The attending wizards were generous enough to give him a round of applause.
"Thank you all for the encouragement. Otherwise, standing here alone would be rather nerve-wracking."
"Would you like me to come up and keep you company?" Dumbledore teased.
"Let's not," Tver waved him off without ceremony. "Compared to you, I'd much rather have a graceful lady like Madam Ya Zhou."
"And speaking of which, before the meeting began, Madam Zhou asked me a question. She asked how muggles might integrate magic while still preserving a normal social order."
"After thinking about it all day—please don't misunderstand, I'm not complaining that the meeting ran too long—I believe I can finally give an answer."
At that point, Tver stepped fully into the center. He lifted his chin, clasped his hands behind his back, and stood with his feet set apart, calmly surveying the room with confidence that was assured but not arrogant.
There was a faint, soldierly seriousness about him, paired with the ease of someone accustomed to authority.
Though his tone remained relaxed, everyone present could feel the shift in the air.
It was nothing like the dull atmosphere from before.
"But before that, I'd like to ask everyone a question."
"As fellow human beings, what exactly is the difference between wizards and muggles?"
The moment the question left his mouth, several elderly wizards frowned in displeasure.
It wasn't that they believed in pure-blood supremacy. Rather, magic itself had long given them a subtle sense of superiority over muggles.
Even when they claimed that wizards and muggles were equal, deep down they still looked down on everything non-magical.
Dumbledore's earlier mention of airplanes had already made some of them uncomfortable.
They had only restrained themselves out of respect for his position as Chairman, and for his formidable strength.
"We can use magic!" one elderly wizard barked, his face dark.
"And then?" Tver turned to him with a smile.
"And then what else is there? Magic is everything!" the old man snapped, so irritated he looked ready to hobble up and start a fight.
"All right, all right, no need to get upset."
Tver raised a hand, gently calming the room.
"Then let me put it more simply. Sir, you're from the Middle East. How do you communicate with Chairman Dumbledore, who's all the way in Britain?"
"How do you know I'm from the Middle East?" the old wizard froze, hurriedly examining his clothing for anything distinctive.
Tver didn't explain. He simply smiled at him, as though only the question itself mattered.
Unable to find any clue, the old wizard answered gruffly, "Isn't it obvious? By owl post, of course!"
"Exactly. And do you know how muggles do it?"
Tver pointed at him with clear excitement.
"In December 1901, a muggle named Marconi used kites to lift antennas in Canada and successfully received messages from across the Atlantic."
"At the time, all he received were meaningless beeping sounds. But today, muggles can easily place phone calls across entire oceans."
"So what does that tell us?"
Tver spread his hands and once again looked around at the wizards, who had fallen into thoughtful silence.
"This means that, in response to Madam Ya Zhou's question, my answer is this: muggles don't need to integrate magic. They already possess their own magic, a magic called technology."
"The magic we wizards take pride in is useful to muggles, but it is by no means essential."
"In terms of both personal worth and daily life, muggles are our equals. In fact, their technological progress far outpaces the development of our magic."
"Ladies and gentlemen, muggle technology has already captivated our children."
"Have you ever considered a problem that may very well arise in the future? If simpler, more convenient technology replaces the functions of magic, will we still need to struggle so hard to learn it?"
"Will children still take pride in graduating from a Wizarding School?"
"And we," Tver said, locking his gaze onto the dazed Middle Eastern wizard, "will we still have any reason to exist?"
After being stared at for several long moments, the old wizard, left utterly speechless, suddenly sprang to his feet in humiliation and fury.
"Bullshit!"
"How could those muggle lumps of metal ever completely replace magic?!"
"You only feel that way because a brat like you hasn't yet grasped the true wonder of magic!"
"Quentin, this is a place to discuss matters of the magical world. If you wish to refute Mr. Fawley, then use facts, not personal attacks or groundless speculation," Madam Ya Zhou said coldly, clearly displeased.
"Fawley? Hah," Quentin sneered. "You wouldn't happen to be from the Hector Fawley family, would you? That explains everything."
"That's enough, Quentin. If you continue acting on impulse like this, I doubt anyone here will enjoy the meeting," Dumbledore stepped in to smooth things over.
"This meeting exists to discuss the future of the magical world. No one here, including the speaker, Tver, can be certain that what he's describing will definitely happen."
"But the purpose of this gathering is to make us think, and to prevent every possible threat to the magical world."
"That is precisely why, three hundred years ago, we established the Confederation and implemented the Statute of Secrecy."
With practiced ease, Dumbledore shifted everyone's attention away from Tver himself and toward contemplation of the future.
"Tver, I believe you still have more to say. Please continue."
He cast Tver a subtle glare, clearly startled by how radical his statements had been.
"Thank you."
Tver reined himself in and returned to his usual composed smile.
"I didn't come here today to make everyone hate muggles, let alone to encourage attacking them."
"That's something none of us, including Mr. Quirrell, would ever want to see."
"But now, an obvious problem has emerged, one that's becoming clearer by the day."
"Five thousand years ago, wizarding magic was a divine miracle to muggles, something only gods could possess."
"Three hundred years ago, muggles gained the power to threaten wizards and the magical world, forcing us to enact the Statute of Secrecy."
"Three hundred years later, today, the magical world has reached the point where we must seriously discuss muggle technology."
"So in the future, where do we wizards go from here?"
"If this were an ordinary gathering of wizards, I would never raise such questions. But this is the Wizarding Union."
"As Chairman Dumbledore said, we make laws not to harm our fellow wizards, but to protect the magical world and protect wizards."
"Now, a new challenge has appeared. Whether we respond by drafting new laws or by adopting other measures is something all of us must think about. That is the purpose of my speech today."
"You don't seem very confident in the effectiveness of laws," Madam Ya Zhou suddenly said.
"I have always supported every decision made by the International Confederation of Wizards," Tver replied, turning toward her.
"But I believe that drafting new laws every time we reach a critical moment will eventually lead to gaps and failures."
"I'm sure everyone here has experienced plenty of incidents where magic was nearly exposed."
"Then how do you think wizards should respond?"
Ya Zhou's tone was as calm as if she were asking what one plus one equaled, yet it drew the attention of everyone present.
"I don't know," Tver said with a self-assured smile.
He had no intention of revealing his true thoughts at this moment.
Right now, the wizards in the hall were confused and uncertain.
If he openly suggested integrating with muggles, the anger in the room would immediately label him the second coming of Grindelwald.
From that point on, every action he took, even every word he spoke, would become far more difficult.
"Perhaps we can study muggle technology and see whether it can be applied within the magical world, or even combined with magic to make it more powerful."
"Or we could be more direct and cooperate with muggle governments, working together to develop more useful tools."
"And so on. As long as there's no conflict, anything is acceptable. Any solution that solves the problem is a good solution."
Tver spread his hands openly, prompting Cynthia below the stage to shake her head with an amused, knowing smile.