The Butcher of Hogsmeade

"How much valuable information do you think we can get before handing the person over to the Ministry of Magic?" James interrupted the discussion about the big black dog, turning the conversation and his gaze toward the back door of the cabin.

Sirius Black understood his friend's intention to shift the focus perfectly, and immediately followed suit, making a surprising remark: "I don't think we'll get anything out of them. Dumbledore and Alastor are just too mild-mannered and too law-abiding."

"We are not dark wizards, Mr. Black." At the other end of the room, a middle-aged witch who had been resting with her eyes closed suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Sirius Black.

"That's why we always come out on the losing end," Sirius muttered. "If you ask me, it would be great if Barty Crouch and Dumbledore's strengths could be combined into one—toughness and wisdom."

"Are you saying that Barty Crouch is brainless?" the middle-aged witch said.

Sirius Black replied without hesitation, "What you say goes, Emmeline. I will always agree with your assessment of Mr. Crouch."

Everyone in the room laughed, except for Shen Hou. James then took the initiative to introduce the only new "outsider" present. Fenwick's full name was Benji Fenwick; the witch discussing dark wizards and Barty Crouch with Sirius was Emily Vance; the other, much younger witch was Marlene McKinnon; and the last unfamiliar young wizard present was Stooge Podmore, whom James called "Big Brother" because he was only three years older than James and Sirius. Back in school, he, being an upperclassman, had always been the one to guide the two newcomers.

"Peter and Lupin are also with me. You should have met them before, but they're not here today." Stodgi had straw-like blond hair, and you could tell from his voice that he had a cheerful personality, so it's no wonder he led a group of younger brothers and acted like the big brother.

Shen Hou couldn't help but praise, "A friendship that extends from school to beyond is truly enviable."

"Of course, we are all brave Gryffindors!" Stoddarts shouted, raising his arms.

"I'm sorry, I dare say I'm a brave person, but I am a Hufflepuff," Emily said softly, speaking just as Stoddard finished speaking.

"I'm sorry too. Although I'm not lacking in courage, I am Ravenclaw." Benji Fenwick added a bucket of cold water at the opportune moment, completely extinguishing Stoddard's high spirits.

Shen Hou looked around and guessed that the other four must be the so-called "Gryffindors".

A joke eased the solemn atmosphere after the battle, and everyone started chatting. Some talked about school life, like Stoddair and Sirius; others talked about family, like Marlene talking to James about his wife and children, with Emmeline occasionally chiming in between them; and Fenwick telling Shen Hou about their surveillance and ambush at Hogsmeade.

"At first we thought there were only two or three enemies, but then we found that there were more and more sneaky guys. In order to make them all show up, we waited patiently until you came back from the hospital."

"Are they all Death Eaters?" Shen Hou asked.

Fenwick shook his head: "Not really. Death Eaters aren't a group that just anyone can join. We still haven't gotten a specific list, and we don't even know how many of them there are. In my experience, of those we've caught, apart from the Avery father and son, the rest don't seem like Death Eaters. They seem more like outlaws, the kind who do things for money."

"Looks like there are quite a few wealthy people among the Death Eaters?"

"Who can argue with that? A significant portion of those suspected of being Death Eaters come from wealthy families," Fenwick sneered. "The richer they are, the more they support pure-blood theory; it's practically a consensus in the wizarding world. It's utterly absurd."

The topic quickly shifted back to the riot at St. Mungo's Hospital, with Shen Hou, as one of the parties involved, becoming the main subject of questioning; James, as an eyewitness who went to the scene afterward, was also asked many questions.

"Did Alecto Carlo use a killing curse on you?"

"Yes, twice in a row. I dodged the first one, but the second one hit a werewolf, and the werewolf died on the spot."

"No wonder he's dead. No one can survive the Killing Curse, and werewolves are no exception." Sirius Black suddenly became cheerful as he spoke. "Ha, illegally using the Unforgivable Curse on someone and causing the death of a werewolf, even the lightest punishment would be for Alexios Caro to be locked up in Azkaban until he dies, spending his life with Dementors."

"The Unforgivable Curse, is it a crime to use it? For wizards, aren't spells just tools? Why are there such strict restrictions on these few spells?" Shen Hou asked the question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.

This question seemed a bit beyond the scope of even a wizard, and for a moment the cabin fell into an eerie silence.

"What a coincidence, I asked the same question to a professor when I was in school." While the others looked at each other in bewilderment, only James spoke up to Shen Hou.

Sirius, surprised, asked repeatedly, "Really? Which professor said that?"

"Of course it's Professor Flitwick. Who else could it be but him? He's the Charms professor."

"So what did he say? Is there an answer?"

James nodded slightly: "Professor Flitwick said that because most spells were initially invented as tools—which coincides with Shen's statement—although some of them can cause serious harm when used on people, ultimately, they were not created simply to harm others. The Unforgivable Curse is a completely different matter. The Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse were created from the very beginning to deprive others of their autonomy, to harm and kill life; simply using these three spells indicates that the user has a serious malicious intent to harm others."

"That's interesting. So, does this mean that the basis of this law is to prioritize intention over action? Is this only true for the Unforgivable Curse?" Shen Hou said thoughtfully.

James replied, "Probably. At least, I personally haven't heard of a second similar law."

"I think there might be another reason why the Unforgivable Curse is unforgivable," Marlene McKinnon joined the discussion with great interest.

"There's another reason, one that even Professor Flitwick didn't mention?" Sirius exclaimed in surprise, looking at the young witch with eager curiosity.

Meeting Sirius's bright gaze, Marlene's cheeks suddenly flushed slightly, and her speech slowed a bit: "Actually, I heard it from Lily. She thinks the scariest thing about these three spells is that none of them have a counter. The Imperius Curse can only be broken by willpower, the Cruciatus Curse can only be endured by willpower, and the Killing Curse... well, even willpower is useless. If you encounter it, you can only dodge it or pray that the opponent misses. Lily said that if someone could invent a counter to the Unforgivable Curse, even just one of them, they could at least get a second-class Merlin Medal."

"Oh, that sounds like something she would say." James nodded calmly, but his pride was practically radiating from behind his glasses.