I – Evening

Omer stepped inside along with a short, muscular, stocky man in his early forties, who had bright red hair and a heavily freckled face. Stella got up from the sofa to greet their respectable guest.

"You must be Mr. Weasley," she said while extending her hand "I'm Stella, pleasure to finally meet you."

"Likewise," he replied in a heavily English accent, shaking her hand vigorously. "Please, call me Charlie."

"Please – er – Charlie, take a seat at the kitchen table, dinner is almost ready," mumbled Omer somewhat nervously as he gestured towards the big oak table Stella had gotten from her mother as a housewarming gift. He was always a little tense with authority.

Mr. Weasley was a recent transfer from another branch of the Ridgebit Foundation: The Ridgebit Dragon Sanctuary in Romania. He had been moved to their location to replace the recently retired Markus Svensson, their old Senior Supervisor. Omer had invited him for dinner (after copious nudging by Stella) as a nice gesture to 'start things off the right foot' with their new boss.

"So," started Mr. Weasley, sitting down at the chair closest to the entrance, "Omer here tells me you make one delicious moussaka Stella, is that right?"

She chuckled politely. "Well, I'd like to think I'm getting better at it."

"Nonsense," exclaimed Omer, a little too loudly, "She cooks better than my own mother. Though don't tell my mom I said that!"

Mr. Weasley laughed heartily at that.

"It should be ready now," she said, blushing slightly and walking toward the oven. "Anything you'd like to drink Charlie?"

"I could go for a bit of whiskey if you've got some."

"I'll get it," Omer mumbled as he flicked his wand to summon the expensive bottle Stella's father sent them for Christmas of last year. Neither Stella nor he were big drinkers (unlike her father) which meant that they saved it for an occasion such as this.

"Ah, the Muggle variety," said Charlie, lifting his glass for the bottle to pour itself into it. "Bourbon, is it? My dad loves those – though truth be told he loves anything Muggle…"

As she set down the big pan of moussaka to split into smaller plates, Stella couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation between her husband and their boss.

"You father works for the British Ministry, right?" Inquired Omer politely.

"Yes," replied Charlie. "Most of my extended family does in some capacity if I'm honest. Lucky I'm one of the few who actually get to do something meaningful with their life eh? Cheers!" He chuckled heartedly again as he clinked his glass to Omer's.

They both took a swig. Omer – who was even less accustomed to whiskey than Stella – coughed a little as he set down his glass.

"But seriously now," added the red-haired man. "There is nothing more amazing to me than what we do here. The conservation and study of precious magical creatures is what gives me utmost joy. Though I am technically your boss, I'm aware that you – as you've been working here for much longer than me and as a native of the region – have much better understanding of both the terrain and the creatures we're dealing with. So I will most likely be relying on you for these next few weeks."

"You flatter me, Charlie, really," replied Omer, blushing. "I know about your amazing rehabilitation work with dragons up in Romania. I can only aspire to be that good."

"Yeah well, I've always been more of a dragon person than anything else," he added with a wink.

Stella set down their plates (to ample compliments for the smell) and grabbed her utensils. The room was promptly filled with the sounds of clanking silverware and lively conversation. Charlie Weasley proved to be a friendly, jovial, and kind-natured man. He gave Stella the impression of an outdoorsy type of person, not unlike some of the Muggle guys from her hometown.

"So you must've gone to Hogwarts for school right?" Asked Stella as the conversation drifted to their countries of origin and their past.

"Yes indeed," replied Charlie. "Some of the best years of my life I had in that school."

"I always wanted to visit… It sounds so historic and amazing. And it served as the inspiration for my school, Ilvermorny."

"Right, of course, it is one of the older schools, if not the oldest."

"Well," barged in Omer, "maybe it's the oldest in Europe…"

"Ah yes, Omer, you must've gone to that shadowy school in Egypt, is that right? What was the name again?"

Omer chuckled softly. "I see what you did there Charlie. We are not allowed to give its name or location to outsiders. It is a heavily punishable offence."

"So mysterious…" said Charlie with a smile. "But you can describe it?"

"Briefly, yeah. It can be found inside and underneath an ancient pyramid out in the middle of the desert. No Muggle would ever have anything to look for out there, but even if they did, there are powerful enchantments that protect and conceal it from trespassers."

