Finally making her way to the great debate, Madison found her boss sitting and decided to take a seat next to her. She was here to support Reagan as that grumpy old Cooper needed to go. She had her buttons on showing who she was supporting as it wasn't a secret at all. She sat down quietly as her candidate of choice began to speak.

Soooooo Enrico was back at the Ministry once again, although this time he wasn't exactly working. Sure, the Daily Prophet needed to cover this event, but look at the guy. He wasn't exactly a photographer nor did he have a notepad to jot anything down.

He was just there to observe. And observing Rico was doing, although not of the debate which hadn't started yet. No, he was observing the crowd above the courtrooms, curious to see if one particular individual had showed up today.

A few minutes of craning his neck around and Rico had to give up. She wasn't here, not yet anyway. Oh well, why had he even bothered to hope. Rico turned his attention back to the debate and folded his arms, resisting the urge to snort every time Cooper opened his mouth. That man, for having worked in International Cooperation, still had no clue, did he. Nope, none at all. And that was why he was voting for Taylor.

Ian pinched the bridge of his nose thoughtful. There were so many Taylor supporters he practically thought he was going to break out in hives. It was a good thing he wasn't in charge of writing up articles back at the Headquarters. He was supposed to take pictures and remain partial.

Scoffing derisively, Hoshino tilted his camera and snapped a picture of Cooper, one where his double chin was the prominent star. That ought to keep Getti happy.

The debate was on and Claudian was on the fence. Again. Blasted Libra in Mercury and Sunsign.

He surveyed the crowd to see how other people were weighing in. The scales seemed to be heavily tipped in Taylors favour. She was good orator, though that woman from the streets, the brunette, wasn't bad either. And, that was probably working in her favour too, he thought, as a wizard, who was probably from the Prophet snapped what was likely an unflattering shot of the Minister with his camera. Interesting.

He looked on in silence, his thin rimmed spectacles perched to the edge of his face as he tilted his head slightly to catch a glimpse of Xana wondering if she had a clearer idea of who she was going to vote for.

"Some fun, eh?". And by that he meant, 'Thanks for comming with me.' He said patting her leg encouragingly and having the feeling that she wasn't really enjoying this much.

Xana shifted a little in her seat and gave Claudian a small smile, hoping that she didn't look as lost as she felt. Potions, she understood. But government and politics? She had trouble with them, and it made her feel a little awkward, like she was the only one in the room who didn't get it. It didn't seem like either of the candidates had actually said anything much, just made a lot of vague promises to be better than 'the other guy'. Maybe she had missed something; it just seemed like a big game of who could be more cunning. It made her think of their old herbology professor's Slytherin 101 classes, actually... where again, what was being said didn't seem to be what was being said.

"Oodles and gobs of fun." she said, meaning 'I'm lost, but I'm glad to be out with you guys anyway.' She took Claudian's hand and smiled at Claudian and Diabolica. She supposed it was really interesting; she just wished she didn't feel like the only one in the room who didn't get a clear bead on which candidate actually had anything of value to contribute. "What do you both think of the candidates?" she whispered to her two companions, hoping it was okay to talk in the room. She'd hate to make a faux pas and get kicked out or something.

"Hello Bella, glad to see you, too" J.J. told her. "After the speech. I want you to mmet my new girlfreind" Joe Jon montcenaggio told Mrs. Greingorth. J.J. Starr quickly held hands and kissed Katalin. "Taylor is doing a great job" he whispered to Anna and Katalin. J.J. Starr went back to listening to the debate.

Katalin smiled at J.J. she was so in love with him and they was going to have their second date later.

Lili just nodded in agreement as she listened to the debate. She didn't want to talk right now, because she was intent on paying attention to what was happening. She turned her head briefly to look at Iain and smiled. She'd have a change to talk to him later!

Edward began to walk the room scanning the crowd. He wondered if he should look for Brian and ask if there was something more he could do, but Edward had worked enough of these high profile events that he should be ok. Regardless, he stopped at a brief desk, scratched out a small note to Brian and sent it off to him using the inter office memo system.

