To Hermione's surprise, no one else seemed to have figured out that the Monster of Slytherin was a giant snake of some sort. Rumors of Harry being the Heir of Slytherin were flying fast and thick, but they were all based on the idea of him being descended from Salazar Slytherin somehow, and Harry being his heir because he was a Parselmouth. Hermione supposed that no one besides her and Harry's other friends had known he'd been hearing voices in the walls, but she was still surprised no one else seemed to have made the leap.
She kept what she'd discovered quiet, though. Harry was her friend.
With what she knew, knowing that Parseltongue was passed down through magic from parent to child, and knowing that Lord Voldemort had been the Heir of Slytherin who controlled the monster fifty years ago, it was easy to make the connection – Lord Voldemort had given Harry his curse scar, the lightning bolt that made him famous, and he must have left a piece of his magic behind by accident when he did.
It was possible that Harry was distantly descended from some far-flung side branch of the Slytherin family tree, but Hermione thought her idea was much more likely.
So. Hermione was looking for someone else in the school who could speak Parseltongue. With as rare as Ron made it sound, the odds there would be one that wasn't the Heir were slim to none.
Hermione was musing to herself about all this over breakfast, idly stirring her tea without eating or drinking it as her classmates chattered around her, when an unexpected owl delivery knocked her from her brainstorming of how to root out who all could talk to snakes.
"Ah... thanks…"
She fed the owl a bit of bacon and untied the letter, and the owl flew off. Tracey leaned over, curious.
"What'd you get?" she wanted to know.
Hermione eased the wax seal open (two crossed broomsticks) and unfolded the letter carefully.
Miss Granger,
Our records indicate the lost Bludger you have found was purchased by Lucius Malfoy several years ago. Our records do not indicate a home address; we advise contacting him by owl to arrange the return of his property.
We thank you for being so forthright as to want to return someone's lost property; most young witches or wizards would keep it as their own. As a thank you for being so honest, we have included a voucher for five galleons off any purchase over twenty-five.
Many pleasant returns,
Marcel Callimachus
"Lucius Malfoy?" Tracey made a face, reading over Hermione's shoulder. "You found something of his?"
"In a manner of speaking," Hermione said, gnawing on her lip. She glanced over at the Ravenclaw table. To her surprise, Luna was looking directly back at her, almost expectantly. "Would you excuse me, Tracey?"
She stood and went to Luna, who joined her amicably, and they left the hall.
"I could tell you would want to talk today," Luna said, with a small mysterious smile. "The future is swirling with possibilities, and it feels like whatever you figure out is going to decide what path we're on from here."
"Oh, great, more pressure," Hermione said sarcastically, but Luna only laughed as Hermione and Luna took refuge in the empty Ravenclaw common room. Hermione sank into one of the couches, rubbing her temples, while Luna took a place on a chair opposite her.
"So," Luna prompted. "What have you discovered?"
Hermione's mind did a quick scan. There was a lot she hadn't yet told Luna, really.
"Err— to sum up, Lord Voldemort opened the Chamber of Secrets here 50 years ago and pinned it on Hagrid, Slytherin's monster is a giant snake, and the Heir of Slytherin is controlling it via Parseltongue," Hermione said. "Now, though — the cursed Bludger, the one that tried to kill Harry, was purchased by Lucius Malfoy."
"And?" Luna pushed. "What does that mean?"
Hermione frowned. "I'm not sure. Harry said Dobby claimed he cursed the Bludger to keep him safe, so—" She clapped her hand to her forehead. "Of course. Dobby must be the Malfoys' house elf. He must have stolen it and swapped them out."
"That makes sense," Luna said, idly toying with a pin of a carrot she was wearing. "But what does that mean?"
Hermione bit her lip.
"Harry said Dobby first warned him about all this before the school year even began," she said slowly, recollecting. "In order for Dobby to know the Chamber of Secrets would be open and a threat to Harry before it was ever opened, he would have had to overhear someone's plot to have the Chamber of Secrets opened."
"So Lucius Malfoy wants all the Muggleborns at the school harmed?" Luna said, twirling her hair. "I think that makes sense, from what I know of Mr. Malfoy. He doesn't seem like a very nice person."
Hermione snorted. "That's putting it mildly."
"Have you discovered the mastermind behind the plan, then?" Luna said. "The Malfoys are the Heirs of Slytherin?"
"No. That still doesn't make sense..." Hermione frowned. "There's no way Draco is the Heir of Slytherin or a Parseltongue — I saw his expression when he saw Harry speak it. So… Lucius Malfoy is working with someone else?"
Luna shrugged. "Who can say?"
Hermione groaned and threw her head back on the sofa.
"You know," she said conversationally, "I once prided myself on my logical thinking, telling myself that most wizards didn't have an ounce of logic in their heads."
"Just because you can't solve the proof doesn't mean your premises are wrong," Luna chided. "It just means you haven't found all the clues to find all the premises yet."
Hermione gnawed on her lip.
"…that makes sense," she admitted.
Luna offered her a smile. "So, what will you do next?"
"I'll need to figure out who the poor sop is that Lucius Malfoy is manipulating," Hermione said, thinking aloud. "Lucius Malfoy doesn't seem the type to do anything directly or implicate himself, so whomever he's working with probably doesn't even know they're being manipulated."
"And how will you figure out how to do that?" Luna prompted.
Hermione considered, brainstorming a moment, before a slow smile spread across her face.
"Luna," she said, her eyes sparkling. "How would you like to do a bit of ritual magic with me?"
Luna beamed. "I thought you'd never ask."