Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

A/N: To all of my reviewers, thank you for your support! And my apologies for inexcusably long delays between the updates. I hoped to get two new chapters done before the New Year, but as usual, real life interfered. So here's the first interim chapter.

Interlude 2: The Gathering

Smithson's villa in Florida; night earlier

Jake Smithson frowned. Timur was late, and his own schedule couldn't afford much longer delay. Fortunately the others have already arrived. He cringed inwardly. What was planned as a private meeting between the Conclave leader and him, quickly expanded to an unofficial gathering of several key members and their proxies. Timur insisted on bringing along his apprentice Dmitri and on the presence of the other North-American member, Keesh Red Feather. Turned out the latter was unavailable as his proxy White Buffalo has informed Jake. Although perhaps it was a blessing, Smithson had thought, otherwise that werewolf would probably have shown up too… Relief was short-lived, as Abdullah somehow has heard about the meeting and instantly signed up for it under the excuse of discussing more urgent political matters with him, which he wasn't looking forward to in the slightest. And when Gandhi has matter-of-factly informed him of attendance as well, Jake just made arrangements for dinner at his private villa, praying to Highmaster that there be no more party crashers.

"Daddy?"

He broke away from his troubled thoughts, turning to smile at his daughter. "Yes, sweetie?"

"Timur and Dmitri have arrived," the young woman smiled back.

He sighed in relief. "Thank you, Elyssa. I'll show them in. You go to the hall and get the others."

Putting on the table the copy of Quantum Theory of Magic she was carrying, Elyssa nodded and left the room, pausing only to mutter a short Etherei phrase under her breath. Smithson's spirits lifted. Thanks Highmaster she's as gifted as I am. More so 'cause it's a thorn in this ridiculous theory of Western inferiority… All of sudden, the gathering appeared much more bearable.

"Evening, Jake," Timur greeted the host amiably as the two wizards in Muggle clothes entered the house. "Forgive us for tardiness. Who could have thought that traffic would be that bad at this hour."

"I suppose you could have just Apparated to the guest point?" Smithson replied dryly, raising his eyebrows. Old wizard just chuckled. The younger man shrugged shyly.

"Thank you, but I much rather prefer the normal way when possible. Besides, it gave us some more time to mingle with ordinary people. After all, having magic is not an excuse for overusing it. It tends to make us wizards haughty and aloof to our non-magical brethren."

Jake frowned. For all his faults, he never considered himself and wizards in general above the Muggle people. "Still, what's the purpose of our advantages if we don't use them? Does it really matter if they are technological or magical? Like they say, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and vice versa I may add."

Timur sighed. "This is an old argument between us, my friend. Though I'll admit, perhaps I'm becoming too old for this quick-paced advancement of nowadays… Now, I believe the others are waiting for us. Perhaps we shall resume it some other time?"

Smithson agreed. It was rather late anyway and they still had a serious discussion ahead. So he led his guests to the dining hall where the other guests had already assembled. Abdullah was the first to notice the newcomers.

"Greetings, Ethendi Timur. Salam, Dmitri friend," he bowed slightly in respect. White Buffalo limited with a simple hello. Gandhi just smiled mysteriously, his eyes twinkling. Elyssa smiled amiably and showed them to their seats.

After the delicious meal the mood of the gathering somewhat sombered. As Jake's daughter non-verbally cleaned up the table before leaving, the host started, looking at Timur pointedly: "I believe we have a matter to discuss."

"Several actually," Abdullah corrected darkly. "And I don't mean just those political disagreements."

"Before we start," Timur interfered, "I'd like to know why Keesh has been unable to attend." He gazed directly at White Buffalo. The Native American shifted uneasily.

"Self-assigned mission in a remote region. He should be back before long."

Smithson turned to him, his curiosity piqued.

"A mission? Then why I wasn't informed? All our activity on this continent should be co-ordinated with my office lest we attract the unlikely attention from the Ministry for Magic or, Highmaster forbid, Muggle government. I can't afford covertly interfering with them too much. It's enough that we keep messing with satellite photos and the technicians who monitor them!"

"You do it on your Ministry's orders, not ours," Abdullah noticed offhandedly. Jake's face darkened. Were it up to him, the entire interaction policy would have been drastically different.

"Speaking of the Ministry," White Buffalo interrupted, seemingly glad about distraction, "There are some questions concerning the use of magic in your recent HAARP project. My sources indicate that several Tesla's spells have been involved." This statement earned a couple of concerned looks.

"Of course they were," Smithson forced out, irritated. "How else are we supposed to re-establish contact with them?"

