In the silent conference room, Tver's voice lit every heart like the candlelight flickering around them.
"Ignorance can be dispelled through learning, and weakness can be overcome through growth. That is what the course of muggle development has shown us. It is through those very efforts that they gradually became what they are today."
"And what about us wizards? Our arrogance has made our vision incredibly narrow."
"We focus only on the tiny wizarding world and fail to see how vast and wonderful the rest of the world truly is!"
"Let's admit it. Our arrogance has become an obstacle to our survival. It has held back our progress and created many of the problems giving us such headaches today!"
To be honest, the representatives present had long understood the arrogance wizards held toward all those unlike themselves, but this was the first time they had ever been confronted about it by a muggle.
It was also the first time they had connected that arrogance to the crisis before them.
"I don't agree, Tver," Quentin said again, though this time his tone was far less impatient.
"The reason muggles hate us so much is really their fear of the unknown, and their greed for magic."
"And that is exactly why we had to implement the Statute of Secrecy, to protect the wizarding world's limited magical resources."
"It's just that now, the limitations of the Statute of Secrecy have become obvious, and the muggles' deeply rooted belief in equality no longer allows us to occupy a special position..."
"No, no, no. That way of thinking is just your unconscious arrogance showing itself again." Tver shook his head, his face relaxed and smiling.
"When muggles speak of equality, they mean equality in dignity. In reality, there are still people among them, such as scientists, who are widely respected for the roles they fulfill."
"So why should wizards occupy some special position?"
"Magic?" Tver suddenly pointed at an elderly witch who had been about to speak.
Having her thoughts called out so directly, she could only nod in silence.
"You see? We think that because we can use magic, we naturally deserve a higher status."
"But what about in reality? The scientists among muggles are no worse than we are when it comes to exploring this world. In that respect, their achievements even far surpass ours!"
"So when we face those scientists, should we also acknowledge that they are superior to us?"
Tver's oppressive gaze slowly swept across the room, and the wizards present instinctively looked away, not daring to meet his eyes.
Admitting their arrogance was one thing, but these representatives were all outstanding figures in wizarding society. Asking them to admit they were inferior to muggles who could not use magic was absolutely impossible!
Their reaction was no surprise, but it only strengthened Tver's confidence in this speech.
"Their ignorance and greed actually come from our isolation. In truth, if we showed them our real world in a friendly and objective way, even including Dark Wizards and righteous Aurors, they would be willing to understand the real us."
"Isn't that right, Madam Modesty?"
Being singled out so suddenly, Modesty panicked for a moment. But Tver's serious tone softened slightly when he addressed her, and she quickly calmed down and gave it some thought.
In fact, when she was younger, her adoptive mother had taught her to hate wizards and expose every wizard she found.
It was only the fear Grindelwald had unintentionally brought her that made her afraid of wizards and choose to hide herself.
But during this time, the wizards she had come into contact with, Ya Zhou, Tver, and several others, had actually treated her quite kindly.
Especially after Quentin had just apologized for her anger and misunderstanding, she had gradually come to realize that wizards were really just ordinary people with unusual abilities.
They were human beings, just like her.
She could not say she fully accepted the existence of wizards, but if it was a matter of understanding them...
After thinking for a while, Modesty slowly raised her head and, under everyone's gaze, gave a gentle nod.
Tver could not tell whether it was just his imagination, but it seemed as though quite a few wizards in the conference room had let out a sigh of relief.
Relieved that there was still a chance for wizards and muggles to ease their relationship.
Not all the wizards present were pure-bloods. In fact, most of them were half-bloods, or even Muggle-born.
It was simply that after living in the wizarding world for so long, they had long since grown distant from their blood ties to muggles.
But that did not mean they wanted conflict with muggles. Aside from a few war-mad fanatics, everyone still hoped for mutual understanding and a peaceful situation.
They had not even realized it themselves, but they had already begun thinking about how they should face muggles in the future...
But Tver noticed it keenly. Or rather, everything he had said up to this point was meant to steer their thoughts in exactly the direction he wanted!
"Thank you, Madam Modesty. Thank you for still being willing to trust us after everything that has happened."
"But the question is, ladies and gentlemen, how have we repaid that trust?"
Tver spread his arms, and his gaze turned sharp.
"The arrogance wizards have built up over so many years has driven us farther and farther away from muggles, and it has forced us to consider an urgent question."
"If, and I mean if, muggles inevitably discover the existence of magic, and on such a large scale that there is virtually no way to erase everyone's memories, then how should we treat them?"
"Do we stand above them and tell them that we are superhuman because we possess magic, and that they, the lowly insects, should obediently wait for our charity?"
Seeing Quentin and the other elderly wizards eager to speak, Tver raised a hand first and stopped them.
"Don't be in such a hurry to argue. Think about it. If I hadn't brought Madam Modesty here, then this is exactly the reality we would face in the future, isn't it?"
Everyone's expressions immediately turned ugly, yet they found themselves unable to say a word in rebuttal.
"We are not afraid of war, but we do not want to see war either. Do we all agree on that?"
Tver had given them a perfect step to take, and they nodded at once.
"So here is the question." Tver looked at everyone with anticipation. "How do we prevent war from happening? How do we eliminate every possible cause of war?"
The representatives looked at one another, but soon they remembered what Tver had just said, and they seemed to find the answer.
If arrogance was the root of conflict between wizards and muggles, then... wouldn't solving that arrogance solve the problem?
"Show muggles our true side?" Quentin asked carefully.
The corners of Tver's lips lifted slightly, like a teacher in the middle of a lesson, as he looked at the elderly wizards deep in thought around the conference room.
There, you said it yourself...