Lucius Malfoy stood before Lord Voldemort, updating the Dark Lord about the new changes to Hogwarts.
"The only change I approve of is having the Mudbloods be required to take Magical Studies," Voldemort hissed. "If Mudbloods are going to go to Hogwarts, then they should bow down to our ways, not their filthy ways. However, this is not enough. We must get the Mudbloods wiped out of Hogwarts."
"Should I talk to my father?" Lucius asked.
"No," Voldemort sneered. "Black is right. Your father alone doesn't have the power to change rules, and he would never be able to get the Board of Governors on his side because most of them like Lord Black too much. Lord Black has a reputation that we cannot just simply undo." Voldemort didn't mention that he was secretly afraid of the head of the Black family. "No, we're going to have to get rid of the Mudbloods another way. And you, Lucius, will be in charge of making sure we are successful. You will NOT fail me, do you understand?"
"Yes, my Lord," Lucius replied.
"Good," Voldemort said, holding up a book. "Use this to help you. I will show you what you have to do." Lucius smiled. He couldn't wait until he graduated from Hogwarts so he could receive the Dark Mark. He wouldn't be able to be marked until then because Headmaster Black had put up wards that would detect the Dark Mark. But in the meantime, he could prove to Voldemort that he was loyal.
Halloween was approaching quickly. The professors and house-elves were decorating the castle to look more like a haunted house. At least, that's the way Lily described it.
The Great Hall was even more spooky than Sirius, it being in his first year the first time. He supposed it was because Melania liked going overboard with decorating. The ghosts were especially having fun scaring the students. Peeves was worse than the ghosts, however. He made one of the first years cry.
The house-elves did a very good job making the food look disgusting for the Halloween Feast. The sandwiches looked like they were moldy when they were actually very tasty. The puddings looked like there were fingernails floating around when it was actually just chocolate shells.
"This is the BEST Halloween Feast ever!" James exclaimed. "Even the ones at Potter Manor aren't THIS good!"
"I think the ones at Black Castle are better than this, but not by much," Sirius said with a grin. He was glad he didn't have to be there though, because he knew that Pollux and Orion were going to be in charge of it, seeing as the Lord and Lady could not be there. He shuddered. With those two in charge, there would be chaos. He was very glad he didn't have to go.
When they got tired, Sirius, Regulus, Remus, Lily, Severus, and James decided to leave. Regulus decided to come with them to walk around the castle a bit before going back to his grandparents' quarters.
They exited the Great Hall and started heading up the stairs. Suddenly, Sirius heard hissing. He couldn't understand what the hissing was, but he knew a snake when he heard one. Apparently, the others heard it too, because they stopped.
"What was that?" Lily asked worriedly.
"It sounds like a snake, but it's a sound I've never quite heard before," Sirius said thoughtfully. "Something's wrong. We need to go back to the Great Hall and get the headmaster. He can understand snakes because he can turn into one. Let's go." They turned to head back to the Great Hall, but something stopped them.
"Oh my!" Lily gasped, covering her mouth.
"Oh no," Remus groaned.
"Mrs. Norris!" James exclaimed. Mrs. Norris was clearly petrified. This brought a memory to the front of Sirius' mind. Harry had told him about something that had happened in his second year, and Mrs. Norris had been petrified. However, Harry had not said much more than that.
"What do we do?" Regulus asked fearfully. "The writing on the wall! Look!" He pointed to where it said: THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
"We really need to go back to the Great Hall now," Sirius decided. He suddenly heard students starting to come up the stairs.
"It sounds like the feast is already over," Severus commented.
As soon as students started seeing Mrs. Norris, they screamed. Some looked at the writing and started panicking. It was chaos.
"What is going on here?" Melania called out, pushing through the crowd. Regulus ran to her and hugged her. "Whoa! What..." She hugged Regulus as she looked at the writing. "Oh, dear Merlin, not again!"
"Out of the way! Move!" Filch yelled, coming to stand in front of the crowd. He gasped at the sight of his cat. "No! Not my cat! Who killed my cat?!" He spun around, then stared at Sirius. "You! You killed my cat! It had to be you! You will be sorry! I…"
"Sirius didn't do anything!" Regulus yelled, still clutched in Melania's hold.
"Shhh, we know he didn't do it, dear," she soothed.
"Professor Black, you must see reason! That boy did it! I know he did!" Filch shouted.
"What proof do you have, Mr. Filch?" Melania asked. Filch sputtered.
"What is going on?" the voice of the headmaster broke through the chatter. He strode forward and looked at the writing, then Mrs. Norris. "I see that your cat is petrified, Mr. Filch."
"That boy killed him!" Filch accused, pointing his finger at Sirius.
"First of all, you have no evidence that he has done such a thing, and two, your cat is not dead. She is petrified. She will be alright. She will remain in the Hospital Wing until she can be revived. As for who is responsible, I promise you that no first year could have done this. Now, take Mrs. Norris to the Hospital Wing while I figure out what to do next," Headmaster Black ordered. Filch nodded and took Mrs. Norris to the Hospital Wing.
"Headmaster," Severus spoke up. "We heard a hissing sound just before this happened. Sirius had suggested we go back to the Great Hall to get you, but before we could, we found Mrs. Norris. We were about to inform you of the situation when everyone started coming up here."
"Thank you, Mr. Snape," the headmaster said with a nod. "Heads of Houses, please take your students back to their common rooms. Then please come to the staffroom where we will be having an emergency meeting." He then gave Melania a look, and she nodded. She motioned for Sirius to follow her.
"I will see you all later," Sirius whispered to his friends. "Grandmother wants me to come with her." The others nodded and followed McGonagall. Sirius followed Melania and Regulus to the headmaster's office. Sirius was about to ask why they were there when he saw her open a door he hadn't noticed before.
"Sirius, this is the headmaster's quarters," Melania explained.
"Yeah, this is where I stay when I'm not with you guys," Regulus informed his brother.
The room felt cozy, very similar to the cozy feeling he got at Black Manor. Melania called for Dinky, the Head Hogwarts house-elf.
"Dinky, please bring some hot chocolate and biscuits for Sirius and Regulus," Melania told the elf. Dinky popped away to do just that.
"Grandmother, what's the Chamber of Secrets?" Regulus asked. "You sounded like you knew what it was when we were in that corridor."
Melania then explained to Sirius and Regulus what the Chamber of Secrets was, and how it had been opened when their father and Aunt Lucretia had been students.
"Now, I have to go to the meeting, but your grandfather and I will be back soon, and in the meantime, you two will STAY here, no leaving. Is that understood?" she asked.
"Yes, Grandmother," they replied. She nodded. She wandlessly put monitoring charms on them, just in case. She left through the fireplace.
Sirius thought back to what Harry had told him about Mrs. Norris being petrified. He had wished he had not gone off on a rant about her, because maybe if he had kept things on subject, Harry would have told him more about what had happened. He sighed. All he could do was wait and see what his grandfather had to say when he got back. After all, his grandfather always had a plan.