The Butcher of Hogsmeade

Upon hearing the term "Secrecy Law," the Minister and the Director seemed to have been doused with cold water, and their enthusiasm immediately waned.

Yes, given Voldemort and the Death Eaters' political stance, regardless of whether they ultimately win or lose, their influence might not spread throughout Europe, let alone to Muggles living in faraway East Asia.

The second Dark Lord is ultimately inferior to the first one. To this day, he is only fighting a "British Civil War". How can it be compared to the "World War" of the first one?

"So, what can you tell us?" Millison asked.

Shen Houzheng was troubled by this problem. What could he say? In just half a day and a night of contact, the wizards' level of "ignorance" of Muggle society was shocking, comparable to the useless people produced by the happy education system in Europe and America in later generations, similar to Americans who couldn't find the United States on a world map.

If you talk to them about Reaganomics of the 1980s, the reform and opening up, the ins and outs of the Falklands War, and the causes of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, will they understand?

Shen Hou racked his brains and suddenly had a flash of inspiration: a globally significant event. Although it took place in Muggle society, the wizards present would definitely know about it, and there would even be many who paid attention, because the event was taking place in England.

"Next year, in the middle of 1981, the Prince of Wales will marry Princess Diana; and the wedding will be broadcast live worldwide, watched by at least hundreds of millions of people. You may be indifferent to Muggle society, but surely you can't be completely ignorant of the royal family, can you?"

"Mid-year? You mean, we have to wait at least six months to verify this news?" Piastrelli was very dissatisfied, feeling that Shen Hou was stalling for time and trying to fool him. "Besides, I know the royal wedding will definitely be very grand, if the wedding does take place... but what does 'global live broadcast' mean?"

"It was via satellite..." Shen Hou quickly abandoned his intention to explain further. "Never mind, just know that the wedding was very grand. After all, it was the British Crown Prince and Crown Princess; these things are easy to verify, right?"

"Isn't there any more recent news?" Piastrelli pressed.

"This is history, history that happened before I was born! What else could I possibly know besides these major events recorded in history?" Shen Hou complained loudly, and with a sense of righteous indignation. "I'd love to tell you what time Santa Claus will climb down your chimney this Christmas Eve and what presents he'll bring your children, but is that something I could possibly know, huh?"

If it weren't for a joke circulating online a few years ago about a female prime minister with a record-breaking term "killing" the Queen, Shen Hou might not have paid any attention to the British royal family, much less been interested in learning about the extramarital affairs of the new king and the former crown prince. It's quite remarkable that he could recall such a major event that happened in 1981.

The director, looking embarrassed by the retort, jokingly replied, "Santa Claus won't come to my house; I don't have any children of school age..."

The minister tried to smooth things over: "From the proposal to the engagement to the wedding, the Muggle royal family has always been very traditional, so they will definitely go through the whole process. We don't necessarily have to wait until the middle of the year. We can have the wizards stationed at the Prime Minister's residence and the royal court inquire about it discreetly to get a preliminary verification, but we shouldn't attract the attention of the Muggles."

"It's easy to get information, the problem is, what will he do?" Piastrelli looked at Shen Hou.

Millicent turned to Dumbledore and Crocker for advice, as she said she greatly needed and respected professional opinions.

"He should stay here," Krock said.

The minister asked, "Stay in the Ministry of Magic? You mean put under our supervision?"

“No, I’m talking about this place, the Department of Mysteries.” Crocker emphasized, “We can’t rule out the possibility that he’s a time traveler, so we must assume that at some point in the future someone will come to ‘take him away,’ just like someone once ‘took away’ Eloise Mintab from 1402. A time travel spanning forty-six years, no matter how it happened, would most likely attract the attention of wizards of that era; wizards of the future are just as afraid that time travelers will change history, just as we are afraid that he will change the future, but the only thing we can do is minimize his encounters with others.”

"How long is he going to stay here?" the minister asked again.

Crocker looked thoughtful: "That depends on when the wizards of his time noticed this, and what point in time they pinpointed when they came to 'pick him up.' Based on our experience rescuing Eloise Mintab, it might be five days, or a week; the rescuers would certainly try their best to pinpoint an earlier point in time to minimize the time the time traveler spends in the wrong era."

"That's assuming someone actually wants to come and get him." Piastrelli's thinking always seemed pessimistic, constantly preparing for the worst. "What if no one comes to get him? What if he really is a time traveler, but no one comes to take him back?"

"That means the wizarding society of 2026 is on the verge of collapse, and it no longer has the basic ability to handle magical accidents and disasters." Kroc said in a calm tone, revealing the terrifying truth. "Or, the wizards of that era believed that his time travel was part of history, that he was meant to come to this era and influence it."

Piastral exclaimed, "Could it be that future wizards will allow history to be altered?"

Kroc replied blankly, "Why change history? Perhaps, forty-six years from now, he is already a part of history. What he influences is precisely a part of our future."

"A very interesting conjecture," Dumbledore interjected.

Piastrelli, however, stared wide-eyed and exclaimed, "No, this is not funny at all, it's downright terrifying!"

Listening to the argument surrounding him, Shen Hou finally couldn't help but interject: "Why do you all think that my time travel must be related to magic? Can't it be for some other reason, I mean something other than magic? Maybe the wizards of 2026 don't even know that I've traveled through time."

As someone who grew up bombarded by online information, Shen Hou felt that these wizards had a very narrow vision and way of thinking.

"Time travel unrelated to magic?" The minister's expression darkened. "What do you mean? By 2026, will Muggles already possess the technology for time travel?"

"Uh... probably not."

"Then what other methods did you suggest...?"

"For example, aliens or something?" Shen Hou originally wanted to say things like touching an electric gate, hitting a wall, or even having a terminal illness, jumping into a well, jumping into a river, or jumping off a cliff, but then he thought they were all too absurd, so he swallowed his words back. After all, he had seen wizards and magic with his own eyes, but other so-called "time travel methods" only existed in novels, movies, TV dramas, and crosstalk.

Unexpectedly, the wizards present all let out a dismissive sneer.

"A ridiculous fantasy of Muggles." Piastri's tone was full of contempt.