DISCLAIMER: THIS STORY IS BASED ON CHARACTERS CREATED AND OWNED BY JK ROWLINGAND BLOOMSBURY BOOKS. I MAKE NO PROFIT OUT OF THIS AND NO COPYRIGHT OR TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED.

Previously on Other Side of the Coin:

Arcturus became grave. "Our world is in very bad shape children and it is still spiraling downwards. We are no doubt bringing about our own extinction. We" gesturing to Charlus and himself "are old. We cannot fight the battles and soon than later, you will need to step up. We need a leader to rally behind and the Dark Lord Voldemort is that leader. Bella and Narcissa here understood this and so did Regulus. Andromeda unfortunately was driven away from us by outside sources. She chose to run away rather than face us to marry her mudblood husband."

"So, all of the Black family members except my dad were death eaters?" Rigel asked quietly.

"Actually Rigel, your dad Sirius was also a death eater and to this day remains loyal to our cause." Arcturus said happily.

Chapter 7

Whatever air that was present in young Rigel's lungs was knocked out of him after hearing Bella's declaration. 'This is not happening.' Rigel thought frantically as the truth that the 'white' sheep of the Black family was 'black' all along began to set in.

"Easy lad. It is not what you think. You dad is not the traitor you are envisioning but rather he is the most cunning of us, the best of us Blacks." Arcturus said proudly and Rigel paused to listen to him before passing judgment in his mind. He did promise Arcturus he would listen to him.

"Tell me the full story please grandfather." Rigel begged.

"To do that, I must go back in time when your father was ten years old. The war with Grindelwald was long over but there was whispers of another one rising and I knew that the Blacks would get involved yet again and I had a feeling this war would be even worse for our family so I was forced to make some decisions for the family sake." Arcturus said gravely.

"Sirius was a bright lad, cunning to the bone and a shoe-in for Slytherin. With Andromeda and Bellatrix both in Slytherin and Regulus too young for my plan, I needed someone in the next generation to be Light and for family to survive in case things went bad. Either ways we would survive." Arcturus said with steel in his voice.

"What did you do?" Rigel asked breathlessly and judging by the eager expression on Bella's face, she had also been kept in the dark about this plan.

"I asked Sirius to convince the hat to place him in Gryffindor and ally himself with the Lightest family heirs there was and pretend to hate his family name and heritage."

"WHAT?" Bella shrieked.

"Yes, it was cruel thing to do but it had to be done. The Blacks were always seen as a dark family and while it never bothered us before because we had the numbers to support each other but when we are so low in number, I had to take some measures to ensure our family's survival."

Arcturus took a deep breath and continued "Of course Sirius was naturally against the idea and begged me to change my mind. He didn't want to be a foolhardy Gryffindor but when I offered him the choice that it could be either him or Regulus, he accepted it so that his brother didn't have to be stuck wearing red and gold."

Rigel smiled proudly, his dad always told him family stuck together and now he knew from where this sentiment had stemmed.

Arcturus smiled "You have no idea how proud I was of Sirius at that moment. He was the ideal Black. Powerful, charming and loyal to the family. Alas his first few years was not very happy. He got himself sorted into the house of lions and informed me that he had befriended the Potter heir and two other, one who is a werewolf of all things and another a muggleborn, which made everyone accept him but the fact that you Bellatrix" pointing at Bella "shunned him and hated him weighed heavily on his heart. It didn't help that his mother was not at all happy with him also started to hate him for getting sorted into Gryffindor and shaming the family by socializing with werewolves and mudbloods."

"What else was I supposed to do?" Bella protested. "You taught all of us, me, Cissy, Andy, Reggie and Sirius that we are above everyone else and must all look out for each other as the last of Blacks and I see him, gallivanting around with that blasted Potter, bullying Slytherins, wasting his time and potential, and glaring at me. Granted I did not know Lupin was a werewolf until afterwards we graduated."

