drinking there, I had no clue on anything except it was a bar for Werewolves." She said softly, hoping it cleared the air between them and shed some light on the situation.

The probably-highly-capable hitwitch was utterly demoralized, Talisha could see even without the aid of an enchanted eyeball. It was hard to watch. Oh, Talisha compartmentalized and was personally unaffected, but still, she had sympathy for those even temporarily deprived of their freedoms. It changed people. It could break things inside you that you once trusted. It was poor Tara's colleagues who'd been the ones to scoop her up and lock the door, looking right past the witch they must know and like. Talisha lifted her chin, reassuring herself that her role in this was to ensure all was as fair as possible for Tara: a worthy if not always un-futile task.

One hand and one eye took notes, while the other eye and other hand watched Tara intently.

"You're doing fine, baby. That's good. We'll make a list of people who can vouch for your lack of skill and interest in potion-making. And who'd you find out about Lapin from?"

The MLE was certainly going to ask, so Talisha would need to know.

Tara looked up at the comment, she didn't lack skill in potion making, she knew it was best for her not to mention it, after all it meant information that would need to be given out, however she had some amount of pride to her, she would have to speak up about it.

"I never said I had a lack of skill in potion making, however I cannot brew Wolfsbane, combat potions I can do just fine." She said defensively, before nervously she backed down, the latter half of the question ruffled her even more.

"I..." She bit her lip and leaned back in the seat, pushing at it so she would tilt her seat backwards and relax in the seat.

"I don't want her to get into trouble." She said quietly as she returned back to normal in her seat and leaned forwards, pressing her arms on the desk and her head just above them. "She's got more to lose then I do, is the information needed?"

Talisha corrected her notes to add the extra detail that Tara here could brew some potions but not others, with Wolfsbane Potion appropriately in the 'cannot' column.

When Tara hesitated to answer the question, Talisha raised her eyebrows.

"It is, yes. I need to know it all. You are suspected of taking part in a criminal conspiracy. I assume. We can refute this at its core, if we can provide evidence that you've only recently heard of the place then you can't very well be a part of any plan. I'm your lawyer, Tara. I'm bound by some pretty important laws about blabbing. I can't get anyone in trouble -- only out of it."

She nodded as she listened to her speak, she knew it wasn't truly the case, but she was right, she needed to talk about who had invited her there and all that had happened, she still remained hesitant but...who wouldn't in this situation?

"You'll still tell if you felt you had a duty however, this isn't the first time I've had to work with lawyers." She sighed before pressing her thumbs into the desk, gently tapping them away, she didn't want to say, as Dora was her friend, but she was in a cell also now was she not? She hoped her kids were okay.

"I don't want her in trouble, but...I was with Pandora Puddifoot, she had suggested on us having a girls night out, I agreed, so the day came, we met up, we entered, had a couple of drinks, then the raid happened and...that's that." She said softly.

She rested her head into her hands, but pressed her fingers into her skin, she felt dirty. "Is she doing okay? She has kids and needs to get back to them."

Tara was suspicious of Talisha, which was too bad for Tara. Things would be better for Tara if Tara took Talisha at Talisha's magically bound word. Every note Talisha took with the help of her magical left eye was instantly encrypted on the parchment page, including the name of the notable Pandora Puddifoot.

"I will find out," Talisha said firmly, hoping that her sincerity would drive home just what her purpose here was.

"So you went to Lapin. Were you going there to meet Ms Puddifoot? Had you ever heard that Wolfsbane Potion could be obtained at Lapin?"

Tara shook her head softly at the question, sitting upright to face her, she was already getting uncomfortable with this room, it was way too close and small for her to be comfortable inside of, it was going to drive her crazy to be inside of her just like the cell she was going to be placed back inside after the meeting once again.

"No, I met with her where she told me to, we then entered the bar. Before joining her there I had never heard of Lapin before." She said softly as she looked over the lawyer again.

"I don't know where to get illegal wolfsbane, its not my job to find out either." There was a sterner tone in her voice now.

People did this sometimes, Talisha Crowe reminded herself. Ask any question of someone across a table in a room with bad lighting what they were up to last night and you'll get a very different response than if you asked while knee-to-knee on a love-seat with a glass in your hand. Tara was still regarding her like she was the the one getting her into trouble instead of out of it.

"No, of course. You're a Hitwitch. Totally different jurisdictions."

"Before the raid began, did you see anyone besides Ms Puddifoot that you recognized? Or I suppose you could reverse it: did anyone there recognize you, that you know of?"

She shook her head again at the question, as far as she was aware she'd never seen anyone there before, but she was clearly in thought of the night, it was a blur now and... With a soft sigh she looked up.

"No, as far as I am aware. I only recognized Dora, everyone else was new and I didn't get to mingle or...socialize before the raid started. Then obviously I recognized some of those in the raid." It was hard not to recognize your co-worker as they arrest you.

Delicately she looked to the eyes of her lawyer. "I did...react, when the raid started, I made a fog when it all kicked off with the liquid around." She admitted.

In a rare moment, Talisha Crowe looked confused. She was usually the one doing the confusing. Her magical eye stopped moving and joined her other one. Gathering herself, Talisha drummed her fingers on the table.

"Why don't you tell me what happened, start to finish. And don't leave out anything you said to any WCU or MLE, or what they said to you."

Tara nodded slowly, leaning forwards to be quieter and not having to raise her voice too much, she started to recount the night fully from what she had in her memory, how they had gone in, how they had sat, what drinks were ordered, and with when the raid happened she had responded.

How in her panic at what was going on, she had reflexively created a mist with liquid that was lying around to fog and obscure before attempting to help others escape as she hadn't processed it being a raid, before she was stunned to the floor and arrested.

"I'm trained to fight and react quickly, I'm hardened and tested fighting Death Eaters, I hear shouting, screams and have people storming in, I do what I can to protect people, for all I knew it was an attack by anti werewolf groups trying to hit us when its easier. There's been attacks on the rise after all."

Talisha and her eye and her quill listened with rapt attention as Tara Sallow picked through the night's events. Talisha took care not to appear too invested however, but certainly she didn't want to look aloof. She nodded, asked one or two clarifying questions, but for the most part she took it all in. When Tara finished, her lawyer waited a full ten seconds before saying anything in response.

"That was very brave of you," she said. "I'm sure under different circumstances your colleagues would not hesitate to say the same. I think we can get them there. Now:"

She wanted to make totally sure of this. "Did you exchange any words at all with any member of the WCU or MLE that night? Anything at all? A meaningful look or grouchy glance? Anything at all that could be interpreted as anything halfway resembling something that could be mistaken, in any way, as anti-werewolf prejudice (on their part) or a confession of any wrong-doing (on yours)?"