The Butcher of Hogsmeade

Shen Hou used his learning to prove the theory about the Guardian Angel Spell: the Guardian Angel entity summoned by a wizard often reflects a certain trait of the wizard himself.

When he realized why he had summoned the red panda, he couldn't help but wonder: what kind of thing would those peers who were always talking about giving up and lying down, who called themselves fat otaku and lazy otaku, and who boasted about "pure stupidity" summon if they could also learn the Guardian Charm?

However, such thoughts should be put aside for now; the most important thing right now is to get the spell that will end all curses from Dumbledore.

"Mr. Prewitt, please take Mr. Shen to the Quidditch pitch. I hope you know the way. Excuse me for a moment." Dumbledore raised his hand, and a fiery red phoenix appeared with a loud, clear cry, leading the old wizard away in a burst of firelight.

"YES!" Shen Hou was overjoyed; whether Dumbledore truly kept his promise or was simply too embarrassed to go back on his word in front of his students and juniors, as long as the result was good, that was all that mattered.

"Let's hurry up and leave. The fire has alerted the villagers of Hogsmeade, and they'll be here soon," Gideon urged.

"If I hadn't been scared by the Death Eaters and werewolves so many times, they would have come long ago." Fabian led the way. "Follow me. The Quidditch pitch is west of the castle. It's quite a walk. Apparition is no longer allowed within the school grounds."

As Shen Hou walked along, the sky gradually brightened, and he could see some students on the lawn in front of the castle, or on the windows and balconies of the castle's upper floors, all craning their necks and pointing at the rising mist.

"Gentlemen, you just came from over there. Do you know what happened?" A bolder student stopped the group of three and asked.

Shen Hou looked at the Pwitt brothers with a calm and "clear and curious" gaze, as if he knew nothing, and even had the same expression as the students asking the same question.

"Ah, it's a minor dispute between the mermaid tribe in the Black Lake and the giant squid," Fabian said without batting an eye.

The students' eyes lit up: "What's going on? Can you tell us? Why is there so much mist?"

"It is said that the Merfolk tribe was preparing to hold a large wedding banquet, but because they lacked food, they wanted to borrow some tentacles from the giant squid to make squid rolls. However, the giant squid refused to lend them, and as a result, the two sides fought a big battle in the bay. In the end, Professor Dumbledore intervened to stop the fight, and the water mist was caused by battle magic."

"Really?" Some students exclaimed in surprise, while others remained skeptical.

"Of course, we are the Aurors who came to investigate after receiving a report from the villagers of Hogsmeade. We are just about to ask Professor Dumbledore what happened!" Fabian said, giving the students no chance to ask further questions, and pushed through the crowd to continue walking forward; Shen Hou and Gideon quickly caught up.

Only after walking away and making sure the students couldn't hear him did Gideon rebuke him angrily, saying, "You are spreading rumors."

"So what? Hogwarts students love rumors. Even when things are peaceful, there's at least one rumor every week on average. We've all been here, don't tell me you didn't know." Fabian shrugged, nonchalantly. "With all the commotion in the waters, even without me, the students would make up their own rumors. What's the harm in me making up one more for them?"

Arriving at the Quidditch pitch, I happened to see Dumbledore arrive at the same time; the pitch was empty, with no students running to such an open space to enjoy the breeze on a chilly early spring morning.

"I've had Professor McGonagall close the pitch, and we have the whole morning," Dumbledore said. "Mr. Shen, I promise to teach you the spell for the End of All Curses, the method, and all the experience I have, without holding anything back; but you must understand that this spell is very difficult, and I cannot guarantee that you will be able to learn it."

Shen Hou nodded: "I understand! The master leads you through the door, but the practice is up to you!" He made an English adaptation of the Chinese proverb, replacing "master" with "professor" and "practice" with "study".

"I need someone to help demonstrate the spell's effects." Dumbledore looked at the Prewitt brothers and chose one of them. "Fabian, that's your task."

"What should I do?" Fabian felt a little uneasy, after all, the rumors he had just made up had also involved Dumbledore; the happier he was when he was making up lies, the more guilty he felt when facing the real person, and even his voice was two octaves lower than usual.

Fortunately, Dumbledore did not notice anything amiss and calmly said, "It won't be difficult. I need you to cast the Fire Curse with all your might, just like Mr. Shen did; I will use this to demonstrate the effect of the Curse Ending."

"No problem," Fabian quickly assured him.

"Before the formal demonstration, I have one more question for you, Mr. Shen; do you remember what I said to you when I first introduced the incantation 'All Curses End' to you?"

"I remember you said a lot that night?" Shen Hou did not answer directly.

"Okay, here's a little hint: what is the ultimate goal of the spell 'All Curses End'?"

"Stop the killing and destruction?"

"Your memory is excellent, Mr. Shen." Dumbledore nodded approvingly. "I hope that throughout your study of the Curse of the End, you will always keep this goal in mind."

The old wizard seemed unconcerned by Shen Hou's response, and then turned to Fabian: "You may begin. Use all your strength, Mr. Prewitt."

"Oh, okay..." Fabian raised his wand high and drew a huge flame shape above his head; his movements and the rhythm of his incantation were astonishingly consistent, and the final heavy stroke that pointed the flame in the right direction was clean and crisp, as if he were cleaving the air in front of him with a sharp sword.

The flames poured down on Dumbledore like a torrent, and spread slowly to the left and right along the ground like a canvas.

"Well done, Fabian." Dumbledore nodded slightly, with approval; as he spoke, he walked forward, as if he thought the flames were moving too slowly and needed him to meet them.

"Finite!" The incantation for the end of all curses was exactly the same as the first half of the incantation for the stop of curses, but Shen Hou could clearly hear that the rhythm, speed, emphasis, and even the invisible aura that Dumbledore conveyed through his voice were completely different from when he used the stop of curses before.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Dumbledore suddenly bent down and forcefully slammed the ridiculously long wand in his hand into the ground.

Contrary to Shen Hou's expectations, when Dumbledore cast his spell, the light emanating from the tip of his staff was not dazzling; it merely flashed briefly before "extinguishing" beneath the ground. But the next moment, a powerful and abundant magical force burst forth from the ground.