Chapter Forty-Nine
Playing With Fire
A smile graced Princess Celestia's face as she looked up from where she was teaching Twilight her latest magic lesson and to the book on her shelf that had once more begun vibrating and glowing. Making sure to keep an eye on the filly, she took the journal into her magic and lifted it before her, opening to the latest page and beginning to read.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I've had an eventful few days here. But let me preface this with a bit of a quote.
You see, the humans have a saying: "If you want to judge a country, look at how
they treat their prisoners."
Celestia thought about the statement for a moment. She couldn't deny that there was a certain wisdom behind it, but mostly she was curious what might have caused her former student to tell her this. She went on reading.
Suffice it to say that I lost a lot of respect for Wizarding Britain when I saw how they treat theirs...
Twilight looked up from her training, watching as her mentor's expression darkened, growing ever more troubled as she read on. She had learned weeks ago that the book was the journal the princess used to stay in contact with Sunset. She only relaxed when she saw Celestia's face light up towards the end of the message. Finally, the princess let her eyes jump over to her desk, floating a quill over.
My Little Sun,
Your tales of this 'Azkaban' are most troubling. I will have to bring it up with their government when official first contact is made. That you managed to find and help capture such a terrible criminal and get an innocent released from prison, especially one such as that, is wonderful to hear. You continue to make me proud, my Little Sun.
I would love to come over to meet Professor Dumbledore in person. Assuming the required time frame doesn't fall into the middle of Equestria's night. Please make sure to send me the calculations. I'm afraid I haven't been keeping track of the calendar.
If Sirius Black and Harry Potter wish to stay in Equestria, I can easily make arrangements to allow for that.
The results of your comparative studies have been very enlightening thus far. Please do let me know if you learn anything more.
Love,
Celestia
P.S: My student, I know that the emotional back-pressure caused by the Lumineum can be difficult to deal with. If you need any help, or simply wish to talk about it, you know I'm here for you.
With a smile, the Princess closed the journal and returned her attention to Twilight's training, already considering how much of what she had just learned she would tell the curious filly when she would inevitably ask.
When lunch came around on Saturday, the group returned from the grounds where they had visited Hagrid. Sunset had been able to come along this time. Her comparative magic studies with Professor Flitwick would only begin after lunch had ended.
She made her way to his office in record time, thanks to all the shortcuts through the castle they had discovered. He welcomed her in jovially, well aware that he was likely to learn just as much as he taught.
"So then, Miss Shimmer, have you thought of a topic we should cover today?"
Sunset chuckled. "I did. Actually I'm kinda surprised I didn't think of this sooner. It is my specialty after all. Pyromancy."
"Spells dealing with fire, you mean?"
The two began demonstrating the various fire based spells they knew for several minutes, respectively watching the other with an aura sight spell. Eventually, Professor Flitwick stated that he only knew one more spell, but that it was one he wouldn't demonstrate. Something he called 'Fiendfyre'.
"Ah, a dark magic fire spell. I see. Probably a counterpart to this." She once more let her hand light up with teal magic, before it shifted to the pale gold Flitwick had come to connect with her light magic. In moments, a ring of pale golden flames formed around her hand, even as the hand itself stopped glowing. She played with the pale golden flames for a few moments, and Flitwick had to admit that it looked rather fun.
The fire didn't burn her, and she seemed entirely comfortable with it, smiling as the flames snaked up her arm and wove into her hair, forming a little crown on her head. Most surprising of all, however, was that even she seemed surprised by that. Had she not made it do that? Had the magic acted on its own?
That alone was a startling discovery. All his life he had learned to treat magic as a force. A tool, even a weapon. Used to accomplish his goals. The girl before him, however, seemed to be treating it like an old and reliable friend. And the magic seemed to respond in turn, acting almost alive. Was this part of the independence she had ascribed to light magic? He had to ask.
"Is this another example of light magic acting on its own?"
