Disclaimer is in chapter 1.

Xander had to agree with Mrs. Malfoy on that point, it was most certainly not an event to be missed. As he moved around the grounds, it became quite clear that his initial belief that people had not really begun arriving yet was both right and wrong.

Wrong because there were thousands of people already there, most of them just waking in their own tents and making their way out to meet the day, and right because the thousands already there were just a drop in the bucket compared to the volume that was clearly pouring in. As he moved around he noted, with some trepidation, the obviously non-magical caretaker of the grounds being obliviated no less than twice in just a few minutes because some careless twit of a wizard wouldn't shut up about bludgers and snitches.

That had always felt wrong to him, from the first time he saw someone obliviated. Especially since it was something that was so damned easy to avoid. Why setup on a non-magical campground anyway? How much harder could it possibly have been to use a field outside of Hogsmeade? It wasn't like wizarding tents needed plumbing hookups or anything.

Xander sighed and pushed it out of his mind, given that there just wasn't anything he could do about it.

As he looked around the rest of the field he passed several groups he recognized from name if nothing else. Salem had sent two groups, at least, to the World's Cup. The Salem Witches Institute had a large tent, surrounded by several... well 'aged' witches, which suggested to Xander that whatever the institute was, it wasn't a school. The Academy also had a tent, and Xander stopped by there when he recognized Professor Hardy chaperoning the group.

"Professor." He greeted the older man, grinning.

Hardy did a bit of a double take, then returned the smile. "Alex! Good to see you, I didn't think you'd be here, what with the way things ended last year and all."

"Well, friends in high places I guess," Xander grinned some more, "I'm summering with the Malfoy family, by request of Mrs. Malfoy. She was born a Black, you see."

Hardy nodded, "Ah yes. And the portkey did whisk Sirius Black from under the Minister's nose. So, everything's been smoothed out?"

Xander nodded, "Yeah. I'm back in Hogwarts this year."

Hardy couldn't quite mask the disappointed and slightly disapproving look that crossed his face, but he didn't let it filter through to his words. "Well that's good then."

Good was the last thing he personally considered it. He had seen some of the work Harris did on his own, and the relatively decent marks the boy got, and strongly felt like the boy could do far better if he weren't forced to contend with extra courses on top of the relatively useless ones he had to attend at Hogwarts.

While the British school was widely acknowledged as one of the finest schools of its type in the world, Hardy was well aware that it was riding on the shoulders of past giants. In the modern world, however, things were a little different. Even today, of course, the charms and transfiguration courses were among the finest on the planet. Only a few apprenticeships were more respected.

Defense, Potions, and history however were on the total opposite end of the board. Hardy would prefer to see what the boy could do with better support across the board.

"Professor?"

The two turned to see a young boy approach.

"Yes, Jackson?"

"We're ready now."

"Alright, I'll be right there." Hardy said before turning back to Xander, "Sorry, I've got some things to finish."

"No problem, I have some more exploring to do."

"Alright, I'll see you later." Hardy smiled.

"Cya." Xander flipped a wave, then headed off.

He moved off, continuing his exploration. He hadn't gotten very far before his spell phone whistled softly, and he casually flipped it open. "Yo. Xander here."

"Xander," Hermione's voice came through the device, "We just arrived at the world cup, are you here?"

"Yeah, I'm just wandering around the grounds," He said, "Near the Salem tents."

"Oh! We just passed that."

Xander looked around, "Don't see you. Which tent?"

"Salem Witches Institute."

"Oh, kay I'm near the Academy tent. I'll be with you guys in a second."

"Ok, we'll wait." Hermione said.

Xander smirked, "Cool. Harris out."

Xander heard Hermione's irritated shriek even after the phone clicked off, and happily headed off in that direction. He found her with Harry and the Weasley's just a little distance away.

"Hey guys."

"Oh look," Twin One spoke up on seeing Xander.

"Our favorite test subject,"

"Has arrived."

Xander sighed and rolled his eyes, "Jeez, Harry, Hermione... I'll never understand why you hang out with those two."

"Who's this then?" A genial looking man asked, smiling at Xander.

"This is Xander, Sir. You've seen him before, I think?"

"I think he was a little distracted at the time, Harry." Xander said, extending his hand, "We met at the end of second year."

Arthur's face blanked for a moment and he nodded sharply, "Yes. I remember. You've changed a bit lad. I guess I owe you some thanks again for what you did."

"Didn't do it for your daughter, Sir. Not really." Xander said with a half-smile, "That snake just had to go."

"Imagine that," Twin Two said.

"A Slytherin who's against snakes." Twin One finished.

Xander rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and we'll see how you guys react to a lion mauling one of your pals."

They glanced at each other, "He has a point."

"I hate it when he does that."

"Boys, cut that out." Molly Weasley finally cut in, then turned to smile at Xander. "Whatever your reasons, you went with Harry to save our daughter. We owe you a debt. Thank you."

