The Butcher of Hogsmeade

On his second day back in Hogsmeade, Shen Hou kept his word and went to the Hog's Head twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, to confirm that the owner was closed. He deliberately knocked on the door for a long time, trying to get in, but the owner completely ignored him.

Many people, both overt and covert, witnessed the entire process, allowing some interested individuals to easily track down the whereabouts of the three individuals and their daily routines.

Shen Hou never stepped outside the village. After the Pighead Bar closed, the three of them went through the motions of investigating other places. As a result, rumors from the outside world became even more convinced that they had come to Hogsmeade to avoid trouble.

After the afternoon inspection, Fabian invited Shen Hou for a drink; in his words, "Coming to Hogsmeade and not trying Butterbeer would be a waste."

"Given the current situation, bars are not a good place to go," Gideon objected.

"How can a person live like a caterpillar? You have to find some fun for yourself," Fabian said with dissatisfaction.

"Is your pleasure drinking, or flirting with Miss Rosmerta?" Gideon rolled his eyes.

Fabian retorted confidently, "Everyone who goes to a bar has to deal with the owner. What does that have to do with men and women?"

Gossiping and enjoying the juicy gossip are undoubtedly human nature, and Shen Hou immediately became interested, asking, "Why is it called 'Three Brooms'?"

"This is interesting. Who knows? Just like nobody knows why Pighead Bar is called Pighead Bar, even though the bar owner's favorite animal is a goat." Fabian said, lifting his foot towards the bar, ignoring his brother's objections. "I heard that the place used to be called Two Brooms. As for whether it was called One Broom before, and why it was named after a broom, nobody knows now."

Based on Shen Hou's first impression, the Three Broomsticks was much better than the Pig's Head and the Leaky Cauldron, even though the interior spaces were equally cramped—as if all pubs in England were like that, and Muggles and wizards were indistinguishable. The Three Broomsticks had more customers than the two pubs mentioned above; it was crowded, noisy, warm, and smoky.

"I have to thank you for shutting down the Hog's Head. There are more customers than usual today. This is probably the time I've supported the Ministry of Magic's decision the most... Will the Hog's Head be closed forever?" The bar owner's eyes lit up when she saw Fabian enter. After greeting him, she asked half-jokingly.

"That's pure rumor. We didn't shut down the Hog's Head Bar. The owner decided to close it indefinitely. I think it's more like he's cooperating with the Ministry of Magic, so a permanent closure is definitely not going to happen. We wouldn't do that." Fabian grinned and moved closer to the bar.

Shen Hou could understand Fabian's actions. The female boss in front of him was in her early thirties, elegant and charming. She was very enthusiastic when she saw the Pwitt brothers, just like a real friend. At first, Shen Hou thought that she and Fabian had some kind of ambiguous relationship, but he soon found out that she treated every regular customer like this.

It is evident that Ms. Rosmerta has fully utilized some of the advantages of being a woman to help her business thrive, and the results have been quite good.

Hearing Fabian's seemingly evasive words, Rosmerta was not angry. She noted down the order for the three people and, while mixing drinks, was also able to respond to the needs of other customers.

Inside the bar, various bottles, glasses, and snacks flitted around the female owner. Items ordered would automatically fly out of the cabinet, pop their corks, find their corresponding glasses, and pour themselves out; snack dishes nestled beside their matching glasses, waiting to be taken away; used glasses lined up and passed through the cubicle door into the kitchen's washing sink.

"I thought magic was just about casting spells and attacking each other! At most, it might involve some apparition or something, just for mobility on the battlefield. I never expected..." Shen Hou looked at the seemingly chaotic but actually well-organized scene inside the bar and was amazed.

"I never thought magic could be used for housework?" Fabian said smugly, with the superiority complex of a city dweller looking at a country bumpkin. "If you'd ever been to Arthur's house, you'd know that Rosmerta is nothing compared to Molly, who's a real expert at housework; taking care of six children at the same time is much more troublesome than serving sixteen adult patrons."

"How did they do that?" Shen Hou couldn't help but exclaim.

"Focus on learning various utility spells! Of course, it also depends on individual talent. Some witches have to review the repair spell a dozen times just to clean a window, and sometimes they have to add the summoning spell, otherwise they can't even find where the rag is."

