If it’s a laptop hard drive, very simple, if you want to got the sinister rout.
Take out the screws that mount the HD to the case. Remove the HD. Then take a hammer or any blunt force object to it, gently. Perhaps even shake it hard.
The innocuous way : the “scratch” was likely the needle that reads the data scratching against the surface of the drive. It can happen from use over time, a power disruption while writing to the drive, etc.
Needle?
WTF?
Since hard drives were invented in the late 80s early 90s, they have been non contact devices.
The reading head is designed to float a bunch of microns above the recording surface. There ain't no needle involved.