The girl looked over to him and nodded. "Yes, I'm letting it more or less do its own thing. This spell is my specialty. Being light magic, it will never harm me, and even beyond that it won't burn anything unless I want it to or it's dark in nature."
"So for light magic it is actually viable to let the magic act on its own?"
"Yes. Like I said, it isn't actively harmful unless I want it to, even if it is fire."
"How very strange. That's actually a completely foreign concept to me. Over here we're only used to normal magic, which won't really do anything on its own, and dark magic which has to be controlled, to stop it from harming the caster. Now, mind you, not all dark magic is as ... volatile as fiendfyre, but it all needs a certain level of control."
"And at the same time, light magic is perfectly safe to let go on its own and harmonic magic and chaos magic can't really be controlled at all, you just tell them what to do and hope that they will."
Sunset chuckled a little. "Anyway. I think we should get back to work shouldn't we?"
For a good hour or so, they worked on combining the more mundane fire spells of both worlds ending up with a spell that was remarkably efficient, much more so than any of the ones they had started with and allowed for supreme control over the size and temperature of the flame.
Flitwick sighed a little. "If only we had a way to sustain this. Potion makers up and down the country would love us for it. We could make it an enchantment, of course, but that would make the control aspect very tricky and likely much less precise."
Sunset nodded thoughtfully. "It probably would ... unless ..."
"Do you have an idea?"
"I think so ... this may not be a problem to be solved with magic alone ... if I ... yes, that could work ... Of course the muggles of this world know much more about this than ponies do. Not to mention I was never too up to date on the topic myself. I'll have to do some research. But I think I might be able to make that happen. But if we are to make it work for potions, we should cover another topic."
Flitwick was intrigued. What was she up to? What idea could she have had? And what would the muggles know about it? Still, he decided to humor her and see where it would lead. "And what topic is that?"
"Shields."
"Shields you say? Very well. We have a few shielding charms. The obvious one is of course the Protego Charm. It's very well liked among duelists. It's not very efficient, but it can hold off one or two powerful spells, not to mention it's pretty universal. Most of our other shielding charms are magnitudes more efficient, but highly specialised."
Another hour later, they had managed to create a new shield spell as well. A powerful and efficient thermal shield that, if integrated into an enchantment, would easily resist even the heat from something such as a molten cauldron. Exactly what Sunset needed.
On Sunday, two major things happened. First, Harry had his first training session with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, who seemed highly impressed by his skill. By the end of their practice, Fred and George actually started suggesting to just keep an eye on the enemy seeker for a few minutes, to make sure they didn't catch the snitch first, then catch it after the game had gone on for a while, just to give the rest of the teams a chance to actually do anything.
Harry had to admit they had a point.
The other major thing happened atop Gryffindor Tower. Sunset stood alone on the roof. Waiting for a very familiar sight. She didn't need to wait for long. In a flash of golden fire, Philomena joined her on the roof, happily gliding down to land on her shoulder. But she hadn't come alone.
A woman in a flowing white dress stood before them. The fabric was patterned with gold and she wore a golden necklace and a tiara, each holding large purple gemstones. She was tall, radiating power and wisdom, and stood with otherworldly grace.
Which lasted exactly until she tried taking her first step and fell forward.
Well prepared, Sunset had her magic ready and caught her easily. "Well princess. Welcome, to Hogwarts." She walked over to Celestia, taking her hand and helping her walk over to the edge of the tower to look over the school's grounds.
"It is rather pretty to look at, isn't it?"
Sunset nodded. "That it is. Still, it isn't why we're here."
"True. That it isn't."
The two of them spent several minutes walking, jogging and ultimately running in circles around the top of the tower. After the Princess had mastered bipedal locomotion, they moved on to help Celestia resume her equine shape while here. Sunset wasn't at all surprised that Celestia managed the transformation after only half an hour. She had, after all, had eons to grow familiar with her magical essence. And with manipulating it. After hugging Sunset in human shape and finding that she preferred the experience as a pony, the princess returned to Equestria.
Now, however, she would be ready for her meeting with Professor Dumbledore the following week.
