The Butcher of Hogsmeade

Perhaps because the news Remus brought back was too astonishing, or perhaps because wizards naturally looked down on Muggles, the other three wizards unanimously overlooked the fact that a young Muggle named Shen Hou had followed them in, allowing him to hear every detail of their conversation.

Even though he was completely unfamiliar with the magical world, Shen Hou sensed something was amiss and realized that he had not only been inexplicably sent to this wizarding village, but had also been inexplicably drawn into a violent conflict within the wizarding community.

Werewolves + a full moon – anyone familiar with Western fantasy stories understands what this means. What was that guy named Remus saying again? That some guy named Greyback gathered a large number of werewolves for a collective action?

Is the city besieged by a beast horde?

Shen Hou quickly mapped the current situation onto a "script" he could understand, the kind of "major events" that were once very popular in old-school fantasy web novels and fantasy games.

However, what do they mean by "Death Eaters"? There doesn't seem to be a common English phrase for this.

Over the next few minutes, Shen Hou witnessed more and more bizarre and fantastical scenes.

A bright silver light burst forth from the tip of Gideon's wand, gradually transforming into a four-legged animal in a flash. Before Shen Hou could exclaim or recognize it, Gideon said in a deep voice, "Remus has brought back important intelligence. Alastor, immediately meet him at the Shrieking Shack, and also notify Dumbledore."

No sooner had he finished speaking than four legs made of light took flight in the air, and the round body slipped through the half-open door, disappearing without a trace. Only then did Shen Hou barely recognize that it might be a beaver, but he couldn't be sure.

Less than a minute later, or even less, three explosions came from outside the door, and then someone opened the door of the shed.

The first person to enter was a handsome young man with long black hair that reached his ears. His impatient expression revealed his youthful recklessness. He didn't even look at anyone else and went straight to Remus. He only relaxed after confirming that Remus was alright.

The person who followed in was also a young man, wearing round-framed glasses and with short, choppy black hair. He looked at Remus with the same worried expression as he entered.

If the first two young men seemed "normal," then the last middle-aged man to enter really opened Shen Hou's eyes, making him once again deeply appreciate the huge difference between wizards and Muggles.

The middle-aged man was tall and burly, his face covered in scars, and a piece was missing from the tip of his nose, as if it had been gouged out with a spoon. What intrigued and terrified Shen Hou the most was the man's left eye; a shiny blue prosthetic eye protruded from its socket, darting around. This involuntarily reminded Shen Hou of the Tier 3 unit of the Dungeon faction in Heroes of Might and Magic III, and he was constantly worried that a deadly ray of light would shoot out from the center of the eyeball at any moment.

At the same time, as the middle-aged man entered the room, Shen Hou was surprised to hear the heavy, rhythmic thumping of the floor. He realized that the man was missing not only his left eye but also his right leg, replaced by a wooden prosthetic. Just then, the prosthetic eye on the middle-aged man's face suddenly turned and stared intently at Shen Hou, startling him so much that he retreated and hid in the shadows of the room.

"Who is this?" The middle-aged man first looked at the short, stout man who had opened the door in the shed, and when the man shook his head, he looked at the Pwitt brothers.

Gideon replied, "A Muggle, who somehow ended up at the Hog's Head and almost got killed by Aberforth; we happened to run into him, so we brought him here to hand him over to the Aurors."

"Bringing a complete Muggle to our safe house at a time like this?" The middle-aged man roared in fury, like a volcano erupting without warning.

Gideon retorted without backing down, "What else can we do? Watch him get beaten to death, or let him roam freely around the village, right now? What else can we do but hand him over to the Aurors?"

"Why didn't you just drop him off at the nearest post office and send him away using a Floo Net?"

"That would require someone to be in the post office; Hogsmeade's public Floo network has long been cut off, thanks to your suggestion, out of concern that Death Eaters might launch an attack through the fireplace."

Seeing that the two were raising their voices, the second young man who entered quickly stepped in and stepped between them: "This is not the time to argue, friends!"

The middle-aged man gave up arguing with Gideon and glared angrily at Shen Hou—in fact, the gaze of the fake eye had been fixed on him the whole time—and said, “I have nothing on me, no wand, no disguise… Listen to me, kid, stay put and don’t leave this house unless someone tells you to. Don’t try anything funny.”

Shen Hou nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice, hiding himself even deeper into the corner, while continuing to eavesdrop on the wizards' conversation. But the next moment, the sounds coming from the other side turned into meaningless buzzing, as if a swarm of flies and mosquitoes had suddenly appeared and were hovering around the wizards, the vibrations of their wings drowning out all their conversation.

After repeatedly digging and probing into his ear canal for a while, Shen Hou finally confirmed that he was not experiencing sudden tinnitus. The sound of the wind coming from outside the door was perfectly clear, and the shrieking sound coming from the shed's doors, windows, and wall gaps was still the same. The only thing he couldn't hear was the wizards' conversation.

Thinking of the middle-aged man's menacing and menacing appearance, and that "poisonous eye" that was always staring at him, Shen Hou completely abandoned the idea of ​​getting closer to eavesdrop and looked around listlessly.

The shack was unusually sparsely furnished and had probably been uninhabited for many years. Apart from the table and chairs around which the wizards sat, the other corners and furnishings were covered with years of accumulated dust. Every step of the stairs leading to the second floor was covered with a uniform grayish-white color, indicating that even though the wizards used it as a safe house, no one ever went upstairs.

After a quick glance, Shen Hou lost interest in the house. He sat leaning against the wall, his head resting on a wooden plank, unconsciously trying to catch the sound of the wind coming from the cracks in the wall, while recalling the bizarre encounter of the day, feeling both excited and worried.

Just then, an unusual sound seemed to appear in the wind, crackling and popping, somewhat like firecrackers, and also somewhat like the explosions that had occurred when Remus and the others appeared out of thin air earlier. Shen Hou listened intently, puzzled, while the wizards in the room all changed their expressions drastically and stood up abruptly.

The middle-aged man took the lead; despite being missing a leg, he was the fastest, taking a few big strides to open the door and walk out.

The sky outside grew increasingly gloomy, and the night deepened; beneath the dark clouds, one after another dazzling red sparks rose into the air, transforming into clusters of brilliant "fireworks."

Following closely behind, Gideon said urgently to the middle-aged man, "Alastor, please make sure you tell me that you didn't forget to inform Dumbledore of the news."

"Of course I haven't forgotten!" the middle-aged man retorted fiercely.