Herschel was dependable, as always. Tarron himself wished Hogwarts to win, of course, but not to do so via cheating. The school had produced some of the most famous wizards of the era; the education and principles should speak for themselves.

Not that the current crop of teachers have him much hope of that, of course. Science? Revamped Muggle Studies? Foreigners? Ah, the school was going to the dogs. But now was not the time nor the place to express such concerns, and so he chose not to.

"Hopefully the spirit of co-operation continues in such a positive manner, then," he said, with a nod. "It is good to hear the other Headmasters seem non-confrontational. A nice change from the last set."

He raised an eyebrow slightly at Herschel's next words, and smiled slightly. "If only it were so," he said. "Sadly, the spirit of co-operation that pervays Hogwarts is not present in our beloved Ministry. Too often you find a protest to a wider issue stems not from concern for the issue itself, but hatred or fussing at those presenting the issue to our Council. Too often, 'tis over an unrelated matter, such as blood-purity or familial politics. Sillyness." He, of course, would never do such a thing - publicly. He had ways of snubbing and putting people in their place, but he wasn't about to effect the country's politics to do so.

"The Minister is certainly a fine woman," he said. "I am glad you've had the chance to work closely with her. I have yet to have that honor."

"I found that Headmaster Eisenberg had some fascinating stories to tell of his past and his time at Durmstrang. I find the entire Durmstrang culture to be incredibly fascinating. Especially their social hierarchy. I find Beauxbatons and Salem to be far less interesting from an academic perspective, however. Salem is a bit too..." Herschel paused for a moment, glancing momentarily at Aisling before finishing his sentence, "progressive." That was the word he was going to choose. Working so closely with Muggle education and Wizard education side by side seemed ludicrous to Herschel. A wizard didn't need to know those things. Of course, they never were the sort to have the stodgy society found in London.

He shook his head sadly at Tarron's description of Ministry politics. "That is, indeed, a shame. When it comes to governing our society or doing the important work that I am certain you all do, there is no place for such pettiness. Addressing an issue should not be clouded by such nonsense as blood purity or personal relationships with one another. Though I suppose that is also a tradition which would be hard-pressed to root out. Things have likely been that way from the ministry's inception, and it is unlikely to change anytime soon. I certainly do not envy you your position, nephew."

"She is very passionate about things. Though whether or not her demeanor has changed after leaving the Board of Governors for larger waters, I do not know. I find her to be quite genuine. I doubt she would give you much trouble, should you need to work with her. Though I imagine the business of the Wizengamot rarely affects the Minister. It seems you are far less likely to do something to aggravate the nation in comparison to some of the other departments at the ministry."

"Headmaster Eisenberg, isn't it? I've not heard much about the man, I admit," Tarron said. His interests tended not to overlap with the much more boisterous Durmstang Headmaster's. "I am glad you found him good company. The foreign Headmasters do seem a rather... eclectic bunch, do they not?"

He didn't miss the sidelong glance at Aisling, and chose to ignore it, for now. Such was Hershel's way...and he himself quietly agreed with the man's assessment. Salem's approach to education seemed odd at best.

He smiled ever so slightly at Hershel's comments. If only it were so! Sadly, people tended to focus on the personal and the petty far too much, in his experience. It made him miss his days on the International Trading Standards Body; oh, people may have found his work dull, but it had always been relatively simple. The knots and issues there were usually purely legal - blood purity, major political issues, petty insecurities on the part of others...those came into play so rarely, there.

"It largely depends on the Minister, in my limited experience," he said, having paused to take a sip of wine. "The Wizengamot usually handles topics and issues that are out of their hands...or otherwise not worth their time. We shall have to see, however - she may take an interest."

Aisling met Herschel's look with a polite smile. She was far to old to be so easily offended, especially by someone who did not wish her ill. The fact that the dinner was particularly good, even accounting for Krix's usual quality work, did not harm her mood either. "It should be fascinating to see what lessons each school takes home from the experience. Perhaps it will show Salem the value of a more traditional approach."

She listened to the further conversation, occasionally nodding or taking a bite of her meal. "I'm quite grateful that my work tends to avoid such politics. They never seem to produce helpful results." Though she'd managed to survive them, so far. And such matters seemed to be changing, though perhaps too slowly for her tastes.

"I would not be surprised if Persepolis did take a personal interest in things. It is very much her style," Herschel commented.

He smiled brightly at Aisling when she suggested perhaps Salem could learn the value of tradition. "Ah! Hat is an excellent point, Aisling. Perhaps they will pick up a few things from us that they could incorporate. One has to strike a particular balance of tradition and modern thought to be effective. Having too much of one or the other doesn't make for well rounded witches and wizards."

Dinner was delicious, and Herschel rather enjoyed himself. It was a nice distraction from his own personal problems. He would have to be sure to send a nice thank you note to his nephew for thinking of him. Frivolity was not something that Herschel took part in very often, but it was pleasant so far this evening.

As the night wore on, Herschel found himself enjoying the discussion of politics with his nephew. He appreciated Tarron's views and the articulate way in which he expressed himself. Herschel also appreciated the opinions of any man who understood how beneficial being more middle-of-the-road could be.

Later that evening, as he was shown out by his relatives, Herschel could not help but to smile and embrace both of them. Such showing of affection was fairly atypical, but having family that would go out of their way to aid him meant a lot to Herschel. He had always been a huge family man, after all.