"That man is still here?" A frustrated Caesar asked his sister.

"Let him be. He's just bundled up on a haystack" Resa whispered. It was early in the morning and Caesar was getting ready to milk the cows.

"That man is eccentric, Ressie" Caesar said, "Be careful. He isn't one of the locals. He seems to be. . . exotic".

"What are you, a xenophobic?" Resa snapped at him, furious, "Dad did not raise you this way! Plus, there's nothing wrong with him!"

"I'm not afraid of him" Caesar shifted nervously, "I'm just. . . take care, little sis". And with that, the eldest McGuire brother was off.

Resa couldn't help it. This man needed their care. Explorer or not, he was in danger. And he needed a home. He was in a new land and he didn't know how things worked out there.

But a little thought prodded her. What if Caesar was right? The land was private and they couldn't have had any other legal entry point. And explorers don't barge into someone's property.

Nevertheless, she was hospitable. She was the cheerful social bee. She was going to help him, no matter what.

It was late afternoon when Queenie arrived back to the cell with their lunch. She hid a small key inside a loaf of bread and passed it to them, under Britany's watch.

"Queenie, you don't need to hand the lunch to them. Just leave it near the cell" Britany ordered.

"Might as well keep 'em alive until Grindelwald gets them, right?" Queenie smirked.

"My, my" Britany shook her head, "Whatever".

"Here you go, you cave dwellers!" Queenie spat, thinking of the worst insults, "The bread is the only key to escaping your end".

"What about the soup?" Theseus raised his eyebrow.

"Oh sure, I might've poisoned it to shut your hole!" Queenie said, angrily. Newt tried hard to not laugh.

Tina watched the drama unfold as Queenie left with Britany. She and Jacob were told that Tina's sister was going to get her out of the prison.

Theseus bit into the bread and ripped off a chunk of it. A metal key fell down on the floor. Newt picked it up.

"Queenie is a genius" Jacob sighed.

"You bet she is" Theseus smiled, as Newt slowly unlocked the door. He swung the metal gates open. At once, the four of them rushed to the door, inhaling the scent of a not-so-prison atmosphere.

"Let's go. We need to find our wands" Theseus said.

"We don't have to. Queenie thought of that too" Newt examined the key. A small sheet of paper was stuck to it and in bold words were-

"Woah, Queenie went all out, didn't she?" Tina murmured, "For us".

Tina was hesitant to cry, but a small tear escaped her eyes and plopped down her cheek.

"She thought of everything" Jacob beamed.

The four of them escaped the cell and quietly walked upstairs. There was no commotion. Theseus decided to retrieve the wands and have the rest go to the exit, since it would be dangerous for all four of them in one place.

"Albus, there's this owl. . " Resa pointed to an owl perched on a tree branch. It had a letter tied to its leg.

"Oh uh. . " Albus regained himself and quickly went out, briskly. He motioned the owl to come down and retrieved the letter. It had the logo of the Brazilian Ministry on the envelope.

"Oh Merlin".

"What hap-?"

Albus opened the letter and read it as quickly as he could.

Dear Albus,

We are sending a rescue team at 3 pm today. Sorry for not reaching out to you earlier. We had to make sure everything was in place for you to receive optimal communication with us.

Francisco.

"I need to go, Resa" he said, blankly.

"But-"

"I need to go" he repeated. He thanked her as fast as he could.

"Albus! Tell me where you're going!" Resa yelled.

"It's important. I am taking too much of your time, dear Resa. Please send regards to your brothers" Albus said, his fingers curling around the wand inside his pocket, "I must go. Farewell".

"No, Albus!"

With that, the wizard was already gone. Without any warning. Resa didn't know how to react. She couldn't understand how a man becomes so alarmed by a mere letter from an eccentric mode of communication.

"Albus!" she yelled repeatedly.

The man was gone.

"What are you doing, Ressie?" Moe came in to the scene.

"The guest. He left. . "

"I told you he wasn't worth it" Moe snarled, "Come on. Back to work".

"I think he's. . different, Moe" Resa began, "He is not a normal man".

"You're darn right. He's an explorer" Moe mocked, laughing at his joke, "Wait, you're serious. ..?"

"Yes, he seems. . different. He always has his hands in his pocket and he seemed disturbed all the time" Resa observed.

"Oh, no. Please don't tell me you love that man! He's way too old for you" Moe said, "You're twenty. He's like a hundred years old".

"No, I think there's more to him than we thought. . " Resa trailed off.

"Resa. . please. Tell me you haven't fallen for him" Moe shook his head.

Resa sped off. Moe yelled after her, "What the heck are you doing, Resa McGuire?!"

"I'll be back!" Resa yelled back, following Albus.

Albus Dumbledore couldn't waste time. The rescue team was going to be there and he's got to narrate the whole incident involving the blood pact.

He was too weak for Apparation and hence, had to travel by foot to reach the ginormous mansion, soon to be under attack.

He checked his pocket watch. It was nearly thirty minutes past three.

Soon, a troop of Aurors had Apparated midway and started shooting hexes on command. Albus couldn't stop them. They were unstoppable.

"Freeze, you fowl miscreants working for a poisonous little snake!" one of the Aurors yelled at the mansion, hoping to get some people's attention.

Nobody answered.

