Apparently stunned by Tver's answer, everyone stared at him dumbfounded, and the room fell silent once again.
But compared to the last silence, this one seemed to carry something more complicated.
"Professor..." Although Draco was shocked by Tver calling himself a Dark Lord, he still forced himself to stay calm and whispered in his ear, "I think what he means is, compared with following the Dark... Voldemort, what can you offer them that's different?"
Tver's mouth twitched. He could not help glancing at young Avery. Seeming to sense the question in his eyes, the boy shrank back a little, but still gave a subtle nod.
"...Albus Dumbledore."
After a moment of silence, Tver spoke the weighty name cleanly and directly.
"I know the reason you chose to stay here is because of Dumbledore."
"And since both Voldemort and I intend to overturn the Statute of Secrecy, my advantage is that I am far smarter than he is, I began laying my plans far earlier, and my arrangements are far more thorough."
"More importantly, Dumbledore will choose to stand on my side!"
Although Dumbledore's attitude was not yet fully clear, and Tver still had not laid all his cards on the table with him, that did not stop Tver from using Dumbledore's name as a banner to intimidate them.
In any case, these former Death Eaters were hardly going to run off and ask Dumbledore in person...
"Dumbledore has fought every Dark Lord from beginning to end. How could he possibly agree to overturn the Statute of Secrecy?"
Ingus, who had been the one urging Tver to overturn the Statute, was instead the first to voice doubt.
"That's right. My father told me that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were once as close as brothers, but still ended up splitting apart because their beliefs didn't align."
Young Avery echoed that quietly. When he saw that Tver was not angry, and even nodded at him approvingly, he found the courage to continue.
"If Dumbledore really didn't mind overturning the Statute of Secrecy, then he would have joined Grindelwald's army long ago and gone off to conquer the world. There wouldn't even have been a second Dark Lord."
"Wait." He suddenly sensed that something was off. "Grindelwald is your teacher, and Dumbledore and Grindelwald were once like brothers..."
"And I served as a professor at Hogwarts for four years. If I hadn't recently taken over Dumbledore's position as the Confederation representative, I'd still be having afternoon tea with him at school right now." Tver smiled and finished the thought for him.
Of course, whatever they imagined in their own heads after that was hardly his problem.
Sure enough, his truthful but incomplete words immediately led them in the wrong direction. They began to assume that Dumbledore and Grindelwald had reconciled long ago, and were now joining forces to oppose Voldemort, and even to overturn the Statute of Secrecy.
The moment they thought of that, the desire already stirring in them instantly took root and flourished wildly.
When it came to following a Dark Lord, no one in the wizarding world had more experience than they did.
On one side stood Grindelwald, the Dark Lord of an earlier age, Dumbledore, famed as the greatest white wizard, and Tver, whose power and bearing lost nothing beside a Dark Lord's.
And on the other side, there was only Voldemort, standing alone.
Compared to the world-shaking momentum of the previous Dark Lord, Voldemort suddenly seemed little better than a child playing house.
No matter how dull they were, they could all tell that Voldemort had no chance at all.
Once they had thought it through, they immediately fixed burning eyes on Tver, as though they could hardly wait to throw themselves into following his orders.
"I already told you, I am not like Voldemort," Tver said at the right moment, cooling their overheated minds.
"I will not enslave anyone, whether Muggle or wizard."
"I will not use war to force the wizarding world into abolishing the Statute of Secrecy."
"And I certainly will not use terrorism to stir hatred between groups and slaughter lives."
"But Muggles may not be so friendly toward us," Lucius said suddenly, concern in his voice.
Before the Statute of Secrecy was enacted, the Malfoy family had been the wizarding family in Britain with the closest ties to Muggles.
The ideas passed down through their line might seem a little dated on the surface, but they still contained a very accurate understanding of Muggle psychology, and of human psychology in general.
The difference between humans and beasts is not that humans lack desire, but that they hide those desires according to the environment and the balance of power between the two sides.
"Dumbledore and I will do everything in our power to protect law-abiding people, whether Muggle or wizard," Tver said as though it were only natural.
Once wizards and Muggles had tasted the benefits of cooperation, and did not dare entertain crooked ideas under Tver's pressure, they would naturally become even more eager than Tver himself to preserve a peaceful situation.
In a modern setting, so long as cooperation could bring the desired returns, very few leaders would dare start a war lightly.
Especially when both sides were sufficiently powerful.
The pure-bloods, however, drew back their expectant gazes in dissatisfaction.
They did not care in the slightest whether the world was peaceful. In truth, the more chaotic the situation, the easier it was for pure-blood families at the top of the wizarding world to profit from the muddy waters.
"So gentle? What, are we supposed to beg the wizards to overturn the Statute of Secrecy, and then plead with Muggles to accept the existence of wizards?" Ingus grumbled.
As goblins, they were rarely dragged directly into wars. That gave them a calmer position from which to observe the state of the wizarding world and profit from it.
But if things stayed peaceful, then aside from minting coins, they could only rely on making goblin-crafted items to survive, and those profits were nowhere near enough to satisfy their appetites.
"How could you think that? Have you forgotten our face-mask business?" Tver chuckled and raised the face mask in his hand once again.
"As for dealing with the Confederation and overturning the Statute of Secrecy, I was never really counting on any of you to help much."
"I didn't come here today to order you around, gentlemen. We are partners."
"And a partner is someone who brings you new business and new profit."
"What business?!" The moment profit was mentioned, Ingus's eyes lit up, and he blurted the question out eagerly.
When it came to doing business with Muggles, these pure-bloods and goblins, who had lived buried in the wizarding world for so long, were nowhere near as skilled or as sharp as Tver.
They knew that perfectly well. So the moment Tver mentioned a new business, their eyes practically turned into the shape of Galleons.
Under their eager gaze, Tver slowly opened his mouth.
"Potions."
"Do you know this? The average Muggle lifespan is only sixty-five years. Even among the rich and powerful elite, most of them still won't live past a hundred."
"But in the wizarding world, unless someone meets with an accident, failing to live past a hundred is unusual."
"And the difference," Tver said, tapping the elegant face-mask box, "is potions."
"You mean, we should sell Muggles potions for curing illness and maintaining health?" Ingus asked tentatively.
"Exactly!" Tver said firmly.
"Thanks to the groundwork laid by the face masks, we've already made contact with quite a few rich Muggles and powerful people. And they absolutely won't mind paying a hundred times the price for their health."
"When the time comes, the profits from these potions will be no less than what the face-mask business brings in!"
"But I heard... the herbs and potions we produce right now aren't nearly enough..." young Avery said weakly.
"And that's exactly why I came to find you!" Tver said bluntly, raising his voice.
"The herb supply and potion workshops for this business will have to be built by you yourselves. If Britain doesn't have enough wizards, then go abroad!"
"Don't expect me to nanny you and think through every last detail on your behalf again. This time, I'm only responsible for introducing you to rich Muggles. If you want to make money, then work for it yourselves!"
Watching the crowd exchange bewildered looks, Tver suddenly rose to his feet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, once the Statute of Secrecy is overturned, our competition will be every wizard in the world. The only thing I can secure for you is this early head start."
"If you still fantasize about lying down and having money drop into your lap, then I may as well send you over to Voldemort's side."
"After all, dreaming is what they do best over there."