Sunset, meanwhile, switched out of her school robes and teleported to London. Looking to find a place where she could find a book on basic electronics. She had some research to do.
When Sunset returned that evening with several electronic components, Hermione was rightly confused as to what she planned to do, over the next week she would learn what her sister had planned.
Professor Flitwick, however had to wait until Saturday.
Filius Flitwick felt a mixture of joy and curiosity as he heard the knock on his office door. Wondering how Miss Shimmer would surprise him today, he waved his wand to open the door. "Now will you tell me what your idea was?"
The girl before him smirked. "I'll do you one better. I'll show you." She opened her bag and pulled out two small devices. The first was a square brass box that had several metal bars sticking out of the corners at the top and a red crystal sitting in the center, surrounded by four smaller crystals. The other device was a wooden contraption with two dials and two switches, as well as four displays like he had seen on muggle devices. All the controls were covered by a glass plate that was attached on a hinge so the cover could be flipped aside when it wasn't needed.
"Now what is this?"
"Well. I found that using magic to control the spell we created in an enchantment wasn't feasible."
Flitwick nodded. He knew that much. The spell lost too much of the precision in deciding the temperature and the size of the flame that was its main draw.
"So I used technology instead. Look." She flipped the cover aside, brought both dials to the minimal position and flicked the left switch. With a faint hum, the box came to life, the displays above each control lighting up and displaying numbers. The small crystals on the other device lit up a soft teal and a wave of teal magic ran over the brass box.
Drawing his wand, Flitwick cast an aura sight charm, recognizing that both devices had a multitude of enchantments on them, as well as an internal buffer of magic. The teal shimmer, he realized, was that of the thermal shield they had come up with the week before, combined with a weak shield against physical impacts. With a satisfied smile, the girl flicked the second switch and the red crystal in the center came to life. A flame appeared in the air above it, outside the shield, and remained there.
He watched as Miss Shimmer turned the left dial, the number above it climbing slowly while the flame grew in size. When she had brought it to the maximum position, the flame was a foot tall. She quickly dialed it back to a more moderate size, then began twisting the second knob. It only took him a moment before he noticed that the flame was getting noticeable brighter and hotter. Again the display above the knob she was twisting displayed steadily higher numbers, but he noticed that it was a bit wider and didn't stop climbing at '100', instead climbing ever higher until finally stopping at '900'.
Seeing how the office was getting rather toasty, Miss Shimmer quickly dialed back the heat and the size of the flame, before extinguishing it by flicking the right switch back up. Once the flame was gone, she flicked the left switch up as well, causing the displays to shut down and letting the shield dissipate.
He stood there in stunned silence for a moment. "How?"
The girl smirked again. "Turns out using muggle electronics to control the enchantment is a lot more precise."
Ooh... I can predict there's going to be some hefty arguments going on in the comments section of this one.
9646134
Eh, probably. But I'm not budging on this one. Too central to my plans for this contiunity.
I gotta say I really enjoy this story and am definitely interested in seeing where this is going. If I had to offer one criticism it would be towards Sunset, if I had to describe her in two words it would be Plot Device. Basically, the problem is that so far throughout the story whenever something needed to happen Sunset just made it happen, its never a question of if she can do it but if she'll do it in the same chapter the idea is brought up.
And look there is nothing wrong with having a character like this, Dumbledore in the books was very much a character who could do things simply because he was Dumbledore but he wasn't the main character so he could get away with being like that. As the main character, it just makes Sunset the least interesting part of the story.
It's just hard to care about a main character who never has to struggle with anything. The closest we got was with her relationship with Celestia and not only was the conflict underdeveloped it took all of five seconds to resolve. There is a reason why most main characters in stories are the underdog, it's more interesting to see someone rise up from the bottom than to see someone start at the top and just continue to succeed at everything.