"You can only imagine how good of an act he put up to fool even you who knew him so well Bellatrix." Arcturus said proudly. "He did confess that it hurt to see his favorite cousin and his own mother show such blatant dislike for him but he vowed to continue the duty I had bestowed him. When he couldn't take it anymore and ran away at 16, I had to intervene and called Orion and Walburga to explain why Sirius had done what he had and he was merely carrying on his duty to the family. To say they were proud would be an understatement. They immediately reconciled with him and Sirius couldn't have been happier."

"That's why Aunt Walburga accepted him back and even stopped hating him. I thought you had commanded her to stop showing dislike to Sirius since he was your heir." Bella exclaimed.

"No, Walburga is too strong willed to even listen to me let alone take orders regarding her dislikes but the fact that her son was sacrificing so much just for family's sake was enough to melt her heart. Sirius told his friends and Dumbledore that his mother didn't want to lose the Black heir and it was all just an act to bring him back but inside he was ecstatic."

"How and when did he become a death eater? We were the Dark Lord's inner circle and he never once mentioned Sirius to us and we know almost all the members." Lucius asked shrewdly with a calculating look in his eye.

"Do you remember the day the Dark Lord visited Black Townhouse when your betrothal was formalized Bellatrix? I doubt you would remember, being betrothed and pledging your alliance to the Dark Lord but I had invited the Dark Lord to Black Manor to discuss business." Arcturus asked with an amused glint in his eyes.

Bella blushed. It had been one of the happiest days of her life, being betrothed to the tall, handsome Lestrange she would never admit having a crush on and finding out that he too was interesting in joining the pureblood movement. It couldn't have been more perfect and she hadn't been her usual observant self.

"Back to the topic at hand." Arcturus said, amused. "When the Dark Lord arrived at the Manor, Sirius arrived by floo and after hearing what the Dark Lord had to say, he proceeded to join the death eaters. The Dark Lord on hearing his unique placement in the Light side camp decided to let Sirius remain as an unmarked Death Eater. Even though the Dark Mark can be seen by only by the other marked death eaters or shown voluntarily, the Dark Lord was wise enough to consider the possibility that the magic could one day be unraveled so he settled for a loyalty and secrecy oath from Sirius."

"So Sirius was a death eater before any of us." Lucius said faintly, imagining the smirk Sirius would have on his face when everyone realized the prank he had pulled for years.

"I would have never guessed. The ferocity he and Potter fought against us would convince anyone they were firmly against the Dark. They are no doubt one of the best hitters the Light has…. Wait a minute! Don't tell me James Potter is a Death Eater too?!" Rudolphous exclaimed, a horrified expression on his face.

Arcturus chuckled at his expression. "No he is not a death eater but you won't believe how close he came to being one.

"What!" Bella shrieked.

"You really must control yourself and not behave like a muggle my dear. Is this how a Black is supposed to behave?" Arcturus asked reproachfully. Bella blushed furiously, having being chastised by the eldest Black. The twins sniggered quietly at their mother's uncharacteristic behavior. Bella gently cuffed them on the head.

"But you have got to be joking right grandfather?" Bella asked, fighting the blush on her face and anxious to get back to the topic. "James 'look at me, I'm a prankster' Potter was almost a death eater. He's an imbecile. No offense Baron Potter" she added hurriedly.

"None taken my dear." Charlus laughed. "My son has many talents and I'm afraid those might have given him a large head and causing him to be an ass to everyone."

"He may have been a prick to Slytherins but even he didn't miss the problems our world has. Werewolves and goblins being treated as second class citizens, his friend being favored and the blatant corruption and favoritism towards muggleborns." Arcturus said gravely.

"What do you mean his other friend being favored? You mean Pettigrew?" Lucius asked.

Charlus answered. "I heard James rant it to Dorea after his OWLS. Apparently the muggleborns get tutored for OWLS and NEWTS during the Christmas and Easter breaks. While James was happy Peter was given extra support to improve, the rest of halfbloods and purebloods were exempt from this. If any halfbloods requested to join, they were always denied saying the program was full."

"Maybe the program was indeed full? Goodness knows there's enough mudbloods in Hogwarts." Lucius reasoned.

