The Butcher of Hogsmeade

After finishing my third beer, the sky outside the window gradually darkened, and today's gathering came to an end.

"Want to check out Diagon Alley?" Fabian extended an invitation, like a hospitable native recommending their hometown to a tourist. "You've already seen Hogsmeade—the only and largest pure-wizard community in the British wizarding world—but haven't you seen the most bustling commercial street in the British wizarding world yet?"

"Now?" Shen Hou hesitated.

"That's right, you're lucky. We happen to be on duty tonight, patrolling Diagon Alley."

"Let's go then!" Upon hearing that there was a free guide along the way, Shen Hou made a quick decision; although it was a bit late, it was better than going alone in the dark. So he was led to the backyard of the bar, where he stood among trash cans and clumps of weeds, watching Gideon tapping his wand on the wall, not tapping, but counting.

"Remember the last brick he knocked on. If you ever have a wand, you can open the entrance when you come alone. It's three bricks up from the top of the trash can, then two bricks horizontally. Find the right spot and knock on it three times in a row... This brick has never been in the same position since the day Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron were founded. If you come often, you don't even need to count; you can recognize it at a glance," Fabian explained from the side.

Shen Hou nodded: "I understand. It's like a public Wi-Fi password; everyone knows it."

"Y what?"

Shen Hou waved his hand: "It's nothing, just Muggle stuff, don't worry about it."

"Oh, you're right. Almost everyone in the British wizarding world knows about this entrance, except for little kids who've never left it."

As he spoke, Gideon had already knocked three times. After a series of dull and rapid thuds, the bricks seemed to come alive and paddled to the left and right. The wall split open like waves, revealing a huge entrance large enough for two or three people to walk in side by side.

On the other side of the wall was a narrow alleyway paved with cobblestones; the buildings on both sides were brightly lit, with crooked exterior walls and all sorts of signs and logos of different styles and sizes hanging on them.

The alley was deep and quiet, with few pedestrians.

"Is this the most bustling commercial street?" Shen Hou peered inside, and to his surprise, he was greatly disappointed.

"It is indeed a bit deserted, after all, the situation is not good, and the timing is wrong. Now, everyone tries not to go out at night, for fear of getting into trouble. You can see from the Ministry of Magic that when we first joined the Auror Office more than ten years ago, the entrance reception hall was not like it is now." Fabian stepped into the alley first. "Guess why Aurors are arranged to patrol here every night?"

Shen Hou followed, looking around as he went.

The alley was longer than it appeared, with buildings on both sides mostly consisting of various shops. Based on Shen Hou's observations, the wizards probably had no concept of "street planning" at all. The facades, exterior walls, and decorations of the buildings on both sides were almost never aligned with each other, resulting in a crooked and uneven appearance. This caused the width of the alley to vary unpredictably: the widest part was as wide as sixteen or seventeen steps, while the narrowest part was difficult for two or three people to walk side by side.

As they walked, Fabian pointed out the shops on both sides of the alley. After walking a while, he added, "Those shops are actually not important. For you, there's only one place in Diagon Alley that's worth paying attention to for now: Gringotts Wizarding Bank, the only bank in the wizarding world. If you want to deposit money, you can only come here."

"I don't think I need to pay attention to banks for now. I have enough pockets on my clothes to store my money." Shen Hou patted his shirt pocket and smiled self-deprecatingly.

The Ministry of Magic operates on a weekly pay system. He had just finished his first full week of work. After receiving his salary, his advance payment and debts for food, clothing, and lodging were deducted. The remaining silver scimitars and bronze nuggets were so small that they could be shaken without making a sound.

Fabian laughed heartily, then pointed to a small shop not far ahead: "If you ever want to buy a wand, go there, Ollivander; almost every British wizard buys their wand there, and everyone is sure to find the perfect one."

Shen Hou looked in the direction the other person was pointing. There was a small door and a small shop window. It was the smallest shop he had seen so far. The shop door was closed at the moment. Although there was light coming out from inside, there was a "CLOSE" sign hanging behind the glass door.