Despite this criticism I do still enjoy this story, after all, I really enjoy Sword Art Online and we all know how terrible that series MC can be.
i.pinimg.com/736x/f5/3b/e9/f53be9ae46c5ad36b59c0e387e8558cf.jpg
How long till unspeakables try to kidnap Sunset?
9646123
It was a joke. Though I was once lectured at length by a feminist how to hold a door for a woman is patriarchal and leads to women being disenfranchised. Also any plot point that is unimportant to the story will be left out and the author already said they ain't feeling the RGRE yo.
9646218
Maybe so, but I'm cynical enough of general human nature to at least want to clarify the issue and try to dispel potential knee-jerk reactions, if not for you then at least for others who read your comments and take them more seriously than you may have intended (such as I may or may not have ).
9646150
Erm what did sunny bun make?
9646258
She made arcanotechnology. I suppose combined with my previous comment it should be fairly obvious that that's going to be a major theme going forward.
9646258
She essentially made a technologically controlled, magical bunsen burner/portable stove top using components generally used in electronics, some possibly even computer related. In Harry Potter "Technology doesn't work in Hogwarts Becuz Magikz" context, that's a Really big deal, both in-story and among certain others in this fandom whom have argued all sides of this issue to death in the comments of other HP-Crossover stories.
9646278
Honestly, I've never seen it as a big problem as long as the problem is acknowledged. Magic School Days handled it best by acknowledging the problem and then introducing a way to get around it. But in other stories, they just pretend the problem doesn't exist, why? Because the authors believe it's impossible for the magic to affect electronics but not affect the human body. Which let's be honest is a stupid argument, it's magic it doesn't exist and can, therefore, do whatever the hell it wants.
So honestly I'm fine with combining magic and technology as long as the author doesn't take the lazy route by pretending the problem doesn't exist.
9646278
Of course, if wizards have no clue of how technology works, how would they understand how ambient magic interferes with it?
That being said, in this case that actually wasn't much of an issue, given that the interference of magic is known to mostly just affect digital devices. Seing how everything sunset built here was entirely analog, there was no issue with that in this case.
9646296
Seems to me like this is just another route an author can take to decide magic "Does whatever the hell it wants", so you're contradicting your own argument.
This is all academic at this point, since Gerandakis has said that it's mostly digital electronics that are adversely affected by Magic, which I'll accept and respect for the sake of this story as far as it's concerned, but that doesn't make any other headcanon less valid in the context of other stories, since literally all HP Canon gives us is Hermione saying that they don't work together because of magic, literally because that's what she read in Hogwarts - A History without doing any independent research herself into the matter to confirm it one way or the other.
9646348
This would be true in an original work, but this is fanfiction. You're expected to work within the boundaries set by the original books which state that magic and electronics don't mix. If you (the author) don't want this to be the case then fine but don't try to justify ignoring this detail with some nonsense excuse.
9646367
Canon does not, in fact, give us a definitive answer one way or the other, so a Fanfiction author going "Nope, Magic and Tech can work together. Wizards are just too ignorant and trusting of supposed authorities to become curious enough to find any differently" is an entirely valid route to take.
I personally believe very little of what I am "Told" and even less of what I read, especially from supposed source authorities, without some sort of rock solid evidential confirmation to back it up, and even then I try to factor in whatever I can figure out of whatever biases they may have, since I have also run into issues of "Source Authorities" trying to twist facts to match their theories, rather than changing their theories to match the facts.
9646379
True but it's also one of the laziest most hate filled routes you can take. That's all I'm saying.
9646385
I won't argue that it's Lazy, but laziness doesn't negate validity, since much of Real Life technological development is centered around how to do more with less effort. Calling a farmer who uses a combine to harvest instead of threshing their crop by hand lazy would be going a bit far IMO. The same with calling an Author "Lazy" for using one of the simplest narrative devices available to them rather than something more convoluted that they would have to develop from the ground up so their readers are less inclined to poke holes into it, unless they have some narrative reason for the more complex explanation that won't be relevant until later on (which I expect is what's happening here given that Digital electronics have trouble with Magic according to the author).