"Yes that may be, James's year did indeed have a large amount of muggleborns but when James asked the senior students and owled a few of his passed out friends, everyone said the same. No one other than muggleborns were taken into this program." Charlus said.

"When did this program begin? I was not even aware of such programs conducted in Hogwarts and I prided myself in knowing everything." Lucius asked, shocked.

"There is the twist. This program was open to all students and the professors would assign the students to this group if they felt he/she was not up to the standards to write the OWLS and NEWTS but after Dippet retired, Dumbledore took the reigns and along with the Board's support, scrapped this program saying the workload on the professors was too much and they deserved a break, especially during Christmas and Easter."

"Does that mean that program is running illegally?" Lucius asked angrily. "I will make sure to bring this up in the next Board meeting."

"No Lucius the program is officially scrapped. He was the transfiguration professor before he defeated Grindelwald and became headmaster and his own apprentice Minerva McGonagall took over the subject. He then instructed her to begin a study group headed by her for the OWL and NEWT students. Since it's conducted by her on personal interest…"

"..She has the right to allow entry of students and she can allow anyone she deems worthy." Lucius whistled. "Since Minerva has a notorious image as being unbiased in every way, no one would realize the selection was based on blood…."

"And those who realized were helpless to complain to the authorities as the Headmaster wouldn't care and the Board wouldn't and couldn't do anything as it was not officially sponsored by the school." Charlus finished.

"I'm sorry but how is that related to James almost being a death eater?" Hadrian asked pointedly, entering the conversation for the first time. Everyone picked up the boy's refusal to refer James as his dad.

Charlus sighed. "James had a few friends like the current Lord MacMillan who were struggling as well and needed help but with the club closed to them, James and Sirius took it upon themselves to help their friends in need. No matter his faults, James's talent in transfiguration is almost prodigal and he decided to help everyone lagging in the subject free of cost. Nobody knew as much curses and counter curses as Sirius did and he helped the group with defense. Your mother Rigel, was exceptionally talented in charms and a few of his other friends volunteered to help and they created a group to help other lagging students. Naturally, this would come with some problems."

"What do you mean?" Hadrian asked confused. "Who would object to a group made to learn?"

"Oh you have no idea Hadrian. The number of people who would stop children from learning to dumb them down is scarily high." Arcturus said darkly. "The objection here was made by Dumbledore of course."

"That man" Lucius hissed. "He just doesn't know where his crooked nose is not needed."

"He was very cunning in saying students shouldn't practice dangerous magic without supervision and hence couldn't be continued further. Without a supervising professor, the club was deemed to be shut down and the students would be severely punished if they continued further." Arcturus said bitterly.

"Don't tell me they gave up? OWLS and NEWTS are very important for getting any sort of jobs!" Bella asked, furiously making a pact to make sure the twins, Rigel, Draco and Hadrian be trained further to make sure they wouldn't have a disadvantage against mudbloods.

"Oh no" Charlus said with a smile. "James was fully willing to continue the club regardless of the threats. 'Marauders fear no detentions' he said and was set to meet in some unused classroom but then Sirius had a brainwave."

"What did he do?" Bella asked eagerly. Sirius had been like a little brother to her while they were younger and while she had felt betrayed when he was sorted into Gryffindor, recent events had painted him in a new light and she planned to reconcile with him soon.

"The excuse Dumbledore used to prevent them from meeting was the lack of a professor to supervise them and Sirius found the simplest solution. He went and asked Slughorn to supervise them." Arcturus said proudly.

"Who's Slughorn? The name sounds funny" chortled Draco.

"Draco manners please." Narcissa remarked mildly. "Professor Horace Slughorn was the Potions Master when we went to school. He was a certified genius in Potions and was an acclaimed duelist. Sirius couldn't have picked a better professor."

