Chapter 25:

We called a meeting of the Advanced Study Group, and I started, "At this meeting we are going to talk to you about a part of Starfleet called Section 31. As of now, Albus Dumbledore is its Director, and Luna and I provide the information about the Star Trek timelines.

Star Trek is a fictionalization of the galaxy around us, or this timeline itself is a creation that matches what was once fiction. In either case, Luna and I know this series of timelines, called Star Trek."

Dumbledore interrupted, "We won't get into any further, of the details of the connection between Tom and Luna with Star Trek, except that they have significant knowledge of it, and I have investigated their knowledge and am convinced it is true."

I continued, "The evidence that was found about the accidentally time traveling extraterrestrials, called Ferengi, in 1947 New Mexico, matched exactly what I already knew from that timeline, and had told you briefly about earlier.

There are several Star Trek timelines, mostly due to frequent time travel spanning over centuries and a little bit of parallel universe hopping. However, this era in human history, with the years sometime shifted by decades, have a similar story. Their story while differing in important details from our timeline, nevertheless line up closely with each other and with out timeline."

Harry Potter called out, "If there is frequent time travel, wouldn't that make it difficult to make actions permanent? What if a Death Eater supporter went back in time and stopped our recent actions?"

Luna answered, "There is an organization many centuries in the future, called the Temporal Agents, that try to limit the damage to the timeline done by time travelers."

Fred Weasley asked, "But what about what you two did? Could that get reversed?"

I answered, "No. It wasn't a time travel alteration of the timeline in a way that they would interpret it. Don't worry Fred, Colin, and Lavender. While the future is still open to change, the past is not going to be changed. So this March 1996 is so different than the original March 1996, that it cannot lead to the battle you died in on the 2nd of May 1998."

Anthony Goldstein asked, "Why is time travel so easy?"

I said, using a teacher's tone of voice, "That question is for those in the class familiar with the physics of Einstein. Remember that faster than light travel will be invented soon."

Hermione raised her hand, and I called on her. She said, "Faster than light travel is time travel."

I cheerfully said, "Very good, 5 points to Gryffindor!"

Then I continued more seriously, "In Star Trek, there were people called augments, who were artificially created by science to be enhanced humans. Their abilities were enhancements of non-magical humans, without magic. Around this time, in some timelines, they took over about 40 countries. Some were good rulers, except not allowing dissent, some were not such good rulers. Then some of them started fighting each other.

Then the non-augments fought them all and drove them from Earth. They killed most of them, and about 100 escaped on a spaceship. Augments were declared illegal. Even though, not the same, the role of magicals in our timeline, and augments in that timeline are similar.

This is what leads us to Section 31.

The timeline now is heading down some familiar ways. We now have the official authority to head off disasters and to protect Earth. While we can provide information, and Albus Dumbledore is possibly the most powerful wizard on the planet, we need others to carry out our mission to protect the Earth, and Wizard-kind. Protecting Earth is not sufficient if all of us wizards and witches will be killed in the process.

This is where I am asking all of you for help. Many of you have, or will later have jobs working for Starfleet. Section 31 needs eyes within the organization, and the ability to, in cases of extreme emergency, act on behalf of the future timeline.

Any questions so far?"

George Weasley said, "We have pledges made to our current employer. How would that work if we also worked for you?"

Dumbledore answered, "We are working on having all Starfleet personnel also making a parallel pledge to the goals of the organization as a whole, not just to their regional directorates."

I added, "I like Director Morozov, I approve of what he has been doing. That will likely continue. However, if fighting starts to break out between directorates, for the Earth's sake we will need to end that conflict, and do what we can to prevent the conditions that would cause non-magical uprisings. Again, this is not against Director Morozov, he has done more to upgrade the lives of non-magicals than almost anyone else in history."

Luna added, "Your duty, should you choose to accept it, is simply to keep your awareness of what is going on in the bigger picture around you. Only if you see a danger to the future, should you then communicate with us. Only if there is an extreme danger to the planet, would we ask you to do anything about it."