Hate may also be going a bit far since I'd be more inclined towards pity when the device is used.
9646398
I disagree, when you're explanation boils down to "wizards are stupid" then that is nothing but hate. There is no other reason to use such an excuse. If you want something simple you can't get any simpler than the ponies simply introducing something that makes what was previously thought to be impossible possible.
9646414
Which I did, you'll find that I already established a solution to that particular problem. Namely at the start of chapter two.
9646426
Well, I was speaking more generally but yes I did forget that got mentioned back in chapter 2 so thanks for the reminder.
If all she did was analog then yeah, unless magic had enough electromagnetic interference to be impossible to hide then it can work. Electronics are way more finicky though.
9646414
Not Stupid. Ignorant. And acknowledging either isn't really inherently hateful as far as I'm concerned.
As Forrest Gump taught me, "Stupid is as Stupid Does". Some people just aren't able to learn as well as others, many through no fault of their own, whether they be autistic, have down syndrome or any number of other learning disabilities. They aren't deserving of my hate or disdain, but pretending that they aren't is its own disservice.
But I'm not classifying Wizards as Stupid. In the setting under discussion I'd call them ignorant and incurious. Both of which can be corrected with enough effort on the part of the individual(s) who recognize(s) the problem as such, and a good enough reason on the part of the people who have the problem.
Under such conditions, "Hate" at best leads to apathy of the situation as the people in the position to correct it instead decide to work around it, and at worst leads to bouts of villainy where they try to "Clean the Slate", so to speak, before just rebuilding society to their preferences in the aftermath, should they succeed.
Pity, on the other hand, can lead to motivation to change things as they exist. Yes, sometimes the people in a position to make a difference can suffer from apathy or defeatist notions, and thus not act, but if they can find their own motivation to work past either, their pity can become a transformative force on the existing society for good or ill. After all, for every hero who inspires a society to open their eyes to the greater world around them and rally to their cause/ideals, there's a villain who goes the other route and tries to take over everything with notions of "It's for their own good" and "They'll understand in time"...
9646414
What draws the line between "wizards are stupid" and "ponies found solution for something previously thought impossible?" The two are not mutually exclusive situations. Cause just because the latter is true doesn't mean that people won't imply that it was because wizards are stupid that led to them thinking that the problem was impossible to solve.
I'd argue that what's more important is the presentation and nature of what led to the wizards not finding the solution on their own, similar to how a mistake presented as an "honest mistake" is more forgivable than a mistake presented as one "you could have seen from a mile away."
9646448
Which is an idea that doesn't line up with canon. If wizards held no interest or curiosity in muggle tech and ideas not only would it be impossible for them to have stayed hidden for so long but they also wouldn't have radios, indoor plumbing, cameras or any interest in automobiles.
While I don't disagree some wizards are as you described it is simply inaccurate to say all wizards are like that. It would be like saying all southerners are racist gun loving dicks just because there are people that exist who would match that description.
9646453
Totally agree if there has to be a reason for why the wizards (or ponies) couldn't figure something out it should be better than them simply being too stupid.
9646465
That being said, it is an undeniable fact that situations in which you stumble upon a solution and then go 'Hmm, you know, in hindsight, that is surprisingly obvious. Why didn't we think of that years ago?' are tragically common.
9646462
Hence why I stipulated Apathy and Despondence as an obstruction to Sweeping societal changes. Enough wizards in the past have become curious enough of Non-Magi advances to either copy or steal a comparatively minuscule sampling of them, but not enough to bring that minuscule sampling you mention up to even a conveniently measurable fraction of what No-magi's are capable of by 1991 as a Whole. They either weren't concerned Enough with the greater whole to make the effort, or if they were they weren't able to inspire enough others to make a dent in the societal apathy that is more than evident in the Harry Potter series.
