[Interlude 02]

[Three days after Cornelius Fudge becomes Minister of Magic.]

"President Irwin,

I hope this letter finds you well. As the newly appointed Diplomatic Representative of MACUSA in the United Kingdom, I would like to thank you for the honour of sending me here. [Read: I am going to curse your tits off the next time I see you, Athena.]

In the spirit of transparent communication, I feel compelled to express my observations and reservations concerning the current Minister Cornelius Fudge. With utmost respect for the office, I find myself deeply concerned about his competence and effectiveness in leading the wizarding community in the UK. [Read: He is begging to find himself at the other end of a wand after the muggleborn and mixed-bloods get too tired of his shit and rebel.]

President Athena, permit me to be frank. Fudge strikes me as one of the most obnoxious individuals I've encountered, and considering my service in Tibet, that statement carries weight. [Read: One of our birds informed me that this guy said some very unflattering things about the wife of the Indian Ambassador. To the ambassador's face.]

In a recent meeting with the Chief Diplomat from Australia, Fudge made a startling declaration, stating that the Australian official could do 'whatever he liked' with the muggleborn of English descent slated for negotiation. While other magical nations would have prized such a significant human capital exchange, Fudge seemingly misunderstood, believing the Australians sought permission to persecute them.

The fallout of this executive order was evident when I met the bewildered Australian official afterwards. He had anticipated a resource exchange for the British claims, albeit tenuous, considering the muggleborn were descendants of a Muggle Penal Colony.

Fudge lacks subtlety, and to navigate future negotiations, it appears imperative to engage directly with Lucius Malfoy, a figure not known for his understanding nature. My anticipation for a pleasant tenure here dwindles.[Read: Deal with them as we deal with the Mexican Cartels.]

Best regards,

Elijah Graves.

P.S.- The British are so fucked I slightly pity them now."

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[Durmstrang, Gulf of Bothnia, Baltic Sea.]

[December, 1990.]

"Headmaster Lothbroda,

I trust this missive reaches you in good health and high spirits. I hope my name sparks a pleasant memory of our discussion on the dark arts assignment concerning the killing curse before Thor's feast in 1984.

The guidance you provided during that time has had a lasting impact on my journey. In appreciation of your influence, I am delighted to extend a wedding invitation to you.

Enclosed within this accompanying envelope is a Ministry-approved portkey for the day of my wedding, set for July 12, 1991, in Kaliningrad.

With sincere regards,

A grateful former student,

Ceaserion Laplace."

[Unknown Location.]

The entity watched as the boy in his rebellion against the Executor, began unsettling even the most composed essence of its being. It checked trillions of timelines quickly and came to the conclusion that somehow the boy had knowledge of certain future events to a frightening degree while not having the power or existence to cut through Eternity's veil. It was not uncommon for these types of mortals to exist, but it was still a peculiarity that it could not help but feel intrigued by due to its own nature. So it did what it always did with beings and mortals that piqued its interest, it waited and it observed the very interesting mortal by keeping an infinitesimal part of its awareness on the boy.

Nathan Grey remained untouched by the Executor, and the boy's unwitting actions somehow freed those around him from the Executor's influence. No something had been off about the boy who had escaped its own grasp, something that was the original point that drew Nathan to its attention, after all, any that escaped its grasp were special, no matter how common resurrection was across the vast multiverse.

This intrigue about the boy's nature finally came to an end but that moment in timelessness also burdened it with the truth of the boy's existence. The truth of how the boy might become the one with the ability to finally enchain it.

The Three Wagers of Mastery invoked against Death and the sudden veiling of the future, even to itself, marked a worrying development. Worse still, when it attempted to erase the boy's existence from the timeline for the crime of sacrilege against itself, it was forbidden.

The wagers did not allow for interference, the Balancer declared. It sensed sophistry in the Tribunal's words and realized it was being enchained by the oath it made in the name of The One that reigned Supreme.

The question lingered: Could it take any action against The One that sang all the songs to free itself from the wagers?

Even Death, vast in its power, couldn't contend against The One. All it could do was hope for the mortal's failure or, perhaps, mercy. Yet, both those avenues looked bleak for its future. It could not interfere, but perhaps it could provide better and more fulfilling alternatives than its own mastery if the mortal won the wager. The thought of cheating and cunning did not even cross its mind, even it could not deceive the singer of all songs so why struggle fruitlessly like mortals did when it came for them.

Greed was, after all, the greatest reason for mortals to meet it in the first place and so it would do what it did best. It would wait, watch and scheme to safeguard Death.

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[Beholder's eye, Diagon Alley.]

[October 13, 1990.]

Irene sighed as she folded the letter down and picked up the envelope of the letter that she had received from her son, Nathan.

He had written to her about his progress in magic and how his time at Hogwarts was going. He was already about to finish NEWT level Charms and Transfiguration while he was doing a lot of work in his studies on both runes and arithmancy. He groused about how he hated the herbology and potions classes and found them to be a waste of his time when compared to Alchemy and Divination.

Irene had found his original fascination with divination silly, but as Nathan had progressed in his Divination spell work that Trelawney did not teach and told her about some of the spells, all she could feel was anger at the professor for turning such a useful albeit limited branch of magic into hocus-pocus and guesswork.

Irene sighed before taking out another piece of parchment that her son had sent her along with a letter.

It was a small wireframe design for what her son titled 'Use of entangled mirrors to transfer messages that can be stored on a created memory drive.'

While the concept of a portable communication device like a mirror wasn't groundbreaking, Nathan's unique approach intrigued Irene. He aimed to create what her husband called a 'pager.'

According to him, if Nathan could make production cost-effective, his invention could rival the popularity of the Floo network, though it would probably not surpass the floo network's use as it allowed for more than just sending messages instantaneously.

The catch, however, lay in its association with 'muggle' technology, risking backlash from staunch traditionalists. Irene's father, concerned about their shop's clientele, clearly stated that they could not risk their already well-established business for a new risky venture. Not directly at least. Her father suggested that they should look for an already progressive family and then use their name for the venture.

Facing this challenge, the Grey family deliberated and decided to approach a more influential business that the traditionalists couldn't strong-arm. This entity would keep the Grey name out of Pureblood circles while still selling the Pager at a fair price. Such progressive families were rare, especially after the Dark Lord's impact on Britain.

The scarcity of supportive families in Britain led the Greys to look overseas. Only three families or businesses on the continent were considered due to secrecy and trustworthiness: The Vinci Club, The Delacour Family, and The Osla Family. The Greys had done business with all three in the past and thus had connections to the group.

Irene secretly hoped that the Vinci's would accept the offer, the club's members had many global connections that could a lot of new open doors for her son.

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 A|N: This interlude, unlike Interlude 01, is more of a hint for future events rather than a perspective from a different character in the wizarding world which I used in Interlude 01 to show why the English wizards are so hated in other parts of the world.

Hope you all like the chapter. If you do find me on Pa-atreon I go by dukeofvirtue there.