"But why would a Hogwarts professor go out of his way to help a group of students against the Headmaster's wishes?" Hadrian asked shrewdly, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Well, other than being a genius, Slughorn had or still has one of the largest networks in Britain. There are very little people, be in politics, sports or mastery of magic that Horace doesn't know and he's responsible for putting many of them in their fields. Even Dumbledore wouldn't dare to against Horace and Horace wouldn't dare to go against me and through me against Charlus." Arcturus remarked.

"Sirius asked Horace and to assist him and Horace agreed immediately. He was wise to do so because if he hadn't, he'd have made enemies of a lot of houses, especially us and Dumbledore relented because he did not want to make enemy out of Sirius and James along with the rest of their group. Dumbledore took solace that it was only one batch that would defy him and that batch got the highest OWL and NEWT scores in decades." Arcturus remarked.

"Grandfather it still doesn't explain how James almost became a death eater." Hadrian complained.

"Patience Hadrian. As I was saying James was aware of all these going on and while he respected Dumbledore, he knew the man had a secret agenda with the muggleborns and was wary of that. The Dark Lord spoke at length to him about these problems in a secret meeting only he knew about, the way dark creatures were treated by the ministry, the blatant favoritism towards the muggleborns and the dilution of knowledge at Hogwarts and James agreed that change was needed." Charlus said gravely.

"Why didn't he join then? He could have done a huge favor for the wizarding world and also the Dark Lord would not have attacked Edward dearest" Hadrian sneered.

"The Dark Lord had given him time to contemplate. If James accepted, the Dark Lord had informed myself and Arcturus that he would reveal to James that Sirius was a death eater too to help ease his conscious. But after two days of silence, James publicly mocked the Dark Lord and when there was a raid, fought furiously against the death eaters. The Dark Lord apologized to me in advance that if he ever met James in the battlefield, he would be killed for the disrespect he showed." Charlus said sadly, a lone tear trailing down his cheek thinking about the foolish actions of his only son.

"Don't you find it odd that he was willing to work for the better world and agreed with the Dark Lord and yet changed his decision suddenly without any explanation?" Hadrian asked suspiciously.

Charlus had a questioning look on his face when suddenly his eyes glazed over and said "Dumbledore must have found out and talked him out of it. He must have used Lily Evan's name to help change his mind."

Hadrian was now alarmed. Charlus Potter never called his mother by her maiden name.

Hadrian suddenly felt a foreign presence in his mind, his occlumency allowing him to pinpoint it exactly around the memory section of his brain. He closed his eyes and entered his mindscape, ignoring the shouting around him.

His mindscape came into focus, a pitch-black caravan with gigantic and sharp stalactites hung down from the roof whose height was too dark to see. In the center there was a small pool filled with electric blue water that swayed hypnotically. All around the caravan the oppressive darkness shrouded every inch of the place, making the place feel shrouded and dangerous.

As the occlumency level increased, the traps and tricks set against the invading Legilimens became more and more subtle. The human mind was not a book to be opened and read at will and had natural instinctive barriers against intrusion to help protect it. While these barriers couldn't stop a barrage against a seasoned legilimen, a level 1 user could reinforce them to good resistance. Based on the occlumen's imagination, the mind and memories could be depicted as a fortress, a library, a stadium or even a muggle computer.

According to the shadows guarding his mind, Hadrian had learnt no matter what barrier or even the strength of the barrier but a legilimen would always have an instinct towards entering the mind. Hence to avoid this, as the mind magic proficiency increased, the mind made itself less and less visible to confuse the legilimen entering.

Hadrian's occlumency level, boosted immensely by the shadows made it sufficient for his mind to be able to completely hide itself from a legilimen and Hadrian saw no reason to flaunt his mind and memories in the form of a fortress or library which would make it visible to the intruder. While Hadrian had accepted that a muggle computer which he had read about would be extremely effective against wizards, he theorized that there could be another wizard like him who would know how to operate one and hence his memories would be at risk.

