Tver had expected that suggesting cooperation with muggles, or researching muggle technology, would infuriate the older wizards.
As it turned out, some were indeed angry, but they were very much in the minority. Most of the wizards qualified to attend this meeting were hardly lacking in foresight when it came to the future.
Just as Dumbledore had said, such a future might never come to pass. But for the wizards present, their responsibility was to consider every possible future that might affect the magical world.
And to prepare solutions in advance.
So even those few who were upset still joined the discussion with admirable professionalism.
There was no melodramatic outrage or petty grandstanding here. Everyone present was among the best of the wizarding world, and solving problems mattered far more to them than venting emotions.
As a result, even after Tver stepped away from the center of the floor, the debate in the hall continued at full intensity.
Tver even overheard someone suggesting that muggle researchers involved in technology should be placed under surveillance, with the occasional Memory Charm applied for good measure.
Those were obviously words spoken in anger, but they also showed that people were beginning to realize something important: that muggles, through unconscious development, were posing a growing threat to the magical world.
Just as they had three hundred years ago.
"From the early fifteenth century onward, persecution of wizards by muggles, both men and women alike, spread across all of Europe."
Madam Ya Zhou sighed as she took a seat beside Tver.
"Many wizards were sentenced to death simply for using magic. Some managed to escape by relying on magic, but others weren't so fortunate. Once their wands were seized and they were locked in dungeons, they no longer had any way to escape execution."
"Wizarding children suffered the most. Unable to control their magic, they often drew muggle attention, and without the strength to resist, they became easy targets for persecution."
"It was against this backdrop that the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was enacted."
"But do you know?"
Ya Zhou fixed Tver with a steady gaze.
"When the British Ministry of Magic was first established, it once sent a delegation to contact the muggle monarchs, William III and Mary II, hoping that muggle law would formally recognize and protect wizards."
"But do you know what happened?"
"If there had been a result, the Statute of Secrecy wouldn't exist," Tver replied calmly.
"Exactly. They refused," Ya Zhou said with a helpless sigh.
"As far as I know, the vast majority of muggle governments rejected the proposal. Wizards at the time had no choice but to begin erasing traces of magic left in the muggle world, retreating underground and living lives defined by secrecy."
"Tver, I'm not saying all this because I think your ideas are wrong. On the contrary, both Dumbledore and I believe you're right."
Tver looked at her in surprise.
His ideas were undoubtedly radical, but he hadn't expected that she and Dumbledore had already been influenced by him, and had begun thinking along the same lines.
Madam Ya Zhou seemed to notice his reaction and gave a weary smile.
"What we fear is that none of us has yet come up with a better solution. That's why we've remained silent for so long."
"Did you know? There's another witch in the magical world named Carlotta Pinkstone. She strongly advocates full integration between wizards and muggles."
"But her ideas were… too simplistic," Madam Zhou said after a pause, offering a restrained assessment. "So all we could do was watch as she repeatedly used magic in front of muggles, then punish her again and again."
"That was our way of testing our stance toward muggles. Testing the muggles' attitude toward magic."
Tver looked at Ya Zhou's grave expression.
It seemed the issue of muggle technology was something far more people had noticed than he'd originally thought.
She said softly, "It seems the result wasn't ideal."
"No. Their resistance to magic is too strong, and wizards' resistance to muggles runs just as deep."
"Tver, Dumbledore told me he very much hopes you'll be his successor. I'm willing to trust his eye, and after hearing your speech, I'm also willing to believe you can do it."
"But promise me you won't betray our trust, all right?"
The elderly woman lifted a thin, weathered hand and gently patted the hand Tver had resting on his knee.
"Only peace is the truly appropriate path to solving this problem."
Faced with the clarity in her eyes, Tver found he couldn't keep hiding behind evasions.
Or perhaps more to the point, putting on false modesty in the face of that kind of wisdom would have been outright rude.
"I agree with you completely. I've always worked toward making sure both wizards and muggles can survive in a safe way."
"But I also hope you understand that along the way, things will happen that neither you nor I want to see."
"That's enough!" Ya Zhou brought her hand down hard.
"I'm not one of those naive idealists. Bloodshed and sacrifice have always been the regrettable cost of reform. You may despise it, but you still have to accept it."
"But I'll be watching you, along with everyone in the Wizards' Union. If what you're doing is right, we'll be your strongest support."
"But if you're wrong, like Grindelwald was, then we'll be your most powerful enemies!"
"I give you my word," Tver said, offering her an easy, confident smile.
"Good." Ya Zhou answered with a brilliant smile of her own.
"Come on. Let's go have dinner. I still have a great deal I want to discuss with you. In the past, it was always Albus who passed things along to me."
At last, Tver understood why Madam Ya Zhou knew so much about his opinions and ideas. There really had been an insider.
Only then did he realize that Dumbledore had ended the meeting some time ago. Everyone had already left their seats and gathered in the Great Hall.
Just like at lunch, the food was kept fairly mild to suit the tastes of the elderly wizards, cooked soft and tender.
"If you'd like, I can have the kitchen prepare an extra dinner for you," Cynthia said, apparently noticing Tver's hesitation.
He wasn't usually picky, but he wasn't exactly thrilled by mashed potatoes with barely any flavor, either.
"No. It's better if I don't stand out too much."
But after that speech, it was obvious that everyone present had taken notice of the young man named Tver Fawley.
Of course, that was partly thanks to his grandfather, who had attended quite a few Wizards' Union meetings in the past. Many of the wizards here had even sat in on those discussions with him.
So during the meal, Tver barely got the chance to exchange more than a few words with Madam Ya Zhou and Dumbledore. He didn't even manage more than a couple of bites.
Most of his time was spent dealing with an endless stream of curious wizards, answering questions about muggle technology and all manner of unrelated oddities.
"It's not just wireless radio. Muggles have also developed something called the internet. It's like a spiderweb, linking information across the entire world."
"No, I don't have a girlfriend. And I'm not planning to date, either. Besides, isn't your granddaughter only nine?"
"That's a very good point. The threat of muggle technology lies precisely in its uncertainty. We don't know what they'll develop, and even they don't know what they'll develop next. So yes, the kind of technology you mentioned, something that can observe magic, really might become possible."
"But have you considered this? Muggle firearms simply can't break through the Shield Charm for the moment. If your thinking is still stuck in the past, how can you possibly tackle questions about the future?"
...
It wasn't until the banquet ended that Tver finally managed to escape the crowd of elderly wizards.
But it still wasn't over. In order to win as much support from these committee members as possible, he had agreed to everyone's requests to keep in touch.
Which meant that, in the future, Tver wouldn't only have to deal with the attention he'd already drawn. He'd also have to handle this entire swarm of energetic old wizards.
Then again… wasn't this exactly the outcome he'd been hoping for all along?