Under Arthur Weasley's furious glare and the pointing stares of the surrounding crowd, Lucius Malfoy's face turned livid. Every second felt like he was being fried in boiling oil. He knew there would be no winning anything today; staying any longer would only bring further humiliation.
He shot Silas a vicious glare, his eyes brimming with venom as though he wanted to tear apart the brat who had subjected him to such disgrace. But in the end, he forcibly suppressed the urge to retaliate on the spot, summoned back his blasted-away cane, and yanked up Draco, who had been slapped senseless, his cheeks swollen like a pig's head and capable only of whimpering.
"We're leaving, Draco." Lucius's voice sounded as though it had been hauled out of an ice cellar. He practically dragged his son away, preparing to flee in disgrace amid the crowd's mockery and contempt.
However, as he passed the cauldron where the Weasley family had placed their textbooks, his gaze swept over the red-haired little girl standing beside it, somewhat frightened by the scene—Ginny Weasley.
A malicious thought instantly rose in Lucius's mind. He needed an outlet. He needed to teach these "blood traitors" and "Mudbloods" who had humiliated him a lesson!
Using the motion of bending down to pretend to straighten his robe, he swiftly and covertly slipped an old, black-covered, utterly inconspicuous diary into Ginny's cauldron, among the pile of Lockhart books!
After finishing, an imperceptible cold smile flashed across Lucius's face. He immediately straightened up and, without looking back, dragged Draco into the crowd flowing through Diagon Alley.
Lucius thought his little move had been flawless, but he had overlooked the fact that someone present was extraordinarily sensitive to the magical fluctuations of enchanted objects—Silas Cyril.
The instant Lucius slipped the diary into Ginny's