Department of Mysteries, Britain

Orion walked in his usual stoic manner towards the office of the infernal old man who was responsible for him waking up at this absolutely unreasonable hour. Really! Who asks for a meeting at 6 am?

Well, asking is an understatement, it was more of a demand. After all, Head Unspeakable Opal - also known as Iola Hitchens nee Black was probably the most uncompromising witch Orion had ever met. And that was saying a lot as he was married to one Walburga Black.

However, luckily Aunt Iola adores Orion - case in point how she makes sure to get him out of the house and into ridiculously long projects just to help him stay away from his odious wife.

Orion and Arcturus were the only ones aware of Iola's true profession and relation to the House of Black. Most people thought she was disowned for marrying a muggle. However, it was only a cover. Said "muggle" was an American Mage of significant repute. It was only because of the promotion to Head Unspeakable that demanded anonymity that Iola suggested this method of obfuscation.

The family agreed on the condition that after her death the truth would be revealed to the public. Having such a prominent job holder in their family was a prestige that they didn't want to lose. Neither were they willing to lose out on the obviously powerful children their union resulted in.

No one ever denied how covetous the Blacks were!

But that doesn't mean that Orion was happy about getting up at 5 am for some fake meeting. He hadn't woken up before 9 am since he graduated from Hogwarts. At least he hoped it was fake. Knowing Iola, she just might send him on some strange research spree to unravel some ancient Aztec Charm.

Which would have been fine except for the last few days his brain has totally given up working. Wheatish skin, dark eyes and a tantalising throaty voice taunted him at every spare moment. Even dreams would give him no respite.

Orion felt a bead of sweat on his forehead. He subtly flicked his fingers to vanish it and sighed minutely. He would have welcomed such an acquaintance if he wasn't married. He would have loved to flirt back, woo the witch and win her hand.

But Orion knew what awaited the family if he broke his marriage bonds. Pollux and his children had him by the balls they knew it.

He increased his pace slightly, wanting to get the meeting over with.

Soon, he reached Iola's office and tapped it with his wand twice.

"Come in Orion" came a crisp cool female voice.

Orion stepped in and took in the smiling dark eyes of the third person in the room. One who was definitely most unexpected.

"Fine morning isn't it Master Black?" smiled Sagarika mischieviously.

Iola smirked at her stupefied cousin and welcomed him " Have a seat Orion. We do have a lot to discuss."

Orion nodded stiffly and walked into the room. He took a seat facing Iola and beside Sagarika. He could see a lot of documents, scrolls and photographs strewn across the desk.

"Now, coming straight to the point Orion, I need you to work with Lady Sagarika here to find the origins of this particular ritual." She said holding out a particular scroll towards Orion. Orion took it and a cursory glance told him that it was some kind of summoning ritual but alarmingly enough a sacrifice-based one.

"Yes, this was discovered at the site of the Cult of Mutatis's last incident…. well after all the blood and gore was cleared off. We had our best look at the scene but no other evidence or clue could be found. All we have are these ritual diagrams as they were hand-carved into the rocks and trees. Some were even found drawn into the earth with a strange concoction of potions and blood - but that's still under the Potions department. "

Iola paused and looked at Sagarika "We have Lady Sagarika here, which is a great help indeed. As the foremost expert in Demonic Rituals, we were hopeful to have this solved sooner rather than later."

"Were?" asked Orion.

"Were. Till we discovered that every carved item was charmed to be strangely resistant to any other form of magic. And I mean any. At the same time, they are indestructible." Iola looked at Orion, trying to impress upon him the seriousness of the situation. "We have no clue as to the goals of this cult Orion. None whatsoever. Every search turns up empty."

Orion could feel a slight chill in the air. Dark blood magic, Demonic Summoning and Strange Indestructible Charmed Objects don't make a good picture no matter the cause. Only one of them on their own would be enough for the DOM to take notice but all all together they were alarming.

"What do you need from me, Aunt Iola?"Asked Orion, girding his loins.

"Research and Investigation. I want you and the good Lady to discreetly take over the research of this particular ritual and investigate its origins. I need to know where it came from and how it came onto the British soil" Iola snapped out, voice getting darker with every word." Whichever imbecile has been inciting the unknown dangers needs to be stopped before their harebrained schemes succeed and we face something worse than a usual dark lord!"

"Usual Dark Lord?" questioned Sagarika. "Are you saying Dark Lords are common here?"

"Quite. We get at least one every century and it's rather normal by now." Iola waved off her enquiry." Honestly, most are short-sighted idiots and they get taken down rather fast too so we never had to do much more than keep an eye out. Oh and sneak some people here and there for damage control."

Sagarika raised her eyebrows in amusement and gave a lopsided smirk" I see"

Iola turned to Orion and asked " Orion, can I trust you to take over this project? "

Orion nodded " I will do my best Aunt."

Iola nodded knowing that Orion never promised what he couldn't deliver so this was the best she would get. " My Lady?" she asked Sagarika.

"You have my word" she replied.

"Thank you, both of you. This case has been stumping us for quite some time now. It has become quite a worry." she frowned."No matter, I have faith in your abilities. We will meet again in a week for a discussion and updates. I have prepared these two folders for your perusal. Please tap the locks with your wands so that it gets keyed to your biomagical signature. " Iola said holding out two slim folders.

Orion and Sagarika tapped the locks on their respective folders. Orion put the folder in his suitcase while Sagarika seemed to put it inside her charmed bracelet.

"You are free to leave now. Thank you for coming at such a short notice." Iola thanked them and bade them goodbye.

Sagarika and Orion took their leave and walked out of the halls silently. As they reached the floo, Sagarika turned to Orion and said " Well, now you don't get to avoid me anymore. Do you think it's fate?"

"Calling it fate would only be cruel, my lady," Orion said sardonically.

"Then let's call it destiny," smirked Sagarika mischievously and apparated away with a wink.

Orion shook his head amused and wondering what trouble he just stepped into.

Elsewhere Someone thought - Hook.