People who show interest in non-magical society, such as Dumbledore or Mr Weasley, tend to be considered either odd at best or traitorous at worst to the "Purity" of Magical Society, even among their own families (Molly tends to disapprove of Arthur's Hobby of tinkering with non-magical technology, even if she tolerates it). As shown in the fourth book, General Magical Society isn't curious enough for a majority of individuals to find out how to even properly Dress as a non-magical to blend in, or concerned enough with their secrecy to not do things that make the non-magical caretaker of the campground suspicious enough to need to be memory charmed nearly hourly according to the ministry officials Arthur Talks to. Arthur himself, even with his self proclaimed fascination with non-magical tech, apparently isn't curious enough to go to non-magical sources for references on how their technology works, instead collecting the severed plugs from cords while wondering what they're for, or learn that their currency exchanges are centered around a base 10 system and needing Harry to help him when they're on their way to the Ministry in the fifth book.
9646527
True but obviously not thinking of an idea isn't the same thing as being stupid.
9646532
I get what you're saying but you can't judge an entire society based on the relatively small sample size of people Harry meets or observes from a distance.
Harry once saw a globe of the entire galaxy, that tells me that while wizards may not have much interest in muggle ideas its probably because they are more interested in their own more magical ideas.
9646564
While Harry personally meets and forms relationships with a relatively small sample of the UK's Magical population, he (and by extension we as the readers) is still able to Observe a relatively large sample of Societal interaction both UK and abroad, first during his time at Hogwarts among a majority of the UK's student-age population which would be a reflection of their parents, second especially during the Quidditch World Cup in the fourth book which had a large sampling of international populations showing up to take part in, and third during the Triwizard Tournament where we see another, though smaller, mix of international students. During none of these examples, and especially the ones where Harry(we) was(were) exposed to the internationals, was any particular notion made that a majority of magical society acted particularly different than the sample observed in the Harry's closer relationships, other than the slight personality/cultural differences we could expect them for having whenever a "Background" individual was singled out, and when a character did widely divert from cultural norms, such as Arthur Weasley, they were usually singled out specifically and their quirks explained as being "Not Normal" in some manner or other, which is it's own reflection of greater societal norms.
Which isn't in itself a bad thing, but it's also secular and exclusionary. Bringing in outside ideas, and especially as Sunset has done here, using them to make something magical even Better than it could be using purely magical solutions, can only make Magical society as a whole better. Ignoring them, regardless of if it's through apathy ("they are more interested in their own more magical ideas") or anti-non-magical-biases ("Blood Purity"), just means that they're needlessly blocking themselves off from advancements that could propel them leaps and bounds beyond what they are currently capable of, much like non-magical society has done in even the last century, where we started off not knowing how to fly and before it ended we were landing men on the Moon.
9646615
We can't say for certain that no wizard has ever used technology to improve magic all we can say for sure is that they generally ignore muggle inventions and it makes sense why they do. Most muggle idea's have already been done by wizards using magic. There is no point to a dishwasher when you have a spell that makes dishes wash themselves.
The only idea's they make use of are ones that magic hasn't already been able to do like radio, TV and cars.
9646302
It is good to see you are taking this into account and not disregarding it entirely (which lesser authors would probably do).
We also have a couple thoughts about the following part:
9646634
Not saying they didn't, but in the cases where a Wizard might have develop something other than the specific cases you mentioned above, none of them apparently caught on enough for anyone to care enough to make it wide spread, either through them not making the effort to distribute their idea or through inadequate advertising. The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office would also probably be a hindrance depending on the specifics of it's mandate, which other than things like exploding toilets, biting tea sets, shrinking keys, Flying Carpets, etc... isn't really gone into specifics of.
As for a machine that washes dishes compared to a spell, what about a "machine" that automatically summons nearby dirty dishes and begins washing them on its own just by tapping a crystal or knob or something simple enough for even a child without a wand to use? Or a computer with a library of magical arithmantic and runic formula's integrated into its memory and peripherals that allow for the casting of spells with a simple input that would otherwise be either difficult or impossible for an individual to cast on their own either because they lack the time to set up a spell of a particular complexity, or because the understanding of a particular spell's mechanics are beyond them. Heck, even a Magical computer "wired up" to various points around a home capable of automating integrated cleaning charms when it detects abnormal messes, or more intensive ones with a deliberate input would be an improvement from having to go from room to room having to both know and be practiced enough to use all the spells necessary to do the same. Admittedly these are just some ideas I came up with off the top of my head, and they could use some polish, but the potential is there, and that's all that really matters as far as I'm concerned.
