The smoke billowing from the ruined house of Choi Seungcheol could be seen all the way up the mountaintop, coloring the blue skies gray. 

Jisoo can't breathe. She's panting hard and she's down on all fours, shaking from head to toe. Is this what death felt like? 

She tries to drink in her surroundings. Soil, rocks, trees, sky, the village down below her, distant screams and wailing. She tries to stand up and wills herself not to faint. At least she's not dead yet even though she really thought she would have been done for back there with Jimin's spell. She escaped narrowly but why was she here on top of the mountain again? She feels dizzy and the world around her tilts. 

Amidst her current state, she notices she's not alone. A few feet away from her, a tall and towering hooded figure materializes. 

She freezes on the ground and in a sharp breath. No.

Jisoo fumbles for her wand just as the cloaked figure pushes its hood back to reveal a face staring at her with rock hard eyes. 

"You're supposed to be the Ministry's so-called best Auror?" The unfamiliar man says gruffly, advancing towards Jisoo who was barely able to stand up. "Well, no wonder they haven't been able to stop this nasty business with Vol -"

"Don't say the name." Jisoo coughs out. She wipes the sweat gathering on her forehead and tries to calm herself. She was rattled, taken by surprise at the ambush set up for her but she needed to get it together. 

The unknown man raises a sharp eyebrow at her. "What?" His voice is like steel.

Jisoo narrows her eyes at him and hopes she's putting on an intimidating face but she doubts it. She feels like barfing any second now. "Don't say the name. It's taboo." When she's able to slowly pull her wits together, she continues to eye the man in front of her. He was dressed in a dark cloak but gray clothes peeked from underneath it. He didn't look like anyone she knew from the Ministry or even from the Office. Not an Auror? He could be one of Jinyoung's accomplices keeping tabs on her, just to make sure she was properly doing her job. 

Didn't Jinyoung trust her enough? 

No, he did. He does. He trusts her too much actually, she almost screwed over the whole operation. She could have been killed back there. 

"Death Eaters will hunt you down the moment his name will leave your lips," she says, her voice much more steady now but her mind was still everywhere. She was still trying to process what had happened: she had been in the house, Jimin had thrown a spell or a curse towards her, she had apparated out of there just before it could hit her. This man had apparated her out of there just in time. He saved her. She tenses. "So if you value your life, shut your mouth." 

The man lets out a snort and then a coy smirk. "Well, feisty little thing aren't you?" 

Jisoo's stomach churns. She tries harder to gather her bearings and concentrate on what to do now. "So I've been told. Who are you?" And where did you come from? It's obvious he was the one who pulled her out of the house because her mind went completely blank the moment she turned her head and saw the dark red light zooming towards her. It was a total "no thoughts, head empty" kind of moment that could have costed her her life.

And yet she's here, she's alive, but what next? 

He doesn't look too keen on answering but the smirk is still there on his face and Jisoo grips tighter onto her wand. "The International Confederation of Wizardry sent me." He said, which doesn't really answer her question. There's a big, big question mark on him and it makes Jisoo feel uneasy. 

Jinyoung had said the Confederation was biting them by the heels. Their time was counting down fast and approaching the deadline. His presence, if he was telling the truth anyway, could mean that they were nearing the end of the line soon.

Jisoo raises her wand and murmurs a protection spell. White light shoots out from the tip, shrouding them in a hazy, semi-transparent bubble. The man also points his wand upwards, as if mimicking her cautiousness. Jisoo adds an invisibility spell to conceal their presence further if ever Death Eaters are out there searching for her, which she's fifty percent sure they are. 

Jisoo looks at the man again, she's in no shape for a duel but she still doesn't trust him. She can maybe spare a minute interrogating him. He hasn't made any moves to advance on to Jisoo yet, but she forces out every bit of energy left from her so she can stay alert. "A confederate," she mutters under her breath. But he had heard her still. 

"Umm," he coughs against his fist and looks pointedly at her. "As someone who has ancestors who were slaves, that's pretty offensive." 

She rolls her eyes. "You know what I - wait, you're American?" 

"Partly." He says, his voice clipped. His eyes are not on her, they're focused at something else behind her. 

Jisoo looks back over her shoulder and sees the smoke that continues to rise from the ruins of what was once Choi's house. Serves him right.

Still, what should she do now? The Death Eaters know that she's back because she had pathetically fallen into their trap. It's a good thing she casted protection spells as she's standing here and overlooking the wreckage, but something inside her gut is telling her not to stay for long. They might be hot on her trail and she's not sure how strong her spells are at the moment because she still feels physically weak, and the spell is only as good as the caster. 

"Shouldn't be standing idle here for long," the man suddenly says, making Jisoo look back at him. "They could be onto you." 

Jisoo scowls. "Who exactly are you?" 

"I already told you."

"I need a name."

His face is angular and his features are sharp. His thick eyebrows furrow as Jisoo senses him hesitate. Th