"Ah, see that? That's Gringotts, the tallest building in Diagon Alley, easy to find... Hey, who's that?" Fabian's tone suddenly changed.

Following behind, Gideon muttered, "Mundungus, that's him, the groundhog-headed guy, I can't mistake him. He's acting all sneaky, I'm sure he just came out of Knockturn Alley."

"Shall we go take a look?" Fabian asked.

"Go ahead. He's the most suspicious person in the whole alley right now. Even if we don't ask, the other Aurors on patrol will keep an eye on him." Gideon walked past Shen Hou and his brother, taking the lead.

Not far away, a short, stout man standing on the side of the street, looking around, spotted the Pwitt brothers at a glance. Even from a distance, you could see him shudder and instinctively take a step to run, but he stopped as soon as he lifted his foot, as if he had thought of something, and gave up his plan to escape.

"Long time no see, Mundungus." Gideon's voice was muffled, sounding rather impolite and disrespectful; he and Fabian flanked the short, stout man.

"Don't act like you know me so well. I still need to make a living in the black market. I can't let them see me being so familiar with two Aurors..." The short, fat man lowered his voice, his tone urgent.

Shen Hou followed, observing from a distance. A strong, pungent odor, a mixture of tobacco and alcohol, emanated from the short, stout man; his round head was topped with sparse, messy, greasy, ginger-yellow hair. Surrounded by the Pewter brothers, the man's height disadvantage became even more apparent, explaining why Gideon called him "Groundhog Head."

"Being too enthusiastic won't do, so the Auror's search of suspicious individuals should be fine, right?" Fabian reached out and grabbed the bag from the other's shoulder, ignoring his refusal and unzipping it. "There's quite a lot of stuff. Where did it all come from?"

Gideon then questioned, "Haven't seen you in a long time. What have you been up to lately? Just came out of Knockturn Alley?"

"Of course I have my own tasks; I've been doing this all these days..."

"I'm asking you, did you just come out of Knockturn Alley?" Gideon suddenly interrupted him.

"What's wrong? Can't we even go shopping?"

"Who did you see? Were there any suspicious individuals around there tonight?"

"In your Auror eyes, who in Knockturn Alley isn't suspicious?"

"You know who I'm asking, Mundungus, don't try to fool me."

"I don't know, anyway, I didn't see it." The short, stout man hurriedly reached for the bag, but after two attempts, he couldn't budge it. "Hey, give it back to me, stop rummaging through it, I need it to make a living!"

"There are a lot of contraband items in here." Fabian's hands were like cast iron, gripping the shoulder bag without moving. "What is this thing? It's so heavy. Is it a magic wand?" He pulled a white "stick" out of the bag. It was pointed at one end and flat at the other, about a foot long, with three edges from top to bottom and three grooves between the edges.

"No, this isn't a wand. Have you ever seen a wand made of steel? It's not a magical artifact at all," Mundungus said.

"Then what is it?" Fabian persisted, pressing for an answer.

Mundungus, trapped and unable to move, and unable to snatch anything, said helplessly, "Fine, I'll tell you, this is a weapon made by Muggles imitating Dark Magic items."

"Are you kidding me? Muggle, imitation, dark magic item, how did you put those words together?" Fabian scoffed.

"You have no idea. This is the most vicious weapon ever made by Muggles. If you stab someone with it, there's no way to stop the bleeding unless they're rushed to the hospital immediately. The wound will only leave a small gash, but the person will continue to bleed until all their blood is drained." Mundungus's features contorted, his expression ferocious, as he tried to make his tone even more terrifying. "Among the Muggles, they gave this weapon a horrible name: 'Demon Fang.'"

Mundungus's earnest performance, while not completely convincing the Pwitt brothers, did leave them somewhat skeptical.

Just then, Shen Hou's leisurely voice came from the side, his tone half doubtful and half amused: "You call this thing Demon Fang? Isn't it just a triangular military dagger?"