Albus Dumbledore was almost never afraid. He could deal with some very unpleasant people and not be shaken by it. However, he was currently afraid.
Lord Arcturus Black had entered the school through the Floo Network. Worse yet, he was in the hospital wing. That meant he knew what had happened to the two Black sisters.
"Well, as long as he doesn't come up here, everything will be fine," Dumbledore said aloud to the portraits.
Phineas snorted. "Do you honestly think he won't be coming up here? After you refused to punish the person responsible for the attacks on the Black family? Oh yes, he'll be up here, and I can't wait to see how you feel after you experience the full wrath of the House of Black. You don't mess with Blacks, old man!"
Dumbledore knew that Phineas was right, though he would never admit it out loud. That is why he was hoping Lord Black wouldn't come up to his office.
Twenty minutes later, he could hear two people coming up the staircase. Dumbledore felt the worry come back full force. He knew those voices.
There was a loud knock on the door, nearly making Dumbledore jump. "Come in!" he called out cheerfully, hoping that would lighten up the mood a little bit.
The door flung open and there stood Lord Arcturus Black with his grandson, Sirius. Dumbledore briefly wondered if he would survive this meeting.
"Headmaster Dumbledore," Arcturus said in a low, dangerous voice. "Do you realize what kind of hole you have just put yourself in? I assure you, it's a big hole. First, you dismiss my grandson's concerns about the History of Magic professor, and I bet you've ignored other people's concerns about that professor as well. My grandson could not have been the first one to bring those concerns to you. Let me assure you, I have those same concerns."
Alright, Dumbledore thought. I think this is going to be worse than I thought.
"I assure you, Arcturus I…" Dumbledore started but was interrupted.
"I never gave you permission to call me by my first name, Dumbledore. You shall address me formally," Lord Black said coldly.
"Well, as I was saying," Dumbledore continued, wishing he were anywhere but here. "I assure you that Professor Binns is more than qualified to teach History of Magic."
"Yes, maybe in the 1920's," Arcturus corrected him. "He was the professor when I was here at this school, and he was alive at that time. Even alive, he still put people to sleep with his lectures, but at least he was teaching the right things. Now, however, I have heard that he is teaching History from the 1920's and 1930's. It is 1971 right now, Dumbledore."
Dumbledore turned to Sirius. "Mr. Black, it cannot be that bad, can it?"
"Yes, Headmaster, it is," Sirius replied. "We need a new teacher."
"I have contacted some of the school governors so they can look into this issue," Arcturus continued. "By the sounds of it, your ghost teacher will be out before you can say Lemon Drop."
Dumbledore knew that he had lost this battle. Once Arcturus put his mind on something, he would not stop until he got his way.
"I understand, Lord Black," Dumbledore responded with a resigned sigh.
"Now for the other reason why I'm here," Arcturus said, bringing out two vials of memories. "Can you guess what these are?"
"They're memories," Dumbledore answered.
"Not just any memories," Arcturus added. "Narcissa and Andromeda's memories of the attacker. Shall we view these memories together?"
Dumbledore paled. He suddenly wished they were still talking about Professor Binns.
"I do not need to see the memories," Dumbledore declined.
"Why? Because you know what happened, and yet, you refuse to punish the one responsible?" Sirius piped up. "I saw Narcissa showing you the memory when she had eye contact with you."
"Well, you must understand, Slytherins are not good people, especially not Slytherins from the Black family," Dumbledore tried defending his actions. "Narcissa and Andromeda tampered with the memories."
"Just because a few members of the family are not good people, doesn't mean all of the family is that way," Arcturus shot back. "Narcissa and Andromeda are very kind people, and don't you DARE accuse them of tampering with their memories. They do not know how to do that, and even if they did, they would never do such a thing." He gave Dumbledore the coldest look he could muster. Dumbledore actually flinched. "Lastly, I have gotten word from Lady Prince that she sent you a letter four days ago requesting you get her son checked for injuries in the hospital wing because she wants her son away from his father and into a safer home. But what did you do? You told her that her son must stay where he is. You are the supposed leader of the light. I don't know how you can be the leader of the light if you tolerate abused children going back to abusive homes."
"The Prince family were all Slytherins until Severus, so..." Dumbledore started but was once again interrupted.
"All of this leads to biases," Arcturus declared. "You are biased against Slytherins. You clearly don't care about your students' well-being, classes, or anything of the like. Just so you are aware, I have been in touch with my daughter. She will most likely be taking Severus Snape in. So I, unlike you, did the right thing, and I'm not even the headmaster. I have informed the school governors of all of these things, and they will be reviewing everything. They will then determine if you should remain as headmaster. In the meantime, you shall punish that Ravenclaw who hurt my family. If that student gets no consequences for their actions, I will know. Good day." He ended his warning in the dangerous tone he had used earlier.
When Sirius and Lord Black left, Dumbledore took a shaky breath.
"I told you he would be up here," Phineas sneered. "Oh, how I wish he had kept finding things to say about you. I would have loved to see you pass out. Oh well. It was entertaining enough to see you utterly afraid of the head of my family. Oh yes, I will never forget this day." Dumbledore glared at Phineas.
"I've listened to enough Black family members for one day," he said while standing. "I should go pack, just in case I am removed as headmaster." He walked into his quarters to do just that.
"Oh, you will be removed, oh, yes you will," Phineas said happily, but no one but the other portraits heard him.