The heads of the Department of International Magical Cooperation wore complicated expressions. Some furrowed their brows, some shook their heads helplessly, while others looked exhausted.
As their sighs faded, silence enveloped the conference hall, as though even the air had frozen solid.
That director's report on the Auror casualties was like the final straw, crushing the last remnants of hope in everyone's hearts.
Aurors were highly trained elite wizards. Yet these elite wizards, proficient in Defence Against the Dark Arts and capable of dealing with all manner of Dark Magic, had seemed so fragile and helpless in the instant a trigger was pulled.
The report mercilessly revealed a fact: in an age of such drastic change, the magic wizards took pride in could prove so pale and powerless when faced with Muggle strength.
"No matter what..." A low voice rang out, breaking the oppressive silence. "Mr. Dubois, thank you for your addition!"
Jacob Kowalski sighed and looked toward the director who had delivered the report, his face full of sincere grief.
"This is indeed crucial information. The three issues Mr. Dumbledore summarized are the greatest difficulties we currently need to confront."
Dumbledore continued, "Mr. Kowalski is right. We must mourn and remain vigilant at the same time."
"Without question, the best way to honor the dead is to do everything in our power to protect the living. What we need to do now is think..."
"Think about what we should do to prevent such tragedies from happening again, and to keep more colleagues we cherish from making such painful sacrifices."
"Perhaps we should try..." suggested a relatively young-looking director. "Interfering with the devices those Muggles use for aiming? I've heard some magic can do that."
A director with a black beard shook his head. "That would be very difficult!"
"We