Katalin waited for the campaign to start, she was still holding J.J's hand. They was going away after this, she looked round at all the people that surrounded her.

Nathan had gone into a bit of a dream as it became apparent that this debate malarkey was a serious business and there was no fee free food to be had here. Green eyes scanned the courtroom for some of his ex Ministry colleagues – this debate thingy would have been a great excuse to bump into Apha, Nicoli or some of his Auror friends. He sighed inwardly when he it became apparent there was no one here he knew – not even any of the Daily Prophet reporters.. which was odd. Nate thought the paper would have wanted to cover this most important event... s'pecially with the boss being married to Brennan Cooper an all... maybe she knew something that the punters didn't... something she didn't want printed.

It was a good job Nathan had a muggle notebook and pen about his person – this was surprisingly organised for a man like Nathan. Note taking would help him stay awake he supposed. He began to scribble down a few key points the candidates were making, and then remembered he had his trusty old muggle digital camera with him – Reagan's team may find a few photographs useful in her campaign. He proceeded to take a few snaps of the two candidates, making sure to get Reagan's good side. Might sway the vote for a few undecided fellas out there. Heh.

Brian dragged himself to this absolutely new place to watch and if possible to participate in the ongoing debate that he had received information from Edward. He just stood in the entrance and looking for a comfortable seat with both hands inside his trouser pockets. After found Edward, he silently slipped himself beside him. "How is it going mate?" he asked, smilingly.

Edward saw Brian and gave him a handshake. "Not much. Just watching the crowd, which are just waiting for the debate to start. Have we got any instructions on what to do?"

Brian shook his hand with him, listened. "Okay. I thought i was late." he grinned, and watching everyone thoughtfully. "There are some for me pesonaly, but we all have in general."

Edward listened. "OK. So nothing specific for me and they guards then?" he asked. Edward didn't think there were going to be any, but he seemed a bit taken aback by his bosses apparent lack of interest. "You ok, buddy?"

Jenkins groaned as he heard the answers of both of the canadites, he really had no idea how they managed to come up with such long, intracate answers. If he were minister he would make the answers short blunt and to the point so that the average person could actually understand what he was saying. This debate was going to take forever at this rate.

Edward heard the speeches and turned again to the crowd. Politics was not his cup of tea. He was more interested in what it would mean for he and his employees. He'd never cared one way or the other about Cooper. He had certainly heard about the nonsense with the schools, but as he had no one going there at the time, the impact to him had been minimal. He only wanted to do his job.

OOC: There seems to be some confusion about how the debate is progressing. The debate is in this thread. Please roleplay your actions/words in this thread, though, and leave the other thread for the debate only.

Bella stuffed her fingernail file back into her pink briefcase, all the while continuing to watch and listen carefully as the debate proceeded. Benjamin had just asked a rather good question, and she was interested to hear what both candidates had to say. Aware of a sudden movement to her side, Bella turned to see none of other than Madison Masterson arriving and seating right at her side. "Hello, Madison, dear. Good to see you hear today," she said, smiling at the woman, then glancing down towards the center of the courtroon. "Taylor's got this thing hands down..."

"Oh, sure thing, J.J. I'll be happy to meet her," Bella commented, flashing the girl at his side a friendly smile. She nodded when he mentioned how well of a job Taylor was done. She remained quiet otherwise, as she didn't want to miss any valuable information. She did take a good glance around the high benches area, though. That Daily Prophet seemed hard at work, of course. She even spotted a few of the people who'd been at ice cream parlor listening to the speeches. It was nice seeing so many enthusiastic about the election.

" Let's go on our date to Venice now" J.J. Starr whispered to Katalin. " I believe there is no debate, Reagan Taylor will win hands down" Joe Jon Montcenagio whipsred to her. "See you later Bella" he told her.
OOC- We will leave from Leakey Cauldron- post there.

Addie dodged the crowds and entered into the hall. Ok, so she was late. But, whatever, she was here. Enrico and Ian et cetera were already there, but there was no room near them. She saw Kris, and she gave a little wave and a grin in his direction, but sat down in the front with her notebook. She had talked to Regan Taylor a bit and she seemed annoying sure of herself, but this would be her first encounter with Cooper.

