The next morning, as soon as Regulus came down from the dormitory, James and Sirius threw their arms around him.
"Welcome to the Marauders, Reg," Sirius stated.
"Yes, welcome to the Marauders, the pranksters," James said with a grin.
Regulus rolled his eyes. "Thank you, James, Sirius," he said. "So now there are eight of us?"
"That's right!" Sirius confirmed excitedly. "Me, you, James, Remus, Severus, Lily, Alice, and Mary!" Together, all eight of them walked to the Great Hall for breakfast.
As everyone was sitting, Arcturus stood, gaining everyone's attention. "I have an announcement to make," he declared. "Starting today, the rule requiring that students must sit at their house table is no longer valid. You may sit with whomever you wish. The only times you will still be required to sit with your house table is when we have the start-of-term and end-of-year feast. I strongly believe in house unity, and this is the first step towards that. Thank you." When he sat, everyone started talking to each other. Before Sirius could even blink, Capella was running over to their table, a bright smile on her face.
"I'm going to sit with you," Capella said, sliding in beside Sirius. "I'm already sick of hearing Rita talk about this morning's Daily Prophet." Then her eyes hardened. "And that fourth year boy, Blackford. He clearly is not happy that a Black is in his own house."
"I almost forgot about him," Sirius muttered.
"Isn't that the boy who tried poisoning you last year?" Regulus asked. Capella gasped.
"He DID WHAT?!" she shrieked. Sirius shushed her, not wanting the whole Great Hall to hear.
"Emmett Blackford and Peter Pettigrew tried poisoning me last year," Sirius explained quietly. "But the Heirship ring can detect poisons, so I never drank it. But Grandmother, Grandfather, and Reg came to the school, and that was the last straw. Dumbledore was ripped of his headmaster position that same evening, due to not punishing them. He should have expelled them, but instead, he just shrugged it off."
Capella looked angry. Her hand gripped the table tightly. "Did he do anything else to our family?" she asked.
"He hurt Narcissa and Andromeda," Sirius explained. "Capella, he might try targeting you, since you're a Black. Be on guard. Go to Grandfather if he tries anything, or if you suspect he is going to." Capella nodded.
After breakfast, everyone headed to their classes. Regulus and Capella had Charms together first. As they sat down, Rita came to sit next to Capella.
"Oh, Capella," she said cheerfully. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did, so no," Capella answered. Rita frowned.
"Well, I was wondering what it's like to be the daughter of two Squibs," she said.
"You can wonder all you want, but I'm not answering questions from you," Capella snapped. "Now, Professor Flitwick's coming in. Do you want to make a scene in front of our Head of House?" Rita snapped her mouth shut.
Flitwick came into the classroom, and started teaching. They learned the lighting charm, which Regulus already knew the incantation for. He had seen his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even his brother use the charm multiple times. He was the first one to get it.
Rita was ecstatic She leaned over to him, and said, "Oh, Regulus! How does it feel being the first one to master a spell? It must feel great!"
"I'm n-" Regulus started.
"You must know all the spells already," Rita continued, not listening to Regulus' protests. "You must also know a lot of dark curses, being from a dark family, of course."
"I told you before, my family is NOT dark!" Regulus snapped, already losing his patience.
"Oh, but the family has many evil individuals in the mix. Orion, Walburga, Bellatrix, and… oh! Let's not forget Cygnus and Druella, since they tried disowning their daughter," Rita ranted on.
Capella and Regulus stood, both angry. Capella was first to speak. "Rita, do you remember what Lord Black told you in Diagon Alley?" she asked coldly. "No? Well, I'll remind you. He said to do your research and have the facts first. Fact check: the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black is NOT a dark family. So, shut your mouth and keep quiet!"
Regulus was speechless, impressed with what Capella had said. He wondered if the Sorting Hat had made a mistake. She would make a great Gryffindor.
The whole room was silent. Everyone had heard Capella's little speech loud and clear. Everyone realized that Capella Black was not going to be one of those quiet, nervous first years. No, she was going to be a fiery first year, one that was not afraid to tell the truth.
Professor Flitwick saw this a little differently, however. "Not fighting, are we?" he asked.
Rita shook her head quickly. "Oh, no, of course not, Professor," she said. Flitwick nodded.
History of Magic class wasn't any better. In fact, it was worse. All four houses had History of Magic together. This meant, Regulus and Capella had to deal with both Rita and Dolores.
While Professor Black was lecturing, Dolores interrupted. "Hem, hem! Professor, are ÿ sure it's necessary to learn about wars in the Muggle World? We are superior to Muggles, after all."
Everyone gasped. While Professor Black was kind, she was not one to interrupt. "Miss Umbridge, are you questioning a professor's teaching style?" Professor Black asked.
"Oh, no, I would never do that, Professor," Dolores quickly said.
"It is important to learn both the Wizarding and Muggle wars, Miss Umbridge," the professor continued. "Now, any more questions?"
Dolores shook her head, but Rita raised her hand. That was only the beginning to Rita's many questions and Dolores' many accusations.
Regulus and Capella were relieved when the class was over. They agreed that History of Magic would be a nightmare with those two in there at the same time. They told everyone at lunch about their morning, Sirius groaning when he heard that they had to deal with both of them in the same class.
"You should have a fun term," Sirius said jokingly. They both glared at him. "Just kidding!" They all couldn't help but laugh. This year was bound to be interesting, to say the least.