Harry was startled by the shout and jumped half an inch from his chair, "What merchandise?"
Ron had already stood up, darted to the table in two steps, grabbed the black diary that he had just placed in the pile of things, and held it above his head.
"This is it!" His voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement, " The Muggle -made diary merchandise! The one Hermione's parents sent!"
Hermione's eyes lit up, and she stood up, looking at the diary in Ron's hand. Her expression changed from thoughtful to delighted. "Yes! Harry!"
She turned to Harry, speaking much faster, "Although the real diary is destroyed, here's Muggle- made copy."
"You don't need the real diary, you just need something Lucius can throw at Dobby."
"Whether the diary is real or not doesn't matter," Ron said, shoving the diary into Harry's hands.
"The important thing is that it looks very similar. Lucius's first reaction upon seeing this thing would definitely be to throw it to Dobby."
Harry looked down at the black-covered diary in his hand, his fingers tracing the gold lettering on the cover, his expression slowly shifting from distress to contemplation.
"But..." he hesitated for a moment, " Lucius probably also knows that the diary has been destroyed."
"The Daily Prophet's report was so detailed, there's no reason he wouldn't know."
"He's a very busy man," Ron said. "What if he doesn't know?"
"Even if he knew," Hermione continued, "Do you think he would seriously look at what Harry handed him?"
She knelt down in front of Harry, looking him into the eyes. " Harry, Dobby is still at the Malfoy family."
"It's clearly written in the book that Dobby always wanted to leave, but he couldn't do it on his own. If you can set him free, why not give it a try?"
"Think about it," Ron added from the side, "If it really works, Dobby won't have to go back to the Malfoy family."
Hermione said urgently, " Harry, if we can really free Dobby, then he'll be free. We can't let Dobby continue to be a servant to the Malfoy family."
Harry looked down at the diary in his hand, his eyes hardening. "Alright, I'll give it a try."
He put the diary on the table, ran quickly up the stairs, and returned to his dormitory.
A few seconds later he ran down the stairs, clutching a clean, old, dark gray sock in his hand.
He stuffed the sock between the cover and the pages of the Muggle diary. The cover of the diary was somewhat elastic, and after inserting the sock, it looked a little more bulging than before, but the overall shape did not change much.
"Looks alright," Ron commented.
"Then let's go," Hermione said.
Harry nodded, gripped the diary in his hand, and strode toward the exit of the common room.
He walked through the corridor, climbed the stairs, and hurried towards the Headmaster's Office.
As he rounded the last bend, he saw Lucius Malfoy emerge from behind the massive stone beast that guarded the Headmaster's Office.
Lucius wore a neatly tailored black robe, his light blond hair was combed back without a single strand out of place, and the silver tip of his cane gleamed coldly in the candlelight of the corridor.
Dobby followed behind him; the House-elf's ears almost reached his shoulders, and he walked with a slightly unsteady gait.
Harry took a deep breath, reached inside his coat, his fingertips touching the cover of the diary, and then he strode forward.
" Mr. Malfoy," he called out.
Lucius paused, then slowly turned around, his grey eyes sweeping over Harry's face.
" Mr. Potter," Lucius said calmly.
Harry reached into his coat, pulled out the diary, and shoved it into Lucius's hand.
"Here," he said, trying to make his voice sound natural, "Is yours back."
Lucius glanced down at the diary instinctively, a fleeting look of surprise and contemplation crossing his face.
He then frowned, as if disgusted that his hands were dirty, and casually tossed them behind him.
" Dobby," his voice laced with undisguised impatience, "Keep it safe."
Dobby stretched out his two slender arms and caught the diary accurately.
The moment the diary fell into its arms, the old sock tucked between the covers slipped out and landed lightly in Dobby's outstretched palm.
Dobby looked down at the socks in his hand, his eyes slowly widening.
"Master..." Dobby's voice was initially soft, trembling with disbelief, "Master gave Dobby the socks!"
It raised its head, its excitement beyond words.
" Dobby got a sock," Dobby said in disbelief.
"It was thrown by its owner, Dobby caught it, Dobby — Dobby is free."
Dobby clutched the diary and socks tightly to his chest, his voice rising several octaves so loud it could be heard throughout the entire corridor.
Dobby free! Dobby is a free House-elf!
Harry looked at Dobby and couldn't help but laugh, all the frustration and anger he had felt earlier dissipating.