"That's my question," Shen Hou said, his thinking clearly not on the same wavelength as Fabian's. "Including combat magic, what were the people who invented these spells thinking in the first place? How did they know how high to raise the wand, at what angle to rotate it, and with what rhythm to chant which spell to achieve their desired goal?"

"Oh, this is a tough question for me. You know what?" Fabian had no choice but to ask his brother for help, but it was clear from his tone that he didn't have much hope.

"You'd have to ask Dumbledore, or Professor Flitwick, for that. I remember Professor Flitwick talking about the origins and development of spells in Charms class, mentioning the birth and evolution of ancient magic, but..." Gideon looked troubled.

Fabi understood immediately and continued, "But you and I weren't really listening. We're the same; when we were in school, we were only thinking about becoming Aurors, so we only cared about the power and effects of spells and had no interest in their evolution."

Gideon blushed and tried to save face: "I did listen to a little bit of what they said."

"Really? Tell me quickly, let me catch up, and let Shen broaden his horizons too." Fabian, at this moment, showed a complete lack of tact and urged him to ask more questions.

Gideon's face turned even redder, and he stammered out some well-known statements such as "magic is cast according to the wizard's beliefs," "the Patronus Charm relies on happy emotions," and "the Killing Charm requires extremely strong malice," and that was it. He couldn't say a word more, which unsurprisingly drew ridicule from his younger brother.

While the two brothers were "attacking" each other, they were completely unaware that Shen Hou had fallen into deep thought. For someone who was a complete Muggle just a month ago, learning even a little bit of knowledge was a pleasant surprise and a sign of progress; for example, this time, Shen Hou firmly remembered the words "intention" and "emotion".

"Your drinks are here." The female owner swayed as she walked over carrying a large tray.

Based on the surreal scene he had just witnessed at the bar, Shen Hou was quite certain that Ms. Rosmerta did not need to personally serve the drinks; she did so simply to foster closer relationships and prevent customers from being faced with only cold bottles and jars.

"Here's your mead, Gidion; here's your redcurrant rum, Fabian; and a glass of butterbeer..."

"Give them all to me." Fabian reached out and took them, then pushed the butterbeer to Shen Hou.

After delivering the drinks, Rosmerta didn't leave. Instead, she looked at Shen Hou with interest and asked, "Is this your new colleague? I haven't seen him before."

"Yes, our new colleague, Shen Hou—surname first—works in the Office for the Prohibition of Muggle Item Abuse," Fabian eagerly introduced.

Rosmerta's face showed a hint of surprise, but he quickly concealed it and put on a friendly expression: "Ah, you must be... It's a pleasure to meet you. Nice to meet you. The first drink is on me."

"Uh... thank you." Although he knew this was a way for people to make a living, Shen Hou was still not used to the overly familiar and enthusiastic nature of a stranger of the opposite sex, and his expression and tone were very reserved.

Located right next to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Rosmerta had seen plenty of poor boys like Shen Hou before, so he didn't say much and just left with a grin.

In such a crowded and noisy environment, it was obviously not suitable to discuss real secrets, and even using wizarding methods was not absolutely safe; in addition, Shen Hou's intentional or unintentional guidance brought the topic back to the discussion about the nature and origin of magic.

"Wizards are the primary source of magic, followed by various powerful magical creatures. Therefore, some weak magical creatures that yearn for magically abundant environments depend on wizards for survival and always roam around the wizards' residences. Well, that's all I remember of the theoretical statement. I've probably forgotten the rest, or perhaps I never learned it from Professor Kettleburn," Fabian said with a carefree self-deprecating laugh.

Who is Professor Celticburn?

"The professor of Conservation of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts," Gideon explained.

Shen Hou only remembered the latter part, "biology professor," and simply equated it with his middle school biology teacher.

"Is there no element of 'magic' in the external environment?"

"How could you think that? Magic is of course unique to wizards... and magical creatures, of course. It's not air or dust, floating somewhere invisible to the eye," Fabian said. "Just like when we talk about human energy and physical strength, there has to be a person, a living person, for these things to exist in a person."

