The Butcher of Hogsmeade

While it was still light and James and Sirius were still around, Shen Hou seized the opportunity to inquire about the workings of the Loyal Heart Curse; Aristotle, the third person present, was clearly not a good person to question.

This questioning went on until the moon was high in the sky, nearing the time Dumbledore and James had agreed to meet; the Loyalty Charm was simply too complex, from its magical mechanics and operational logic to its casting method, each aspect requiring a lengthy explanation.

In Sirius Black's words, "Luckily, this spell isn't taught in Hogwarts classes, otherwise I wouldn't be able to turn to the next page of my textbook for half a semester."

The most magical aspect of the Loyalty Spell is not its ability to hide secrets, but its ability to hide secrets within a person's soul; it is not that no one else knows about it after it is hidden, but that no one other than a specially appointed confidant can tell the secret to anyone else.

Words won't work, words won't work, no means will work.

If those in the know are already subject to strict restrictions, those who are unaware will naturally face even greater limitations.

"If this safe house is protected with unwavering loyalty, no one other than the person in charge of keeping secrets and those informed by the person in charge will ever see it, even if they wander around this land for their entire lives." — This is Sirius Black's original statement when giving an example.

"But this house is still standing here, right? It hasn't disappeared from this space?" Shen Hou pressed.

"Of course not, otherwise how would the people keeping secrets and those in the know get in?"

"So what's being deceived is the senses of the unsuspecting... No, that's not the right way to think about it! If it were just about deceiving the senses, there would be many ways to circumvent the secrecy, and the 'Loyalty Curse' wouldn't have won your trust, much less have such a great reputation."

Seeing Shen Hou talking to himself as if no one else was around, Sirius shook his head helplessly and muttered, "Here we go again." He was about to call Shen Hou back to his senses when James stopped him, and even Alastor was prevented from speaking.

The three wizards remained silent, watching Shen Hou, this "half-Muggle," solemnly and logically analyze the basic logic of a profound spell.

Shen Hou remained oblivious to the three men's subtle actions, continuing to think along his own lines: "If we only deceive the senses, the brain can easily realize that it has been deceived. Unaware people will still hold the idea that 'there should be a house in this place,' and then use methods other than the five senses to explore; since the house is still in this space and hasn't moved, it's entirely possible that this will expose the deception."

"So we should deceive even the brains of those who are unaware of the truth. Even if the eyes actually see and the ears hear, they cannot transmit the images and sounds to the brain. The brain is not unable to recognize what it has seen or heard, but it is simply unaware that it has seen or heard... That's right, the human brain is actually the organ that is most adept at deceiving its owner."

"To achieve the effect of the 'Loyalty Spell,' not only must the deceived brain be unaware of what it sees or hears, but it must also prevent the thought 'the target should be here, but I can't perceive it' from arising. Only in this way can any possibility of bypassing the spell's effect be fundamentally eliminated... Don't you think I'm right?"

Shen Hou, who thought he had figured everything out, finally "came to his senses" and excitedly sought confirmation from the wizards present—mainly from James and Sirius.

"I don't know if you're right or wrong, but I know you've had another episode." Sirius's face clearly said one thing: "Speechless."

"What's wrong with you?"

"You've fallen into a trap called 'trying to run before you can walk.' You haven't even learned how to use a spell, yet you're already studying its principles; this isn't the first time you've done this, remember?"

Shen Hou chuckled upon hearing this: "Alright, of course, this is a habit I developed when I was studying at a Muggle school."

Alastor scoffed, "Is this how Muggle schools teach students? We call it being unrealistic. What have you even learned?"

"Learn theorems and principles first, and then apply them in practice. This is the scientific way to learn—I think this is how it should be done when learning any natural science."

"So, you're planning to use the so-called 'scientific' methods of Muggles to understand wizarding magic?" Alastor's tone wasn't exactly contemptuous or discriminatory, but it certainly showed his disdain for so-called "science."

"Using materialism to explain idealism seems a bit illogical, doesn't it?" Shen Hou couldn't help but feel embarrassed; wizards' magic has started to talk about "will" and "soul," so how can we apply natural science to it?

"Alright, I don't have time to waste here. Hurry up and complete the 'Loyal Heart' spell," Alastor urged.

"Does this spell still require my participation?"

Alastor's patience was almost exhausted: "Nonsense, what needs to be hidden now is your whereabouts, your secret, which you must hand over to the keeper."

Shen Hou dared not say more and hurriedly asked, "What should I do?"

"Dumbledore thinks I should be your confidant, and you must establish absolute trust in me..."

"That's impossible!" Shen Hou shouted.

"Heartfelt agreement to hand over the secret... What did you say?" Alastor belatedly realized, muttering to himself for a while before he came to his senses.

"I said, I can't possibly trust you completely; we almost had a blood feud the first time we met, and now you expect me to believe you'll do everything in your power to keep my secrets and protect my safety? If you were in my shoes, would you trust me?"

Alastor's face turned bright red, and his eyes glared at Shen Hou. Not only his fake eye, but even his real eye almost bulged out of its socket.

James and Sirius stared in disbelief, then, as if remembering something, they both turned their heads away, trying to suppress the corners of their mouths, lest Mad-Eye see them.

"If the person keeping the secret must be someone I absolutely trust... can we find someone else?" Shen Hou suggested cautiously, seemingly tactful, but in reality, it was tantamount to adding fuel to the fire.

Seeing that Mad-Eye was about to explode, James quickly spoke up: "Why don't I do it? Anyway, my mission lately is to protect Shen."

"No, why do you think Dumbledore would make me come all this way even though he knew you were here?" Alastor objected sharply. "You're about to become a Protector of the Faithful Charm. If you act as someone else's Keeper of Secrets at this time, the effects of the two Faithful Charms will conflict, and nobody knows what will happen."

James was speechless, while Sirius was eager to try, but Shen Hou glanced at him and immediately looked away, pretending not to see him.

After spending the last two days together, Shen Hou finally understood that Sirius's loyalty to his friends was reliable, but apart from loyalty, other aspects of his personality were unreliable.

"How about Gideon?" Perhaps fearing that Sirius would be hard to refuse if he took the initiative, Shen Hou suggested his own candidate before he could.