9646685
I feel we should ignore computers because at the time of the books they are still relatively new and not seeing a lot of home use I fully imagine wizards would make use of computers as they become more commonplace because they are useful and unlike with TV hold no danger of exposing wizards.
As for the dishwashing idea you don't need a machine for that just enchant the sink so it starts cleaning dishes as soon as you perform some kind of action or speak a certain phrase.
9646674
Simple, the readouts are displayed on simple seven segment displays, those are just seven LEDs mounted together in a specific configuration, all analogue. So no, no dials. And I think you're overestimating how much technology she actually used. The hearth itself contains no tech at all, only the contol unit. And yes, both are magically powered.
The dials used to control temperature and size of the flame are simple potentiometers (variable resistors), the spell doesn't measure voltage, but reads out electrical resistance directly. Those are directly connected to the magical system, just like the switches and display. The controls aren't really electronic, just the interface is.
9646734
I was just giving an example of something that could be used as an eventual possibility. Admittedly my own views of Techno-Magic are somewhat skewed by MGLN, where the Magical Societies are essentially in a Sci-Fy age due to their level of technomagical development, and would absolutely Love to see a HP story where the same eventually happens to it. The other thing to remember is that during the Canon period where the majority of the books are set (1991-98), things like Personal/family Computers and Cellular Phones were becoming more and more Common (My family got a "Family" computer in 1997), and the Internet was just starting to get its legs under it. Surveillance cameras were also becoming more and more common, and a lot of First World governments were going through the process of converting a majority of their permanent records from paper to digital mediums, so an enterprising wizard willing to make the Effort to educate themselves about Modern No-magi society could definitely do some things with Computers and magic at least by the time the books' pre epilogue story closes.
Also true, though again an example of something majority Wizards haven't bothered to think of in favor of their apparent "If it works, why bother coming up with a different solution" attitude.
9646777
Yeah but if there's no problem that needs fixing why would anyone need to come up with a solution?
9646767
Uhm, 7 segment led displays are very digital. You can't use them to directly display a voltage, you would first need to make a analog to digital converter. All that would happen if you put an analog voltage on it is that the selected segments would go brighter or darker. The best way to do it sort of analog would be a very complex resistive grid and relay/transistor network. You would basicley have to make a lookup table for all the values that can be displayed. Not undoable, but really practical either. Dials or a bar (like on visualizers on DJ equipment) would be so much easier. But 7 segment displays require some form of intelligent control.
9646793
The philosophy that improvement is a perpetual process and the idea that "Good Enough" is never enough if there's room to make something better.
9646813
Sure and nothing indicates that wizards aren't constantly improving the spells they have while coming up with new ones. The idea that they need to incorporate technology to be better is just silly. Maybe it would help but at the same time, it's understandable why they don't when so far magic alone has been more than enough.
9646798
A controll that, in this case, is supplied magically. Programming that sort of look up table into a magical matrix isn't all that complicated.
9646818
They could be improving their spells, yes, but it's clear to anyone who takes even half a minute to actually Think about what we know of Wizarding recent societal accomplishments compared to Non-magical societal accomplishment to see that Non-Magicals are Rapidly out-pacing them, a process only expedited with the invention of Transistors and computer technology. Yes, they could be improving, but compared to their neighboring society, their pace of advancement is practically glacial.
