Tom Riddle's Diary

A large group of people headed towards the Malfoy Manor.

The wrought-iron gate blocked their way, but no one actually stopped. Instead, they Apparition and walked straight through it as if the black gate didn't exist.

The yew hedge made the sound of footsteps sound somewhat muffled.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from somewhere on the right. In an instant, a wizard drew his wand and held it above his companion's head.

The wizard looked so strange; his hair was gray, and his two pairs of eyes were completely different—one black and the other a bright, vivid blue.

Arthur Weasley raised his hand and reassured her, "Alastor, relax, it's just a white peacock."

Mad-Eye's magic eye darted around a few times, confirming that it was indeed just a peacock and not some wizard in disguise, before he put down his wand and tucked it back into his cloak.

"That Malfoy, always so flashy, the peacock... just like their vain nature," Mad-Eye snorted.

He said rudely, "I wonder if stewed white peacock would taste delicious!"

Arthur was speechless. He began to worry whether bringing Mad-Eye had been a mistake.

There were four people in their group.

Besides Arthur, the director of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, there is another employee Perkins.

Perkins is an old wizard, Arthur's colleague and subordinate, with a head of soft, gray hair, who is about to retire.

Besides the two of them, there were also members of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol.

The Magical Law Enforcement Patrol, formerly known as the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, is a department responsible for general law enforcement.

Finally, they added Mad-Eye Moody, an Auror who was about to retire, to form this four-man assault team.

At the end of the straight road, a very respectable mansion suddenly appeared before them.

They trudged along the gravel path toward the main gate, and just as they reached it and were about to knock, the door was opened.

Lucius came out and stood in the doorway, his gaze immediately drawn to Arthur, who was at the front.

He looked at Arthur arrogantly and said, "What are you doing here?!"

"A surprise raid by the ministry." Arthur grinned smugly.

"An inspection by the ministry... Even so, they should have notified me beforehand that they were coming to my house, shouldn't they?" Lucius said with a grim face, recalling the Muggle Protection Act he had seen earlier.

I never expected that while I was worried before, they would come knocking on my door now.

"This is private property. You just swagger in like this. I can assume I'm ready to take self-defense action at any time..." Lucius threatened.

"Come on!" Mad-Eye pulled out his wand and limped toward Lucius, each time his right foot landed with a loud thud.

"If you're so capable, then attack Auror and see whose spell is faster!"

An eerie silence enveloped them. No one dared to move except Moody.

Moody's face was terrifying at that moment. His one normal eye was looking at Lucius, while the other eye seemed to be inside his head, warily observing other directions.

It seems that it could be attacked from other directions at any time.

"Mad-Eye... what are you doing here?" Lucius took two steps back in fear. "Is it really necessary to use Auror for checking Dark Magic items?"

Lucius was right; this raid was led by Arthur Weasley's department and was solely for the purpose of inspecting Dark Magic items.

He has already brought the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol with him.

The detective team functions similarly to Muggle police, typically handling routine law enforcement tasks.

The Auror Office, on the other hand, is responsible for handling high-risk or unusual magical crimes.

Mad-Eye's arrival was a bit of an overreaction. It's like you're having tea at home and suddenly the FBI kicks the door open, yelling, "Open the door!"

If you were in that situation, you'd be nervous too!

Moreover, Mad-Eye is no ordinary Auror; he is known for his ruthless style and has personally killed many... Death Eaters!

Arthur pulled Mad-Eye back slightly and said in as gentle a tone as possible, "Malfoy, it's none of your business who does the inspection."

This is a joint operation by our departments; this is an order from Ms. Amelia Madam Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement!

Completely reasonable and legal, please move aside!

Arthur waved a piece of paper.

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is one of the seven departments that make up the Ministry of Magic. It is responsible for the enforcement of justice and laws and is the largest department in the Ministry of Magic.

This includes a series of departments such as the Improper Use of Magic Office, the Auror Office, and the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office.

Arthur and his departments all belong to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so it's not unreasonable for them to say it's a joint investigation.

Lucius's face darkened. Amelia Bones was someone Dumbledore had put on the throne... He'd kill her sooner or later.

But Lucius didn't move and remained blocking the doorway.

"What, you're afraid to let us in?" Mad-Eye sneered. "Afraid that my eye will find your master's things?"

"What do you mean?!" Lucius took two steps back guiltily. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Moody."

Lucius tried to make his tone sound dismissive, as if he didn't care about Moody's words at all, but his hands betrayed his true feelings, clenching into fists involuntarily.

