HP: She married Malfoy after becoming an exchange student.

Arthur Weasley was successfully provoked by Lucius: "We don't need your..."

"Father," Draco suddenly spoke, his voice deliberately impatient, "can we hurry up? The food here doesn't taste very good." His gaze swept over the crowded people, especially the Weasley family.

Ron clenched his fists.

"Of course, Draco," Lucius said slowly.

Seeing his father walk toward the bookshelf, Draco quickly followed. As Elias passed by Harry, his gaze fell on Lockhart's works, then he looked up and made a very brief eye contact with Harry for a second.

Between the bookshelves, Draco deliberately lowered his voice and leaned closer to Elias: "Did you see Potter's expression? Like a cat being picked up."

"An interesting metaphor." Elias gently nudged his head, pulling two copies of "Walking with Trolls" from the bookshelf with his other hand. "But I'm more curious about the standards Hogwarts uses to hire a professor like him."

Draco scoffed. "My dad says he's a joke."

"Jokes often have their use." Elias handed a book to Draco.

Meanwhile, Lucius was already carrying two deluxe editions of the Lockhart complete works towards the counter. He stopped as he passed Arthur Weasley.

"Arthur," he said in a low voice, "I've heard some interesting rumors lately... about amendments to the Muggle Protection Act."

Arthur turned around abruptly.

"I think... it's a tragedy of our times that people like you can even have a place in the Ministry of Magic," Lucius said slowly. "Spending all day messing around with that Muggle trash—"

Just then, Draco and Elias walked over. Draco was carrying several books, while Elias was holding two—one was Lockhart's "Sailing with Vampires," and the other looked older, with a dark brown leather cover and no title.

"Everything is here, Father," Draco said.

Lucius placed the Galleons on the counter without waiting for change. As he turned to leave, his gaze fell on the pile of secondhand textbooks in Ginny Weasley's arms.

"The Weasleys' little girl is in school this year too?" Lucius said, reaching into Ginny's arms to pull a worn-out "Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration." "Let me see... Oh, it's really... old-fashioned."

Ginny's face turned bright red.

"Give it back to her, Malfoy," Arthur snapped.

Lucius released his grip, and the book fell back into Ginny's arms. But in that instant—Harry clearly saw—something fell from Lucius's sleeve and slid quickly into Ginny's bag.

The movements were so fast it was almost an illusion.

But Harry saw it.

"Let's go," Lucius said without turning his head. "The air here is really unpleasant."

Draco glanced back one last time before leaving, a mocking smile playing on his lips, while Elias followed steadily behind Lucius, his long, silver-grey hair swaying gently behind his shoulders with each step.

The three walked out of the bookstore and disappeared into the crowd in Diagon Alley.

Inside the bookstore, Lockhart was still loudly promoting the book, but Harry was no longer listening, his eyes fixed on Ginny's backpack.

"Just now..." Harry said in a low voice, "Malfoy slipped something into Ginny's bag."

"What?" Ron turned around immediately. "Where?"

Ginny rummaged through her schoolbag in a daze, but apart from the tattered "Beginner's Guide to Transformation," there was nothing else inside.

"I might be seeing things," Harry frowned, but he was sure he wasn't.

At the other end of Diagon Alley, Lucius, Draco, and Elias are heading toward Knockdown Alley.

"A boring farce," Draco commented. "Lockhart is like a circus clown."

“It’s certainly not very presentable,” Lucius agreed, “but some people’s taste is just…inferior.” He turned to Elias, “What do you think of that new professor, Mr. Reinhardt?”

Elias paused for a moment. "From what I've seen so far, he's better suited to be a publisher than a professor. However," he added, his light silver eyes glancing at Lucius, "Hogwarts' choice of him may have considerations we're unaware of."

Lucius let out a cryptic chuckle.

Draco walked between the two. "Where do we go next?" Draco asked, his voice faster than usual.

“Knockdown Lane,” Lucius said, “there are still some things to take care of.” His gaze fell on Elias. “Mr. Reinhardt, if you’re interested, you can come along. I think some of the… goods there might interest you.”

Elias nodded slightly: "It's my pleasure."

The three of them turned into an even darker and narrower alley.

Draco subconsciously adjusted his pace, keeping a closer distance to Elias, whose steps remained steady, his long silver-gray hair shimmering faintly in the dim light.