Taking the shadow's advice, he had completely hidden his mind and memories in the gloom above the pool. His mind was literally the roof of the caravan and whatever memory he wanted to see would flow down the stalactite as a focus and would be viewed in the pool. The best thing was that legilimen's instinct wouldn't work in his mind. The legilimen would stumble around without the instincts he/she was used to and stumble near the pool which was a trap by itself. It was completely protected. The squadron of shadows waiting to tear apart the legilimen's magic also improved security.

A huge, hulking humanoid of a shadow, donned in black armor and a wicked double headed axe strapped to his back stepped forward and bowed low. "mastEr, wE found this forEign magic trying to modify onE of your memoriEs. wE believe it would have made you lEss suspicious of a cErtain dEtail. wE have dEstroyEd it."

This being was simply known as Kage. He had introduced himself while Hadrian was in a meditative trance in his mind and told him he was from the dark dimension and would protect his mind with his life. Now, anyone would be cautious about a deity appearing in their mind of all places but somehow Hadrian had an instinctive feeling about Kage. A feeling that said he knew Kage from somewhere and the being would indeed die to protect his mind.

"Which memory? What detail?" Hadrian asked hurriedly.

"thE question you asked just now mastEr. thE magic originated whEn you stated your suspicion about your patriarch. it would have made you forget the ExtrEme changE in your patriarch's bEhaviour." Kage answered dutifully.

"What magic is this? I have never heard of anything like this. Is anyone near me casting this spell Kage?" Hadrian asked frantically.

Kage scowled ferociously and it was a scary sight. "no mastEr. this is not usual magic. in EssEnsE, I sEnsE chaos hErE!"

"Chaos? What's that?" Hadrian asked curiously, calming down knowing that it was not anyone in his immediate vicinity that was cursing his mind.

"i cannot say mastEr. you must discovEr it yourself but know this is anciEnt magic and only thE prEsEncE of us shadows hElpEd you dEtEct it. in our absEnsE, thE magic would got a hold of your mEmory and you would not bE suspicious of your patriarch's bEhaviour." Kage said, throwing a dark look behind him.

"But I have level 7 occlumency walls. Even with your absence, any modifications to my mind or memories, I'd be aware of it wouldn't I Kage?" Hadrian asked tentatively.

"no mastEr. your mind arts is no match for the might of wild magic. wE havE dEstroyEd thE magic since it was a wEaker form of chaos just to make pEoplE losE thEir suspicions and accEpt thE story without question." Kage answered with a growl.

"Okay I know you can't tell me more about this Kage but tell me just one thing. Is there a limit on how long this curse will run? Will it lose power soon and someone can retain their suspicions?" Hadrian asked, deeply worried. Who would try to hide the fact that his dad changed his mind abruptly about joining the Dark Lord and more importantly, what magic did they possess to make even a master occlumen accept the story without question?! They didn't even use a wand for Merlin's sake!

Kage shook his head. "no mastEr. Each and EvEryonE, human or creature, asking about this will losE thEir suspicions unlEss thEy arE forcibly told thE truth by you or othErs who possEss a connEction to the dimEnsion. thE cursE will not work on a mind that is awarE of the cursE."

"What dimension?! Can you explain about that at least?!" Hadrian asked, pouncing on the last detail.

Kage looked guilty. "i havE uttErEd far too much alrEady. i cannot say more mastEr, plEase don't ask us."

Hadrian gazed at the gigantic being thoughtfully for a second before nodding. "Okay I will not force you to tell me but once I learn about this, this discussion is not over."

Kage bowed low. "whEn you arE rEady mastEr you will know. mastEr hEEd caution against thE people who darEs usE chaos. thEy will be no ordinary magic user."

With that warning resonating in his mind, he opened his eye to find all of them looked at him concerned. While had spent ten minutes in his mind, it had just been three seconds. Time varied in the physical world compared to the mindscape due to the brain being terrifyingly fast as compared to time in the physical world.

"It's nothing." Hadrian said warily.

"Are you sure son?" Charlus asked concerned. "You sort of zoned out for a second before you went stiff.

"Yeah, just had a headache thinking why James would change his mind." Hadrian answered carefully, carefully looking for signs of anyone understanding. Kage had warned him it was futile but he had to try.

