FicWad

A brilliantly-conceived chapter that totally changes this story and the way it must proceed.

I have to say that I found the scene in the library incredibly poignient. If there was ever any proof that the Age of Magic was over, it was in the utter destruction of 1,000 years of learning depicted there. It is a sad confirmation that there appears to be no way back for Wizardkind. The state of Hogwarts (possibly caused by Dumbledore diverting all ward energy to keeping Voldemort trapped) was also a piteous embodiment of an age and a society that is now nothing but unrecoverable archeology.

Of course, that makes the isolated Pureblood communities you mentioned over on Caer_Azkaban that much more important. The information they have preserved might be critical to any future for the magical world in a broader sense (especially as, from what you said in that short, they are dying out). With Crewman Malfoy's assistance, it should be possible for strike-teams to either 'acquire' or magically copy key information and get the scans needed to program replicators to replace lost magical components. Getting that operation past the Prime Directive Subcommittee of the Federation Council will be a quest in itself.

Of course, all this changes things for Harry and Hui. Instead of being the restorers of the Age of Magic... they may yet be the founders of The Second Age of Magic ! After all, Harry has a wand, a talking hat and a phoenix. What more does a travelling Mage, just starting out, really need? ;) The starship capable of glassing the entire inhabitable surface of a class-M planet is, of course, a bonus. :p

The final blow to my preconceptions of this story was the state that Voldemort is in. I have no doubt now that killing him would be an act of mercy, possibly one that he would welcome (assuming that any hint of sanity remains, which is unlikely). Either way, the trick will be finding and destroying the Horacruxes, not euthanising the pitiful remains of the Dark Lord.

Well done for challenging my preconceptions and taking this story in a totally unexpected direction. I can now only wait with baited breath as to what possibly might come next.

BenRG's Rating: 8.5/10

"Respected sentients," Harry announced in a loud, strained tone of voice. "We are not proposing interfering in the natural development of any species or culture. We are proposing taking action to ensure that the now-inevitable extinction of a dying culture does not deprive its still-viable offshoots of their cultural history and the tools critical for them to make use of their natural talents. Is not the Federation about striving to better ourselves? What I am asking is for your support for Starfleet to act to ensure that an entire sub-species of humanity, one that has been in hiding for nearly three centuries because of fear and superstition, can achieve its natural potential." Just a suggestion. ;)