St. James Infirmary

St. James Infirmary is a jazz club located at Algiers in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a long-standing establishment of New Orleans, and has served as neutral territory between the supernatural factions of the city for decades. At some point in its history, it was purchased by Marcel Gerard. In early 2013, the jazz club was repurposed by Marcel, Elijah Mikaelson, and Josephine LaRue, the latter of whom performed a blessing and a disruption spell onto the building to prevent anyone from using magic within its walls. Their intention was to use the now-enchanted St. James Infirmary as a safe house in which to keep Niklaus Mikaelson and Hayley Marshall's baby daughter Hope, preventing the powerful witch Dahlia from being able to capture her, since Dahlia believed Hope was owed as part of a bargain she made with her sister Esther.
==Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series==
In Moonlight on the Bayou, The place is seen when Caroline Forbes is asking a bartender for Klaus' whereabouts since she needs his help to keep her and her family safe. The bartender informs her that she doesn't know since he went off the grid 3 years ago. This is also where Stefan Salvatore reunited with Klaus 3 years prior when he was on the run from Rayna.
==Throughout The Originals Series==
In Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Dahlia arrived to New Orleans to finally take possession of baby Hope Mikaelson as her payment from Esther for the fertility spell she cast for her in 972 A.D., during which Esther promised her sister her own first-born child, as well as every first-born child in her bloodline to follow as long as her line shall last. Knowing that Dahlia intended to enslave Hope by channeling her power and using her to become truly immortal, Elijah went to Marcel for help in creating a new safe house for Hope's protection. Marcel offered the use of St. James Infirmary, which he had previously purchased for his own use, and invited Elijah to the club to check it out.
Elijah invited his recent ally, Josephine LaRue, a powerful witch elder and the Regent of the nine covens of New Orleans, to the club for a meeting with him and Marcel. Upon her arrival, Josephine remarked that she had spent many nights there in her youth, and described the club as "vulgar," "filthy," and "loud" before admitting that her experiences in the bar were some of the best nights of her entire life. Marcel then reminded her that St. James Infirmary has historically been neutral ground between the vampires, witches, werewolves, and humans, where everyone could congregate peacefully and safely. Elijah then requested that Josephine cast a spell on the building to make it so that no witch could practice magic within its walls. Josephine was appalled that he would ask her to cast a spell that would make her people completely powerless, but after some convincing, she ultimately agreed to have her coven perform a blessing and a disruption spell to keep any witch from performing magic with the intention to do harm.
Once the spell was complete, Elijah arranged to have Marcel escort Hope, Hayley, and her husband Jackson to the safe house, where they would remain until he and the others had dealt with Dahlia. Though Hayley and Jackson intended to flee to the Bayou before Marcel arrived to take them to the jazz club, their plans eventually fell through, and so the three were left with no other choice than to go to their new hideout, which Marcel proclaimed to be the safest place in town.
In When the Levee Breaks, St. James Infirmary became a headquarters of sorts for the group, and many of its members came and went from the club while Hayley, Hope, and Jackson continued to hide in the safe house, which was further protected by the members of the Crescent werewolf pack, who were stationed both inside and outside the building. While Hayley and Jackson were privately discussing what they should do to keep Hope safe, Hayley realized that since Hope's magic acts as a beacon for Dahlia to track her, they needed to come up with a way to keep her from using her magic. They made a plan to have Aiden go to the compound to steal The Cursed Shackles that prevent witches from doing magic so that Davina could cast a spell to transfer the curse on the shackles onto a smaller bracelet for Hope to wear, which would essentially cloak her and prevent Dahlia from being able to locate her.
After several hours, Hayley and Hope were standing in the main room when they saw the windows slowly being covered from the outside by vines with large black dahlia flowers, indicating that Dahlia had tracked Hayley and Hope to their safe house before they received the enchanted bracelet for Hope. When Dahlia arrived, she killed many of the guards stationed outside the jazz club and used her magic to cut out the phone lines so that no one could call for help before she finally appeared at the front door to the bar. However, she realized that the building had been spelled and pointed out that since she would be at a significant disadvantage by entering, she would stay just outside the threshold. She then informed Hayley that she had no quarrel with her, and that as long as she was given the child, who she insisted was owed to her fair-and-square, no one would be hurt. She also stated that as they spoke, the protective blessings and spells on the house were being weakened by her magic. Before she left, she suggested that Hayley say her goodbyes and reminded her that she would be coming for Hope at nightfall the next day.
The club was then the stage for an intense argument between Hayley, Elijah, and Klaus, after Klaus insisted that Hayley and Hope leave St. James Infirmary and return to the Mikaelson compound since the protective spells on this safe house were about to break. When Klaus left to enact his own plans, Hayley begged Elijah to help her, Jackson and Hope escape to ensure that Hope would not suffer as a result of Klaus' out-of-control behavior and impulsive reactions. Elijah was not comfortable with this plan, but after some convincing, he agreed to help them, and Hayley, Jackson, and Hope were able to leave the club and head to the Bayou.
In City Beneath The Sea, Marcel brought Rebekah to the jazz club to keep her safe under the protective enchantments, as she was too new to her witch host body to defend herself, and any harm that could come to her would subsequently cause harm to Davina Claire and the other seven teenage witches who were linked to her by Eva Sinclair. Marcel then had one of his vampires bring Vincent Griffith to the jazz club to help Rebekah undo the linking spell on her body. However, after only a short time, Elijah arrived with Cami O'Connell to inform them that Freya intended to use Hope as bait to lure Dahlia into a trap, leading Rebekah, Vincent, and Cami to leave and go to Lafayette Cemetery to work on a decoy with Davina.