Lucius dared not look directly at Mad-Eye, and instead turned his gaze to Arthur baldness was becoming increasingly severe.

"I also have objections to your actions. We all know that Moody feels the evening has been wasted if he doesn't discover seven people plotting to murder him before dinner."

Lucius protested loudly, "He suffers from severe paranoia. This is my private residence; what if he loses control..."

"What, am I being paranoid?" Moody roared. "My job is to deal with dark wizards—you shouldn't have forgotten..."

"Alastor!" Arthur interrupted. "Don't talk to him. He's stalling for time. He should have already sent a message to the ministry through the fireplace."

Lucius glared at Arthur, annoyed.

The four ignored Lucius and went inside.

Lucius stared at them with a dark expression.

Fifteen minutes later, Umbridge arrived, bringing with her Fudge's order to terminate the investigation.

Arthur Weasley and his men only searched the front hall and found some contraband; they hadn't had time to search the other rooms yet.

After the Ministry of Magic officials left, Lucius hurriedly went into his study.

Draco had left, and the coffee on the carpet had been cleaned up.

"What should we do?" Narcissa asked worriedly. "Should we put them all in the vault?"

"These are all Dark Magic items, why put them in the vault?" Lucius thought for a moment and said, "Let's sell them in batches to Knockturn Alley."

"Honey, what do you think about this?" Narcissa asked, puzzled. "How dare the Weasley raid our house behind the Minister for Magic's back?"

"How could Fudge not know!" Lucius said angrily. "He definitely knows, he's just pretending not to know, waiting for me to write to him!"

Then, he timed it perfectly, waited for about ten minutes, and sent Umbridge over.

They could confiscate some things, giving the Weasley some face, without seriously harming me, thus saving me some face.

Finally, he could also give us a little nudge, asking us to donate more Galleon to curry favor with him!

Fudge, he really mastered the art of balancing between me and Weasley!

Lucius stood up wearily. "Alright, I'll go in and find some illegal items, and sell them at Borgin's in a few days."

That stingy old man will be very happy!

He suddenly turned around and walked towards a wall in the distance, where an eight-foot-long portrait of William I hung.

As Lucius cast his spell, the portrait on the wall opened like a door, revealing the entrance to a real tunnel.

He went inside and, after about two minutes, entered a smaller room filled with miscellaneous items.

Some are very precious magical items, but most are items of Dark Magic.

Of course, the truly valuable items are all in Gringotts.

Lucius rummaged through the shelves, tossing a roll of parchment and several heads into the box.

He quickly walked to the end of the shelf, where there was only a thick, dusty diary.

Lucius picked up the diary.

The faded date on the cover indicates that it is fifty years old.

When he opened it, on the first page he could only make out a name written in blurry ink: Tom Riddle.

This diary was the item Lucius needed to deal with, because it was a gift from Voldemort!

What was once a source of glory is now a hot potato.

If the Weasley find him, it'll be enough to get him a one-way ticket to Azkaban, and then he can live with his beautiful sister-in-law, Bellatrix.

Lucius quickly flipped through the diary; it was completely blank, containing nothing.

Since it was a gift from the Dark Lord, it naturally has a special purpose.

But he studied it many times without finding anything.

In fact, Lucius had asked his father, Black Malfoy, about it.

This diary is from fifty years ago, and his father was attending Hogwarts at the time, so he should know something.

But his father only told him that this diary might be able to open the Chamber of Secrets and purge the Muggle students at Hogwarts.

He refused to say anything more, and remained tight-lipped about the vague name, Tom Riddle.

etc...

Since this diary is so powerful, why not secretly give it to Weasley's children?

Just think about it: Weasley, the man who enacted the Muggle Protection Act, had his children attack Muggle-born students at Hogwarts.

Weasley's reputation would be ruined, and he might even be disqualified from making laws, which would buy him time.

If too many people die, they might be able to expel Dumbledore from Hogwarts.

Most importantly, it can eliminate this potentially troublesome piece of evidence.

That's killing three birds with one stone... Lucius was amazed at his own intelligence!

Even if none of these attempts succeed, there will be no loss.

Lucius didn't really have high hopes.

After all, Riddle... that sounds like a Mudblood's surname. Could his diary really open the Chamber of Secrets?

Riddle?

hehe...

A person who keeps a diary?

Who keeps a diary if they're a decent person?

Lucius dared to curse like that even in front of Riddle:

Despicable!

(A long chapter of 3,000 words, please vote for it, everyone.)

Thank you to "Fengling Shiwu" and "Daoyou Qing Liubu You" for their generous donations.