Ed was keenly aware that the whole 'flying isn't working because long-standing charms are affected' answer from the Minister totally proved his point that it was worth knowing.  Also, he thought, if they definitively knew flight was dangerous then maybe the public should be notified - just because something was banned didn't mean people wouldn't try it in desperation.  But, while he didn't especially mind the negative vibes from the other department Heads, he definitely didn't like earning the Minister's ire.  His mild but quelling tone was enough to keep Ed from pointing out he'd been right.

He leaned comfortably back in his chair, listening as various people chimed in - animals, werewolves, atmosphere charms, attacks.  All things he was no expert in.  He even resisted a smirk when Mr. Skeeter got roped into spear-heading something.  Further proof that while the execution had not been flawless the result was exactly as he'd hoped - his part was taken care of early and they'd moved on.  

"I am sure there are a number of able and willing people in Games and Sports not directly under Mr. Skeeter's command who can be rallied if more hands are needed." he offered.  He may not know the cause - and why would he? they had entire departments for that - his department could still be of use.

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   Cassandra Trelawney

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."

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   Aldous Crouch, Declan Wood

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"Mr. Mulciber raises a good point," Ross agreed. If the fog prevented magic, then it stood to reason that something magic would benefit from the use of such a spell. "This fog seems to be operating more like a curse than a proper accident. And if it was an atmospheric charm - well, Magical Accidents & Catastrophes has seen broken atmospheric charms before."

That was everyday, that happened - and it could be disastrous. But it was not 'shut off magic' disastrous.

"Mrs. Skeeter, how prepared is your department to handle vampires without magic?" Ross asked, frowning. He was genuinely concerned about that one -- and the werewolf matter, but they wouldn't know until the full moon. "And has anyone here encountered a spell to shut off magic before?"

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   Aldous Crouch

[he would have let Morwenna go first but I'm worried if I don't get in here to post I'll forget to come back to it until like... who even knows. So. :P]

Ernest was sure that several of the people in the room had encountered spells with similar effects to the shutting off magic that the fog caused, as the Minister put it, but decidedly less confident that they had the mental capacity to realize what they had been dealing with. "It ought to have the same construction as an anti-apparition charm," he pointed out. "Or any other spell that prevents certain kinds of magic." It was uncommon but not unheard of for shops to have area charms in place that prevented wands from casting any spells relating to fire conjuring, or theft-prevention steps that included disabling third-rate invisibility cloaks at the doorway. The concept of nullifying magic was hardly a new or even particularly novel one; the only thing that was unique about this situation was the execution, and, of course, the expanse of magic covered.

"Obviously, something of this magnitude would need to be significantly more complex," he continued. If the fog had been created by layering together various magic-blocking charms that already existed, however, there was a high likelihood that it had some loopholes — but whether those were intentional or accidental on the part of whomever had created the fog was impossible to say. It was difficult to predict, too, whether anyone at the Ministry would actually be able to find one of those loopholes, if they did exist.

  

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