In Dead Angels, while Marcel has disappeared with The Strix's charter in order to become the new leader, Elijah sits at a table reminiscing about his past with Aya. Aya joins him and discusses her and Elijah's means of finding Marcel before midnight. Elijah reminds her that Marcel could have sought refuge in a private house, meaning that they would not be able to enter. Aya changes the subject and asks Elijah why he didn't kill her earlier, but Elijah says he would do it if the opportunity arose again.
At the end of the episode, Marcel, as the new leader of The Strix, sits at the bar and talks to Aya. Aya doubts his capability, but Marcel shows leadership by asking her for advice. Aya then reveals her plan to break the sireline link to the Originals.
In An Old Friend Calls, Elijah meets Marcel, now leader of The Strix, at St. James and asks him to ask the Strix to make sure there is no White Oak left. Marcel says he can't do it since several vampires have gone missing and he needs to look for them first. Elijah agrees that this is bad news and wants to help find the one responsible.
In Alone with Everybody, St. James Infirmary is very crowded and Elijah joins in with the music by playing the piano. At the same time, however, he is spying on another vampire who is speaking on the phone to someone claiming an interest in the White Oak and killing Klaus. Since he himself is being watched by The Strix for his own protection, Elijah had to compel a waitress to spill drinks on his watchers so he can quickly leave the bar and follow the suspicious vampire.
In Behind the Black Horizon, Davina is called to St. James Infirmary by Vincent, Kol accompanies her, but Vincent doesn't show up. Davina becomes suspicious and starts to wonder why Vincent would say they are facing a common enemy and bring her to the one place in New Orleans were magic doesn't work. She then finds a vial of his blood and a video message on his phone that explains how The Ancestors are forcing him to help Lucien Castle and that Freya Mikaelson is in trouble.
Some time later, Davina sits in the club waiting for Vincent, as he walks in he thanks her for helping him with Lucien, she in return asks him for help because she has realized that Kol is also being controlled by The Ancestors. Vincent reminds her that the ancestors have power over him when he is not in this club, but agrees that they must be stopped and is ready to work with her.
In The Devil Comes Here and Sighs, Vincent is mentioned to be staying in the jazz bar to be safe from the Ancestors. The club is crowded and Jazz music is playing, Davina and Kol arrive, so that Kol won't be affected by the Ancestors influence either. Vincent talks to Kol to try and figure out more about what the Ancestors are up to.
Later on, Kol and Davina are still there, enjoying themselves safe from the Ancestors when Kol can start to feel the hex working again as the Ancestors start to break through the protective spells. Marcel arrives and quickly breaks Kol's neck and has the place cleared out to prevent a bloodbath. He informs Davina that Vincent is in trouble at the cemetery and makes her leave. When Kol awakes, Marcel gives him a blood bag to still his hunger. A fight breaks out as Kol wants to leave and Marcel tries to stop him, while Davina and Vincent are at the cemetery trying to stop Van Nguyen and the Ancestors from completely destroying the disruption spell. They succeed and Kol comes back to his senses, realizing what he could have done to Davina. Marcel urges him to leave New Orleans in order to protect her. When Davina returns, Marcel tells Davina that Kol is gone, she is upset but Marcel comforts her.
In No More Heartbreaks, Kol has returned to the jazz bar after finding out he couldn't leave New Orleans because of the hex. Davina seeks him out, angry about his actions. She then gets a call from Marcel telling her that Cami has been bitten by the hybrid-like upgraded vampire Lucien and wants to go help her. Kol tries to warn her about the hold The Ancestors have over Lucien but is unable to stop her and has to stay behind.
Davina finds out from Lucien that The Ancestors' plan is for Kol to kill her and she goes back to St. James to confront Kol about not telling her. Kol admits that this is true and produces a White Oak Ash Dagger, begs her to dagger him to keep her safe until she finds a way to lift the curse and eventually Davina does so. She later returns, after Cami has died, wishing she could talk to him. She sits next to his body as a strong force of magic disturbs the whole of New Orleans. The magic undaggers Kol and in a bloodthirsty rage, he feeds on Davina. As soon as she is dead he regains his senses and realizes in horror what he has done.
In Where Nothing Stays Buried, Kol sits in the bar with Davina's body as Marcel arrives and sees what has happened. Kol is still very upset by what he has done. Marcel lashes out at Kol and then declares they will bring her back. They bring in Vincent for his help and he states they must consecrate her but at the same time keep her safe from The Ancestors. Marcel and Kol go to seek out Freya's help since she has more power than Vincent. Vincent stays with Davina's body and prepares her for consecration until Freya is ready to draw her spirit to a safe place.
==Appearances==
===The Originals===
;Season 2
*Night Has A Thousand Eyes
*When the Levee Breaks
*City Beneath The Sea
;Season 3
*For the Next Millennium
*Savior
*Dead Angels
*An Old Friend Calls
*Alone with Everybody
*Behind the Black Horizon
*The Devil Comes Here and Sighs
*No More Heartbreaks
*Where Nothing Stays Buried
;Season 5
*When The Saints Go Marching In
===The Vampire Diaries===
;Season 7
*Moonlight on the Bayou
==Trivia==
* The jazz club seems to have a very long history in New Orleans, as the witch elder Josephine described having spent a lot of time there in her youth.
* Josephine, possibly with help from the Garden District Coven, performed a blessing on the building before casting a disruption spell to prevent a witch from performing magic in order to do harm. This makes it makes it a perfect hideout for those involved in the supernatural community of New Orleans.
* The name of the club, St. James Infirmary, is a homage to the jazz singer Cab Calloway song by the same name.
==Gallery==
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==See also==
Category:The Originals (series)
Category:Locations
Category:Community Location
Category:Businesses