Several members glanced at each other. "But it will never come even close to the Ei Emitter of the ancients," Dmitri spoke uncertainly, entering the discussion for the first time.

Which translates to 'why even try?' Jake thought. "And we shall never find it until the search succeeds," he said aloud. It triggered another round of glances.

"It has been almost a century and half," White Buffalo spoke cautiously. "Sometimes I wonder if it was just destroyed…" Jake nearly groaned at the outlandish suggestion, and Timur and Gandhi stared at the speaker.

"It is the thing-in-itself, the perfect magical matrix!" he tried to hold his temper in check, explaining the basic things. "It cannot be destroyed by either darkest of magics, nuclear weapons, or even the M-Nullifier." Not that anyone ever tried, he added inwardly.

"Which brings me to the reason for this whole… gathering," he continued, glaring at Timur. "Which was supposed to be private."

"Speak freely," the old wizard replied. "All of us here are Conclave members in good standing."

Jake wanted to argue that White Buffalo was only temporarily replacing Keesh and Dmitri was just an apprentice, but then though better of it.

"The expedition in Mexico found nothing. Yet another failure." While it was nothing new, since he and the others received similar reports yearly, it still irritated him every time. If only I could get my hands on the one who caused all this mess in the first place…

"And on top of this, Muggles have restarted their attempts to locate the artifact sites. And they are putting more effort this time. Expeditions must finally succeed before they reach them. I'm doing what I can, but I can misguide their special services only for so long. And my contacts in CIA and NASA say they are getting closer, particularly in a Bermuda region."

Abdullah and White Buffalo again exchanged glances, however Timur appeared untroubled: "They won't be able to access them. Even we cannot access them yet, even knowing their approximate locations."

"And this is precisely why the search must be finished in this century!" Smithson pressed on. "The longer they remain unattended, the higher is risk of global disaster. Need I reminding you of the World Wars? Were it in our hands all these years ago, they might have been prevented..."

Timur sighed sadly. "I wish for the success as much as you do. But you know well that it's beyond our abilities to will expeditions into success. Even if all twelve gather and form the Circle."

"But we can ensure that Muggles stop interfering, once and for all," Jake replied ingratiatingly. "Requesting permission for special measures."

Abruptly, Timur's expression changed. Abdullah, Dmitri and White Buffalo tensed.

"Denied. No matter what, lives of innocents are off limits," he answered sternly. His powerful tone of authority caused Smithson to recoil slightly.

"Whatever you say, Archon," he spat out. "You decide. It's not like sticking to ethical policy has brought our numbers irreparably low… yet."

"Only Highmaster decides," the Archon of the Conclave replied quietly. "We can only try to follow the path we were shown. All of us know where it leads in the end."

The tension in the room dissipated. After all, every Conclave member could access the extra-dimensional realm, if only for a short time. And anyone who touched Eden's antechamber even once always kept these indescribable memories for the rest of their lives.

Smithson seemed to remember it as well, as he had the grace to look sheepish and apologize for a momentary outburst.

"I really worry about the global dynamics of our numbers, though," he added. "Even with the slight increase during the last twenty years, I still think that organized expansion beyond the Wizarding world is necessary. Unless the Projector works like it should after all and the world becomes a better place for the younger generation."

"Now that it was mentioned," Gandhi spoke for the first time, startling Dmitri who was sitting next to him, "What results have we achieved so far?"

"Pathetic. They seem to either ignore us or treat like something insignificant," Jake said curtly.

"Or maybe we're doing something wrong," Abdullah put in. Timur shifted slightly as his intuition prompted him to memorize this suggestion for further pondering.

"Anyway," his Deputy summed up, "Until the search succeeds, we're in a stalemate."

"Not that there's much we can do…" Timur said thoughtfully. "Dmitri and I have drawn up some plans for the next expedition. I'm going to present them during the next full gathering."

The mention of the gathering triggered something in Jake's memory.

"Speaking of the gathering, are there any news about…" he hesitated for a moment, glancing at the strangely silent White Buffalo and Dmitri. "…the situation in Britain?"

"No more that I know of," the Archon replied. Unless, purely hypothetically, Viktor has kept some details both from him and his Deputy.

"We could have had some by now," Jake glared at Abdullah and Gandhi. "Perhaps, if someone had reconsidered…"

The Iranian frowned and shook his head. The Brahmin priest remained serene.

"You of all people should've voted for immediate action!" Smithson pressed on. "After all, it is said that your own distant cousins are attending the British school of magic."