She knew about the issues, of course. Magical Education seemed to be near the top of the list, along with International Cooperation. Addie used to be a part of that department, so she felt she knew a lot about that issue. Looking around, she noticed they had already started. She blushed, but scribbled down answers anyway.

Sienna was finally being let inside the Ministry. She could easily say that it was thanks to Cooper, but that wasn't it, right? No, the whole election was the point. And security was nice this time.

Anyway.

Look! Ian was already taking pictures. Hmmm. She should do the same, after all, he was probably taking bad angles when it came to Cooper. Well, if there were any, that is. And, that...what was his name? Enrico? Yes, probably. He was there as well, arms crossed. Well, he was layout, no point in taking notes. But then a different sight made her smile.

Addie was working. Shouldn't Sienna do the same? Oh, right, she should. That's when the camera started to work from time to time, because she still needed to hear Cooper's answers and fight the urge to simply stand and applause.

Kris smiled as he watched his woman Addie walk towards the seating arena. It was the first time that he had ever had his heart seem as if it had stopped working in the longest time, probably since school.

He stopped what he was doing, and brought his drinks over to where the reporter had made herself comfortable. He quietly and swiftly moved behind her to sit down and acted as if he was going to watch the debates.

Except, because he was so tall, when he crossed his legs he had hit the back of her seat. "Oh ma'am, I'm so extremely sorry," he said, leaning forward and whispering in her ear. "It must have been your captivating beauty that caught me off guard." Then he looked down towards the debates. "That, or the rambling candidate might have gotten me too."

Brian leaned back to sit comfortably. "No..not now. But we have some for next week, i mean during the Poll" he added, "I need you and all my staffs to come over my office to get the ideas and share the work." he explained in low tone for not wanting to disturb others.

And the cool head surprised at Edward's question. "Yes, I'm. Perfectly alright. Why ask?" he shook his head, smiled before turned to watch the debate.

As he expected already Reagan looked super cool, on the other hand Cooper teh pathetic losing man looked pretty nervous. Brian chuckled and nodded his head as Ben asked that important question. Wise man. The basic reason behind the whole election process. Hogwarts. School issues. Brian leant forward, his elbows on the table as watching the debate proceedings delightfully. He gently tapped on the table when Reagan finished her answer with such a determination. Very authenticated. "What do you think about this Transport issue, mate?" he tunred his gaze again to Edward.

Addie was scribbling furiously on her notebook-the debates were getting kind of boring, and, even though she was supposed to be un-biased, Regan did kind of feel like she was putting up bravura. Why did this have to be so unexciting? Why was she so dressed up for this when all she was doing work? At least she had decided to wear comfortable shoes, even if they were kind of boring.

She heard someone approach the seats behind her. Maybe someone interesting who would air their dirty laundry in public and save her from drifting off to sleep? Addie sighed and twirled a piece of her hair around a finger.

And then someone kicked her. Being the polite person she was, she decided not to take them outside and show them exactly why the children never hesitated to clean their rooms. Not that Addie threatened them with kung-fu, of course. She just told them stories.

She heard the whispering voice behind her-a familliar voice, talking about her 'captavating beauty' and joking. Addie immediatley turned around. "Kris!" she exclaimed and jumped up to the seats behind her. "Thanks for saving me from this torture," she winked at him. "I really couldn't take anymore chatter about goblins being allowed to keep pets."

Edward ignored the answers of the two candidates. Granted, being involved with the political process was important, and he would vote, but he also knew he was here to keep them safe. That was his focus and would remain that way.

He nodded at Brian's answer. "No problem, boss. I got it here. And we'll be there to discuss security for the polling places."

he shrugged. "I don't know. You're normally so passionate about things. This time, you didn't seem as much. Maybe it's because of Becca." He probably shouldn't have said that. he knew his friend was dedicated to whatever hecommitted to, but it was hard to not notice the distraction.

He gave his boss a look that said, I don't care much, but gave him a better answer. "I've not examined it much. I'm sure it's important to encourage travel, but I was born here, and here I will die."