I added, "Part of what we are guarding against, is well meaning leadership, making decisions that make sense to then, setting into motion processes that will lead to historical disasters."

Luna said serenely, and then with a rising crescendo, "What we fighting for, is a United Earth, ready to take its place among the stars, with wizard-kind and non-magicals each living in peace amongst themselves, and with each other. Then, when contact is made with extraterrestrials that the Earth is strong enough to dissuade any aggressive extraterrestrials from attacking Earth. For this we will fight with ANY means. For our people! For ALL peoples of Earth, magical and non-magical! For our planet's FUTURE! Who is with us in being part of Section 31?"

A lot of hands raised. George Weasley said, "We'll need more details in how our potentially overlapping pledges would work." Harry Potter and Hermione Granger seemed to nod in agreement with him.

Dumbledore said, "Before any formal agreements are made, we will address that issue."

Later Luna, me, and Dumbledore met for a debrief. He asked Luna, "I thought that you were an adherent of a philosophy of pure logic, and not being emotional?"

Luna answered, "I studied the teachings of Surak, but was never an initiate. I have added my Vulcan learning to my human nature, but did not take the step of suppressing emotions."

Then Luna changed to her logical voice and continued, "However, my emotional appeal in my speech was fully logical. Logic as a foundation of decision making requires goals which cannot themselves be determined by logic.

Surak believed that peace was a goal, that Vulcans warlike nature led to war, and therefore using logic and suppressing emotions would be a way to achieve peace. Vulcan philosophy has also agreed upon goals of infinite diversity in infinite combinations, and that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or of one.

Goals determined at a point in Vulcan history are not applicable to us at this point in Earth history. My appeal stated my goals. An emotional appeal was what I deemed most advantageous to convince the listeners to join those goals. Once people can be convinced about goals, then logic could be the method to achieve them. Logic cannot logically be its own goal. Logic cannot be the basis for logic."

I changed the subject, "When you try to convince the regional directors to accept a universal Starfleet pledge, perhaps it would be helpful if Luna and I were there."

Dumbledore answered, "I can see the benefit."

I added, "There is also the aspect of you being on that committee, for the times when we might require changes in actions from the directors or ministers. There is the implicit threat of you engaging in magical combat, that could therefore resolve situations without the need for any combative actions."

Dumbledore agreed, "I see you understand my circumstances, and it fits in what you had earlier described as peace through perceived strength, which is a little different than peace through strength. On another subject, where do you see Section 31 being based?"

Luna answered, "It floats from the shadows. An office and a roll-call would bring vulnerability. Where we three are, that is were Section 31 is. Where our agents are, that is also where Section 31 is."

I added, "The year after I graduate, I was hoping to be based in Hogwarts or Hogsmeade. After that, you would, I assume be in Hogwarts. We can float around. Visit headquarters and each of the regional directorates as needed. Our actual office could be fidelius protected, just as Starfleet R&D Kazakhstan is today. There will also be a good magical global data communications system by then."

Luna asked, "Getting back to the pledge. How about each magical Starfleet employee pledge,

We pledge to safeguard the interests of the people of Earth, magical and non-magical, and their future. We hereby modify previous pledges given by ourselves and others, to take actions to safeguard the future of the people of Earth, when so ordered to by Section 31 or Starfleet Command. We will endeavor to try to determine if such orders are in fact safeguarding the future of the people of Earth, and will not blindly follow orders by anyone."

Dumbledore said, "That is start. With magical oaths, a great deal of care must be placed in the wording. I'll examine it in detail and come up with revisions. I suppose the main points are that the members of Starfleet try to work towards its goals, and can be ordered to overrule their regional directors if needed, but themselves should not follow blindly if Starfleet Command or Section 31 go rogue?"

I said, "Yes. There were some times in Star Trek canon, where mind controlling aliens took over high ranking people in Star Fleet Command. There were also times, centuries later from now, when Section 31 made some questionable decisions. We plan to put in some ironclad guidelines to how Section 31 should operate when it comes time for us to turn it over to younger generations."