The Butcher of Hogsmeade

When Shen Hou arrived at the post office with Sirius and the Pewter brothers, it was already two o'clock in the morning. As they entered the post office, they saw that two of the three counter windows were closed, and behind the only open window, Barty was dozing off against the counter.

"Should we wake him up, or go to the fireplace ourselves?" Shen Hou's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, making sure that the person behind the counter could hear him, yet it didn't sound like he was deliberately trying to disturb anyone.

Little Barty was indeed awakened.

"Mr. Shen? I was wondering when you would be back, I didn't expect you to be back so late? Oh, and there are also Mr. Pwitt and Mr. Black."

"Do you know me?" Sirius asked casually, his face showing exhaustion and a hint of anxiety from staying up all night.

"You've been to the post office a few times, so of course I remember you. And... I don't mean any offense, but the circle of pure-blood families has always been small, especially for those who have made a big splash—like you, who were the talk of the town for a long time."

"Hmm, I'm quite famous, the subject of conversation at the dinner table and afternoon tea. At least I'm quite famous among the gossipy women in various households, aren't I?" Sirius smiled contemptuously.

Barty's expression darkened; it was obvious that among the group Sirius referred to as "gossips," there must be someone he cared about.

Seeing that the two had intentionally or unintentionally killed off their conversation, Shen Hou took over the conversation at the right time: "Your job must be very hard, Mr. Crouch? I don't know how many times I've seen you working the night shift."

"Perhaps only those who work just as hard have the chance to see another person on the night shift regularly." Barty's expression softened a bit, and he turned away from Sirius. "The Ministry of Magic requires that every Floo Network public node be able to operate 24 hours a day, but the Hogsmeade Post Office staff have been suffering unexpected staff losses time and time again, so... you all came here just to use the fireplace, right?"

"Of course, the destination is the Ministry of Magic's main hall," Gideon replied.

"Okay, registration is complete." Little Barty wrote quickly. "Please follow me."

The young post office clerk led the way, with the others following closely behind; but Sirius refused to budge, standing still and shouting, "Can't I not go? I have a house to live in."

"Don't be silly, Sirius." Gideon lowered his voice and turned to warn, "This is what Dumbledore ordered. We have to watch you get back to the safe house in London; it's not just for you, it's for James too... You should understand."

Shen Hou chimed in, his voice equally low: "Marlene is Lily's best friend, and you are James's best friend, that's common knowledge; they've already contacted Marlene, and we can all guess they'll be here soon... to find the 'correct answer'."

Perhaps realizing the inappropriateness of the occasion, Shen Hou consciously used a pronoun at the end of his sentence, and after speaking, he stepped forward, grabbed Sirius's arm, and dragged him toward the fireplace without saying a word, as if afraid that he would run away.

Sirius mumbled something, but ultimately didn't object anymore. Instead, he reluctantly got stuffed into the fireplace.

Soon, the green flame went out, and the post office returned to calm, leaving only the post office clerk on duty alone, staring blankly at the extinguished fireplace.

In the early hours of the morning, the entrance hall of the Ministry of Magic was deserted. Apart from a few members of the Order of the Phoenix who had just returned from Hogsmeade, there wasn't a soul in sight. The open and spacious area ironically became the perfect place for a secret conversation.

"Did you think he heard it?" Sirius asked, still worried.

“He definitely heard it,” Fabian teased. “That kid’s ears were practically perked up. I saw it all from the side. He practically wanted to put his head right next to you, but he had to pretend he didn’t care.”

"Will he understand? Will he believe it?" Sirius asked again.

Shen Houyi shrugged: "Then we have to ask him first if he is a Death Eater; if he is, we also have to ask him how loyal he is to Voldemort and how much passion he has for the common cause of the Death Eaters."

"Could you please not use that name?" Fabian asked, frowning. "It was fine when Dumbledore was around, but hearing other people call him by that name makes me very uncomfortable."

"Okay, I'll be more careful in the future." Shen Hou always considered his friends' feelings and wasn't fixated on a verbal form of address.

"We've done what we were supposed to do. Now we just need to wait for the results. If Barty Jr. really is a Death Eater, then he's definitely not going anywhere. Professor Dumbledore is personally watching him!" Gideon led the group out. "As for the other staff member that night, we don't need to worry about him. That's Alastor's job."

As they left the Ministry of Magic and were about to part ways, Fabian suddenly asked, "What do you think of that prophecy? Is James and Lily's son truly the child of prophecy?"

Sirius answered without hesitation, "I hope he isn't."

"Why don't you want to defeat the mysterious man?" Fabian asked, puzzled.

"You mean, you're saying we're putting the responsibility of defeating Mystic on a child who's not even a year old yet?" Sirius scoffed. "I don't want my godson to bear that responsibility, because it should be our responsibility; and because of a prophecy, we're just going to dump such a huge problem on a child? What a load of rubbish!"

Fabian was speechless, because he understood Sirius's feelings.

"Actually, I also hope that this prophecy is false, or that the prophet is wrong," Shen Hou said slowly.

Why?

"Isn't it obvious? If the prophecy is true, it means Voldemort...Vaguet can continue to be arrogant for at least another decade or so. Think about it, how old do young wizards in Britain usually get their first wand?" Shen Hou counted on his fingers. "You said the admission age at Hogwarts is eleven, so little Harry will have to spend a few more years at school learning some real skills before he's qualified to challenge Vaguet; doesn't that mean this war will last at least another decade or two? We can't expect a baby to defeat Vaguet, can we?"

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I really wouldn't have thought of that." Fabian gasped, then began to mutter to himself, "A war that will last for more than a decade? Why do I suddenly feel so hopeless about the future?"

"Don't be discouraged. Anyway, I gave up on your future a long time ago," Gideon muttered grumbling.

After a joke, everyone parted ways; watching Sirius Apparate away, Shen Hou suddenly exclaimed, "Apparition is just so convenient!"

Fabian scoffed: "Then learn it! You've always learned magic very quickly, so Apparition shouldn't be difficult for you either."

"The problem isn't whether you can learn it, but the Ministry of Magic's exam... Let me ask you first, do you know if foreigners can take driving tests in the British wizarding world?"