Disclaimer is in chapter 1.
Xander was securing his bag of converted Galleons to his belt, after checking the anti-theft charms, as some of the parents and their children filed out of the bank and looked up and down the alley.
"Looks rather primitive, doesn't it, love?" One of the men, whose name Xander hadn't gotten before, said with some disdain. "Not sure I want to condemn our girl to a place this antiquated."
"Hush, luv," His wife urged him, "They'll hear you."
Xander chuckled, "They've heard it before, but I would be careful making assumptions there, Sir."
The two flushed a little at getting caught, but the man wasn't in the mood to back off from his comments.
"Well I'm right, aren't I? Just look around," He gestured.
"You're right and you're wrong," Xander said, stepping down the white marble steps that were the signature front of the Gringotts bank. "The Magical World is actually more complicated than that. It's pretty hard to say which is more advanced, because the two worlds had a very real split over a thousand years ago. In some ways it is behind the times, but in others it's far more advanced than you can probably imagine."
Several other parents had gathered, hearing someone actually speaking about what had been bothering them.
"How is it more advanced?" Cowell asked, looking around with interest.
"Transportation, for one, remember my bike?" Xander smiled.
That bought them all up short, as they realized that somehow they had in fact forgotten it… or, rather, hadn't thought much about its implications.
"The magical world is far ahead of the normal world in several fields, and even socially in some ways," Xander said, "Though it's far behind in many others. You're not looking at a world out of time, it isn't some capsule of a society trapped a hundred and fifty years in the past, though I understand that it does look like it."
He'd had this conversation with his uncle, and with Robert, and Willow, and several others over the years, so Xander wasn't surprised by the parent's reactions.
"On the surface it looks," Xander shrugged, considering, "Roughly Victorian era, I suppose?"
Cowell nodded, "More or less."
"The Wizarding World broke off from the rest of the world with the development of a key magical technology," Xander produced his Ollivander wand with a flourish, "The magic wand. When the rest of the world was dealing with kings and tyrants, the Magical World established democratic government, banking, contract law… all sorts of things that took centuries more in the rest of the world. All thanks to the wand. The non-magical world had to wait to develop guns for the same thing to happen for them."
"What do guns have to do with it?" The first man asked, frowning.
"Without guns, democracy doesn't exist," Xander said with a shake of his finger. "Or, some other equalizer I suppose. Guns allow the people to rapidly train and equip forces that can equal, or best, the armies of a dictator. Prior to firearms, only the rich could afford to maintain fighting force, and so only the rich were free. In the Wizarding World that split happened hundreds of years earlier, with the wand."
"So wands are a weapon then?" Cowell asked, eyeing the stick with some doubt, but also with trepidation. "You're going to arm our children?"
"No, they're more than a weapon, and in many ways a little less than a gun," Xander said seriously, "A wand in the hands of a child is perfectly safe. Without training, there is effectively no chance of a child causing irreparable harm with a wand. A gun, on the other hand, is far easier to misuse. Of course, once you're trained, a wand is more versatile and, yes, potentially deadly. Very few wands are ever used to harm, thankfully."
"Xander Harris," Hermione appeared behind him, "This is hardly a suitable topic."
"Why not?" Xander shrugged.
"You'll give the parents the wrong idea," She told him primly.
Xander looked over those who were listening, "A wand isn't a weapon. It's a tool, but it's a very versatile tool. It can be a screwdriver, or a hammer, or a machete if that's what you need. Or, in the hands of a trained Auror, it can be a pistol… though a wand really makes for a lousy rifle, I'm afraid. No distance accuracy."
"Auror? Those are the police, right?" Cowell asked.
"That's right," Xander nodded, "Back home the Federal cops are known as the Pride, a joke on the Law Enforcement Officer acronym. Locals are Constables, and I understand that some larger regions in the Americas have Mystic Rangers, but usually those groups are deputized for a specific job and disbanded when it's done. Texas and Mexico is the only territory I know that maintains a full time Ranger battalion. Mostly because every Magical Outlaw in American history eventually seems to make a run for Mexico right through Texas, apparently looking to get down into the South Americas. It's still pretty wild down there, so hiding out is easier."
"And here in Britain?" Cowell seemed genuinely curious.
"The Aurors handle investigations," Minerva stepped in as she had just come out of the bank herself, "foot patrols and the like. Hit Wizards are part timers, sometimes with specialized training, who are called in as needed."
"Seems simplistic," Cowell noted.
"Wizarding Britain has a pretty low population and not a lot of ground to cover," Xander said helpfully. "When you factor in the common use of old wards, police aren't really needed much under normal circumstances. Most of the crimes you get in the non-magical world just don't happen in the Wizarding world."
"I find that rather hard to believe," Cowell scoffed.
Xander just shrugged, "You get a little theft, some black market contraband sales, and of course the occasional murder and the like, but as I've been told its pretty low numbers all considered. You have to understand, domestic crimes and the like are almost unheard of."
The parents looked at one another, clearly disbelieving him, and Xander couldn't help but smile.
"It really comes down to the same reason why there is no gender discrimination in the magical world," He said.
