Chapter 28:

We were prepared in advance for expected reaction to the announcement about magic. Khan was actually one step ahead of me on this one, fully understanding the risks. He had looked into religious leaders and tried to understand what their reactions would be. Sometimes hypothetical discussions were held, sometimes more directly.

Khan used the same approaches he had used to take over governments to get major religious rulings that would accept magic. Convince and eliminate were the main methods. Magically turn seemed like it would backfire. Magically reading minds, was frequently used. Bribing and threatening would only be very indirect. Leaders would either be convinced or not.

The arguments given in official rulings and in sermons were the following:

"Magic was a natural gift bestowed.

Magic, like all abilities can be used for good and for evil.

Some people have magic, most have hands. Hands can be used to build and to destroy. Hands can be used to wield a tool and wield a weapon. The person is responsible for what they do. Similarly some people have magic and are responsible for what they do.

The origins of magic, while interesting, are not critically relevant. If a person is born with magic, only their own actions should be considered when judging them. Trying to connect their origins to various sources is not to be a factor. The actions of one's ancestors, whether witch or witch hunter is not relevant."

Those religions that included the Book of Samuel, all agreed that it wasn't witchcraft itself that was condemned but causing shadows of spirits to appear, which was unpleasant to those spirits. The specific practice of being a medium was condemned.

Book of 2 Chronicles was explained, by saying that human sacrifice as a part of magical rituals were condemned, not fortune-telling by itself, if it were to be done without harm. In several other books, magic is shown as being used for good and for evil, and only the later being condemned, including in Egypt and in Babylon. Even the more direct condemnation in Deuteronomy 18 was explained by saying that divination and charming were condemned because in that time and place it was always accompanied by evil sacrifices, and should be read in that context. That in the thousands of years since, magical communities have found ways to accomplish the same results without evil actions or intent and therefore do not fall under the category of witch or magic as defined.

It was also explained that current translations of the word sorcery in Galatians, Revelations, and many others, actually was the Greek word pharmakeia, and represented a specific practice popular at that time, not magic in general.

The general condemnation of magic in Islam was also dealt with by going after the original definition of the word sihr, which might mean magic in different contexts. The new ruling was that since using hidden properties of natural substances was not forbidden, and that those born as magicals fall under that category, as long as they are not using magic for evil purposes.

These new interpretations were not ones that all would agree with. Many would say that there cannot be new interpretations. Khan and I knew that this would be a challenge, and prepared harsh methods to simply eliminate opposition as it may appear.

In Buddhism only the use of magic for bad purposes could be found as something to be condemned.

In Confucianism, there isn't the general rule of fighting witchcraft. However, about 2100 years ago, all suspected witches in China were killed. That is not regarded as a rule to apply now, but only as a historical anecdote mostly involving one group seizing power from another.

Prior to the announcement, there were active witch hunts occurring in Africa. Most of the victims were not in fact magical. United Earth stepped in to ensure the safety of magical children. Now that magic was openly known, the ones falsely accused, were publicly verified as being non-magical. Those falsely accused that still were threatened were moved to new locations, under the protection of United Earth. Even there, there were some problems of some accusing each other of being magical. Families were allowed to move to these protected areas, but only if they didn't try to attack anyone there.

Then there were the objections by witches and wizards to the announcement.

When I visited Firenze, I first stopped by Hagrid's hut to let him know. Hagrid yelled, "Are you daft Malfoy?"

I asked, "About visiting Firenze?"

Hagrid answered, "Not about that. Firenze will only talk to you if he wants to, and I know you are not daft enough to chase him."

I asked, "Then what am I daft about?"

Hagrid said, "About revealing magic! Blimey, Malfoy, everyone will be wanting magic solutions to their problems! And what would they do when we don't have enough magic to solve them? What happens when someone's donkey dies and there's a witch living next door?"

I answered, "Those are all valid concerns Hagrid. We had determined that they were going to find out soon enough due to technology, fancy cameras that send moving pictures with sound over long distances, and such. We determined that a controlled announcement would be better than a sudden discovery."

Hagrid said, "I hope you know what you're doing. I'll be fine behind the Hogwarts wards. What about the ones who are out there?"

I invited Francis Fukuyama to advise us. I asked him, "Do you still think there is the end of history?"

Fukuyama said, "Perhaps, but not now. The evolution of human society will continue, after the changes that United Earth brings reach an apparently stable state."

I asked, "What should United Earth be doing now to plan for the future?"

Fukuyama answered, "Social capital is important to the efficient functioning of modern economies. It constitutes the cultural component of modern societies, which in other respects have been organized since the Enlightenment on the basis of formal institutions, the rule of law, and rationality.