"Well, let's move on to our tent then," Arthur said, edging them along. "Why don't you join us, Xander?"

"Thank you, Sir." Xander nodded, walking along.

The Weasley tent was far more humble than the Malfoy, but Xander was still shocked by the interior. He really had to look up the information on the expansion charms when he got a chance, what he was seeing was far and above what he'd expected from seeing his trunk in action. Probably because he was now seeing it on a larger scale, and all at once instead of hidden by clever organization charms. There was a lot of potential for real fun in this, he believed.

"So, Xander, are you looking forward to the Cup?" Harry asked as they settled in, ice drinks having been passed around.

Xander shrugged, "Eh. It'll be cool, I guess."

Ron and pretty much the whole Weasley family stared at him, horrified at his lack of enthusiasm.

"How can you say that? It's going to be AWESOME!" Ron exploded, or maybe just burbled somehow, "This is the most brilliant summer EVER!"

Xander could see most of the rest agreeing, but could only shrug, "I've never really been into sports, so that's probably why I'm not more excited. When I see a Quidditch game in action, I'll be honest, my brain is more interested in how the heck those brooms fly."

Hermione was the only one who agreed with him, "I know! And the charms on the Bludgers are just bizarre."

Xander laughed, "Yeah. I've often wondered if you could tie their seeking charms into something specific."

"Like what?" One of the twins asked, curious.

"I don't know," Xander shrugged, "seems like old Mold in his Shorts' Dark Mark would be funny as hell though."

Half the people in the room choked on their drinks.

"M-M-Mold in his shorts?" Molly Weasley gasped out in between coughs.

"I can never remember his name," Xander admitted, "The Dark lord dude, Tom Riddle. Since he's still running, or floating, around I guess his followers are still around too. He branded them all with the protean, which is a tricky spell. I think you could link a bludger into it though. Would be funny as hell to watch."

The twins were cackling their heads off, drawing worried looks from their parents, while some of the others were looking at him in a vague form of horror.

"Hmm, it would be rather difficult to break into the Protean network, though, wouldn't it?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think I'd try," Xander admitted, "I'd use one of the Vodoun variations of the Protean, they aren't as perfect in how they work, but they have a lot more room for tinkering."

"Wait, back up," Twin one gasped out, sitting up.

Twin two whipped out a notebook, "Vodoun?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "African magic. It's ancient and tribal, far older than our form."

Xander nodded, "Today its modern evolution is usually better known as Voodoo."

"Xander, you know quite well that Voodoo is a horrible mangling of the original rituals," Hermione chastised him.

"Well yeah, but the Voodoo Doll uses the exact variation of the charm you'd need to work with, I think." Xander countered.

Hermione harrumphed, folding her arms in front of her, but didn't counter him.

"Voodoo? Isn't that pretty dark magic?" Harry asked.

That question earned Xander some suspicious looks, the hardest of which came from Ron. He considered it for a bit, then shrugged, "Well the Voodoo doll itself is. The most powerful versions of it are blood based, I think. Though some only use sweat or hair, so I'm not sure where it really sits. The modified charm itself, though, isn't dark. I mean, it's not light or anything, but are there any 'light spells'?"

"Actually, yes." A tall redhead interjected, "Though not many are widely used. The most common in Britain, which is still pretty bloody rare, is the Patronus Charm. It's almost entirely composed of joy molded magic, which is usually pretty light."

"Usually, Bill?" Hermione asked, interested.

"There are ancient examples of a 'Dark Patronus'," Bill admitted, frowning, "But no writings on how they were cast."

"Thank merlin." Molly said, shivering.

Xander frowned, thinking about it. "Well... What if someone like Moldy cast it?"

"People who've done that much evil can't usually cast a Patronus," Arthur said, musingly. "Acts like that tend to make drawing up the positive emotions difficult."

"What if... he really loved every second of what he did?" Xander suggested. "I mean, that would still be joy, right? Pretty twisted, but from his side it would still be joy."

Bill hummed a bit, "Interesting suggestion. You'd have to be dealing with a mind that's totally evil, though."

"Sounds like Death Eaters to me," Ron said.

"No, Ron, you don't understand..." Bill shook his head, "The person would have to be PURE evil. Any thoughts even remotely like what we would consider 'sanity' would cloud the effect."

"Right. Death Eaters."

Hermione, Bill, and Xander groaned.

"Anyway," Molly cut in, "As fascinating as this conversation is, could we move on to lighter subjects? All this talk of evil and death eaters is hardly appropriate."

"Right, sorry Mum." Bill said, smiling affably. "Another time maybe?"

"Sure." Xander shrugged, more than willing to change the subject.

Xander had, during the conversation, noted the style of dress of the Weasleys and found himself staring at Arthur rather closely in the lull.