Lucius looked somewhat annoyed. He stopped and turned to Harry: " Potter, for Dumbledore's sake, I'll let it slide this time."
After saying that, he turned around and strode towards the other end of the corridor.
After Lucius had walked a distance, no one noticed that the corner of his mouth had slightly turned up.
Lucius walked down the corridor out of the gates of Hogwarts Castle and onto the grounds outside.
A night breeze blew in from the Black Lake, carrying the coolness of the lake water, causing the hem of his robe to flutter slightly.
To be honest, he was in a good mood.
You could even say he was in a better mood than when he arrived.
Harry Potter was genuinely surprised when that diary appeared in his hands.
As far as he knew, the diary had been thrown into the Fiendfyre and burned to ashes by Dumbledore, a fact clearly stated at the press conference.
When he saw the newspaper at the Malfoy Manor, he momentarily regretted his decision to give the diary to Ginny Weasley.
But today, Harry Potter appeared before him with a diary that looked almost identical to that one.
The moment Lucius took the diary, he understood Harry's intention.
What did that boy want to do? He imagined doing what was written in the book: slipping the socks into the diary and handing them to him, so he could personally give the socks to Dobby and thus free the House-elf.
He understood immediately, but he didn't intend to expose it.
Why did he expose it?
Dobby, that House-elf, is becoming increasingly useless.
It looked at him with that timid look all day long, and not only was it nosy, it had also secretly gone out to warn Harry Potter before.
A disloyal House-elf left in the Malfoy Manor will eventually become a weakness.
He had wanted to get rid of Dobby for a long time, but he just didn't have a suitable reason.
Releasing a House-elf directly would sound bad in the Pure-blood families circle; it would make people think that the Malfoy family couldn't even control a House-elf.
But today, it was Harry Potter who took the initiative to hand over the socks.
Harry Potter wanted to free Dobby, and he himself had only "accidentally" thrown the diary to Dobby.
If word gets out, no one will be able to say anything bad about the Malfoy family.
He could also say, when asked, that it was Potter's doing, and that the Malfoy family were just being schemed against.
What's even better is that Harry Potter must be overjoyed that his plan has succeeded.
The boy thought he had won, that he had gotten the better of Malfoy, and that he had freed Dobby.
Lucius chuckled softly.
Let him be happy.
If Harry Potter felt he had the upper hand over the Malfoy because of this incident, he wouldn't bother the Malfoy family again.
Someone who thinks they've beaten you usually won't bother trying to beat you a second time.
This is much better than letting him fail, harbor resentment, and then seek revenge.
Moreover, his earlier statement—"for Dumbledore's sake"—was also carefully considered.
The book caused a huge uproar in the Wizarding World, Lucius knew what his image had become in the public eye.
He needed to show everyone that he was on Dumbledore's side.
He came to Hogwarts to see Dumbledore today for this very reason.
He needed to be seen as having a normal relationship with Dumbledore, and that statement proved it, making Harry Potter feel that he and Dumbledore had a good relationship.
This time, it seemed like he had backed down, but in reality, he had subtly brought himself closer to Dumbledore.
He even thought about things further afield.
Harry Potter... defeated the Dark Lord right after birth, showing extraordinary potential.
If he does become the next Dumbledore in the future, that boy might remember what happened today when deciding whether or not to make things difficult for the Malfoy family.
I recall Lucius Malfoy once let him go "for Dumbledore's sake".
According to his understanding, Harry Potter and Dumbledore an extremely good relationship.
Whether out of affection for the family or because he hadn't retaliated against Dobby for his liberation, the boy wouldn't cause the Malfoy family too much trouble.
After all, why would he want to trip up the Malfoy family, who have a good relationship with Dumbledore?
These small details, when accumulated, will become the Malfoy family's talisman at crucial moments.
Lucius Malfoy never does anything without a reward.
Lucius also saw Harry Potter's expression just now.
After his plan succeeded, the boy stood there stunned for several seconds, clearly not expecting things to go so smoothly.
He was probably prepared to be scolded or even hit by himself, but he left without doing anything.
This sense of disparity will remain in Harry Potter's memory.
Over time, he might come to realize that Lucius Malfoy wasn't as bad as portrayed in the book.
There couldn't be a better outcome.
Lucius picked up his cane, chuckled, and continued walking toward the gates of Hogwarts.