The tell-tall sign of eyes glazing over was seen by all the adults including Arcturus but Hadrian was shocked as Bella's onyx eyes and Rigel's grey ones remained crystal clear.

"How…?" Hadrian stuttered. Did that mean Kage had lied to him?

"Dumbledore is responsible I'm sure. He must have made up a story of the Dark Lord going on a mudblood killing spree and changed James's mind." Charlus said, oblivious to the shock on Hadrian's face and his eyes glassy.

Bella narrowed her eyes at the answer and glanced at Hadrian who was still looking shocked.

"Hadrian what's wrong?" Bella asked in a no-nonsense tone. Hadrian looked at her thoughtfully for a second before he asked "Aunt Bella, can you cast a silence dome over us? I want to verify something."

"Hadrian what are trying to do?" Charlus asked, clearly worried. Hadrian gave him a reassuring smile and said "Trust me, please allow me to do this."

"I hope you know what you're doing son." Arcturus said and he nodded at Bella who cautiously drew her wand and cast a silence dome. At once all of the noise in the world disappeared and there was an eerie silence.

"Stop scaring us Hadrian. Tell me what is going on?" Bella demanded, her eyes wild. Hadrian made a placating gesture and asked "I just wanted to ask you whether you also thought it was strange James suddenly changed his mind for no reason." Hadrian kept a close eye on her for any changes.

Again, her eyes remained clear. "Yes I do believe his change of heart is suspicious but from what I know of him, he was very much in love with your mother and would do anything for her, even publicly insult the Dark Lord and refuse his generous offer" she finished furiously.

"Aunt Bella did you notice the strange glazed look all of them had when I asked this question?" Hadrian asked hurriedly and Bella looked startled for a second before she looked thoughtful. "You know, now that you mention it, I thought it was a trick of light everyone's eyes glazes when they answer that. Does mine also glaze?"

Hadrian shook his head. "No that's why I asked you to place a silence dome so I could verify it. The rest of them all believe the story without any question except you and Rigel. I noticed his eyes remained clear when I asked this."

"What is going on here?" Bella mused out aloud.

"I think I know. Can you remove the dome please?" Hadrian asked and Bella dispelled the dome. The sounds became audible again.

"Grandfather, what is chaos magic?" Hadrian asked loudly and Arcturus, Charlus and Bella stiffened harshly. Charlus had gone white as a sheet. "W..Wh… Where did you hear that term Hadrian?! I have warded all the books on the subject and I'm sure Arcturus has done the same. How do you know of it?!"

Hadrian was genuinely shook at his grandfather's behavior. He had never seen such fear on his grandfather's face and Arcturus and Bella's faces showed only shock and confusion.

Hadrian took a deep breath and explained about Kage and his warnings. He had to reassure Charlus multiple times that Kage was safe and even had to allow Arcturus to use legilimency on him. A white-faced Arcturus assured everyone that Kage was indeed real and took his job as guardian very very seriously.

"Let me get this straight." Rudolphous said slowly. "Your mental guardian, a being called Kage from the dark dimension warned you about the chaotic spell in effect which makes us forget certain suspicions about James Potter." He suddenly got up, looking startled. "Why would James change his mind suddenly? He agreed with the Dark Lord."

Charlus and Arcturus looked grave. "There is something underhanded going on here. Even with all my mental defenses I could not find it within myself to be suspicious of the circumstances."

"Poor James. I swear it to you I will not rest until I find the truth son, I swear it. I have failed you once, I will not fail you again." Charlus said, agitated about failing his duty as a father. Which father wouldn't be suspicious of his son's sudden change of heart on such a huge decision.

"Don't worry grandfather. Kage assured me unless you have an elemental guardian in your mind or a connection to the some dimension, no occlumency could stop this so this is not your fault at all." Hadrian said, patting his emotional grandfather on the back. He suddenly frowned and said "Say, aunt Bella do you have an elemental guardian too? How were you able to resist the spell?"

"I'm a Black." Bella sad simply.

