The Butcher of Hogsmeade

Upon encountering Little Barty, Shen Hou didn't rush to leave. Instead, he inquired about the events of that night: "I've been wanting to ask you about what happened that night. Did you see the attackers?"

"No," Barty replied calmly. "I was attacked from behind by a colleague on duty and knocked unconscious on the spot. The Auror office checked his wand and confirmed that he had used a Stunning Charm. But as you may have noticed, my colleague Bernard was hit by both the Confusion Charm and the Imperius Charm and had no idea what he was doing. He's the most pitiful one, actually; although he wasn't thrown into Azkaban, he was ordered to take unpaid leave."

"You are all still alive, which is a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. The Death Eaters are a bunch of stupid and wicked thugs. I heard from Dumbledore later that he was worried all the way here that he would find a few corpses when he entered the post office. Fortunately, he didn't."

Upon hearing the description of being "stupid and wicked," Barty's eyes flickered, but he skillfully concealed his inner turmoil and calmly watched the three leave using the fireplace.

After emerging from the fireplace at the Ministry of Magic, Shen Hou handed two slips of paper to the Prewitt brothers. Upon reading them, the brothers realized that they had forgotten the familiar place, only to have their memories returned after reading the notes.

"The Spell of Unwavering Loyalty? Who is your confidant?" Gideon asked.

Fabian waved the note in his hand and said casually, "If you look closely enough, you'll recognize Professor Dumbledore's handwriting. So, who do you think is keeping this secret?"

Gideon didn't argue. He drew his wand and touched his and Fabian's hands, igniting the note and quickly burning it to ashes. He said, "If you were careful enough, you should have destroyed the note immediately."

On the way back to the Auror's office, Shen Hou asked, "I forgot to ask, have the investigation results for the Death Eaters' attack on Hogsmeade Post Office come out yet?"

Gideon replied, "The Department of Magical Transportation has arrested a Floo Network overseer. Although there is no clear evidence, there are indications that he was covering up for fireplaces illegally accessing the Floo Network."

Shen Hou then asked, "What about the staff at the Hogsmeade post office? Have they all been investigated?"

"Aren't they victims? They're controlled by the Imperius Curse," Gideon said, puzzled.

"Yes, they only used the Imperius Curse, not the Killing Curse. When did the Death Eaters become so benevolent?" Shen Hou said with a cold smile, his tone meaningful. "They were fleeing after their defeat. Logically, the Death Eaters should have known that this would be their last time using the post office fireplace, so they didn't need to leave any survivors to cover their tracks. Why didn't they kill anyone when they left?"

"What are you doubting?"

"Be suspicious of everything that seems illogical," Shen Hou said. "Professor Dumbledore examined the fireplace in the post office; it was thoroughly vandalized. Some Death Eaters remained in Hogsmeade to clean up the evidence. But if they had time to clean up and set up magical traps, why didn't they have time to deal with the two survivors? You said the Imperius Curse has the shortest range restriction of the three Unforgivable Curses, requiring the caster to be as close to the victim as possible. So how could the Death Eaters be sure they weren't recognized when they used the Imperius Curse? Wouldn't killing them to silence them be the safest option?"

The Prewitt brothers were both stunned. Gideon asked in a deep voice, "You suspect that the two victims from that night weren't actually victims? Which one do you suspect, Barty Crouch Jr., or Bernard?"

"I suspect both of them without solid evidence."

"Don't let old Barty hear that," Fabian said with a laugh. "But the way you said that really sounds like Alastor. You're still just a hitter, but you already have the qualities of an Auror."

Gidion offered the following suggestion: "I think we should ask Alastor for his opinion. There are indeed some things that don't make sense in the post office, and the Aurors in charge of the investigation did a very sloppy job."

"Perhaps it's because he doesn't dare to get to the bottom of Old Barty's son?" Fabian said thoughtfully. "If that's the case, then the most suspicious one is actually our Director's son?"

"Don't let anyone hear this, not even Scrimgeour. Only tell Alastor," Gideon warned sternly.

As they were talking, the elevator stopped, and the three of them finally returned to the Auror's office. The rest of the day passed peacefully and uneventfully, but the next day was the day of action.

Around noon, Scrimgeour mobilized all available mobile law enforcement forces, including Aurors and strikers, almost all of them.

"The Malfoys, Crabbe, and Goyle are the closest allies; but please remember, our main battlefield is Malfoy Manor. The latter two are completely subservient to the Malfoys and often do the dirty work. Everyone, whether Aurors or strikers, must always stay with the group; no one may act alone." Scrimgeour made his final arrangements in the Ministry of Magic's Great Hall, then used pre-set Portkeys to head off to the battlefield.

Shen Hou continues to play the role of the Pewter brothers' sidekick, staying with them in the team personally commanded by Scrimgeour; their target is Malfoy Manor.

"Speed ​​up the operation, deploy the anti-Apparition Charm, it must cover the entire manor. Anyone who makes a mistake at this time is fired from the Auror office." Scrimgeour, now in combat duty, resembled an enraged lion even more.

No one would have an accident at this time. Those who could follow the Auror Office Director into the main battlefield were undoubtedly the elite of the Aurors. As for Shen Hou, this greenhorn, he was able to join the team purely because he had a deep understanding of the living habits of Muggles, which might be useful when searching for clues about Muggle stowaways.

However, just as the Aurors were fully prepared and about to storm the gates of Malfoy Manor, Scrimgeour finally encountered someone who came to stop him—strictly speaking, he was not human.

"Who...who are you? The master said you're not welcome. The master ordered Dobby to kick you out." A small figure, barely taller than a three-year-old child, blocked the doorway.

"Ha, a house-elf? Lucius Malfoy sends a house-elf to fob us off?" Scrimgeour almost laughed in exasperation. "Get out of our way, you little brat! This is a Ministry of Magic enforcement operation. Any obstruction will be considered a serious offense, and you and your master will be living in Azkaban!"

The small figure was too frightened to speak, trembling as it leaned against the iron gate, neither moving aside nor taking any real action to resist, repeating the same sentence over and over like a mantra: "Dobby can't cause trouble for his master, Dobby can't get his master to Azkaban..."

Unsurprisingly, he was roughly dragged aside by the Auror, clearing the way to the interior of the manor.

For some reason, Shen Hou instinctively sensed a hint of feigned stupidity in this house-elf with bat-like ears, a slender nose, and tennis ball-shaped green eyes.