"Uh, is something wrong?" The friendly man asked, smiling a little bemusedly.

"No," Xander shook his head, "Just thinking about the way people are dressed today."

Arthur frowned, looking down at himself, "Is this wrong?"

"No, no," Xander said, "Just not a great fit for you. You're dressed pretty well compared to most."

"Do you know much about Muggle customs then?" Molly asked, appearing with a tray of snacks from the tent's kitchen.

"Non-magical raised, Ma'am." Xander said with a smile.

"In Slytherin?" Ron blurted, "They let muggle-borns in Slytherin?"

"Honestly Ron!" Hermione huffed, "Don't you ever pay attention, of course they do!"

"I'm not a muggle-born, however, just non-magical raised." Xander corrected, leaning back. "To be honest, I'm missing it right now. I'm going to be two years behind my TV and movies by the time I get back."

Hermione nodded in agreement, "I know what you mean. Only a couple weeks just isn't enough to catch up."

"Tee Vee?" Arthur asked, looking like he was getting more and more excited, "Does that use plugs?"

Xander blinked, "Uh... well, mostly, yeah. You can get some that use batteries I guess..."

He, while focused on Arthur, had totally missed half the rest of the people trying to warn him of the impending conversational doom.

"Really? I collect plugs and batteries!" Arthur said enthusiastically.

"Uh..." Xander stared, "But... why?"

"Dad has a whole shed of muggle stuff," Ron said while stuffing his face with snacks. "None of it works, though. They don't build stuff to last, do they?"

"Ron!" Arthur berated him, "I told you, muggle technology doesn't work around magic."

"Well, that's not true exactly." Xander corrected, "Mostly it's microchips that don't work around magic. So anything without chips can be modified to run on magical spells, if you understand both the tech and the magic well enough. Sirius was talking about putting together a magical motorcycle before I left Cali. I guess that, for the main part of the power plant you just need some minor explosive charms in the engine cylinder. So most older tech works pretty well around magic."

"So how come none of Dad's junk works?" Ron asked.

"Just guessing, but I'd say that there's probably no power running to any of it." Xander said, "One piece of non-magical tech that doesn't work well besides chips is actually batteries. I read about it while looking up Technomancy, something about ward fields drain's power from batteries in minutes."

"Oh! Oh! I read about that too!" Hermione jumped in, "Some people think that wards suck the potential energy out of the battery to help power themselves."

Xander nodded, "Right. Whatever reason, it's pointless to bring batteries into a magical area. Unless, you know, you want to add some juice to the ward lines."

Bill chewed idly on a piece of grass he'd plucked from outside, "Is there any evidence that would work?"

Hermione frowned, but shook her head, "I haven't seen any studies on it."

"They did some in the states," Xander said, "But they were pretty badly handled."

"Really?" Hermione blinked.

"Yeah, they used off the shelf batteries instead of industrial stuff. Your average Duracell just doesn't pack enough juice to be noticeable." Xander said, "You'd want some heavy duty stuff to test that, and probably a lot of it."

"Still, you're saying that it might be possible to enforce wards with the juice in these batteries?" Bill asked, genuinely interested.

"That's the standing theory," Xander shrugged, "Like I said, if anyone has actually tested it, they've either kept the results secret or fouled up the tests like I said. Still, to be honest I don't think it would be worth much."

"Why not? It sounds useful to me." Bill frowned.

Hermione nodded, "Me too!"

"Well, batteries drain fast. In just a few minutes," Xander said, "So I don't think it would last long, right? And how do you keep the batteries from going dead before you need them?"

"Oh. Yeah, you're right." Hermione frowned.

"He is?" Ron, Bill, and Ginny blinked, all of them looking confused.

"Yeah, I think he is." Hermione sighed, "Even if it works it would only be a short term boost, that would happen right at the point you took the battery into the wards. I suppose you could store them outside the wards and draw them in if you were attacked..."

"Yeah, and those would be the first thing someone hit once that secret got out," Xander chuckled.

What he didn't add was the sudden thought that struck him concerning the subject. All the stuff he'd read had pointed to much the same thing concerning electricity, though for a more well-known and understood reason. Lightning wards were one of the most common home warding schemes in use because they were easy to setup and they provided a lot of protection to a home... in addition to directing power to the ward stones for other wards. Xander suddenly had to wonder what if you were to direct a live current from a power line into a lightning ward. If it worked the same as against lightning, it would power wards similarly.

Of course, as soon as he thought it, Xander realized that there was no way in hell someone else hadn't already done this. There were no reports of it, however, which meant that it either failed entirely or... Xander whistled softly.

"Xander? What is it? Are you ok?" Hermione nudged him.

Xander shook himself, "Yeah. Just a stray thought. Something to put in the notebook later."

Hermione nodded, "Oh."

"Notebook?" Bill asked, bemused.

