The Butcher of Hogsmeade

"All of this started with you, and the closer we get to the end, the more I wish you were here, Mr. Shen." Dumbledore looked at Shen Hou, his tone sincere and serious.

Shen Hou remained unmoved and retorted, "Besides this kind of mystical explanation, isn't there a more objective reason?"

Dumbledore didn't argue, but smiled and said, "There are also objective reasons, for example, I want a trustworthy official to be a witness in this investigation."

"An official?" Shen Hou pointed to himself, his face full of self-doubt. "Me?"

"You are a striker in the Auror office, privately commissioned by the Headmaster of Hogwarts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Regulus Black, a former Hogwarts student, during his school years. With the permission and accompaniment of Regulus's brother—Sirius Black—you visited the Black family's old house to investigate clues." Dumbledore spoke eloquently and with great seriousness, leaving Shen Hou dumbfounded and extremely admiring.

This is what makes a good person even more "cunning" than a bad person, which is why they have the ability to fight against bad people.

"Is it really necessary to make up such an excuse?"

"You mean when we're about to Apparate into a private residence without permission?" Dumbledore thought for a couple of seconds very seriously, then nodded vigorously. "I think it's absolutely necessary!"

Shen Hou reminded him, "But I'm just a striker; I don't have the authority to handle cases independently."

"So this was just a private commission from the student's teacher and the younger brother's older brother, not an informal investigation. And the most crucial thing about the whole thing is not the position of the 'official,' but that he must be 'trustworthy.'"

"Can't we find other Aurors in the Order of the Phoenix?" Shen Hou was still resisting.

Dumbledore shook his head: "It's best not to have too many people in the know. You should understand that."

"So it's just the few of us?" Shen Hou hoped there would be more people so he could blend into the crowd without attracting attention, which would also give him some courage.

"In fact, James can't go either," Dumbledore continued, delivering more bad news. "He's been out for a day and a night, and his family needs him more right now."

James explained with a self-deprecating laugh, "Mrs. Black has a very bad impression of me, and if I go, it will probably be even more difficult for us to have a peaceful conversation."

"Why?" Shen Hou asked, puzzled.

Sirius Black sneered, "Because my mother stubbornly believed that my betrayal of family tradition and eventual departure from home were all due to the influence of a few 'bad friends.' Not just James, but also Remus and Peter, who were declared forever unwelcome guests by my parents after visiting my house once. And then I discovered that I had become an unwelcome person too."

"Then I don't think she would welcome me either."

"It's alright, you're an 'official'!" Sirius reassured him with a smile.

Having said that, Shen Hou knew he couldn't escape.

Can Sirius Black Apparate with two people at once?

"Taking care of two of you at the same time would definitely be very difficult, but if one of you is Professor Dumbledore, it should be much easier." Sirius was very self-aware. "Even if there are problems, I have prepared enough Dictamnus extract."

"You're certainly well-prepared; it seems it was indeed necessary for me to take your wand away." Shen Hou couldn't stand the smug look on some people's faces, so he casually brought up old grievances, which quickly made Sirius's face turn dark—his wand was still in Dumbledore's hands!

Shen Hou reluctantly took Sirius's hand, and then found that this Apparition process was much more uncomfortable than any of the past—including when Dumbledore and Phoenix Fawkes were the main characters.

It felt like I'd encountered a novice driver who clearly wasn't skilled at driving but still loved to speed.

The moment he landed, Shen Hou stumbled and fell into a soft ball of silk fabric. His head and face were immediately enveloped in a cloud of dust, which entered his nostrils and mouth, making him cough uncontrollably.

When he came to his senses, Shen Hou found himself in a spacious bedroom; the soft silk fabric he had just fallen into was actually a carved bed, covered with thick mattresses, sheets, and pillows, and thick velvet curtains hung from the four bedposts.

Sirius and Dumbledore performed much better than him, standing steadily, and the old wizard even had the leisure to cast a "Cleanse" on himself.

"We're in? Where is this?" Shen Hou looked around, trying to overcome his body's instinctive reaction of feeling uncomfortable as he entered a stranger's house.

"My bedroom," Sirius said with a barely perceptible sigh, "is still exactly the same as the day I ran away from home."

Shen Hou glanced at the golden decorations embroidered with griffins on the wall, along with photos of motorcycles and posters of bikini-clad girls, and casually asked, "When did you run away from home again?"

"The summer vacation when I was sixteen."

"And now?"

"What?"

How old are you now?

"Twenty-one."

"Oh..." Shen Hou suddenly felt a strange sense of doubt. "You've been away from home for so long, and your family hasn't thrown these things away. It seems they don't mind your going against tradition as much as you say!"

Shen Hou was indeed speaking from the heart; based on the Black family traditions that Sirius had once described, it didn't seem like they would tolerate the Gryffindor symbol appearing in their home—not to mention motorcycles, bikinis, and other things that represent Muggle culture.

Five or six years have passed, how come these things have been preserved?

Sirius Black scoffed. "Perhaps it's just because I cast a permanent adhesive spell on these things?"

Shen Hou disagreed: "If I really hate something to the point of being unable to tolerate it, I'll tear down the wall and throw it out."

"Let's hurry up and leave!" Sirius didn't want to say anything more. He walked quickly to the bedroom door, reached out and pulled, but the door didn't budge. Even casting the unlocking spell had no effect.

"A reinforcement charm and a reverse unlocking charm, they've completely sealed this room off. Good, out of sight, out of mind for them." Sirius's laughter grew colder; just as he was about to cast an even more powerful spell to break down the door, Dumbledore stopped him.

"You're coming home, while we're here to visit. Let's not make things too awkward." The old wizard waved his wand, rendering the reinforcement and unlocking spells ineffective; the lock clicked open.

Just as the bedroom door opened, a hoarse, deep voice screamed, "Who's there? Intruder! Get out!"