The newcomers were a father and son.
They looked very much alike, and the smiles they wore when looking at the Weasley family were identical.
Identical in their mockery, identical in their arrogance.
Sherlock looked at the man who had spoken and frowned slightly.
He wasn't reacting negatively to the man's words; rather, ever since the man had entered the bookstore, the area above his left arm had been throbbing faintly, as if it were on fire.
Sherlock felt utterly bewildered. He covered the hot spot on his left arm with his right hand. There was nothing there, and the burning sensation seemed to be his body's own reaction.
"Lucius," Mr. Weasley said coldly, speaking the newcomer's name.
"I hear you're terribly busy with work," Mr. Malfoy said. "So many raids... I suppose they pay you overtime?"
He reached into Ginny's cauldron and pulled out a tattered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration from the pile of old books.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Apparently not. Your only daughter can't even afford a brand-new textbook for the start of the school year. It seems you, a disgrace to wizards, aren't doing very well."
Ginny's face was scarlet, and Mr. Weasley's face was even redder than hers with rage.
Sherlock remained silent, staring intently at the wizard Mr. Weasley had called Lucius. After racking his memory for a long time, a faint impression of the man finally surfaced.
This person, whose full name was Lucius Malfoy, was a Death Eater.
Standing next to him was his son, Draco Malfoy, who was malicious but not fundamentally an unforgivable villain.
So why had his left arm started burning after they walked in?
While Sherlock was deep in thought, the confrontation between them had not yet ended.
"We have fundamentally different views on what constitutes a disgrace to wizards, Malfoy," Mr. Weasley said, seemingly suppressing his anger.
"Of course," Malfoy said, his pale eyes shifting until his gaze fell upon the Granger couple, who were watching nervously. "Look at the friends you keep—two Muggles, and..." His gaze moved, finally settling on Sherlock.
Suddenly, Malfoy's pupils contracted sharply, and his expression subtly turned vicious.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here. If it isn't that mad—"
He was only halfway through his sentence when Mr. Weasley, who had been suppressing his temper, suddenly lunged madly at Malfoy!
The two men grappled, fighting and knocking over a nearby bookshelf.
The customers in the bookstore scattered with gasps, trying to avoid getting involved, while the poor shop assistant continuously pleaded nearby.
"Stop it, gentlemen, please, stop it..."
George and Fred, meanwhile, were excitedly cheering their father on from the side.
"Punch his face! Dad! Turn him into a pig's head!" (TN: Pig's head, wtf?)
Sherlock, standing nearby, was speechless at the Weasley family having these two sons who lacked foresight.
What was the greatest advantage of the Weasley family?
Wasn't it that they had many boys, so they wouldn't suffer a disadvantage in a fight?
Yet they just stood there watching their old man get beaten up while cheering him on.
While they had no intention of interfering, Sherlock decided to step in.
Just as he had thought earlier, he couldn't live his whole life mimicking the original owner's personality; he had to show change in front of those who knew him.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the original owner hadn't seen each other for nearly two years, so if he acted slightly out of character, they were unlikely to grow suspicious.
Moreover, he could tell that the main reason Mr. Weasley finally couldn't hold back and charged was that he guessed Malfoy intended to insult the original owner's mother.
Since he defended the original owner this way, according to Sherlock's values, standing by and watching the show would be the behavior of a complete ingrate.
Another point was that Sherlock truly wanted to test whether the reason his left arm was burning was genuinely related to Malfoy.
Thus, armed with three sufficient reasons, when Mr. Weasley was losing ground and being pinned down by Malfoy, Sherlock suddenly rushed forward and grabbed Malfoy's hair!
The instant his hand made contact with Malfoy's body, the burning sensation on his left arm also reached its peak.
But Sherlock felt no pain whatsoever; instead, the heat made him restless. Naturally, he swung his left arm and delivered a heavy left hook straight to Malfoy's face!
The punch landed solidly.
Immediately, a crimson nosebleed gushed out, and the half of Malfoy's face that was struck swelled visibly.
Malfoy was completely stunned.
Mr. Weasley was also stunned.
Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George, who were standing nearby, were all stunned as well.
They had never expected that Sherlock, who had always seemed distant and aloof, would suddenly rush in to help at this moment.
Malfoy was the first to react. His eyes were bloodshot with fury as he stared intently at Sherlock and angrily drew his wand!
Seeing this, Mr. Weasley also drew his wand without hesitation and aimed it at Malfoy!
Meanwhile, Sherlock maintained a calm expression, as if he hadn't been the one who had just thrown the punch. He raised his wand powerfully with his right hand, holding it vertically in front of himself.
The reason he was so calm, of course, was not confidence in his own strength.
Given that he had been familiarizing himself with magic for less than a month, even with the original owner's muscle memory helping him master it quickly, he still couldn't reach the level required to face an adult wizard head-on.
What he relied on, besides trusting that Mr. Weasley would support him, was the crucial belief that Malfoy wouldn't dare to cast a spell.
During the month he spent holed up at home, Sherlock hadn't just familiarized himself with magic; he had also specifically studied the complete set of magical laws.
When trying to integrate into a new society, the essential first step is to understand its rules.
Only by clearly understanding the rules can one better maneuver along their boundaries.
The laws of the Wizarding World are naturally different from those of normal society, such as the laws governing how conflicts between wizards are judged.
Whether or not a wand and magic are used is key to determining the severity of an incident.
Whichever party initiates the use of a wand and magic, barring a few exceptional circumstances, will inevitably bear full responsibility for the entire conflict afterward, regardless of whether they win the fight.
In a two-on-one situation, and without knowing Sherlock's true magical proficiency, Malfoy wouldn't be foolish enough to cast the first spell if he had any sense.
That would mean both taking responsibility and possibly still losing.
He glared fiercely at Sherlock but ultimately did not utter the spell, instead delivering a threat.
"Fine! I will remember this!"
Having said that, he threw the old textbook he was still holding back into Ginny's cauldron, then turned around and left the bookstore awkwardly with Draco.