A/N: This chapter is not part of this story's narrative but seeks to add context to the setting in which I am writing, in 2020, 3 years after '19 Years Later' and following the next generation with a focal character of my invention. His name is Ralph Homer Merlin and he is quite famous. Enjoy.

A look at the advancements of wizarding Britain and the world at the turn of the century.

Fashion:

Mankind has always found a way to advance, but no advancement in our society has ever been greater than the changes which shaped the 21st century wizarding world, following the fall of He Who Must Not Be realising it the second war built a profound cultural bridge between our world and the muggle world, their overwhelmingly larger society began to seep into our fashion, our technology, our architecture and our sport. These changes were not bad however. The wizarding world had always developed slower and less significantly than the muggle's, this is because we never needed to advance as, with the help of magic, the everyday inconveniences that the muggles suffered were, to us, a non issue. However the cultural explosion following 1998 was nothing short of breathtaking and some of the older generation are still trying to catch up. The huge shift had a number of causes, most prominently the change in our social landscape. People from non magic backgrounds, as well as non-magic members of our international community, quickly became more accepted and more common.

This was most apparent in how wider acceptance of muggle-born's lead to a huge shift in, of all things, fashion. In all fairness, the rapid change in fashion was also brought about by a generation who had been raised in a world where they had to don muggle attire for tasks as pedestrian as going to school. Suddenly robes were an over garment, worn over slacks and shirts, and the youth seemed to forgo the robe completely in lieu of jeans and cotton t-shirts. This shift was so big Hogwarts school even changed its uniform after around 1000 years, the new gear including trousers, shirts, ties and pullovers to be worn under the cloak. The change in fashion would also help for easy enforcement of the International Statute of Secrecy.

Quidditch:

Quidditch has always been a sport routed in its traditions. While it has had many modifications as it was shaped into the sport we know once the right formulae was found it did not sway. However the game became somewhat unfit over time, due to fast brooms games became shorter and shorter due to excellent chasing and keeping score lines became finer and snitch captures began to decide 99% of all games. It became clear to the Department of Magical Games and Sports that quidditch had to be modified in order for future generations continued support of the game. The International Quidditch Committee (est.1999) set about making changes. The first order of business was increasing the snitch's top speed and the decreasing of its value to 50 points. The second thing they did was make the goal posts further apart and increased the size of the hoops, and reduced the size of both the quaffle and bludger, the quaffle was now 26 inches in circumference and the bludger was 22 inches. The pitch also saw its size reduced from 500 x 180 (feet) to 350 x 140 (feet) which allowed bludgers to be used to greater effect and allowed snitch chases to be far more exciting. Two seasons were played under these rules unti, in 2003 another change took place, the snitch was not released until 30 minutes into the game, up until that point the seeker was expected to act as a playmaker for the chasers, not being allowed to make attempts on goal or enter the shooting area but still allowed to handle the quaffle and pass to teammates. However after one season of both seekers being barraged with bludgers and violently fouled before the snitch even entered the fold it was agreed that the seekers should enter the game with the snitch after 30 minutes. These are the rules played by today, although in some amature circles the traditional rules are played by, leading to the two types of quidditch being named as 'Bragge Quidditch' (traditional) and 'Association Quidditch' or sometimes 'Boyland Quidditch' after Theodore Boyland who reduced the snitches value to 50. The league also began using a point based system rather than score based, it was as follows:

Win: 2 pts

Loss: 0 pts

Win (250): 4 pts

Win (without capture of the snitch): 3 pts

Loss (50): 1 pts

Loss (250): -1 pts

Draw: 1 pts