The Butcher of Hogsmeade

"A very powerful spell, even I was restricted by it. Your progress is astonishing, time traveler." Voldemort moved with ease, his black robes trailing like dark clouds across the ground as he floated towards Shen Hou and the other two. "You probably haven't seen me before, but those two Aurors beside you certainly do."

In that critical moment, Shen Hou's senses and mind suddenly became incredibly sharp; he suddenly realized that Voldemort did not want to kill him immediately, otherwise he would have had no chance to fight back against that sneak attack, and he and the Prewitt brothers would not only have died immediately, but they might not even know what had happened until they died.

Having figured this out, Shen Hou suddenly had a sliver of hope for escaping.

Shen Hou had no intention of competing with Voldemort, because he knew he could never beat Dumbledore, and Dumbledore had said more than once that he could not reliably defeat Voldemort.

For some reason, he wasn't particularly afraid—a fact proven by his past experiences of putting himself in danger: whether it was the "Werewolf Night" when he first arrived at Hogsmeade, or the two encounters with Diagon Alley and St. Mungo's, he would be at a loss because of his lack of experience, and he would be bewildered because he had never seen magic before, but he never lost control because of fear.

The closer he got to the life-or-death situation, the calmer he became, to the point that Shen Hou once thought he had become emotionally detached after experiencing such a dramatic change.

In the current situation, so be it if we're emotionally detached; saving our lives is more important than anything else!

Damn it, no matter how much we planned, we never expected Voldemort to personally intervene. Scrimgeour's plan to lure the Death Eaters out, which seemed unreliable to everyone, actually hit a nerve with the Death Eaters?

In the short time it took Voldemort to walk a few steps and exchange a few words, countless thoughts had already flashed through Shen Hou's mind. He said calmly, "No need to ask them. We can guess who you are just by looking at your face. Dumbledore has told us a lot about you."

While giving verbal responses, Shen Hou moved half a step to the side, just enough to shield the Prewitt brothers behind him. He understood that the only person Voldemort truly didn't want to kill, or wasn't in a hurry to kill, was himself, and he also wanted to cover for the Prewitt brothers' attempt to trigger the Portkey.

Once the effects of the "All Curses End" wear off, if even one of the three can successfully activate the door key, everyone will have a chance to escape.

"I won't delve into how many defamatory and slanderous words Dumbledore used when referring to me; but you already know me, yet I don't know you." Voldemort stared directly into his deep eyes. "Who exactly are you, and what is the purpose of your time travel?"

"Believe me, I've been asking this question since the first day I came into contact with the magical world, but unfortunately I can't find anyone to ask. What's even more ridiculous is that many people have turned around and asked me the same question, and now you're one of them."

A flicker of surprise suddenly appeared in Voldemort's crimson eyes. Then, his gaze shifted to the Prewitt brothers, sweeping their eyes over before he let out a cold laugh: "Your Portkeys must be completely broken, haven't they? It's been so long since you've been able to activate them?"

The three were terrified and raised their wands, but only Shen Hou was able to cast a weak knockback spell, which was easily blocked by Voldemort. In contrast, Voldemort flicked his yew wand, and the three wands flew out of their hands, along with the Portkeys in their pockets.

With a few "crackling" sounds, the various-shaped door keys shattered together, and Shen Hou and the other two looked ashen-faced. But at that moment, a ball of blazing flame burst forth from the core of each of the completely broken door keys. Each of the three flames enveloped a person and then rose from the ground, flying backward like a fire meteor.

This sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard, including Voldemort; he flew into a rage, letting out a shriek, and with a flick of his wrist, a beam of green light shot towards the flames. Clearly, he had changed his mind and no longer intended to leave any survivors for questioning.

Even though the effects of the "All Curses End" had not completely dissipated, the green light was still moving extremely fast. Just as it was about to hit one of the flames, a golden light burst out from the fire and collided head-on with the green light.

That was a phoenix.

The gold and green hues collided head-on, and the phoenix let out a high-pitched and furious cry, its entire body bursting into flames and instantly turning into a cloud of ashes. The next moment, a smaller fledgling bird took flight from the ashes, its charred feathers quickly regaining their golden-red hue under the sunlight.

In that brief delay, the three flames had already retreated a hundred paces away; and from the flames bursting forth from the phoenix, a slender and tall figure strode out, standing face to face with Voldemort.

"Ah, it's been a long time, Professor Dumbledore." Ever since Voldemort saw this figure, there was no room for anyone else in his sight; the seemingly friendly greeting was actually cold in tone, filled with hatred, sarcasm and other negative emotions.

Dumbledore looked at his former student with familiarity, ignoring the other's sarcastic tone, and calmly said, "It has indeed been a long time, Tom; but I never imagined that you would become more and more unlike a human being."

"And you, my professor, are increasingly portraying yourself as a saint. Do you still want to protect everyone, or are you focusing more on certain individuals?" Voldemort's gaze fell on Shen Hou, who had just emerged from the flames. "Your protection of the time traveler is far more stringent than I anticipated. Using the phoenix flames as a beacon—that was truly brilliant and unexpected."

"Now that you've personally appeared here, it proves that my protection of him was correct, doesn't it?"

Voldemort scoffed: "Since you value him so much, why put him at risk? He shouldn't have been here at all. He should have been protected by the Faithful Charm, like that child, and kept indoors."

Dumbledore replied, "Everything he does has its own reason."

"I see no point in doing anything other than using him as bait, putting him in danger time and time again, and making him go through fire and water for your vanity and recklessness."

"There is so much you cannot see, Tom; this is the root of our differences, something I once hoped you would understand, but alas, I no longer have such a hope." Dumbledore shook his head gently and sighed silently.

"Your saintly demeanor is disgusting, Professor." Voldemort stepped back leisurely, his gaze remaining fixed on Dumbledore's face. "Let's wait and see how many people you can protect, and how long you can protect them."

"Are you really going to leave like this?"

"Otherwise what?"

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Then I should thank you for your mercy in not intending to kill this old man."

"That time will come, it will come, and it won't be long."