"I really was a little too relaxed..." Jacob Kowalski smiled and shook his head, rubbing the spot between his brows as he said, "I only understand now what that Muggle was trying to do."
"What he wanted was to redefine it." A rare hint of a smile appeared on Old Barty Crouch's stern face, a smile full of approval.
"On an occasion like this, so-called rebuttals, winning or losing in words... none of that actually matters. Redefining the topic and stating your own point of view is what matters most."
"Exactly! Winning or losing in words is just incidental..." Jacob Kowalski nodded in agreement. "Vizet understood that long ago."
"On the day of the Paris Region Incident, he used a similar method. He not only dealt with the Dark Wizard from that hostile force, but also encouraged many of our own people."
"It's the same now. Since that Muggle mentioned something like 'creatures delivering messages,' he clearly knew the flaws Owls have."
"Vizet realized that, so he simply didn't defend them at all. Instead, he openly admitted the flaws Owls have, making the Muggle lose one argument he could attack with."
"If the definition of 'communication' is extended to include safety, accuracy... and things like that, the advantages of the Muggle set of magic won't look comprehensive either."
Old Barty Crouch gave a slight nod. "The topic of this International Confederation of Wizards Congress has already changed a great deal after the Paris Region Incident..."
"The topic was never really progress versus backwardness, but exploring the possibility of complementing each other. Vizet seemed to be making concessions, but he was actually pulling the topic back into his own hands and discussing again the issue that should have been discussed."
"No matter which kind of magic they've mastered, humans are very