Khaat had noticed Vincent's distance from everyone, and she perhaps felt it the most. Strangely enough, it grieved her. She had found herself really liking Vincent, and she was not in position to say it to him, and certainly not in front of the others. And, in fact, she found it odd that she was finding herself liking him. She wanted that distance bridged. She wanted back the relationship with him that she had had--the one where they could take or leave each other, sort of, but were not exactly enemies and not best buddies either. She loved their talks, even thought it was more verbal sparring than much else at times. Flat out, she missed him--a great deal. She tried to present an all business and professional facade, but she also knew he was an incredibly good judge of people and particularly her. She was hoping he was perceptive enough to be getting her message--all the words she could not say. And, furthermore, she knew him well enough that she could certainly understand his thoughts and feelings about Hogwarts. It was a very legitimate concern. The ministry battle had not gone as he had hoped, nor how he had needed it to go; and he certainly had to feel as if he were perhaps on shaky ground. Khaat, however, believed that he was crucial to not only Hogwarts but the new ministry, and she truly wanted him and Gabrielle both on board.
"Vincent," she said gently, hoping he would remember that she had tried never to lie to him about anything. Had never found reason to. "I think I need to speak up here. I admit, I was one of your strongest opponents against your being headmaster. You certainly know that. It is also no secret that I strongly supported Headmaster Shacklebolt, but he obviously is gone now. Furthermore, so far, as far as I can see, you have not given anyone here any reason to think that you are making any critical errors in judgement in your current position. Certainly not enough to try to remove you from your post at this moment. I, for one, have no reason to object to you remaining as you are--unless, of course, I find that someday you have done something incredibly stupid. And I do not foresee that ever happening. You are far too intelligent for that.
"In addition, I also know that you are abundantly aware that traditionally the headmaster has been an appointment from the ministry, as has been the removal of any headmaster that appears to not be competent in his job. I do not foresee that policy changing, unless Matt has some desire to change that, that I am not aware of. For the record, my vote goes in support of leaving you as you are at Hogwarts for the time being, until such time as we might discover that you become, in some form, incapable of making decisions that seem to lie in the students' best interests. I have not seen you do anything that seems to be counter to their welfare, and that does have to be our first concern regarding Hogwarts."
"I am truly very sorry that this is difficult for you and Gabrielle both. I know we have our differences in what we believe to be in the best interests of the ministry, but neither of you would have been asked here if you didn't have the intelligence and the skills for helping in the rebuilding of the ministry into an entity that stands, effectively and efficiently, on its own, without being either a dictatorship or merely an extention of any political faction. If the Order had wanted to do that, neither of you would be here, I am quite certain. I honestly am very glad you are here and I'd like to see you continue to come to any meetings you are invited to, as your schedule permits."
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