Whatever she'd been expecting, the nondescript little farm tucked into the rolling green hills of Scotland hadn't been it.

Raizel stood on a hill overlooking the small ranch, arms crossed and lips pursed. It hadn't been hard to find the address on record for the McBoid family once she'd decided to look for it; everyone had a vault at Gringotts, and that meant that everyone had information on file, even if it took some careful negotiation to get it. For all of his misadventures abroad, Duncan McBoid had never been particularly secretive about his public career. It was simple enough to connect the dots between the Scottish wizard who was an occasional ally and occasional kotz ba'tachat when it came to Gringotts assignments involving magical creatures, and the family that raised winged horses in the United Kingdom's far north.

She could have owled ahead, but that hardly seemed sporting. McBoid was hardly going to be happy that she was surprising him at home: in some ways, this invasion was much more personal than their last encounter, when she'd surprised him stepping out of the shower.[1] But then again, the information that she'd gleaned earlier hardly seemed like the sort of news that could wait.

Still, the Cursebreaker mused. If she surprised McBoid right in the thick of his little ranch, he wasn't about to be pleased about it. She wasn't exactly looking to get hexed; nor did she particularly want to have to explain herself to the Scottish wizard's little family.

The mage wrapped her fingers carefully around her wand. "Ki apar atah," she murmured.

There wasn't nearly as much dust in these green hills as there was in the sandy streets near her home, but there was still enough. She could feel it snap to attention as the spell settled across the grass, trembling as it waited for her next command.

---

A few moments later, something in the shape of the dragon went sailing over the McBoid farm. It held its form for only an instant before it disintegrated, disappearing in a shower of fine dirt that rained down and temporarily blurred the setting sun.

Smirking to herself, Raizel settled in to wait.

1.	December 28, 2011 - Far Over the Misty Mountains

Just over a week had passed since Duncan had received a scheduled visit from a couple Ministry officials[1], asking about the incident at the grave. Since then things had been relatively quiet, other than trying to help Moira break the very persistent potion based curse she had. The nature of the curse meant that killing Lorelei wouldn’t break it, assuming they hadn’t managed to before then.

The Scotsman was tending to a scrape one of the horses had gotten along their wing bone, somehow. It was in an awkward location but fortunately the beast was standing quietly while he worked. Until a giant dragon seemed to swoop over the farm from out of nowhere before breaking formation and floating away and down in a cloud of dust.

Watching this phenomenon while simultaneously trying to soothe the spooked animal Duncan scowled. What was Cohen doing here and more importantly why was she summoning him where anyone around could see it? Maybe his luck would be kind and his brother had been in the barn at the time. He could hope.

Once he finished with his task, he let the horse back out into one of the pens to let it graze. Then he went to find Raizel, casting Homenum Revelio to pinpoint her location instead of just guessing based on the location of the dragon.

And there she was, waiting oh so patiently for him and looking extremely satisfied with herself. Duncan stopped a few paces away and looked at her, clearly not happy about finding her here of all places.

“Cohen?” He said her name as a greeting but mostly as a question. What the hell was she doing here?

1.	Cloud Hangs Over

There wasn't much dust in these green hills, but Raizel had saved herself a small cloud of it. As she lounged against a gray rock outcropping, she toyed with it, letting the tiny particulates form themselves into a delicate, windswept castle, which held its shape for a moment and then crumbled away into a swirling cloud again.

She'd expected McBoid to come quickly once he'd been summoned, and the big Scotsman hardly disappointed. Raizel looked up as he approached, flashing him a smug, self-satisfied smile as she let her latest design -- a small, spiraling tower that rose to the peak of a cone-shaped roof -- dissolve away into dust again.

"Duncan McBoid," she replied, looking him over.

It was both disappointing and to be expected that he was fully clothed this time.[1] If that was the price of him not immediately hexing her for intruding on him and surprising him in his home, though, she'd gladly take the trade-off.

"I see that you are still chasing dragons, even if they are closer to home this time." She favored him with a smirk, clearly pleased that her summoning method had worked. "How are your winged horses?"

1.	Last time...

Duncan's surprise guest had continued to play with dirt while she waited, he saw, making different shapes with it before letting it fall away at his approach. The witch gave no hints as to why she had shown up here at his home of all places.

In all their dealing with each other the two wix had kept their personal lives separate. Personal lives had nothing to do with a job. Of course, Cohen knee he kept that business aspect of his life a secret. That simply served to make her appearance even more disconcerting.

Giving her a moment to look her over, the Scotsman placed his hands on his hips much like their last meeting in December  thr movement was fully intentional on his part while he too took in her appearance.

"Considering your dust dragon didn't eat them, they're fine."

A moment later Duncan asked, "What are you doing here?" He had always been the straightforward type.

Most of his family were the same way, actually. They liked to get things done and not waste time, having little patience for mind games or dancing around subjects. It was a trait that had served the wizard well in the past and likely it would continue to do so.

Like now, when he didn't know where his brother was or what he had seen. Even if Angus had seen the fake dragon and/or Cohen he could likely come up with a reasonable lie, especially with the witch being on the attractive side. He'd had plenty of practice at lying over the years.

It was unlikely any of her dust creations could digest a winged horse, but there were plenty of other things she could have done to bother the McBoid herd. As far as Raizel was concerned, sending the dragon to get the Scottish wizard's attention had been much more polite than some of her other options. But she had no interest in risking a run-in with McBoid's family, or with anyone else who might live here with him on this little farm.

The big Scotsman wasted no time in getting right to the point. Raizel flashed him a bold smile; in some ways, he very much acted like a sabra.

With a slow rotation of her wrist, she began to move her wand in a tight circle; in front of her, the small pile of dust began to stretch into a tower again, spiraling higher and higher.

"Looking for you," she replied helpfully, continuing to move her wand in a tight pirouette.

Sitting on the ground against the rock, the tower stretched nearly as high as her shoulders before it began to tremble again. Raizel held it for a second longer, and then let it collapse again; the dust cascaded back to the ground in a tumbling cloud.

"You are not very hard to find once someone starts looking," she added, looking up directly at McBoid. "I am surprised that you do not get more visitors here."

“Obviously,” Came his immediate response when she offered that she had been looking for him. Duncan remained standing, watching as she played with the dust. Her control over the maneuvers was admirable, however he refused to show any appreciation for it. Not yet, anyway, as she still hadn’t answered his real question. He wondered if there was a reason the shape she kept making was a spiraling tower, or if it was just the simplest thing to make.

                                                                               "You are not very hard to find once someone starts looking," she added, looking up directly at McBoid. “I am surprised
                                                                                that you do not get more visitors here.”

“It’s only about 12 years too late for me to assume a fake identity,” he quipped with a raised eyebrow. “Besides, if anyone who shouldn’t visit me did, there would be a very high price for them to pay. Most aren’t willing to.” By himself he couldn’t fortify the entire property the way he wanted and he didn’t want to have to explain to his brother what he wanted all the wards for. The cabins and barn perimeters had to suffice.