Normally, James would turn to answer Kiri immediately, but he had a feeling he would know what Kiri was about to say and needed to stop him - there were still people here, namely Jasper, and didn't want to potentially talk about the dangers of witches being teachers at the DWMA. As such, as much as he hated to do this, he had to put his friend on hold for a moment. 

"Hang on a moment, I'll be right with you. [i]We can't talk here yet.[/i]" James said to Kiri, whispering that last part before turning to Jasper. "Yes, what is it?" he asked.