"Need" in this context is also a bit of a loaded word. Even in Modern First World society, we don't "Need" a lot of the things to simply Survive and get by, but you can't deny that they make things a Heck of a lot easier, and without them it would be much, Much more difficult to maintain both the size of our population and the productivity levels of the economies of the free world. Yes, they don't "Need" technology to live their lives as they have been, but whether that technology is magic based or on non-magical physics, without it not a whole lot is going to change very fast so they can enjoy an even Better life than what they could with Magic alone.
9646833
Like you said most technological improvements are used to make our lives easier but for wizards magic already makes life pretty easy. They don't need all the advancements muggles make and I would argue they are better off for it. God knows the wizards would never need to go the lengths muggles have to the point where they start destroying the world.
9646824
That is indeed a perfect solution for anyone that doesn't want to learn microcontrollers or work out a rheostat network. But in any case, 7 segment displays are much better if controlled digitally instead of analog.
9646777
I think, what you are trying to articulate is that wizards have a society that punitively encourages and enforces willful ignorance resulting in a retardation in any advancements paralleling muggle progress. Similar in nature to certain religious cults that isolate their population in order to maintain control over their followers thoughts and actions. Unlike the Amish, who choose to live a simpler life, but do not ignore the rest of the population.
9645975
Someone in court will state facts and technical truths designed to mislead, manipulate and distract, effectively lying in such a way to avoid perjury. This one statement by Dumbledore jumped out seems reminiscent of this, especially when followed by the suggestion that Sirius and Harry would be better off spending their time in Equestria. I'm not saying that what Dumbledore said wasn't technically true, in a snapshot sense, I'm saying that it seems intentionally misleading, something that appears ooc from how you have been writing him so far. This is not even criticism, just an inquiry on what you intended with these lines. Taken at face value, they do scream that Albus has no idea how laws work.
An analogy would be someone calling into an ISP, claims to have years of professional computer experience and then demands to know why the attachment that came with his email won't open.
9646850
What Dumbledore was saying was a statement on the current state of affairs. He was saying that Sirius, currently, doesn't own the Black fortune. Nothing more and nothing less. He didn't say anything about how that could be changed.
9646840
Which breeds the apathy and incuriosity I mentioned above, which leads to a lack of improvement overall, even in ways that are purely helpful. Lyconthropy has been a problem for wizards and no-magis alike for centuries, if not millennia and they only Just started making inroads on just reducing its effects with the Wolfsbane Potion. Non magical society is eradicating deadly and infectious diseases at an increasingly rapid rate, tending to do so within Decades of a viable vaccine being discovered when we actually put our minds to it.
Unless together working with non-magical R&D they could come up with Arcane-technological solutions to those same problems that actually help Fix things, rather than simply trying to come up with the least destructive method of accomplishing a goal. I also have my reasons for dismissing a lot of the doomsday predictions predicated in modern media and government for being as "Dire" as they're made out to be. Yes, they are problems, I won't deny that, but I also firmly believe that we'll be able to figure out solutions long before they actually threaten the world (Except Nukes, the only solution to which being "No-One Use Them [without invoking Mutually Assured Destruction]", and a strong stance on international aggression deterrence to make sure that happens.)
9646850
More or less.
9646877
Hmmm, you are evading any proclamation of intent. May I assume that the only objective here was a literary justification for sending the pair to Equestria?
9646882
Nothing says that wizards lack curiosity, wizard radio and flying cars wouldn't be a thing if wizards weren't curious. The fact that they end up not using a lot of technology has nothing to do with a lack of curiosity and everything to do with not needing it.
This has more to do with the fact that were-wolfs have been viewed as just monsters for the longest time, an attitude that has only recently begun to change hence the creation of a potion to treat its effects.
And magic has long since allowed wizards to cure all these diseases allowing them to focus on the harder to cure magical diseases.
I do agree that if magical's and non-magicals worked together they could accomplish more than they would alone, that's just common sense, but that's not all on the wizards but also on the fact that the muggles tend to reject ideas concerning magic and with their being so few wizards they can't afford to risk exposure to muggles that would want to see them destroyed. And don't try to convince me that isn't a real concern cause even without real magic that crap still happens all over the world.