"None?" One of the women blurted, shocked.
"None." Xander said firmly, glancing at McGonagall, "Ma'am, have you ever been discriminated against because you're a woman?"
The look on her face said it all, really. The Professor wasn't indignant, nor angry at the suggestion, rather she was honestly bemused by the question.
"Of course not, why ever would I have been?"
Xander shrugged, looking back at the parents, "In the magical world, upper body strength doesn't really gain you much. Women have just as much magical potential as men, on average, and honestly they can be a lot more vicious when provoked."
He grinned, getting a laugh out of the parents and a huff from Hermione, who was still glaring at him.
"Children don't get abused, for the most part," He said, "Wives don't get beaten."
"You said for the most part," Cowell asked. "That implies exceptions."
Xander sighed as he nodded, "Yes, sadly. The most common I've heard of is squib, or latent, children born into magical families. It's considered shameful, and the abuser knows that no accidental magic is going to bite them on the ass, so that's the one exception."
"So it's not a magical utopia then," Cowell said wryly.
"No, that it's not. Prejudice and violence are much the same, but the targets are a little skewed," Xander admitted, "and, then you have the Dark Lords."
"Now see here, Mr. Harris," McGonagall said, her lips pursed sternly. "We're now straying into dark history."
"Fourteen years ago, for the last official one." Xander responded.
"What are Dark Lords?" One of the parents asked.
"Individuals of such magical potential that they can basically ignore laws," Xander told them, "It's very rare, but they do happen, and when someone like that goes dark things get ugly. Right now the only known wizard in that class is a certified Light Lord, and the Headmaster of our school actually."
"Mr. Harris! Albus Dumbledore would never…"
"Didn't say he would, Ma'am," Xander grinned, "I said he could. He is assumed to be that powerful, but he's also just short of being considered a saint. His skill and power are currently unmatched, certainly in Britain, and arguably in the world."
"Don't put a lot of stock in saints myself," Cowell offered dryly, gaining some nods of concern from the rest.
"Dumbledore, well you remember Merlin in the Disney animated movie?" Xander asked, with a grin.
They all nodded, slightly confused.
"Now you know Albus Dumbledore."
"You must be joking, lad." Cowell said, jaw a little slack.
"He's really not," Hermione sighed, adding her own two pence. "The open debate among the muggle-born students is between whether he's going senile in his old age, or maybe saw the movie and just enjoys playing the part."
"Ms. Granger!" McGonagall blurted, just a little aghast.
"Sorry Professor," Hermione said, wincing, "it's true though."
Minerva pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to parse that bit of information. While she actually knew enough about the Muggle world to have seen a few movies, she hadn't seen the one the two were referencing.
I suppose now that I will have to correct that oversight, she sighed before setting out to straighten everyone out. "Albus is well known for his eccentricities, yes, and he is a formidable wizard. He is, however, one of the most honorable men I have ever known in my life."
Everyone glanced over at Xander, as if expecting him to contradict her.
He just shrugged, "She's not lying. If anything, the biggest criticism of Dumbledore is that he's too honorable and merciful. Sometimes Justice has to be harsh, and he's forgotten that."
"Doesn't seem like a problem for a school teacher," Cowell offered.
"More than you'd think, but remember, Wizarding England is a small place really, and Dumbledore is top dog. He's headmaster, chief justice… I think is the equivalent? And a diplomat to the Wizarding version of the UN," Xander said. "Busy guy. Might be why he's barmy."
"Mr. Harris!"
Xander shrugged apologetically amid the laughter form the parents, noting that while she was glaring at him there was something around McGonagalls lips that might be a hint of a smile.
"That's enough of that for the moment," McGonagall said, "We're to do your shopping and, of course, pick up wands for the first years. So let's be on our way then, shall we?"
Shopping in the Alley was always an exercise in combined wonder and frustration, at least as far as Xander could tell, and it seemed like that pattern would follow true. The children were bolting from store to store, barely under any sort of control while he and the prefects McGonagall had invited chased after them, keeping them out of mischief.
Mostly, for his own part, Xander just focused on keeping anyone from running into Knockturn and getting themselves into trouble that might take violence to get them out of. He figured that would definitely be a black mark in the parent's eyes, if anything was.
Thankfully there was more than enough in Diagon to keep everyone interested.
The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff prefects were, of course, showing a few of the parents and most of the kids around Quality Quidditch while Hermione was herding the more intellectually leaning through the bookstore. There was a certain irony in that reversal of the regular Gryffindor and Ravenclaw roles, he was sure, but Xander was so used to Hermione that he barely noticed it.
Once he had all the stragglers well clear of Nocturn Alley Xander made his way in Hermione's direction in time to hear her in a discussion about Hogwarts curriculum.
Of course.
That, of course, was of no surprise to precisely everyone who knew her.
"So you're saying that there's an entire course on changing one thing into another?" One of the mothers was asking, "Isn't that Alchemy?"
"No," Hermione answered, "Alchemy is different from transfiguration."
"So… Alchemy is real?" The mother pressed.
Xander chuckled, gathering their attention, "Oh yes. Our Headmaster's Mastery is in Alchemy."