"Xander keeps notes on any interesting spells or ideas he has," Hermione informed them primly, "Many of us do. That way we don't forget to check them out later on."

Bill nodded, "Makes sense. I knew a few people who did that too. I was always too busy with other things, myself."

"Helps keep everything straight," Xander admitted, "I have too much crap going on to try and remember stuff. Ever since I got my letter from Salem my life has been speeding up with every year. First year wasn't too bad, only school work and stuff. By second year I had my own projects and stuff to add to that, and this year well suddenly I've got dueling training, Occlumency training, my projects, school work... it's getting insane."

"You're taking dueling training?" Harry looked surprised.

"We do live in a dueling society, Harry." Xander said with a wry grin, "Something I didn't know until I got my teacher."

"We do?" Harry looked around, confused, as did Hermione.

"It's mostly only of concern to higher levels of society," Arthur admitted, "Honor duels mostly involve titled families."

"Like, oh, say Potter?" Xander asked dryly.

Several of the Weasley's flinched at that, and looked to Harry with surprise and worry on their face. Harry, for his part, just looked a little ill.

"It's really that common?" He asked.

"Nah." Xander shook his head, "Not for the most part. But it's a very real possibility. Kids like Draco start dueling training when they get their wand at the latest. I'd guess Draco started well before that. You're lucky you're a natural wand hand, Harry, or Draco would slaughter you."

"How come we never got dueling training, mum?" Ron demanded.

"Ron," Arthur sighed, "No Weasley has been involved in an Honor Duel in centuries. Certainly no Weasley child needs that kind of training."

"Harry should have it, though, Dad." Bill said thoughtfully. "I never thought of it before, but when he's of age there'll be a real risk of challenges."

Xander's eyes widened slightly and his head snapped around to look at Harry, one thought running through his mind. Simultaneously, Hermione gasped and covered her mouth to try and hide the shock.

Both of them realized that the other was thinking the exact same thing.

When he's of age.

Harry must have realized it as well, because his face went ashen and he slumped a little as he remembered one of the little side effects of the little ceremony was being considered by magic to be an adult.

Harry felt his stomach drop, and he looked to Hermione in a near panic.

"It's alright, Harry dear," Molly said, noting his sudden discomfort. "You don't need to worry about that for a while. No one can challenge minors."

Harry smiled, looking sick.

"Besides," Bill smiled, "You can't issue challenges at Hogwarts anyway. It's in the bylaws and enforced by the wards."

That made him feel a little bit better. "Really?"

"Really." Bill nodded, "The founders felt that honor duels had no place in a school so they took steps to prevent it."

Ok, Xander was breathing a little better now too as his mind raced to put it together. Why the hell hadn't they been informed about this anyway? Was Narcissa playing a game intended to get Harry out of the way? If so, wouldn't Sirius have seen it coming? Still, Harry was pretty heavily protected at home in addition to Hogwarts, so that meant he was safe most of the time.

He looked over at Hermione, whose eyes were setting as she glared back at him. Xander shrugged helplessly, which thankfully caused her to soften slightly.

His eyes widened, asking her silently, Research?

Research, was the definite reply.

Alright. New priority tasking, Xander thought to himself. Ok, they could do this. In fact, he'd get a jump on things.

"I'm going to get some air," He said, standing up. "It's been great to meet you all."

"Oh, fantastic to meet you too. Please, drop by anytime." Arthur said, grasping Xander's hand and pumping it powerfully.

After a series of goodbye's Xander stepped outside, already flipping his spell phone open and thumbing the rune rings around. A few moments later he had it up as the call went through.

"Hey Wills." he said quietly as he moved away from the Weasley's tent.

"Xander!" The Bubbly redhead's voice came through. "How is England?"

"It's fine, but I need a favor."

"What is it?" Willow asked, suddenly concerned.

"Research. Code Duelo." Xander said seriously. "And get Sirius in on this too. Harry's an adult and I just found out he could be challenged to a duel."

"Oh my." Willow gasped. "Are you sure?"

"No. That's why I'm asking."

"Oh, right. Ok, I'm on it. What are you going to do?"

"Enjoy the game," Xander said wryly. "I've got no books here and I can't just leave without basically insulting my hosts."

"Ok, well I'm all over this, but we may need to buy some more books." Willow said.

"You've got the money I left, right?"

"Yeah, but you know, it's yours and I wanted to ask..."

"I left it so you could get books or whatever you needed, Wills." Xander said, "You don't need to ask. Thanks."

"No problem. Now don't just call when it's an emergency, Mister," She told him, mock fiercely. "Or we'll have words when you get back."

"Sorry, I'll give you a call in a couple days. And hey, you've got a phone too." Xander grinned in return.

"Oh. Right. Well... you'd better."

"Cya Wills, Xander out." Xander said, chuckling to himself as he flipped the phone shut again.