When Hermione had learned that only one of the sisters would stay at school during Christmas vacation, she was overjoyed, because this meant the odds of the twins turning into triplets were now zero, just in case they ran into the real ones. Hermione had a feeling that incapacitating the twins would prove to be much more difficult than tricking Crabbe and Goyle into ingesting Sleeping Potion. If both sisters had stayed, the risk would have been too great, and she would have had to resort to her backup plan of Millicent Bulstrode.
However, even the best-laid plans can go wrong, but Hermione was lucky. With that short exchange, she learned two very important things: First, the twins had changed places, which meant the person she had to impersonate was now Oleandra instead of Daphne. Second, either one or both of the twins had mastered Apparition, or they had some other way to travel great distances instantly, but it was a secret.
"I'm sorry," said Hermione sheepishly. "I just wanted to spend Christmas with you."
"That's sweet," said Daphne, her expression softening. "I could use the company when I put the finishing on the potion."
Hermione's eyes narrowed. She had been certain the twins were up to something, and now she had proof!
"Are you almost done, girls?" Draco called out to them. "I wanted to show you something funny."
He gestured to Harry and Ron to pull up some chairs for the girls, who were alternating between looking at Daphne and Hermione. Evidently, they had lost track of who was who.
"Here, read this," said Draco, placing a newspaper clipping in Daphne's palm.
Daphne quickly read through the article, which was about Ronald Weasley's father being fined fifty Galleons for breaking the very law he had helped pass. It was forbidden to enchant Muggle artefacts precisely because they looked so inconspicuous. A Muggle could easily get hurt or discover magic exists if they got their hands on one of them.
"How ironic," Daphne simply commented, passing the article to the person she thought was her sister.
"Not to mention highly irresponsible," said Hermione, never missing a chance to berate her friends for the stunt they had pulled.
Once everyone had read it, Harry passed the scrap of paper back to Draco, who was clearly disappointed with the lacklustre reaction on the part of his goons.
"Well?" said Draco, tapping his foot. "Don't you think it's funny?"
Hermione did her best to stare menacingly at Harry in order to make him act out his role properly, but the message got lost in the ether, as he wasn't sure which of the twins was his friend.
"Ha, ha?" said Harry, unsure of how to react to the faces one of the girls was making at him.
As for Ron, his face was all scrunched up; he was fuming in anger!
"What's up with you, Crabbe?" said Draco dryly.
"Stomachache," Ron grunted.
"If you're passing by the hospital wing, go give those Mudbloods a kick from me," snickered Draco. "Which reminds me, it's quite odd that the Daily Prophet hasn't reported on these attacks yet."
"I suppose Dumbledore's behind that as well," Draco thought out loud. "He'll get sacked if he keeps hiding things like that, though. Which is a good thing, mind you. Father's always said that old Muggle-lover's the worst thing to ever happen to this school. A decent headmaster would never have let a slime like Creevey attend."
Draco perfectly imitated Creevey, pretending like he was taking pictures.
"He's always at Potter's heels, begging for his scraps. He's a dog, that's what he is," spat Draco.
"Speaking of dogs," he followed up, getting fired up as his tirade grew longer and longer, "Potter, that glory hound. All he cares about is attention. He's always going around places he's not supposed to, and then Dumbledore rewards him for it. And now it turns out he's a Parselmouth, so he's playing at being Slytherin's heir!"
This was what the Gryffindors had been waiting for! A signed confession! And then…
"I just wish I knew who the real one is," sighed Draco. "Then I could help them, though father told me to mind my business and let the Heir do his work in peace."
"You must have some idea," said Harry, trying his luck.
"I told you a thousand times, I don't know! Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened. All I do know is that it was opened fifty years ago and that a Mudblood died. Oh, and we also found a place that may be related to the Chamber of Secrets, Slytherin's Scriptorium, but it's locked behind a door that can only be opened with Parseltongue," said Draco. "Which reminds me, have you girls made any progress with that?"
Daphne looked hesitantly at Hermione. They had kept the room a secret from the rest of the Starshower Club thus far, but now that they had uncovered all of its secrets, there was no problem letting the others know, if her sister didn't mind.
"Go ahead," nodded Hermione. "It's fine."
"Actually, we managed to crack the door and force our way through," said Daphne. "It's a neat little place, so we've been using it as a hiding place to brew a potion."
"That's great!" said Draco excitedly. "If we wait there, Slytherin's Heir is bound to show up."
"Unlikely," said Daphne. "We broke the entrance's mechanism and sealed it up, to prevent Potter from accidentally opening it. The only way in or out is via tree-portation, so we're the only ones who can go there."
As much as Hermione would have liked to investigate this Scriptorium, she did not know what tree-portation was, and she would instantly give herself away if she suggested going there immediately. She checked her timepiece. Thanks to her approximation of where the Slytherin common room ought to be, the trio hadn't lost too much time wandering before Malfoy had found them, but they were still running out of time.
"Do you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?" Hermione asked.
"Right," said Draco, trying his best to remember. "They were caught, and they must have been sent to Azkaban, I suppose."
"What's Azkaban?" asked Harry.
Everyone turned to look at him as if he were an idiot. Well, Goyle was one for sure, but Harry had been raised by Muggles, and the topic had just never come up before.
"Azkaban is Britain's wizard prison," Hermione said automatically. "It is an impenetrable fortress located in the North Sea that was built in the fifteenth century, but it was transformed into a jail in 1718. It's guarded by Dementors, which makes it impossible to escape from."
"You sure do know a lot about it," said Daphne with a sneer. "Are you planning on living there, dear sister?"
Hermione once again checked her timepiece; they were almost out of time. And so, she bid farewell to the others and left, followed shortly by Harry and Ron.