"The crazy guy?" A father asked, his tone a cross between amused and skeptical. "Figures."
Hermione huffed up, but Xander just laughed.
"Alchemy was once very respected in the Wizarding world," Xander said, "but these days it's rather like having a PHD in Steam Engines in the non-magical world."
"Useless then?"
Xander shrugged, "Unless you want to run a nuclear power plant, or an aircraft carrier, I suppose you could say that. Transfiguration and Potions have replaced most of the common applications that Alchemy used to serve, but there are high level applications that Alchemists still rule the roost in. No one has ever figured out how to transfigure lead into gold, for example, or brew the Elixir of Life."
"So the Philosopher stone is real, then?" A quiet woman spoke up thoughtfully, "I'd wondered since I saw books on Alchemy in there."
"Alchemy is complete hogwash," A grumbling father said. "You can't turn lead into gold…"
"Scientists did it years ago without magic," Xander said, surprising most of them, including Professor McGonagall. "It just takes a stupid level of power to do in a lab, which costs more than the Gold is worth. Alchemy bypasses that requirement, or rather power is just a cheaper commodity in the magical world."
"Muggles turned lead into Gold?" McGonagall blurted, honestly shocked.
"Oh yes, it takes a nuclear power plant but it can be done," Xander said, having spent some time with Willow studying all the ways that science was duplicating what magic considered commonplace. "In principal, from what I understand, it's not even that complicated…"
Willow had certainly explained it to him enough times for at least some to stick.
"It's just a matter of shifting some electrons and protons around," He said, considering it, "I think that permanently transfiguring lead into gold, or any element into another, should be possible… even easy, but so far it's only been done via Alchemy."
Unless Harry pulled it off with his whole titanium bullshit, Xander thought sourly.
McGonagall laughed lightly, "If you manage that, Mr. Harris, you'll be a shoe in for an Order of Merlin in Transfiguration. Even Merlin himself wasn't powerful enough to do that."
Xander shrugged, "I'm already manipulating carbon atoms one at a time, taking it one step farther to directly manipulating the protons and electrons they're made of is an order of magnitude more precise, but it should actually be far less power intensive."
Hermione had frozen in place and was almost quivering in barely suppressed excitement, causing Xander to realize just what he'd said.
"Oh damn it, Hermione, don't even say it!" He warned her, "I have enough research projects on the go!"
"But Xander," Hermione's voice was pleasing, "Pushing the boundaries of magic!"
"Damn it. You're going to tell Wednesday about this, aren't you?" He sighed.
"I am now," She confirmed.
"I rather expect that you'll be biting off more than you can chew," Minerva said tartly, "the best minds of generations have tried and failed to do what you're suggesting."
"No, they tried to brute force it," Xander said with a bit of a frown, "The way we do with most transfigurations. That works when you don't much care about the composition on an atomic level, but when it comes to Gold that's literally ALL we care about. I'm suggesting a more… precise approach. In fact, I bet I could make gold from lead right now… just not very much of it. A few atoms per second, maybe? Hard to say."
He thought about it, considering how hard it was to manipulate carbon atoms for his newest wands.
The issue really wasn't in how hard it was to do, it wasn't hard at all. The issue was in how long it would take to do any sort of significant conversion.
"No, atom by atom would just take forever to make any real amount of Gold," He decided, "I'd need to make some sort of a catalyst or construct to speed up the conversion. Probably what the Philosopher's Stone actually is, really."
Professor McGonagall was looking rather skeptical, not that he blamed her. He was as familiar with Gamp's Laws as anyone in the Wizarding World. Money, Food, and the like were all supposed to be impossible to create with magic. Xander just rather believed that the law only held true because Wizards really never bothered to determine exactly what those items really were.
"If you're right, Xander, this changes everything," Hermione breathed in near shock, her mind obviously racing to imagine all the applications to what he had just said.
"Which is why, if I'm right and I succeed, I'll do the same thing the Flamel's did and bury the process," Xander told her firmly.
"What? Why?" Hermione focused on him, eyes filled with disbelief.
"Hermione, the Wizarding world is still on the Gold Standard," Xander told her, laughing, "I'd rather not be assassinated by the Ministry, Goblins, and every other group there is. One of the first lessons Gomez ever taught me, don't fuck with the money men."
"Alexander Harris," Hermione shrieked, "Language!"
Xander he'd up his hands, laughing, "Sorry. But, really, I'm not joking. You don't mess with money like that. People get really pissy about it."
One of the fathers laughed, "He's not wrong there."
Xander nodded, "Anyway, while the discussion has been fun, we've still got a lot to do. How about picking up some expanded trunks for the kids?"
"You mean like the door thing you stored your bike in?" One of the kids asked excitedly.
"Oh, I like this one," Xander grinned, "Good eye. Close, but not quite. I made that myself, and pushed a lot more power in than you'd get from most of the stuff we'll find today. But a nice trunk can hold all your clothes, books, sports gear, and such while not weighing any more than the trunk would empty. It's a good buy, trust me."
That had everyone's interest, so Xander led them down the alley in search of trunks.