"Hogwarts has similar charms around it too."

"The language they teach in is Arabic – which I had to learn from a young age – and they take students from the entire Middle East and North Africa. Some even come from as far as Afghanistan and Pakistan. The students all stay there for eleven months out of the year and eat, sleep, and study mostly underground as the climate doesn't allow much venturing outside of the building."

"And do they teach you anything special? Any charms or spells or potions us westerners wouldn't be familiar with?"

Omer smiled at him politely. "All I can say is that the school focuses on Divination and Arithmancy. Beyond that I'm afraid I can't say anything else."

"And trust me," added Stella, "he hasn't told me either. God knows I've tried to pry him for more."

Charlie smiled at them amused.

The conversation then took on a turn for the better (at least in Stella's opinion) when magical creatures became the topic of choice. Her joy was not long lasting, however.

"So, what's the situation with the recent hippocampi migration?" Inquired Charlie. "I've heard there were some problems before I came down here,"

"Er yes well," answered Omer. "They seem to not want to move this winter. We've had a few divers go in and check on them. If you remember, there was an earthquake a couple of months ago. It may have released some nutrients up from the seafloor which kept them here despite the colder temperature of the water. And the waters are cold, unusually cold even for this season…"

"But otherwise, they seem okay?"

Stella glanced at her husband worriedly. "Not really… I mean they look pretty sickly, and I definitely think their numbers have dwindled a little…"

It made her sad to think of the poor hippocampi. All cold and miserable. Their noble, magnificent bodies weak and ill.

"But why won't they move then?" Wondered Charlie.

"We don't know yet…" replied Omer.

"My theory," said Stella, "is that what was released from the seabed wasn't nutrients but some mind-altering substance. Something that disorientated the poor things, which made them lack the strength to migrate."

"Hmmm…" Charlie paused, scratching his light goatee. "Perhaps we should bring in a specialist – maybe even a confunded Muggle one – to have a look. Meanwhile, have you tried feeding them? I know you usually don't get involved with animals in the wild but supplementing their diet could help in a situation like this."

"If things get dire, we'll definitely try to intervene," added Omer. "But as of now, I think they are still holding up on their own."

"Fair enough. And apart from the hippocampi, did this earthquake cause any other damage?"

"Not damage no," answered Omer. "But – and I wanted to tell you that as well Stella, but I haven't had the chance – there was a cliff nearby that collapsed and revealed a semi-submerged er – how you say in English I forget… Like a hole in the cliff er – "

"A cavern? Cave?"

"Yes, a cave! That's it. I haven't checked it out yet, but I will tomorrow. Katopodis is the one who found it and he says there might be some undiscovered magical plant that grows in it. Really interesting. I'll go look around it with him. It's on the southern end of the cliff of sorrows."

Stella was thinking now. Could this cave be somehow linked to the sick hippocampi? Could it be that whatever caused their misery came out of there?

"Just be careful, okay?" She added. "We don't know what's in that cave. It could even be connected to the hippocampi's sickness and weird behavior…"

"I mean it is a possibility," admitted Omer. "But I think we would have seen them try and distance themselves from the area if that were the case. And they haven't so far…"

"But I will be careful!" He added as Stella gave him a serious look.

An hour later Charlie bid them both farewell as he stepped out into the cold December air. As the door shut behind him, Stella felt a swift burst of cold wind that disrupted the warmth of their home. Droplets began appearing on the wide windows of the living room. It was raining.

Omer hugged and kissed his wife on the cheek.

"I – I think it went well, don't you?" He mumbled somewhat timidly.

Stella nodded her head in agreement.

"I think so," she reassured her husband. "He seems really friendly and easygoing. Which is what you want in a boss."

Omer chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm going to take a shower now and go to bed. Interesting day tomorrow, I'll have to get up early!"

Stella kissed Omer goodnight and resolved to sit by the fireplace and read another chapter of the new book she had purchased (Broken Vows and Noble Steeds by Ismelda Weep). She liked these sappy romance novels more than she cared to admit to anyone – especially when they involved a lonely girl at an Abraxan farm.

Soon later she retired to bed. As she laid down next to Omer, Stella listened to his soft breath and his occasional sweet mumbles. She felt calm and safe next to him. Her dark and burly spouse. Her nerdy knight in shining armor. The man she would spend the rest of her life with.