"Um. . excuse me?" Dumbledore interrupted.

"Professor!" The Auror exclaimed, wrapping a blanket around him, "You're shivering. You need food! We're so sorry. Let us take it from here".

"They're in there. . " Albus pointed.

"Not to worry. We'll fire" the Head Auror started, "On command, start burning up this place!"

"Wait, no!"

"Three!" The Auror shouted. Sparks of fire shot up from their wands and settled on the mansion, burning it alive. Soon, it became a huge fire.

"We're supposed to rescue them!" Albus said, "They're in there!"

"Might as well kill Grindelwald's army, right?" The Auror said, "Mr Dumbledore, you have been through a lot. We can help".

Soon, Newt, Tina and Jacob scrambled out of the mansion, inhaling the smoke. Theseus followed them shortly, covered in a layer of soot as he clutched three wands.

"You're alive!" Albus embraced all four of them.

The mansion fell prey to a terrible fire. The Aurors wouldn't stop. Some Grindelwald's followers were dead. Others got out, just in time and Vinda had escaped.

"Wait, what about Queenie? She's still in there!" Tina tried to go, but Newt held her.

"She'll burn alive" one of the Aurors cackled.

"No!"

Very soon, a small pink figure loomed from the smoke. She was coughing and managed to reach out to them.

"Stand back, we're dealing with a traitor" The Head Auror claimed.

"No! That's my sister!" For the first time for the past few years, Tina was proud of Queenie. She knelt next to her and shook her.

She was unconscious and had collapsed to the ground.

"Let's take her to a hospital"

Watching all the commotion was Resa. She tucked her farmer's hat so nobody would see her. She saw everything.

Wizards? Does magic even exist?

She didn't want to go and confront Dumbledore. He seemed to be through a lot already.

As they all shuffled back, Resa pulled Dumbledore towards her.

"Resa! What the hell are you doing? Sorry about my language" Dumbledore said.

"I don't mind" Resa lowered her voice, "Just so y'know, there's a hospital, not so far away from here. Just near the marketplace. It's not the best, but they can treat burns".

"Thank you Resa. And did you. . ?"

"I saw everything" she admitted, "I'm sorry for this".

"It's time you knew me well" Albus remarked, "I'm a wizard and so are my friends. We exist under the radar, so you might not see us around anymore".

"I know. I won't tell, I promise" Resa bit her lip, "But promise me, will you please write to me? I've never had a visitor".

"Promise. Once this blows over, I'll write" Dumbledore said, "Until then, be a good girl and take care of yourself".

"Farewell" she whispered as the man took off.

They found the Muggle hospital Resa had mentioned. Queenie was admitted almost immediately and they were treating her. Meanwhile the others walked around, pondering over what had happened.

The Aurors had retreated, quite shamefully and were waiting in the visitor's room. The six of them - Tina, Newt, Theseus, Jacob, Albus and the Head Auror waited in the lobby.

Dumbledore had briefed on all four of them on what happened and it didn't take long for them to snap up with rage.

"You didn't have to fire that way!" Newt snapped at the Head Auror, "Things could've gotten worse! This is a rescue mission for Merlin's sake!"

"Things are pretty off hand, Mr Scamander. Unlike you, we are Aurors and we know what to be done" the Head Auror snapped back defensively.

"People could've died!" Newt exclaimed.

"Don't you want to terminate Grindelwald? There's no room for morality now, Mr Scamander. I think working with magical beasts has tended to your. . . emphathetic side" the man said, "At least everyone is safe".

"Queenie isn't!" Tina angered up, "She's admitted and she might die of suffocation!".

"Miss Goldstein, I think you are switching sides now" the Auror said.

"I don't belong to any side. Not any more" Tina confessed solemnly, "I fight for what's right".

"I need to go get some air" Theseus got up as he pulled on his cloak, "Care to join me, professor?"

"Indeed" Dumbledore agreed as the duo left, leaving the four of them to bicker amongst themselves.

"This is why Aurors are nothing but a bunch of careerist hypocrites!" Newt spat, "You folks don't have any morality".

Tina coughed, "Excuse me?"

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean you, Tina, I. . I. . " Newt stammered.

"Here's the truth, Miss Goldstein. You can never trust your own friends nowadays" The Auror slipped his hands into his pockets and left.

"I need to check on Queenie" Tina decided, leaving Newt and Jacob alone.

"You did somethin, there, pal" Jacob said, "You shouldn't have said that".

"No, but, they're wrong!" Newt couldn't refuse to retract his statement.

"You really hurt her" Jacob said, "It's like judging a group of people by their demerits. Not everyone is perfect, y'know?".

"I know that, Jacob!" Newt snapped, "Look, I don't know, if Tina keeps being sensitive. . "

"Now you think she's sensitive? What's wrong with you, man?" Jacob punched Newt's shoulder, "She's got every right to be upset, with Queenie and all. You shouldn't have said that".

"What else can I do?"

"You could've indicated that the Head Auror did a mistake of taking a super decisive decision, instead of insulting her job" Jacob shrugged, "Queenie told me once, about how Tina struggled to be an Auror. You just. . . bam! insulted her".

Newt buried his face in his hands, "I don't know what to do, Jacob. I simply don't".

"Fix em, then" Jacob said, "It won't be easy, but it's the right thing to do".