That evening, Capella never saw Emmett in the common room. She didn't really care, but she thought it was odd. She shrugged it off, not really concerned. He was a bully anyway.
That night, as Capella got into her dormitory, she noticed that Rita was looking at her oddly.
"What is it, Rita?" Capella asked with a sigh.
"Er, are you alright, Capella?" Rita asked. Capella was shocked.
"Er, yes, I am. Why do you ask?" Capella asked curiously.
Rita hesitated, then simply said, "It's probably not my place to tell you."
All of the girls in the dormitory were speechless. This was the first time Rita Skeeter had ever kept her mouth shut about something. They were all wondering the same thing: what happened?
The next morning, after Capella ate breakfast, she headed to the headmaster's quarters for the regular Saturday morning gathering. When she entered, everyone was already there. She sat next to Narcissa.
"Do you know what we're doing today, Cissa?" Capella asked.
"It sounds like we're having a serious conversation first," Narcissa answered.
Capella blinked. "What?" she asked. "What about?"
"I do not know," Narcissa replied. "They won't tell us until everyone's here, so I am assuming they'll tell us any moment now."
As if on cue, Arcturus closed the Daily Prophet he had been reading. Melania put down her knitting. All chatter stopped when they saw the serious looks on Arcturus and Melania's faces.
"Good morning," Arcturus began, looking at each member in the room. "Before we start playing games or talking about other fun topics, we must first talk about something that happened yesterday."
"Capella, has anyone in your common room or dormitory told you what happened?" Melania asked.
"No, Grandmother," Capella responded. "Though Rita Skeeter was acting strangely last night. For probably the first time ever, she asked if I was alright, then told me it wasn't her place to tell me."
Melania nodded. "She was right to keep quiet," she said. "I am very glad she did. We were hoping she would keep it quiet until we were able to talk to you about it."
"What happened, exactly?" Sirius demanded, not very fond of being kept in the dark.
Arcturus sighed. "According to Miss Skeeter, the day before yesterday, Mr. Blackford confronted Capella and started insulting various members of our family, primarily Marius and Ilaria."
Sirius growled, while Severus snorted.
"He's a dunderhead," he declared.
"Wait, she told you about that?" Capella asked, surprised.
"She told Professor Flitwick," Arcturus replied. "But that's not all." He paused, letting everyone register the information they've heard so far. Finally, he continued, "Yesterday, Mr. Blackford confronted Miss Skeeter and asked her to give Capella a chocolate frog, supposedly apologizing for his comments about her parents."
"Him? Apologize?" Capella asked in disbelief. "Yeah, right!"
"However," Arcturus continued. `Miss Skeeter had a bad feeling something was wrong. So, she went to speak with Professor Flitwick, and explained the situation. She handed over the chocolate frog, and Professor Flitwick had Professor Slughorn take a look at it."
"He didn't try to poison my sister, did he?" Lyanna asked angrily.
"No, but Professor Slughorn discovered that there was a potion in the chocolate frog that would make Capella very sick," Melania revealed.
"WHAT?!" Lyanna, Narcissa, and Capella shrieked.
"How dare he!" Sirius growled.
"That's the fourth Black targeted!" Regulus exclaimed.
"And that's the sixth student he's targeted altogether," Severus commented.
Arcturus held up a hand. "I agree with all of you," he stated. "Once Professor Slughorn discovered what was in the chocolate frog, they called for Professor McGonagall, Melania, and myself to go to the staffroom. They explained the situation to us, and we immediately knew something had to be done. We asked Miss Skeeter to provide us with a memory of Mr. Blackford giving Miss Skeeter that chocolate frog to give to Capella. We also asked her to stay quiet about it for the time being."
"She actually listened, for once," Capella commented.
"Yes, she did," Arcturus agreed. "Professor Flitwick then brought Mr. Blackford to my office, and I called for Auror Moody. To put it simply, enough was enough. Mr. Blackford is no longer welcome at Hogwarts."
"You expelled him?" Sirius asked hopefully.
"I did," Arcturus confirmed. "He should have been expelled the day he tried poisoning you, Sirius, but I was not yet headmaster at the time. He would have been expelled after his attack on Mr. Macmillan, but I was not here at that time, and the headmaster must be present for expulsions."
"At least this wouldn't have happened," Regulus pointed out.
"No, it would not have, and if I had known about that attack, I would have left my meeting early, but we can't change that," Arcturus said. "But yesterday, I was here, and so I was able to act. Capella, I am sorry that he targeted you."
"Do my parents know about all of this?" Capella asked.
"Yes, I wrote to them last night," Melania reassured her. "They are just very glad you are alright."
"Oh, that's good," Capella said with a sigh of relief.
"So that's why they were so quiet last night," Lyanna said with a thoughtful expression. Suddenly, she jumped up and raced over to her sister, giving her a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're alright, Sis!"
Capella returned the hug. When they finally ended the hug, Capella turned back to Arcturus and Melania. "I suppose I should thank Rita for everything," she stated.
"You should," Melania agreed. "I know you two are far from friends, but she did save you from being stuck in the hospital wing for weeks, so I think you should thank her."
Capella nodded. "I will," she promised. "Thank you for getting him out of Hogwarts. I was almost tempted to throw a few jinxes or hexes at him a few times." Many of the family members burst out laughing.
When Capella entered the common room later that day, she immediately spotted Rita sitting near the fireplace. She joined her.
"Thank you, Rita," Capella said sincerely. "For doing what you did. You have no idea how grateful I am."
Rita looked at her, surprised. "You're welcome," she responded.
From that day onward, Capella and Rita were allies. While they would never be friends, and they would strongly disagree with each other, they would be there for each other in emergencies, because that's what allies do.