Mysteries.

Loki stared at the parchment in his hands, written on which was the riddle that was given to the champions at the end of the second task.

'The wind will blow from bottom to top on this day,'

"Wind doesn't go from bottom to top…does it have something to do with fire? Or hot air?"

'And the line-

'Will One Conquer the Other You Shall Weigh.'

'-probably indicates that we're going to be split into teams…?'

'Will it be another game like the second task?'

'And Conquering seems like a harsh word to use…'

'Would you use the word conquer for a war between just two people?'

'Will there be others? But that might make things unfair…and people are here to watch the Triwizard champions…not some grand war…'

'But it would be a spectacle for sure, so I'm not very sure.'

'If we go that route, what could this mean?'

'Is there something physical to steal? Something that both sides are fighting for and we have to protect or steal?'

Loki thought for a while as he looked at the piece of paper, hoping to glean more information about the third task from it. But after a while, his eyes fell on the watch Professor Snape had gifted him and they widened!

"Loki! You're late!" Hermione complained with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, sorry, got a little distracted with the hint that was given to us for the third task."

Hermione's gaze softened and she nodded after which the two of them turned to Daphne who was holding onto the Portkey that would apparate them to the Ministry of Magic.

Daphne shared the ring with them and they all touched it with their fingers. The ring vibrated in a buzz for a few seconds before they vanished from their spot in a *swoop* as they reappeared in a rather dark room in the Ministry of Magic.

The trio then walked up to Ethan's room in a practised way with Daphne opening the door as she spoke to him.

"Are we patrolling Knockturn Alley today too?"

"Yes. Nothing different about it. There have been sightings of a few dark wizards performing a dark ritual to summon a demon but no secondary reports of them succeeding or failing. So your mission today will be to find out whether it was a false warning or something that really needs our attention."

Daphne nodded and picked up the mission files before walking out with Loki and Hermione following her as they used the floo network to reach their hideout in Knockturn Alley.

"What's up, Daphne? The usual?" Loki asked calmly.

"Yes. It's a ritual regarding summoning another demon. Let's split up and see if we can find out more." Daphne nodded casually and looked at Hermione.

Knowing what to do, Hermione pulled out her pendulum and performed a simple divination to figure out if their splitting to gather information would be dangerous.

The pendulum spun clockwise slowly indicating a very low level of danger. A casual result in Knockturn alley.

Daphne nodded and with a quick glance at each other, they split ways.

Loki quickly entered the Sefirah Castle and performed a few divinations to figure out exactly what they were dealing with.

"The information about a group of people summoning a demon in Knockturn Alley is true."

Loki repeated the statement seven times and when he opened his eyes found the pendulum spinning clockwise.

"Hmm…"

Loki then performed a simple dream divination.

"What demon did the group of people summon in Knockturn Alley?"

Loki's vision shifted to reveal a simple scene with a wooden shack where four people knelt on the floor as they looked on at the altar in the centre.

'They're from Knockturn Alley?'

'How are they so well dressed and groomed?'

Loki looked around the room and saw a wall of spirituality clinging to the wooden walls of the only room in the shack lit up by three candles on the altar.

With nothing else of note around the room, Loki focused his attention back on the four people. They hadn't said anything yet, but Loki saw one of them opening their mouth's to speak.

"Mother Tree of-"

As soon as the first words were spoken, Loki immediately exited the dream by forcing his body to wake up.

Loki immediately examined himself for any signs of corruption and only once he was satisfied that there were none did he calm down.

'Alright. They did summon a devil. Probably a good one at that.' Loki thought.

'Does this one also have an item that gives it the abilities of one of the Sequences of the Lord of the Mysteries pathway?'

'Which one would this be?'

'Hermione's divination said none of us would be in danger, but given that the demon is probably dangerous, it is safe to assume that the demon is hiding…'

'Hmm…'

'Strange…why summon a demon and then ask it to hide?'

'Unless this is a preparation for a plan in the future?'

'You-know-who's plan?'

'I'll see if I can do something…'

'But should I expose it now or use it to my advantage?'

'Well, I don't know if I can even find it right now…safely at least. And even if I do, I doubt I can rationalise a way to find any demon that truly wants to stay hidden, for the rest of the group. Especially if it is one related to 'Her' directly.'

'I could ask Ethan to call Laura…but I feel like I can use this situation to my advantage better.'

Loki exited the Sefirah Castle and carried out a simple investigation by talking to the people around the area he had taken up.

Loki eventually arrived at the shack that he had seen in his vision and after asking around easily learnt that several rich people had been visiting the shack over the last week but the shack was empty now and there were no traces or signs that could be used to divine what had happened to these men or even their faces.

There was also no sign of any demon hiding in the shack.

So Loki walked back to their meeting point, the place that had their floo exit point, and waited.

'I still don't have a concrete idea about how I'd advance to Sequence 4 and complete the required ritual to steal the spotlight from a demigod.'

'But…I have a plan I could implement, it would take a long time and I don't know if I can really use the trick I am thinking off. But…could it be possible…'

'I'll test it out when I go back to Hogwarts today.'

Loki put a stopper to his thoughts since he heard Hermione and Daphne returning and so he stood up from his chair and greeted them by opening the door.

"Find anything?" Daphne asked.

"I didn't find much. Just that there is a suspicious shack several 'rich' people have recently been frequenting at the edge of Knockturn Alley. Couldn't find any traces with the help of divination or even rituals. I could take you there if you want me to but I doubt you'll find much too. Wanna go?"

"*sigh* no." Daphne shook her head before informing them of their next actions, "Let's report this to Ethan and end it here. I'm sure he has better Mystical items to figure out if this thing is worth wasting our time on."

Loki nodded and with Daphne and Hermione, returned to Hogwarts after their short stop at the Ministry of Magic to inform Ethan.

They spent time working on the article for the Third Task for which Loki conveniently 'leaked' the riddle the champions were given so that everyone could get in on it and enjoy the ride.

Of course, Loki also visited the betting stands later to check out and place bets on which interpretations of the riddle were right.

"Good luck on the third task Loki." Hermione wished Loki luck and split up at the end of the day.

Loki nodded and patiently returned to his room where he entered the Sefirah Castle and pulled up a long-lost item that he hadn't touched since the end of last year.

'Let's see what mysteries you hold little guy…'

'I'd like to know if I can use you to my advantage in some way?'

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