"Looks like you've come up with a few more ideas?" Dumbledore took another large piece of hazelnut cake, as though he hadn't eaten dinner.
"I have a direction," Will said with a nod, "but I still need to test my theory. And knowing what to try is one thing; working out how to do it will take experiments."
"That's essential. But Will, you still don't always think like the wizards of old."
"What do you mean?" Will had no idea why Dumbledore had brought that up.
"Think about it. According to History of Magic, how did the Witch-hunt end?" Rather than answer him, Dumbledore posed more questions. "How do we deal with hiccups? And how was the braking problem on broomsticks solved?"
Will understood at once.
The hunt for actual wizards had ended with the invention of the Muggle-Repelling Charm. From then on, wizards had lived in a world apart from Muggles, and the Witch-hunt had become nothing more than Muggles killing one another.
To deal with hiccups, wizards had even developed the Hiccup-Breaking Charm as an alternative to Hiccuping Potion or the Hiccup Counter-curse.
The broomstick braking problem was more interesting still. Wizards hadn't improved the technology at all. They had simply invented the Braking Charm.
The Braking Charm had since become essential to every broomstick, helping it slow and stop faster. Harry's Firebolt bore an Unbreakable Braking Charm.
Wizards continued developing the Braking Charm. In 1929, Basil Horton and Randolph Cage of the Nimbus Racing Broom Company invented a new version and patented it. It made broomsticks easier to brake, reducing the likelihood of Quidditch players scoring from out of bounds or committing offside flying fouls.
The charm was used on every broomstick produced by the Comet Trading Company. Its brooms sold in huge numbers, used by everyone