Disclaimer is in chapter 1.

"I want you to be careful when you go back to Hogwarts, Alexander."

Robert leaned forward seriously, eyeing his young relative.

"Come on, man, it's not that bad."

"Your parents have told me about the Basilisk, child." The old man replied wryly, shaking his head. "That is hardly a safe environment."

"Didn't hurt anyone really," Xander shrugged, "Besides, we got it."

"A miracle, however welcome, does not a stable world make." Robert returned.

Their current discussion had risen from a brief back and forth between the two on Magical beasts, and their dangers. Robert had only middling experience in such matters, most of his life had been spent in the non-magical world, but other than the Addamses, whose opinions on dangerous creatures was suspect, he was the only person Xander could talk to.

Robert had heard all about Hogwarts from Xander's parents, however, and had obviously been looking for an opening.

"When navigating the magical world, remain vigilant Alexander." he said, sounding a little tired. "There are threats there that are utterly inconceivable to the non-magically inclined. Especially if you're involving any of your friends from outside the magical world."

"Why?" Xander asked, puzzled.

"Because you're a Wizard, boy. I'm a Squib. That makes us tough compared to most, a non-magical person would be dead in a very short time if left on their own in a magical environment." Robert countered sharply, "even squibs like myself don't fare well as a general rule. Hell, boy, only a thousand years ago people we would today call Wizards were cowering in mud huts, pretending to the non-magical because it was safer."

That surprised Xander, it was something he hadn't gleaned from his History classes. "Huh?"

"Before wands there were few magically adept who could stand up against even the most mean of magical threats," Robert explained, "with a wand you could be killed by pixies easily enough."

Xander grimaced, remembering the first day of defense class the previous year, and had to concede the point. "Ok, I guess I see that."

"Damn right, and you should. Wands are a force multiplier."

"Ok, you lost me again."

"It's a military term, Alexander." Robert smiled, "It just means something that takes what you have, and multiplies it by a certain factor. Before wands came into common use, for example, humans were often under siege by Goblin rebellions. Even after they came into use the rebellions continued for a time, while Wizards learned to maximize their use. Now, however, Goblins don't stand a chance against Wizards and they know it. Wands are the reason why."

"Really? Why don't they just make their own?"

"Because Wizards have banned non humans from making, owning, or using wands." Robert replied, "plus human wands don't work particularly well for Goblins, and since they lost the wars, the concessions they had to give up include the right for Ministry officials to perform search and seizure on any suspected focus research."

"Huh." Xander replied thoughtfully, mulling that over.

"Don't get me wrong, the Goblins aren't pushovers," Robert went on, "They hold a mastery over warding magics that's beyond anything Wizards have yet produced, and they know more about ritual magic than most wizards alive. All of which makes attacking them a dicey matter, however if they want to come out of their warrens they have to meet Wizards in the open field, and there they would be slaughtered."

"So it's a balance of power, then."

"For now." Robert nodded, "With the balance tipping somewhat in the favor of Wizards at the moment. While a successful assault on Goblin Warrens would be... Pyrrhic to say the least, Wizards hold the threat of siege over their heads. Cut off from outside supply, the Goblins would be forced to surrender, or stage a final battle, within a few months at best. All because of wands."

"Wow." Xander muttered, rolling the term around in his head. "Force multiplier."

"The military says that the Moral is to the Physical as Three is to One." Robert said, "Napoleon said it first, at least in those terms. That's a force multiplier."

"I don't get it."

"Say you're a soldier," Robert said and waited for Xander to nod before going on. "We'll give you a 'value' of one. That's your mathematical impact on the battlefield, alright?"

Again, Xander nodded.

"What Napoleon meant was that a motivated soldier, one who wanted to fight, had a reason to fight... was automatically worth a value of three. The multiplier of morale, three, times the standard value of one. In theory, at least, it meant that one motivated soldier has the impact of three 'normal' soldiers." Robert explained patiently. "Myself, I think I would rank wands as being a factor of ten. A normal wizard without a wand is worth one, that same wizard with a wand, assuming he knows how to use it, is worth ten. Do you follow?"

Xander nodded, "I think so. So, you're saying that a motivated wizard with a wand is worth thirty normal soldiers? Or normal wizards?"

"Pretty much the same thing," Robert smiled, "Magic is a multiplier as well, but so is training. If you really wanted to work out the battlefield math you'd have to take that into account. For example, a soldier is worth one, but advanced training is perhaps a multiplier of five. And, generally, highly trained soldiers are usually motivated."

"So they'd be worth fifteen?" Xander asked.

"As a base value."

"So, magic is worth... how much?"

"Now THAT is a good question," Robert smiled, leaning forward. "I don't think anyone has ever worked it out because there's no standard value of 'M'. We know that some wizards are more powerful than others, which will affect its value, but there's no chart to calculate from. What is the value of a Merlin? A Dumbledore? A Franklin? Are they exceptional because they're powerful? Or are they powerful because they're exceptional?"

He let Xander consider that for a moment before continuing.

"That said, it's safe to say that even moderate magical power and reserves is at least as valuable as advanced training. So, for your average Constable, we can give the value of magic to be around five. That's really the minimum combat level for magical ability, I would say. For a powerful wizard? I don't know. Could be twenty five. Could fifty." Robert said seriously, "The math just isn't available to tell."

"That would mean that a well-trained and powerful wizard would be worth..." Xander blinked, thinking about it.

"Hundreds. Maybe thousands of normal soldiers, assuming the equations balanced." Robert said, "However the math is never the whole story when it comes to human interactions. Those numbers are really based on theoretical averages, what will happen in the long run if you run thousands or millions of battles out to their final conclusion. Individual cases can always surprise you."

"How?"

"Imagine Merlin, today. A supremely powerful wizard, trained to the highest standard imaginable. Give him any value you want," Robert said, "One thousand, ten thousand, a million."

Xander nodded intently.

"Now, on the other side. One soldier. He's motivated, trained, and equipped. Give him a value of maybe 45 for those factors. He's a sniper, that's at least worth 10, so now he's 450. His target, our Merlin, doesn't know he's out there. He will only get one shot, but if he makes it... our little 450 value sniper just eliminated a player worth, at least, twice his value... quite probably more. Does it mean the math was wrong?"

Xander didn't know, he shook his head and shrugged.

"No, it means it was incomplete. There were other factors that we didn't add in, that conspired to increase the value of that one soldier, in that one instance, to an equal or greater level than his target." Robert said seriously. "And that is the danger of the real world. We can't know all the variables, and so things surprise us."

Xander swallowed, but nodded in understanding.

"And that is why I'm telling you to be careful in Hogwarts, boy. You may think it's not that bad, but I'm telling you now, you don't know all the variables in the game that's being played around you." Robert said suddenly, sternly. "And make no mistake, someone is playing a game there. Probably several someones, and you don't want to be drawn into it blindly."

Xander nodded again, "I'll be careful."

Robert forced a smile. "Good. Now go on, get out of here, but think on what I've told you."

"I will, Sir. Thank you."

The old man watched his young relative leave and thought about some of what he was hearing from the other side of the Atlantic. There was more than one game being played over there, he suspected, with more than a few players. He hoped Alexander didn't get drawn in, because he was too young to see the game for what it was, and those types of players were rough on their pawns.

There was now family pressure to keep him in Hogwarts, however, something Tony and Jessica had no clue how to fight. The boy was getting close to some heavy duty up and comers over there, and the family wanted it that way.