The Butcher of Hogsmeade

"Please, you can't let me lie here sleeping at a time like this. I just want to know the truth. I swear, I won't do anything outrageous. I'll just go find a house-elf, ask him a few questions, and come right back." Sirius said pitifully, yet with unwavering conviction.

James turned his face away, not daring to look at his good friend; Shen Hou glanced at him and knew that this guy was unreliable. Given James's position and his friendship with Sirius, it was indeed difficult for him to swallow his pride and refuse firmly, especially after the other party put on such a pitiful act.

With a long sigh, Shen Hou asked, "Where does Blake live?"

Sirius's face lit up with joy, but he quickly gave a wry smile: "I can't tell you. Of course I know where that house is; it's where I was born and raised, even James knows, but we can't tell you; we can't say it, we can't write it, there's no way."

Shen Hou was taken aback: "The Curse of Unwavering Loyalty?"

"Yes. For over a hundred years since that house was built, it has been under the protection of the Mantra of Unwavering Loyalty."

"Then what the hell are you telling me!" Shen Hou turned and left. "I'd rather sleep for another two hours while I still have time!"

"But I have another way." Sirius quickly stepped forward to stop him. "There's a loophole in the Fidelity Charm at Black's Old House. We can use that loophole to get you in."

Shen Hou immediately became interested and asked, "What loophole?" It wasn't that he was overly curious, but he realized that he was also under the protection of the Loyalty Spell. If there was a loophole in the spell, wouldn't that mean that his safe house was not actually safe?

"I can't tell you the address of Black's old house, but I can Apparate and take you directly inside." Sirius Black revealed the security vulnerability of his old house in an extremely smug tone.

"The 'Loyal Heart Spell' has this kind of bug? It's that simple?" Shen Hou was dumbfounded.

James and Sirius exchanged bewildered glances and asked, "What do you mean by 'bug'?"

"That's Muggle-specific term, just think of it as a loophole," Shen Hou explained casually, his mind not really on it. "Is the 'Loyalty Curse' really that easy to break? Then... and James's safe house, are they like that too?"

Sirius quickly explained, "Actually, no, Black's Old House is different from your safe house... I mean, the way the Fidelity Charm is used is different. There are no vulnerabilities here, at least not like those in Black's Old House."

"What's different?" Shen Hou pressed on.

"Simply put, the Fidelity Charm of the Black family mansion protects the address, while the Fidelity Charm of the James family protects the 'home' of the three of them."

Shen Hou became increasingly confused: "Is there a difference?"

"Of course there's a difference, it's just..." Sirius tried to explain, but couldn't find the words. "The Potters can treat any house, any room, even a hotel or warehouse as their 'home'; the secret protected by the spell is 'where they are,' not where a particular house is. If an outsider enters the Potters' safe house without the Secretkeeper's permission, they won't realize that James and his family live there; their eyes, ears, nose... all their senses won't detect their presence, even if Harry's diaper or James's collection of flying brooms are right in front of them."

Shen Hou said expressionlessly, "I already know all that you're saying. I knew that the spell could deceive people's cognitive processes the moment Mad-Eye first mentioned the Crimson Loyalty Curse. So, tell me something I don't know."

"Okay, then let me tell you what you don't know: what's protected about the Black mansion is only the address, not the people inside. Once you're brought in, you can communicate with the people inside—as long as they don't kick you out immediately. Of course, no matter how long someone stays inside this way, even if they can see the house number through the door, they still 'won't know' the exact address of the house; and once they come out, they can neither tell anyone nor get back in on their own."

It took Shen Hou a while to understand Sirius's lengthy explanation, but this only made him more puzzled: "What's the point of such a flawed protection system?"

Sirius thought for a moment, then replied with a cold laugh, "As a safe house during wartime, it's certainly not very useful; but if it's used as a tool for a pure-blood family to maintain its status, to refuse entry to Muggle and half-blood wizards whom they consider 'inferior,' and to create a private retreat for upper-class social interaction limited to pure-blood nobles, then it would be very useful."

"So, the Black family isn't using such a complex and profound spell as the 'Loyalty Charm' as a security measure, but rather as... an isolation measure? Your family certainly goes all out!"

"Hmph!" Hearing his family being mocked, Sirius Black wasn't angry at all. Instead, he gave a sarcastic laugh in agreement. "Pure-blood honor, huh... you have to find some way to flaunt your honor, otherwise how will others know about it?"

"Self-proclaimed glory? Your language is truly foul; anyone who didn't know better would think you weren't surnamed Blake!"

"The real Black family is a hundred times dirtier than I've described. You'll see for yourself," Sirius Black chuckled. "Now that we've come this far, are you going to do me this favor or not?"

"You mean you used Apparition to take me into the hideout of a Death Eater family?"

"Although they are not all Death Eaters, but... yes, you can consider that place as the Death Eaters' stronghold; my parents just didn't have the opportunity, not the desire, to join the Death Eaters. They were overjoyed when Regulus first joined."

Shen Hou sized up the eager Sirius Black, and asked with a strange look, "Just barging in empty-handed, without any precautions? You really think you're going home?"

"Hmm...you're right, we should take some precautions. Although I heard that my mother now lives alone in that house, with only a house-elf for company, my cousins ​​visit her from time to time." Sirius took Shen Hou's agreement as a yes and happily spoke while pulling out his wand. "Take out your wand too. Be alert when you apparite, and cast a spell if anything seems amiss. Don't hesitate...ouch!"

Before Sirius could finish speaking, Shen Hou suddenly lunged forward and lightly stabbed Sirius's wrist with the bone spike wand in his hand.

The stinger of the Hungarian Hornet Dragon was not easy to hit; one stab would leave a bloody gash. Sirius cried out in pain, and at the same time, his wand had already fallen into Shen Hou's hands.

What are you doing?

"I think this is the only way to keep you in the safe house. Dumbledore promised to deal with Regulus's problem tonight, so even if you're in a hurry, you don't need to rush for these ten-plus hours." Shen Hou stuffed Sirius's wand into his pocket, turned to James, and said, "If you don't want this guy to go out and die empty-handed, do as Dumbledore said and keep an eye on him!"