As soon as Lucretia left the room behind James and Severus, Sirius felt like exploding. Arcturus held up a hand, telling him to wait. He ordered tea for both of them. Once Sirius had taken a few sips of the tea, Arcturus nodded at him.
Sirius set down the tea and said, "A Horcrux? Seriously?! Also, I didn't know you knew elemental magic! What are you going to do about Malfoy? You left him down there, you know. Are you going to expel him? He deserves it after everything he's done!"
"Sirius, stop," his grandfather commanded. "You're getting yourself worked up. First of all, Lucius Malfoy will be dealt with. I will be going back for him, don't you worry. I will not say what I'll do about him, but you'll find out soon. As for your question about elemental magic, yes, I do know elemental magic, but you will be sure to keep that piece of information quiet, do you understand?"
"Yes, Grandfather," Sirius replied.
"Good. And yes, I know a Horcrux when I see one. This explains a lot, actually. You have told me that when Voldemort tried killing your godson, the killing curse rebounded, but instead of killing him, he only disappeared until he came back in Harry's fourth year. Is this correct?"
"Yes. I… oh! So that's why he didn't die that night!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Exactly," Arcturus said with a nod. "But the question now is, how many more Horcruxes does he have? We need to find the rest of them. We will be needing your Aunt Lucretia's help. Since she is a phoenix, she can detect black magic from a further distance than you and I can. This brings me to my next thing. I believe it is time you tell your grandmother and Aunt Lucretia about your story. Otherwise, they will wonder why you know of Horcruxes at twelve years old."
Sirius nodded. "You're probably right," he said. "Where are they now?"
"Melania's most likely in her office with Regulus, and Lucretia is probably in the Hospital Wing helping Madam Pomfrey. I'll call for them."
Arcturus sent an official summoning to Melania and Lucretia from the head of the family, meaning they had to answer the summons quickly. Melania and Lucretia arrived quickly.
"Father, you haven't sent an official summons in years," Lucretia said. "What is going on?"
"Yes, Arcturus, do tell us what's going on," Melania said.
"First of all, Melania, I would like you to know that we have found a forbidden object," Arcturus began. "We found out today that Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort, has created Horcruxes." Melania gasped, and immediately looked over at Sirius.
`"You are talking about this in front of a twelve-year-old?" she asked disapprovingly.
"Grandmother, Aunt Lucretia, there's something I need to tell you," Sirius said nervously. "I… er… Grandmother, you know the day you brought me and Regulus to Black Manor?" Melania nodded, wondering where this was going. "Well, I... Grandfather, could we show them the memories?" Arcturus nodded.
"These memories you are about to see are from Sirius' point of view," Arcturus explained. "The last memory is of our conversation after I saw these memories. That conversation will explain why no one else knew until now." Melania and Lucretia entered the Pensieve.
When they came out, Melania ran forward and wrapped Sirius in a hug. Lucretia stood there, stunned.
"This explains a lot," Melania said.
"Are you mad that I didn't tell you?" Sirius asked.
"No, I am not," Melania answered. "I understand why you felt I didn't need to know yet, and honestly, you and your grandfather seem to have done a lot already."
"You know, in my old timeline, Severus and I were enemies," Sirius explained. Lucretia gasped.
"But you're friends this time around," she pointed out.
"Yes, Aunt Lucretia, we are, but that's because I decided to be nice to him this time around," Sirius admitted. "Good thing too. Instead of going to Slytherin like he did the first time, he has been sorted into Gryffindor, so he'll hopefully never fall into the dark arts."
"He wasn't a… Death Eater, was he?" Lucretia asked. Sirius nodded in confirmation.
"The point is, a lot has changed, and we still have a lot more to change," Arcturus cut in. "What was discussed in this room today will stay in this room. It is up to Sirius who else he tells and when." Melania and Lucretia nodded. "Now you understand why I am allowing Sirius to be in this conversation about Horcruxes."
"Yes," Melania nodded. "When it comes to changing the future, I will still remain in the background, because I'm a Hufflepuff, not a Slytherin. I am not great with planning and scheming. But if you ever need my help with anything, I'm ready to help."
"Same here," Lucretia stated. "I am assuming, however, that I will be helping with the Horcrux hunt."
"Yes, because you can detect black magic very easily," Arcturus confirmed. "It has been a long day. We will leave this meeting here for now, and we can discuss plans soon." Everyone agreed. Sirius left the headmaster's office feeling relieved that he had finally informed his grandmother of the truth. He knew that once McGonagall was out of the Hospital Wing, that she and Arcturus would be crafting their punishment for going into the Chamber of Secrets, but for now, he was going to relax.
When Sirius entered the common room, Mary, Alice, and Frank came up to him. "Sirius, James has told us quite an interesting story," Frank began.
"He says that Headmaster Black killed a basilisk," Alice continued.
"Is that true?" Mary asked.
Sirius grinned. "Uh-huh," he answered. "It's true!"
The three Gryffindors stared at him in shock.
"The press will have a field day," Frank said.
"People will be celebrating the death of a basilisk," Mary said with a grin.
"And our headmaster will be famous!" Alice laughed.
"Yeah, exactly," Sirius said. He didn't mention that elemental magic was used to take down Lucius.
"Let's see what the Daily Prophet says tomorrow morning," Alice said. The others nodded.
Lucius woke to a wand pointed in his face. He looked up and into the eyes of Arcturus Black.
"Lucius Malfoy," he growled. Lucius flinched. "You have endangered each and every student at this school, and you have attacked a professor and almost caused her death. You have willingly been following a half-blood wizard who clearly wants people to believe he's a blood-purest. You have also brought a dark artifact into this school, and you've been leaving the school to go to Death Eater meetings. Don't think I don't know where you've been going. I know when people leave the school. You have broken about thirty school rules, and you have committed crimes by attempting to kill a Hogwarts teacher and attempting to kill Hogwarts students. You are hereby expelled from Hogwarts." Lucius paled. He had failed his master, and now, he was being expelled.
"My father will be hearing about this!" Lucius got up the courage to say. He regretted his words immediately upon receiving a stinging hex in the chest.
"Your father has no authority over expelling students," Arcturus snarled. "You cannot use that threat against me. Your father has already been informed of your expulsion. Auror Moody, he's all yours." Arcturus stood and nodded at the man standing a few feet away. Lucius realized they were still in the Chamber of Secrets.
"Hand over your wand, boy!" Moody growled. Lucius wanted to protest, but he knew that between Alastor Moody and Arcturus Black, he wouldn't stand a chance against them. He took his wand out of his pocket and handed it to the auror. Moody snapped the wand in half.
Lucius suddenly found himself being bound in ropes and taken out of the castle. Once out of the castle, he was taken to a holding cell, where he would have a trial the next day.