The Butcher of Hogsmeade

"Give me back my wand!" Sirius was both angry and anxious, and wouldn't listen to a word. He lunged forward empty-handed to grab the wand, seemingly forgetting that the person in front of him had killed at least ten dark wizards in close combat, not to mention the wounded ones.

Naturally, Shen Hou could perform grappling techniques with just one hand. Facing Sirius who pounced on him, he threw him back in less than two seconds.

"Who do you think you are? You're the Keeper of the House of James, do you think you can just take risks and die like that?" Having stayed up all night, his temper was already low, and Shen Hou's patience had completely worn off. He began to shout angrily, "You talk a good game about the Unwavering Loyalty Charm, but haven't you considered the simplest thing: if you die, everyone who knows about the Potter safe house will automatically become a Keeper of the House of James's; how can you guarantee they're all absolutely reliable? How can you guarantee they won't accidentally leak the secret?"

Sirius was stunned, while Shen Houze let out a long sigh of relief.

After spending time together, Shen Hou had come to understand that Sirius was too smart and too opinionated, making it difficult for him to listen to others' opinions. When he wanted to take a risky step, trying to persuade him by talking about his own safety and interests might not be effective, but if you tried to persuade him by talking about the safety of his loved ones, the chances of success were almost 100%.

This may be the main reason why Dumbledore agreed to let Sirius Black serve as the Potter family's secret keeper, rather than insisting on his own opinion.

After a combination of persuasion and coercion, Shen Hou finally managed to "suppress" the restless Sirius Black, and he no longer expected to catch up on sleep before work. The two guys with wives or girlfriends successfully occupied the single guy's spot, which could be considered revenge for Shen Hou's trickery in stealing the wand. However, when Shen Hou pushed open the door to leave, he did not notice that Sirius Black seemed to be deep in thought because of the reprimand.

Downstairs, Shen Hou handed Sirius's wand to Mrs. Figg, the apartment manager, for safekeeping, and solemnly instructed her in Dumbledore's name that the wand must not be returned to Sirius before he got off work or before dinner; unless the safe house was attacked and the two guys inside were in danger—which was highly unlikely.

A day passed in the blink of an eye. Perhaps Shen Hou's expectations were answered by some deity, for there were no extra tasks in the Auror office that day; routine patrols and guard duties still needed to be done, but the participants in the extermination of the giant tribe would receive a few days of preferential treatment in their shift schedules, so Shen Hou was able to catch up on a morning's sleep in the office.

In contrast, the Prewitt brothers weren't so lucky. They were summoned by Alastor to the scene of the attack on Scrimgeour, trying to find any clues the attackers might have left behind. As for why Shen Hou wasn't invited, one reason was that Mad-Eye still remembered he needed extra protection and shouldn't go out too often unless absolutely necessary; the other reason was that Shen Hou still only had a superficial understanding of the magical world. While his spells were powerful, they were purely a burden when investigating magical traces.

As it was nearing the end of the workday, Alastor returned to his office. The Prewitt brothers, who had come back with him, looked dejected and started yawning as soon as they stepped out of the Ministry of Magic.

"Did the on-site investigation reveal anything?" Shen Hou asked.

Gideon nodded, then shook his head: "There are indeed some new clues. Mad-Eye always manages to find things that others can't. The problem is that there are still too few clues. It's unlikely that we can catch the Death Eaters in the act with this evidence."

"The Death Eaters are always very careful in their crimes. Unless they are caught red-handed, they can hardly find any useful clues afterward. We didn't have much hope to begin with, except that Alastor wanted to do something more." Fabian said, yawning as he spoke, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Do you need some energy potion?" Shen Hou asked. This was one of the few potions he knew, simply a habit he had developed from his Muggle life, and he wanted to keep some cold medicine at home.

Fabian's tears finally came out with a yawn, and he said listlessly, "I feel like the energizer isn't enough, I need a vitality tonic."

Gideon shook his head: "That thing is too expensive. The department won't reimburse it when it's not on a mission."

"I think what you need most right now isn't any magic potion, but a good night's sleep," Shen Hou kindly reminded you. "Magic can't make you immune to cardiovascular disease."

"But Reg..." Fabian almost let slip in his sleepiness, but thankfully he realized in time and lowered his voice, "But aren't we supposed to deal with... that follow-up issue tonight?"

Shen Hou also lowered his voice: "Strictly speaking, tonight is just someone wanting to go home; there's no reason, nor is it appropriate to bring a large group of 'guests' who are destined to be unwelcome by parents, right? I'm not even prepared to join in the fun."

"That's true." Fabian's sluggish brain was still working hard, and he finally remembered the Black family's reputation and usual behavior. "They may still have some basic respect for Professor Dumbledore based on strength and status, but they certainly won't give 'pure-blood traitors' like us a friendly look."

After seeing the Prewitt brothers off, Shen Hou went to Mrs. Figg to retrieve Sirius's wand. When he went upstairs and opened the door, he found Dumbledore already sitting in the room, while James and Sirius stood in front of the old professor like students who had been kept after school for making a mistake. When they saw Shen Hou push the door open, they both gave him meaningful glances, practically writing their distress signals on their faces.

"Mrs. Figg didn't say you were already here," Shen Hou said, breaking the silence in the room.

"I didn't pass by downstairs, so she didn't know."

Shen Hou asked again, "Has the poison in your body been neutralized?"

"Thank you for your concern. That's certainly true. The potions themselves weren't deadly, Professor Slughorn's antidote was very effective, and Madam Pomfrey took good care of me."

After the pleasantries ended, Shen Hou didn't know what to say, so he simply turned his face away, ignoring the pleading looks from the two "dog abusers".

At this point, Dumbledore brought up the subject: "I heard you took Mr. Black's wand?"

"Ah, yes, I remember now." Shen Hou quickly handed it over.

Dumbledore held the wand in his hand without returning it to its rightful owner, and said slowly, "I want to thank you, Mr. Shen, for you stopped a very immature and impulsive act; I thought James could keep an eye on Sirius."

The two people who were singled out for criticism had their eyes constantly scanning the sky and the ground.

Shen Hou, being kind-hearted, couldn't bear to see the two continue to suffer, and asked, "How do you plan to deal with the riddle left by Sirius Black? I presume you've already heard Sirius mention the most likely person in the know, the house-elf who serves the Black family?"

"Yes, I'm about to leave." Dumbledore stood up and extended an invitation, "Would you like to come along, Mr. Shen?"

"Sirius asked me, so why are you asking me too?" Shen Hou was full of resistance. Due to some unknown reason and the blessing of his abilities, he was gradually getting used to participating in adventures and battles, but he was still terrified of the idea of ​​"visiting" other people's homes.

In this respect, Shen Hou, the recluse in 2026, is no different from Shen Hou, the "wizard" in 1981.