The Butcher of Hogsmeade

"A prophecy? A prophecy that appeared last year? Why haven't we heard of it?" More than half of the people present were hearing about it for the first time, and they exclaimed in surprise, asking questions one after another.

"Because the person who made the prophecy has been protected by me, and not many people heard the prophecy at the time; Voldemort and I... for our own reasons, neither of us has publicized it. But there is no doubt that Voldemort has determined that Jaime's son is the child of the prophecy; fortunately, we received the news before he took action."

"What did the prophecy say?" Fabian asked, unable to hide his curiosity. Dumbledore looked at him and glanced at Shen Hou beside him.

Then, the old wizard recited a passage that Shen Hou had heard before, word for word—not a single word different or extra.

After Dumbledore finished reading the prophecy, everyone's reaction was similar to Shen Hou's reaction a few days ago. They kept asking about the time and place of the prophecy, how to determine the authenticity of the prophecy, and so on.

This limited-attendance internal meeting of the Order of the Phoenix lasted until the early hours of the morning; because not all attendees were present, all participants were required to relay detailed information to other Order members to ensure everyone knew what had happened and what to do next.

When everyone left, Shen Hou stayed until the very end; James and Sirius also stayed behind, and they seemed to have something to discuss with Dumbledore.

"Gentlemen, it seems you all have something to say but don't want others to know? Mr. Shen and the two Mr. Prewitt, then Mr. Potter and Mr. Black." Dumbledore noticed the two groups had different purposes. "May I ask if you mind letting the other know what the following conversation will entail? If so, I will have to arrange the order of our conversations."

James and Sirius exchanged a glance and remained silent; Shen Hou, however, said frankly, "I don't mind. In fact, I just realized that what I'm about to say is related to Sirius."

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Oh, that makes things easier. Please speak here! Mr. Potter and Mr. Black certainly won't mind waiting a moment."

Sirius asked curiously, "What has anything to do with me?"

"Didn't you want to reveal the identity of your secret agent to the public? Perfect, I want to use this to verify one of my conjectures."

"What conjecture?" Sirius's interest was piqued, and he asked excitedly.

"I want to verify whether those two poor victims in the Owl Post Office on the night I was attacked in Hogsmeade were accomplices of the Death Eaters."

"The victim was an accomplice of the Death Eaters? Why would you think that, Mr. Shen?" Dumbledore's eyes flickered behind his glasses, making it impossible to discern his true thoughts.

"Because they're still alive." Shen Hou said succinctly and confidently, "On my very first day in the magical world, the Death Eaters launched the Night of the Werewolves, threatening the lives of hundreds of wizards; then they sent werewolves to infiltrate St. Mungo's, which again threatened the lives of hundreds of medical staff and patients. Given their consistent behavior, I don't believe the Death Eaters would suddenly become merciful and forget the simple principle of killing to silence witnesses."

Dumbledore asked, "Is this your conjecture, or is there evidence?"

"There is no evidence, only reasonable suspicion."

"A reasonable suspicion is not enough to convict a person," Dumbledore cautioned.

"No conviction without evidence—that's the principle of court judgments, not the principle of police...Auror investigations," Shen Hou replied. "For the Aurors, no possibility should be ruled out until the truth of the case is revealed."

"I think I understand," Sirius Black couldn't help but interject. "The question is, what does this have to do with me?"

"Didn't you want to expose the identity of the person in charge of keeping secrets? Who is the person in charge of keeping secrets the most eager to find right now?" Shen Hou asked.

Sirius Black was never stupid; with just a slight hint, he immediately understood: "Death Eaters! If those two... suspects? If they really are Death Eaters concealing their identities, they will definitely take action after receiving the news."

"Yes! What we need to do now is to temporarily tighten other channels for leaking information, ensuring that only those two suspects know about the liaison, and then wait and see the Death Eaters' reaction. If the Death Eaters also receive the information immediately or even simultaneously, it means that at least one of those two people is an accomplice of the Death Eaters. To put it bluntly, we need to maximize the value of Sirius as bait; use the same bait to catch two fish."

"Then what are we thinking about? Let's do it!" Sirius jumped up and shouted excitedly; but Shen Houli ignored him and continued to ask Dumbledore, "Do you have a way to confirm the exact time when the Death Eaters or Voldemort received the Secret Service's information? The faster they receive the message, the more it proves the singleness of the information source."

Shen Hou's last question was a rhetorical one, and Dumbledore was well aware of the answer as well. News of the spies planted within Voldemort's inner circle hadn't spread widely within the Order of the Phoenix, and Shen Hou wasn't sure if James and Sirius were in the know—his intuition told him otherwise—so he phrased his question very subtly.

Dumbledore was equally vague: "I'll figure something out."

"So, it's settled?" Sirius had learned his lesson and stopped making a fuss; or rather, he had learned to ask a question before making a fuss.

"We can make a plan now. I came here using the post office's Filo network, and I paid special attention to it. It just so happens that Little Barty is on duty again tonight." Shen Hou emphasized the word "again." "It's strange, though, that this young man seems to work the night shift a lot. Does the post office discriminate against young new employees when scheduling shifts?"

"Wait a minute, who did you just say?" Sirius belatedly realized, "Barty Crouch Jr.? Barty Crouch Jr., the son of the Chief of the Enforcement Division? You've identified him as a suspect?"

Shen Hou corrected, "One of them."

"His father was the toughest person when it came to Death Eaters, and yet you suspect that the son of such a person is a Death Eater?" Sirius found it unbelievable.

Shen Hou sneered: "I could understand when Dumbledore said there wasn't enough evidence; but your reason for believing that Barty Jr. couldn't be a Death Eater is actually his father's political stance? I just can't understand that."

"I just find it unbelievable. If Barty really is... how do they usually get along at home?" Sirius wondered to himself.

"Perhaps you could reflect on your own experience?" Fabian said maliciously. "How does a Gryffindor end up sitting at the same table as a bunch of Slytherins at home...?"

"Fabian!" Gideon snapped, interrupting his brother.

Fabian raised his hands in surrender: "Sorry."

Sirius shrugged rather magnanimously: "If you put it that way, I can understand it."