"That makes no sense. So is grandfather Arcturus and yet he couldn't detect it." Hadrian said confusedly.

Bella was about to explain when Arcturus raised his hand commandingly. Bella immediately quietened down.

"Hadrian, you are too young to even know the word chaos magic let alone hear an explanation. Soon, as your Head of House Charlus will explain it all to you when you turn 13 and I will do the same to Rigel. Please do not ask us now." Arcturus said, utterly serious and the two boys could only nod in acceptance.

"What about me?" whined Draco. He too wanted to learn about this mystic magic that could mess around people's head without a wand.

"While you will learn the basics, you can never learn the full texts because you are not born from the prima hora." Arcturus said sadly.

Draco immediately protested. "You always said I was Black by blood. Why can't I learn with Rigel?"

"I am sorry child but this is shared only between Head and Heir. Even Hadrian's twin can never learn this." Arcturus said and Hadrian had a vicious grin on his face. Suck on that 'Boy who Lived'.

Draco opened his mouth to retort something but closed his mouth. His grandfather Abraxus had taught the sacred relationship that existed between the Head of House and his heir and he was too well brought up to whine about something that had happened for generations in his family. Looking at the genuine sadness and regret on Arcturus face, Draco knew the man wanted to teach him too but was held back by traditions.

"I understand." Draco said stiffly and gave a nod of acceptance to both Hadrian and Rigel who exhaled in relief knowing they wouldn't have any problems in their friendship.

There was a tense silence following this.

"So mine Draco's and twin's dad is a death eater and Hadrian's almost became one huh?" Rigel asked conversationally, breaking the heavy silence.

"We had decided to tell you this to make sure you understand the full weight of the choices you make and you understand the full history behind all the choices we have made." Arcturus said primly.

Charlus continued "We also hope that the five of you will always remain as allies, keeping our goals of unification in mind and never break confidence in each other."

"Defend your honor and your family's and always count on each other and us for support."

"Stay true to your blood and your goals"

With that, the gathering was officially over and everyone got up to leave. Arcturus summoned an elf to inform Dorea and Melania that everyone was leaving and Rigel had a sudden thought.

"Does mom know that dad is a death eater?" he asked suddenly.

Arcturus looked at him strangely and said "Of course, he would never hide something this big from her, though he did take an oath from her before telling, the smart man."

"So, can I ask them about it?" Rigel asked hopefully.

"Yes but make sure the walls have no ears when you talk to them. I waited everyone to learn occlumency before telling you this so it could be protected. If you suspect anyone is trying to read your mind, break contact and run to inform us. We will have their carcass sold to hags as main course in Knockturn ally." Arcturus said firmly, making the heirs gulp.

"To make sure nobody finds this secret out, I, Arcturus Sirius Black proclaim this a family secret, so mote it be." Arcturus declared.

Rigel felt a weird presence in his mind and discovered the Black family totem, the Raven in his mindscape. He looked questioningly at Arcturus "I see the raven in my mind. Is it natural?"

"Yes it is. It will protect all knowledge pertaining to Sirius being a death eater and will give you enough time to mount a defense. It is almost fool proof but still take heed." Cautioned Arcturus.

"Rudolphous, I ask of you to bind it under family secrets with the twins as well." Arcturus requested and twins felt the presence of the Cerberus in their minds guarding the secret.

Arcturus looked at Hadrian and smiled "As for you Hadrian, I cannot think anyone could get past the level 7 walls and now you have Kage as well."

Hadrian just grinned.

Author's notes: Hey quarantined people! I hope all of you have maintained social distance and taking precautions against the corona virus. I was home all day and without anything interesting to do, I sat and wrote this chapter at a stretch. I know I have included too much in this chapter but I am sick of writing pre Hogwarts chapters. I promise next chapter is the last chapter before Hogwarts and I haven't forgotten a certain ritual don't worry. If this chapter has any plot holes or conflicting situations and I will correct it, I was waay too excited to post this. Your reviews will certainly make my day interesting.

Word count; 5743.