ODIMA

### About

The Office for Diffuse International Magical Affairs, commonly abbreviated ODIMA, is a subsidiary office of the British Department for International Magical Cooperation, which maintains its own premises away from the main Ministry building in the basement of the Houses of Parliament. Its remit is described, on the rare occasions that anyone asks, as consisting of “matters relating to the work of the Department as a whole which do not fall within the remit of any other office or section within the Department”. An impression is carefully cultivated by the Ministry’s staff that this office is a dull functionary unit which serves as a catch-all for minor bureaucracy; the equivalent of the ‘Misc.’ drawer in the filing cabinet. Those who know the truth, however, are aware of the rather more perilous nature of employment in this division.

Since its formation in the year 1827, ODIMA has served as Magical Britain’s major overseas intelligence service. Set up in secret by Minister for Magic Ottaline Gambol as part of an outward-looking policy on international relations (and, some suggest, to get one over on her old rival and French counterpart Chloé Lavigne), it initially played a key role especially in the liaisons necessary with magical governments across the globe as the Muggle British Empire expanded. First headed by the interventionist Evangeline Orpington, later to become Minister in her own right, it is believed to play a far more active role in both Muggle and magical conflicts around the globe than official Ministry policy would allow, and has grown in status and prestige amongst those ‘in the know’ over the hundred and fifty years since its establishment. Although the true nature of its remit is supposedly only disclosed to the Head of International Magical Cooperation and the Minister for Magic, many witches and wizards who move in sufficiently exalted circles are likely to be aware at least in part of ODIMA’s activities around the globe, and many concerns have recently been raised regarding how far this is likely to affect the safety and the effectiveness of the organisation and its operatives.

### Remit

The true remit of the Office is almost entirely without limit, although a special session of the Wizengamot convened in a state of strict secrecy in 1911 prohibited it from operating actively within the borders of the UK. Broadly, its purpose is to protect the interests of the British Ministry or its allies abroad; more specifically, it has taken part in clandestine operations ranging from owl interception to assassination since its formation, and some claim that it has been responsible for averting several wars- and for starting several others. The nonspecific nature of ODIMA’s role is generally considered by senior officials to be a feature rather than a bug in that it allows them a greater degree of plausible deniability regarding its activities should they ever be brought to light.

### Structure

ODIMA is headed by a very senior witch or wizard, typically one who has worked their way up through the ranks of the Office itself, since it requires a very specific sort of experience which it is extremely difficult to acquire by any other means. This individual is responsible for maintaining an oversight of all the Office’s activities around the world, being personally liable for the success or failure of major operations and answerable to a small committee formed of Wizengamot members who maintain accountability, albeit clandestinely. Typically referred to as O, in tribute to the first witch to hold the post, their identity is protected from the outside world to the highest possible degree, and they are often the only single person with a full awareness of all ODIMA’s ongoing operations at any one time.

Answerable to O are six Regional Directors, each of whom is responsible for coordinating ODIMA’s activities on the ground across one of the world’s continents- with the exception of Antarctica. These individuals run their own Directorate premises within the areas which they control, and generally on British Embassy grounds, where they often have some minor employment to maintain cover. The Directors will return to London only once a year for an annual debriefing, and otherwise communicate with O and other London staff via a closed section of the Floo Network in emergencies. Typically, communication of any sort is kept to a minimum for security reasons.

Also answerable to O are six Sectional Directors, each of whom oversees a particular section of ODIMA’s work. The Sectional Directors are based at ODIMA’s headquarters in London, but may occasionally travel if their immediate presence is required for a particularly complicated or difficult operation elsewhere. They rank equally with the Regional Directors, which often causes conflicts and overlap of authority in complex situations.
The responsibilities of the Sectional Directors are:

#### Section I: Information and Research

Responsible for maintaining a network of CHIS (Covert Human Intelligence Sources) within magical governments and organisations. Such individuals operate under an ‘observe and report’ brief; they take no action, but report all information which may be useful to their handlers, who collate and analyse.

#### Section II: Communications

Responsible for maintaining methods of magical and mundane communications between ODIMA operatives around the world and also for intercepting or disrupting communications between enemy operatives.

#### Section III: Translation

Responsible not only for translating acquired documents and transcripts from one language to another but also for breaking any codes or ciphers which might be in use, by magical or Muggle means.

#### Section IV: Recruitment and Integrity

Responsible for counter-espionage within ODIMA itself and also for acquiring double agents within equivalent agencies abroad.

#### Section V: Direct Action

Responsible for any activity requiring direct intervention abroad. Prison breaks, assassinations, and the insertion of agents into especially dangerous situations have all been undertaken at some time by this section, and its staff are highly trained both physically and mentally.

#### Section VI: Considered Response

Responsible for the politically sensitive or morally distasteful operations which are kept highly secret even within this highly secret organisation. Section VI runs black ops, maintaining plausible deniability throughout, and agents employed by this section know that if they get stuck, no one is coming to help.