Thomas finally found the brass key.
He watched Weilan drink the hot milk, then watched him wrap himself tightly in his school uniform jacket before opening the door.
Cold wind howled, and snowflakes drifted down from the sky.
Thomas took a bright lantern, braved the wind, and led Weilan out of the village.
Weilan estimated they had walked about half a mile before finally arriving at the small, two-story house.
Located at the foot of the mountain, the house was far from the brightly lit Upper Hogsmeade Village. But in Weilan's eyes, this small house was flawless.
Its price was lovely, its red bricks and tiles were lovely, and its waxed cedar wood door was also lovely.
Weilan and Thomas arrived at the steps in front of the door.
Thomas shook off the silver-white snowflakes from his body, took out the brass key, inserted it into the lock on the wooden door, and turned it.
“Click—”
The door opened.
The entryway was shrouded in darkness.
Weilan sniffed, detecting a faint scent of blood in the air from inside the house.
Thomas smelled it too, and he said that since no one had lived there for a long time, a mouse might have died inside.
Thomas handed the lantern to Weilan, telling him that the fireplace was in the darkness directly ahead to the right, and that he had left dry wood inside last time.
He told Weilan to use the lantern to light the wood in the fireplace, then, after looking around the house, to return to school as quickly as possible using Floo Powder.
Weilan took the lantern and walked to the right.
The floors in the house were uniformly covered with red wooden planks. With the light from the lantern, Weilan saw several soft leather sofas and pine coffee tables in the living room.
He continued forward, expecting to find a stone-built fireplace on the wall.
The smell of blood grew stronger and stronger.
Weilan frowned, feeling that the amount of blood from a normal mouse wouldn't emit such a strong odor.
The smell was so intense that Weilan couldn't help but lower his head to find the source.
Weilan looked closely at his feet and realized he was actually stepping in a pool of dried blood.
Because the floor itself was laid with redwood, Weilan hadn't immediately noticed it in the dim light of the lantern.
The sudden release of fear made Weilan's pupils constrict.
“Mr. Thomas.”
Weilan's voice trembled as he confirmed the old man's location.
“I'm here. What's wrong?”
The voice came from the doorway.
“There's a lot of blood here. Something died here, not a mouse.”
Weilan didn't dare to go further inside and turned to walk towards the entryway.
When Weilan walked out of the house, still shaken, he lifted his foot and showed the red stains sticking to the sole of his shoe to Thomas.
“Don't be afraid.”
Thomas patted Weilan's shoulder, comforting him:
“This place is remote; maybe some large animal broke in and died inside! If you're scared, I'll go light the fireplace for you.”
He raised his wand, cast a Lumos charm, and walked inside.
Weilan stood at the doorway, nervously watching Thomas, with his glowing wand, walk deeper into the living room.
“Thud—”
Thomas seemed to have kicked something spherical. It rolled to the corner of the wall.
Weilan and Thomas both squinted, looking towards the corner where the object had disappeared.
“Never mind that for now,” Thomas said. “I'll light the fireplace first.”
He continued to walk further in, but his steps became increasingly slow.
Clearly, he also sensed something was amiss.
But at least, the fireplace should be lit first to dispel the darkness in the living room.
The Lumos charm from Thomas's wand finally allowed Weilan to clearly see the stone outline of the fireplace.
But Weilan and Thomas both froze at the same time.
Because as they saw the fireplace clearly, they also saw the bloodstains on it, and… the headless body inside.
“This, this…”
Thomas was dumbfounded.
“Mr. Thomas, come out quickly!” Weilan at the doorway reminded him, “We need to contact… Ministry of Magic personnel.”
Weilan's voice lacked conviction when he said this.
Because he had always suspected that there was a problem within the Ministry of Magic.
“Child, I'll stay here and guard this body.”
Thomas walked out of the house, extreme fear leaving him breathless:
“You… you go contact the Magical Enforcement Team responsible for Hogsmeade Valley.”
“They are at the Hogsmeade Village Magical Enforcement Team office. Go back to my house, use Floo Powder to get there, hurry!”
Weilan didn't hesitate, running along the path he came from towards the house where Thomas lived.
The house was still warm, with the fireplace burning brightly. Weilan grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from his pocket and sprinkled it into the fireplace.
“Hogsmeade Village Magical Enforcement Team Office!”
He clearly shouted the place name, then stepped into the emerald green flames.
The world spun, and the scenery outside the fireplace rapidly changed, finally settling in a long, narrow room.
There was a counter here, with a reclining chair behind it. Seven Gobert, whom Weilan had met before, was lying on the reclining chair, engrossed in a copy of “Wizard Weekly”.
“Oh dear!” Mr. Gobert sat up with a start from the reclining chair, “Who is it? Who would want to… Weilan? So late?”
Weilan emerged from the fireplace, and before he could even say a word, Mr. Gobert had already moved a chair, trotting over to invite him to sit down and speak properly.
“Mr. Gobert, there's big trouble.”
Weilan pushed away the juice Mr. Gobert offered him and told him the news of the murder:
“Someone died in Upper Hogsmeade Village in Hogsmeade Valley!”
The two fleshy jowls on Mr. Gobert's cheeks trembled, and his small eyes, narrowed into slits, widened into two tiny beans: “Are you sure?”
“I'm very sure. Mr. Thomas and I both saw the body! Mr. Thomas stayed there to guard it, and I came out to notify you.”
“Please wait. We need at least two people to go out on official business.”
Mr. Gobert ran into the stairwell behind the long room.
Soon after, a yawning Wilson McCarthy followed him down the stairs.
“A murder?!”
Mr. McCarthy leaned his head close to Mr. Gobert's mouth. As he said the word, he cast an incredulous look at Weilan.
He quickly pulled out his usual notebook and pen from a drawer under the counter:
“Tell me the time, location, and what happened.”
Weilan truthfully told him the entire process of how he and Mr. Thomas discovered the body.
Mr. McCarthy quickly made notes in his notebook and tucked the notebook along with his quill into his pocket.
He took two cloaks from the coat rack, threw one to Mr. Gobert, and, with a swing of his elbow, put on his own cloak.
“Let's go, we'll use Floo Powder to get there!”
The three quickly emerged from Thomas's fireplace.
The cold wind, laden with snowflakes, lashed at their faces, cutting into their skin.
Weilan led the two of them towards the remote house half a mile away.
“Weilan!” Hermione's voice came from behind. Weilan turned his head and realized Hermione and Ron had returned at some point.
“We were waiting for you, but you never came back,” Hermione explained to him. “We were afraid something had happened to you, so we turned back to look for you.”
“Something really did happen!”
Weilan pointed vaguely in the direction of the house:
“Someone died in the house I wanted to buy! I went to find Mr. Gobert and Mr. McCarthy from the Magical Enforcement Team, and I'm taking them there now.”
“Huh?” Ron almost lost his footing, nearly blown over by the wind.
“In that case,” Hermione's voice was fragmented by the wind, “then we'll go with you to take a look—”
“Okay.” Weilan didn't refuse Hermione's kindness. “After we investigate, we can report the situation to the school!”
The five of them arrived at the scene of the incident.
Thankfully, Mr. Thomas was still standing outside the door.
On such a night, and at a house where a murder had occurred, Weilan was very worried that Mr. Thomas, alone, might be attacked by something.
“Officer! There's a body in my house!”
Thomas hurried forward to clarify to Mr. McCarthy:
“But I have no idea how he appeared inside! This location is remote, and I haven't opened the door to this house in four months.”