Gideon added, "Magic can indeed emanate from wizards and magical creatures, thus affecting the environment of their settlements, but this phenomenon is contingent on the wizards or magical creatures remaining active in that environment."

"What if they leave?"

"Then the environment will quickly return to its original state, becoming indistinguishable from the Muggle community. Unless the wizard actively casts a spell to preserve a certain environmental feature for a long time, but that would fall under the category of spell effects, not the natural evolution of the environment."

"If a spell is cast in an environment affected by magic, will the spell's effect change?"

"Oh...no, you should ask Professor Dumbledore that question, not discuss it with us," Fabian "lamented," almost burying his face in his wine glass. "Don't you find it strange yourself, Shen? You don't even have a wand, yet you're discussing profound magical theories with us."

Unlike his brother, who only focused on expressing "negative emotions," Gideon tried his best to give Shen Hou a "reliable" suggestion: "If you are really interested in these magical theories, you can buy a few professional academic journals; go to a bookstore and ask, they will give you advice, or you can subscribe through them."

"Are you kidding me, Gideon?" Fabian almost jumped up. "What Shen needs most right now is a wand, and then to learn all sorts of spells from scratch; he at least needs to know the tricks that Death Eaters often use. Good luck like that in Diagon Alley won't come around again."

Gideon nodded and said to Shen Hou, "Fabian is right, this is the most urgent matter."

By this time, Fabian had finished his first drink. He wanted to order another, but after looking at Shen Hou, he stopped himself and called out towards the bar, "Another butterbeer, please. Our new colleague really likes it."

"I heard you, I'm coming." Ms. Rosmerta, sitting at the bar, replied without looking up, her voice enough to identify the customer who had ordered.

The topic of magic theory has come to an end. The Prewitt brothers simply couldn't offer much on the subject. Their most reliable advice was always the same: "You should go see Professor So-and-so" or "Read So-and-so's papers and journals." It was so awkward to keep going on like that, how could we possibly continue the conversation?

A moment later, a new glass of butterbeer was brought over; Ms. Rosmerta glanced at the half-finished glass in Shen Hou's hand, first surprised, then realizing what was going on when she saw Shen Hou's expression, and irritably placed the new glass in front of Fabian.

"Let's talk about something interesting... Did you know that the Minister of Magic signed a new executive order yesterday banning the import of some Indian goods?" Fabian held the Butterbeer in his palm, feeling its warmth.

"I've heard that. It seems the target this time is the Malfoys," Gideon said.

"A blow to international trade?" Shen Hou asked, puzzled. "And who is Malfoy? This business is his. Does he have a grudge against the minister?"

“No, there’s no grudge, but the Malfoys are a typical old-school pure-blood family. They were close to pure-blood theorists back in school, and now they’re suspected of being members of the Death Eaters,” Fabian replied.

"Is it just suspicion, or is there no evidence?"

"If we had evidence, we would have arrested them directly." Fabian curled his lip, taking a satisfying sip of his warm butterbeer. "We're deliberately targeting their business now in order to find evidence."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think a family like the Malfoys would just obediently stop doing business because of a ban issued by the Ministry of Magic?" Fabian retorted.

"Probably not. Even if he's not a Death Eater, he certainly wouldn't be happy to throw away a huge pile of Galleons for nothing."

“That’s right, that’s what the Ministry of Magic wants him to think.” Fabian picked up his glass and took another sip. “If the legal channels don’t work, then we have to go through illegal channels, like… smuggling.”

"and then?"

"Then it becomes simple. Finding evidence of Death Eaters is not easy, but finding evidence of smuggling is much easier. As long as we can catch them, even if it's just one smuggled item, we can use this opportunity to turn the entire Malfoy Manor upside down."

"Using the pretext of investigating smuggling to investigate the Death Eaters' crimes is indeed a good method," Shen Hou sincerely praised. "But this... Fabian, what's wrong with you?"

Across the table, Fabian's face was a bluish-black, with countless black lines extending from his face to his neck and behind his ears; a torrent of purplish-black, foul-smelling blood gushed from his mouth, and with his eyes closed, he fell straight backward amidst the screams of Shen Hou and Gideon.