Why were these people even here? Perhaps the head of the Department of Transportation could not reasonably be excluded due to his status as the leader of an allegedly useful department within the Ministry (or by virtue of his position as the Minister's brother), but what was the benefit of having the Quidditch Bloke among their numbers? Or the head of the bloody dueling commission? They clearly had nothing of value or intelligence to contribute to the conversation.

"In your experience, Mr. Ross, do atmospheric charms typically strip witches and wizards of their inherent abilities to use magic?" he asked dryly. "If that effect was intentional, Irvingly is not only the most logical place to create such an effect — it would, arguably, be the only place in England that someone wouldn't immediately recognize it for what it was," he continued. He was a bit irked that he had to waste time explaining this to imbeciles who wouldn't have anything to say on the subject whether they understood it properly or not.

"And there is a wide berth between being able to say something was intentional and calling it an attack," he pointed out. With a brief glance towards Mr. Crouch, who had a few moments ago made a point about keeping this news quiet from the international community, he continued, "But it strikes me that someone could benefit from a magical country unable to use magic."