You are trying to merge two societies. One was previously secret from the other, and now appears to want to rule the other. That is going to be your challenge. To build social capital, not just the providing of material benefits."

I asked, "What do you think the effect of wide distribution of enchanted objects, so that non-magicals can receive the benefits of magic, under their control and ownership?"

Fukuyama answered, "That could help. However, establishing that common feeling of belonging and participation is going to be more important.

While government can enact policies that have the effect of depleting social capital, they have great difficulties understanding how to build it up again."

Khan addressed the ICW again, and his speech appeared in the magical media throughout the world,

"You in the magical community are possibly wondering, what do these changes mean for me?

Many thousands of years ago, before cities, before civilization, there was no separation between those with and those without magical abilities. Those who had this talent, took it upon themselves to help their tribe in whatever way they could. Whether it was magical medicine, predicting the future, helping defend, finding water, helping understand the mysteries of life and the universe.

We are now going back to that role. We who have magic are called upon to help the other side of humanity that we have ignored for too long.

The goal of United Earth is for everyone to reach their potential by working together. We each use what skills and abilities we have. Those who contribute more are also rewarded more.

In the immediate future I implore all who can, to contribute as much as they can, to show the non-magical side of humanity that we who have magic can vastly improve their lives. United Earth will organize this help, including keeping peace and security among the entire Earth. No matter what your magical talents are we have a place for you to help and to be rewarded. We also are vastly increasing education to make sure that anyone who wishes to improve their abilities in useful directions has the opportunity to do so.

We have given expectations of the help we can provide, and now is the time to deliver."

We had more advisory meetings for long term planning. We watched more parts of Star Trek canon and then discussed them.

Pike said, "Q told you that Star Trek canon reasserts itself. That would explain why the mirror universe so closely matches the prime universe even with major points of departure of the timelines going back centuries.

My descendant barely survives an accident in the prime universe. He get assassinated by Kirk in the mirror universe. Either way not good for Pike."

Everyone lightly chuckled at that. Harry Potter added, "The mirror universe is not a very pleasant place. No matter how well you do, someone wants to kill you."

Hermione said, "What to do about the Vulcans. Have them supervise us for a century? Try to steal their technology? How did they even manage that in the mirror universe?'

Draco said, "You should have been a Slytherin to even think about that, but seeing it as a viable plan is a Gryffindor trait. Humans seize a Vulcan scout ship. Ok, seems possible. What then? How easy is it to copy technology.

Suppose you were to take our computers, with no other knowledge about them. Could you build new ones? I really do not think so. Capture some crew members and torture them for knowledge? The Vulcans seem like they might be able to resist that and also resist legilimency.

The ship itself was a small one compared to other Vulcan ships, and probably couldn't fight the Vulcan space navy. How long would it take for them to notice that a ship was lost on Earth? Did they manage to capture every ship sent to look for it?

Even if knowledge was gained, how long would it take to build equivalent ships to the Vulcans? Even then, how many compared to how many the Vulcans have? This seems like a high risk strategy."

Tracey added, "We could always duplicate things found without understanding them. Doesn't mean we'd understand how to use them properly though."

Khan said, "And yet, in mirror canon, they succeeded in taking over Vulcan and building a Terran Empire.

There was a stratagem that a failed and revenge fueled version of myself used, to get back at that same Kirk in the prime universe whose mirror counterpart assassinated Pike's mirror descendant.

I captured a ship that had a limited set of weapons. I pretended that my communications were down, waited for the target ship to approach closely, and with shields down, since after all it was a ship of the same fleet they were approaching. Then in a quick strike disabled that ship before it could fire.

Perhaps this approach would work against Vulcans. In another episode it was mentioned that the Vulcan's first contact with the Klingons resulted in them losing their ship. I believe that is supposed to happen in the year 2016. The Vulcans do not want to appear hostile, so they will expose their neck during first contact.

However, losing a ship did not result in Vulcan being conquered by the Klingons."

Daphne said, "Can I be the voice of reason here? I personally do not want to live on a planet that might be bombarded from space.

At the time of first contact, we will be the equivalent to a first year Hogwarts student who just got their wand and read some of the first year books.

Charging in and trying to fight upper-years is a Gryffindor plan. Charge in first, try to improvise later. War has risks. Insane wars have even larger risks.

Q gave a direction to use Slytherin methods. We study before attacking. We try to win without attacking, not due to moral reasons, but due to risk analysis."

I answered, "To be fair, though, with our knowledge of Star Trek canon we can study potential adversaries even before meeting them. I do agree with you though, that this approach seems to rely too much on luck even if we have some ideas on how to attempt it."