Pre-Trial Meeting

Vincent, due to various reasons, had not been following the news often lately, He had had little knowledge of the Barker issue and had therefore been quite surprised when he had received the owl requesting his presence at the Wizengamot. Before going though, Vincent needed to catch up with the news, he had never even heard the name Felix Barker before today. With some research, he found out that this Barker fellow was a death eater, and that he had been captured due to kidnappings. As a death eater himself, and a member of the Wizengamot, it was probably his 'duty' to help Barker avoid imprisonment - but the death eaters were hardly where Vincent's allegiances lay. Besides, there wasn't much to defend his case, the trial would no doubt be straightforward. And so he wondered why there was even a need for a pre-trial? Usually, Wizengamot members only discussed a case beforehand if it was one of great complexity.

As Vincent entered, he gave a quick look around. The members of the Wizengamot had been shuffled again evidently, Vincent didn't recognize some of them. Well, wait, one of them was clearly the minister - and Khaats father. And the second he recognized from a recent Death Eater meeting, though the name escaped him. He did not recognize the third at all. His eyes passed over Narcissa and Khaat and came to stop over Jess Potter. It was the first time he had seen him since the Orders defeat at Grimmauld Place. Passing him, he took a seat next to Khaat.

Vincent raised his eyebrows as Eldir asked Khaat to leave the room. His reasons for calling a vote were believable, but Vincent didn't trust what he said for a number of reasons. He was a death eater - likely a loyal one - and perhaps he didn't want Barker to have a 'fair' trial. It was starting to make some sense now. "Knowing Khaat, I can say that she always will, no matter what, give a fair trial... That is not something I can say for the rest of you," he replied. "So before I vote, I'd like to know who is going to take Khaats position as Chief Warlock." He guessed it would be Thoarson, since the man already thought himself important enough to call a meeting and exclude the Chief Warlock from the trial.

"Thank you for coming, Vincent," Robert spoke up. "You've asked a valid question. Let me clarify the ethics code a bit. Since Elldir has called for the vote, he may conduct it. However, that's all he can do. If the vote calls for Khaat to be removed from the Barker trial, then it is up to me to appoint a temporary replacement for her. It prevents powerstruggles from within the Wizengamot itself. No doubt that when the guidelines were written they presumed that court members might be tempted to vote for themselves. Hence, part of my reason for being here today. Court members, the trial is scheduled for first thing tomorrow morning. Let us not be sitting here still deliberating this then. Cast your votes now, please."

Vincent smiled just slightly, as if there wasn't power struggles in the Wizengamot already. That was what the whole ministry was about. " Personally, I don't think anyone here has the ability to give Barker a fair trial," Vincent replied curtly. And undoubtedly, he would not be the one to be elected to replace Khaat as Chief Warlock. "So I think its best if Khaat is allowed to run the trial, but is not allowed to vote."

"Thank you," Robert said. "Who's next?" He was reserving his own vote for the moment. He had no intention of throwing in a vote unless he believed he had to, to perhaps unlock a stalemate. He preferred for the court to do this on its own. He wanted there to be no question, if he could help it, as to whether the court had made their own decisions or whether he had invested himself in it to help his daughter get what she wanted.

Truth be told, he knew Khaat had no desire to vote in the proceedings. He knew that even if the vote had not been called for, she would have abstained from the voting during the trial. She did trust the court members enough, so far as he knew, to look at the case, hear the testimonies, evaluate the evidence, and come to a proper decision. What he was far more interested in was whether or not she would need to testify in her own courtroom in the matter. How they would decide to handle that would be very interesting indeed.

There were a lot of people with strong feelings about Felix Barker, and he expected the courtroom to be filled to capacity this time. This was the sort of thing that always made front page news in all the wizarding papers. He was not a big fan of press coverage, but in this case, it would be a necessary evil. It was just part of the event itself.

Thaor rolled his eyes at Vincents comment, and was glad Robert chimed in, relieving Thaor from having to comment. Who would take Khaats place if removed, was not something Thaor had thought about, because he did not believe she would be removed completely. Thaor did not believe anyone on the Wizengamot itself would be appointed, he didn't trust anyone on the Wizengamot, except for Vincent and Khaat. But his trust for Vincent was even questionable, he was after all a death eater, but then again, so was Thaor. I as well, vote for Khaat to run the trial, but not take part in the vote. Thaor said with a smile, leaning back in his chair. Thaor looked around the room for the rest of the votes.