"My daughter-in-law's actually," Gandhi corrected with dignity. "And I believe the implied threat from the rift is exaggerated."

To say nothing about the general situation in that country, several other men thought. But interfering with the local wizarding affairs was one of the last things they could afford. It's been this way for almost century and half after all…

The wizards slowly dispersed as the conversation took more down-to-earth turn. While Smithson and Abdullah occupied themselves with sharp political debates, the others excused themselves one by one. White Buffalo was the first, which slightly surprised Timur. He was hoping to ask more about Keesh's absence, and wondered what the Native American was up to. Recalling that Xavia's proxy and adoptive brother Xeno LeRean was rather elusive lately, he suspected that she was in on it as well. Memorizing this train of thoughts for later, he went to find his apprentice, looking around in process. Conclave members generally didn't keep secrets from each other and, being invited, were allowed to explore most of the house, including the sizeable library which the technology expert of the Conclave had collected over the years. Besides, the modest-looking villa could be converted to a nearly impregnable fortress at a moment's notice, since Jake's position in an American Ministry for Magic required certain security levels.

Timur found Dmitri in an interesting conversation with Jake's daughter Elyssa, pausing before entering the room.

"…so you see, in the end Eths were immune to deception. Archon Timur theorizes that this was the reason for their race's grand success in an Ancient era… and the fundamental reason for their fallout with the humans in the Middle Ages. 'Someone who can't be tricked can't be trusted' and all that posh. That Dementor conflict was merely an excuse in the end."

Elyssa was curious. "And have you ever seen one?"

"Well, during my first excursion out there my side vision noticed a female Eth – well, it looked female to me; they don't have genders in physical meaning of the term and even in mental sense it's a variable, though it doesn't seem to prevent them from finding soulmates and having families… I often wonder whether they are absolutely immortal or have some kind of reproduction cycle, unique to their species. Now that I think of it, they might be closer to Phoenixes in this matter…"

The young woman nodded, taking all of this in. Timur recalled that she was just as gifted as her father and was well informed of the Conclave and its purpose, even though her interest in taking up either of Jake's jobs was quite superficial. From what he has heard, she was pursuing the career of lawyer, both in Magical and mundane worlds. In fact, such specialists were rather in a high demand by Muggleborn families since unlike more traditional Britain, they were very integrated into magical society in North America.

Still, the Archon saw it fit to interrupt the conversation. Being a single father, Smithson naturally tended to be overprotective of his daughter even after she came of age, and was rather cautious of young men who tried (at least in his eyes) to court her. And being a high-ranked member of both Conclave and the Ministry for Magic really didn't help in this case.

"Dmitri, Miss Smithson?"

"Archon Timur, sir?" the two turned to face him.

"I don't mean to be rude, but with us arriving late, it would only be a polite gesture to leave earlier, Dmitri. I'm sure our host would appreciate it."

"Oh, you're more than welcome to stay overnight," Elyssa objected. "Surely my father will understand. We have enough guest rooms for all of you, Æstêi." (18)

Dmitri blinked at the Etherei word and Timur's eyes twinkled. It was always refreshing to see young people interested in the old ways.

"Thank you, dear one," he replied in English, "But we really should be going. Dmitri and I still have a lot of work to do. After all, when the eternal realm finally takes me in, he will take my place on the Conclave."

"May it not happen for years to come," she respectfully replied. "Whatever my father might say, the Conclave needs your wisdom and arcane skills. After all, you were chosen as Master Tesla's successor for a reason."

"More than just being his own apprentice and the ongoing Great Patriotic War," Dmitri added.

Timur narrowed his eyes slightly, not liking to remember those years. At the same time he was pleased with Elyssa's consideration and level of understanding. Maybe she'll yet reconsider about working with the Conclave one day…

Still, it was close to local midnight, and they needed to be in another hemisphere by dawn, so after short goodbyes the two wizards got ready to depart.

"May the Highmaster light your way, looks like you'll need it," Elyssa said in farewell, having glanced at the window. Dmitri just chuckled and nonverbally summoned a will-o'-wisp. His mentor shook his head. Hopefully the young man wasn't just trying to show off…

Explanations:

(18) Etherei word literally meaning "siblings", commonly used for generic addressing.

Teaser for the next chapter:

Just as Harry turned to the nearest escape route, his heart skipped a beat when he saw Luna in the nearby clearing and an unfamiliar red-headed man right behind her. Instantly figuring that it was too late to warn her, he did the first thing which came to his mind.

"Accio Luna!"