The Butcher of Hogsmeade

Having just learned to spray silver light mist with his wand, and hearing Sirius Black say that this meant he had learned the Patronus Charm and that all he needed to do was practice, Shen Hou excitedly asked the three Hogwarts graduates present to help him contact their former headmaster.

Gideon poured cold water on the situation: "Don't rush, Shen; Dumbledore said that once you can summon a fully formed Patronus, use it to send a message to him, and he will keep his promise and personally come to teach you 'All Curses End'."

"Isn't this just adding a last-minute change of terms and breaking your promise?" Shen Hou said indignantly. "Besides, I don't even know his mailing address. I won't know where to send the mail later."

"Don't worry, you just need to send the Guardian to the main gate of the castle, and he will receive the message; even if he is not there at the time, he will ask Professor McGonagall to pass it on."

Shen Hou found it hard to accept this explanation, but he had no choice but to silently grumble and make a note of it to the old man.

Two days later, just as Shen Hou was becoming more and more proficient with the Patronus Charm, and the silver animal form emerging from the tip of his staff was becoming more and more complete and about to be identified as a specific species, Fabian finally recovered from his injuries and returned to work; along with Fabian came a transfer order from the Ministry of Magic.

"Transferring me to the Auror office as a hitter?" Shen Hou held the notice written on parchment, completely bewildered. "Whose idea was this?"

"The Minister consulted with Professor Dumbledore about Scrimgeour's suggestion before agreeing to it; I heard that the Department of Mysteries was also consulted, but that's just a rumor, and I don't know if it's true." The notification was brought by Fabian, but he didn't know any more details.

Shen Hou pondered for a moment: "Did Dumbledore think that I was too embarrassed to continue causing trouble for the Hog's Head and couldn't continue to carry out the work of cracking down on the black market, so he suggested that I be given a different position? Actually, there's no need for that. I believe the owner of the Hog's Head can understand that my trouble-making was just an act, an act for the dark wizards and Death Eaters. Everyone was just trying to uphold justice."

The Pwitt brothers looked at Shen Hou with disdain.

Whether it's acting or not, you know it yourself!

Pighead Bar has been closed for over a week. Ms. Rosmerta, who doesn't know the Three Brooms, always wants to kiss you every time you meet.

"Speaking of Ms. Rosmerta, has she cleared her name regarding your poisoning?" Shen Hou pretended not to understand the brothers' glances, but intentionally or unintentionally changed the subject.

“Of course, that lady knows quite a few people in the Ministry of Magic; I’m rather surprised by her connections,” Fabian said. “Speaking of which, the fact that the Death Eaters chased him all the way to the hospital speaks volumes, doesn’t it? And the Auror’s office hasn’t found any evidence of Rosmerta’s involvement.”

Gideon said sullenly, "But you'd better remember this lesson: not everything is drinkable."

Fabian rolled her eyes, but didn't dare to argue with her brother about this, so she followed Shen Hou's lead and quickly changed the subject: "Do you remember those werewolves in the hospital? They seemed to understand the Death Eaters' commands?"

"I remember, the Carlo siblings seemed to have been controlled by some kind of drug. Gideon and I collected some and analyzed it. Have you gotten the results?"

"Yes, when I went to report back from leave, Scrimgeour showed me the analysis report, which happens to be related to our next mission; however, I'm telling you, that report was probably not written by a potion master from the Ministry of Magic, because a crucial part of it is in Professor Dumbledore's handwriting." Fabian took the initiative to steer the conversation toward work, which was the best way to distract Gideon.

As expected, Gideon "fell for it" and urged repeatedly, "Everyone knows that Professor Dumbledore is a master of potions and alchemy, and he has also obtained a sample of the potion; but I would like to hear the specific contents of the report."

"Okay, okay, the principle behind those potions isn't complicated. They use a special bloody smell to stimulate the werewolves' instincts, making them ignore other targets and focus on finding the source of the same smell, and then attacking that source."

"So, the Death Eaters can't give the transformed werewolves explicit commands, but rather amplify their bloodlust, making the werewolves hunt targets with specific scents, like hunters training hunting dogs or police officers training drug-sniffing dogs?"

Fabian nodded: "I don't know what you mean by drug-sniffing dogs, but you're right, werewolves can only hunt targets with specific scents. The poison I drank contained a toxin with a special scent, which is the same as the potion the Death Eaters use to control werewolves."

"So they were chasing after you, not me, and I just happened to be blocking the entrance to the emergency room?" Shen Hou suddenly realized.

"No, they were after you." Fabian was full of frustration. "Remember, they all thought that drink was for you. They mixed in a special toxin as a precaution, in case they didn't kill you on the spot, they could still track you down by your scent."

"That's why I never lend my payment account to others."

The Pwitt brothers were confused again: "Huh?"

"Let's talk about the work assignment. What does the poison you've been given have to do with the new mission assigned by Scrimgeour?" Shen Hou's skill in changing the subject was second to none.

"The potion has two main ingredients: the blood of a highly venomous iguana living in the North African desert and hallucinogenic mushrooms native to the upper Nile River. These two ingredients have been used as potion-making materials in the Egyptian magical world since the time of the Pharaohs, and later spread to Europe, but in very small quantities and were strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic. Scrimgeour said that the Auror Office has investigated all legal import channels, checked existing inventory and past sales, and found no problems."

At this point, Gideon understood his boss's plan: "If the legal channels are fine, then we have to find illegal channels. And the biggest foreign trader in the British wizarding world, who is also the biggest smuggler that everyone knows is named Lucius Malfoy."

"To be precise, it's a smuggling alliance comprised of several pure-blood families, led by Lucius Malfoy," Fabian added, correcting him. "I heard that Mundungus inquired about underground gambling operations, and Sirius is quite certain that Lucius Malfoy was behind instigating the dark wizards to attack the safe house?"

Shen Hou sneered: "What a small world... no, it should be called a head-on confrontation."

Gideon nodded in agreement: "Yes, a direct confrontation. He's causing us trouble, so we have to retaliate. These pure-blood families are the Death Eaters' main source of funding, and the Ministry of Magic has been cracking down on this supply line."

"If we can take down those richest pure-blood families, the Death Eaters will have to find their own food in the future. Mysterio robbing a bakery to fill his stomach? That sounds like fun." Fabian looked eager to try it out.