Battle of Phoenix Pride

In the Fishein Wilderness of northwestern Great Britain, an uninhabited mountain range near a cluster of ancient Celtic ruins lay shrouded year-round in dense fog and turbulent magical currents. Muggle compasses failed here, while wizards' sensory magic was severely disrupted by the natural wards lingering within the mountains.

Since their previous joint operation, which had successfully wiped out the remnants of the Chinese Corpse Raisers, the Order of the Phoenix and the International Aurors had once again joined forces, forming a team of more than fifty people and following the dying words of a mortally wounded informant.

Leading them were Dumbledore, head of the Order of the Phoenix, and Samuel Colhaug, leader of the International Aurors.

Among the Aurors were expert trackers who continuously cast the Trace Revealing Charm along the way, but the informant's lingering magical traces were unstable, as though they had been repeatedly disturbed by some force.

Aldiz Flaherty, a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Ilvermorny and the author of The Sasquatch's Last Battle, had extensive experience in mountain exploration. Along the way, he scrutinized every detail of the surrounding terrain and reached the same conclusion: this was neither an ideal ambush site nor a hidden refuge. Instead, it looked more like some kind of temporary transfer point.

"If the informant really came through here," Oakden Hobdun, who had just finished his temporary teaching post for Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, said quietly, "he didn't stay long."

Dumbledore nodded without immediately replying. The group followed a rugged mountain path deeper into the granite-filled range.

He suddenly stopped.

"Stop."

The entire team froze at once.

Another set of footsteps came from the fog ahead.

In such a desolate place, neither side had deliberately concealed their footsteps, and no one had expected to encounter