The Butcher of Hogsmeade

The temporary interrogation of Big Hawk came to an end. Gideon froze him with a petrification spell and threw him aside, ignoring the other gang members. He stared blankly at the row of cages containing Evil Witch Birds, arms crossed, lost in thought.

Shen Hou hesitated and did not go forward to disturb him.

Across from Gideon, Fabian was helping James inventory the smuggled goods when they both froze in shock after opening a box.

"Merlin's fat pants! There's even a venomous leopard cub here, judging by its size, it's at least six months old, and the venom concentration is enough to be fatal; are these smugglers all about money and not their lives? Don't move, James, whatever you do, whatever you do, don't wake it up."

"I know, I got at least an E in my Magical Creatures class when I was in school; and don't worry too much, Fabian, this cub has been put under a sleeping spell, and it will sleep for at least another six hours before waking up unless you remove the spell." Although James's tone was calm, his slightly stiff limbs betrayed his true emotions.

Fabian, seemingly oblivious to James's words of comfort, carefully closed the box, then moved back step by step, saying to himself, "Anyway, let's not touch it. Let Amos handle it. He's from the Beast Office, an expert in this area. He'll be here soon. Shen, you stay put and don't come any closer. This isn't the time to satisfy your curiosity."

Shen Hou had no choice but to stop where he was and ask James, who was closer to him, "Why is he so scared?"

"If you knew a Poison Leopard, you'd be scared too." James relaxed a little after seeing the box was closed and everything was alright. "It's a Level 5X magical creature, representing a deadly threat; even among Level 5X creatures, the Poison Leopard is one of the most dangerous. With each breath, it releases a large amount of deadly toxins and germs, and a single exhale can kill an entire village. Fortunately, the one we encountered was just a cub, not yet at its most potent form."

Shen Hou subconsciously took two steps back. When he looked at the box containing the venomous leopard, it was like seeing a biohazard marker in the Muggle world; he just wanted to get as far away from it as possible.

"As expected, the more profitable something is, the more dangerous it is... What's the point of shipping this thing to England? Why bother bringing it in alive, just to keep it as a pet?"

"The last wizard who kept a succubus was devoured by one three hundred years ago." James's grades in history and magical creatures were probably much better than the Pewter brothers', and he could rattle off various anecdotes with ease. "Smuggling live magical creatures was mostly for obtaining fresh potions and alchemical materials; some materials needed to be kept alive and used immediately after being taken from a live animal. The business of smuggling pets wasn't nonexistent, but the demand was small and the quantity was limited."

Shortly afterward, the waiting reinforcements arrived. Amos Diggory, a senior animal expert from the Department of Magical Creatures Control, arrived with his colleagues and some Aurors to take over the scene. Before their arrival, the vigilantes, including James and Sirius, had already left, leaving only the Prewitt brothers, the Aurors, with Shen Hou, the striker.

"Unbelievable, three people subdued seven dark wizards. The efficiency of the Auror office is astonishing; but I still have to criticize you. This was too risky, especially knowing that there might be highly dangerous magical creatures in the smuggled goods."

Amos Diggory spoke quickly and loudly. He was a tall and strong wizard in his early thirties who always spoke with an air of self-righteousness and didn't seem to care much about how others perceived him.

As professionals, the members of the Department of Magical Creatures Control remained calm when facing the succubus, unlike Fabian who kept his distance. Under Amos's command, they methodically and repeatedly cast stun spells on the succubus, sorted all the magical creatures into the special wooden boxes they had brought, and then transported them away on flying brooms.

"Don't worry, those boxes have been specially reinforced with enchantments. They were custom-made by the department specifically for transporting magical creatures." Amos and his group arrived quickly and left quickly, taking all the live magical creatures with them. The rest was all the work of the Auror office.

"Leave the on-site investigation and evidence collection to the other colleagues. Use the port key to bring Big Hawk back as soon as possible. Scrimgeour must come in person to hear his statement regarding his case of buying and selling Muggle people." Gideon handed the port key to the Ministry of Magic, which he had prepared in advance, to Fabian.

"Is this case important?" Fabian asked, puzzled. Shen Hou was equally confused and awaited an answer. As a "half-Muggle," Shen Hou was only angered by the evil of human trafficking, but he couldn't understand the deeper meaning behind "pure-blood wizards spending money to buy Muggles."

Gideon looked at his two Order of the Phoenix companions in front of him, lowered his voice, and made sure that only the three of them could hear what he was about to say: "Shen probably doesn't know, but you should have heard of Fabian, that rumor that circulated a few years ago."

"There are so many rumors these days, which one are you talking about?" Fabian was still puzzled.

Gideon looked around and quickly uttered a single word in a very low voice: "Shadow Corpse."

Shen Hou still didn't understand, but he heard Fabian gasp.

"I understand. Let's get out of here first. Shen, you come with me and take this big Hawk away." Fabian didn't ask any more questions and pulled Shen Hou away.

It wasn't until they took Big Hawk into the Auror's office interrogation room, while waiting for Scrimgeour, that Shen Hou finally had a chance to ask, "What is an infernal?"

"An Infernal is an extremely evil and cruel creation of dark magic, which uses spells to modify and control the corpses of the dead, making them incorruptible and obedient to the caster. The crime and punishment for creating an Infernal are second only to the illegal use of an Unforgivable Curse."

"And what rumors did Gideon spread?" Shen Hou pressed.

"A few years ago... it must have been three years ago, there were rumors that the mysterious man was building an army of Infernals to attack the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry sent people to investigate at the time, but they didn't find any clues." Fabian's gaze fell into recollection. "Giddyon and I also participated in the investigation. Because making Infernals requires a large number of fresh corpses, we focused on investigating recently deceased and missing persons. The Ministry even sent people to infiltrate Muggle police stations and the Department of the Interior to look for data, and secretly dug up many newly buried graves to determine if the corpses were still there."

"Nothing was gained in the end?"

"Yes. The number of missing people, whether wizards or Muggles, is very small, and the newly buried bodies in the cemetery are all there; everything is fine. Creating an army of undead requires hundreds or thousands of fresh corpses, and with so many people dying or disappearing, it's impossible to leave no trace. So, after getting the results, everyone thought the army of undead was just a rumor and didn't pay any attention to it, but..."

"But you only checked Muggles and wizards officially registered in the UK, and you didn't even consider the group of illegal immigrants?"