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Harry Potter: The True Lord- Chapter 16: Talk Between Bellatrix and Arcturus
🕑 Added 2025-07-01 13:49:24 +0000 UTCBellatrix felt a heavy pressure weighing on her shoulders as she walked through the corridor of Grimmauld Place on the top floor of the house.
Her grandfather, Lord of the Black family, Arcturus Black, had summoned her to his study, and this only raised the anxiety brewing within her heart.
As far as she could remember, Arcturus Black had been slowly withdrawing from family affairs, participating only in important decisions concerning the overall welfare of the Black family.
Although he still held the Lordship, it was Orion who was taking the lead in making decisions. This was Arcturus’s method of training Orion for the future when he would assume the Lordship. Arcturus Black wanted for Orion to be capable enough when he took the Lordship. But how much he actually believed in Orion’s abilities was a different matter of debate altogether.
And now, this summon had been unexpected for Bellatrix. It was a kind of ritual, a custom that whenever Arcturus summoned someone to his study, it was only for serious reasons and significant issues.
With a myriad of thoughts crossing her mind, she finally reached the study door and knocked.
“Come in,” Arcturus’s sharp voice echoed from inside.
Bellatrix pushed the door open and walked into the room. Sitting directly opposite the door behind a large wooden desk was Arcturus Black. Parchments, quills, and books were arranged neatly on the table. The lights in the room were dim, and it seemed as if Arcturus had intentionally created an atmosphere of tension and anxiety.
“Sit down, Bellatrix,” Arcturus said, gesturing to the chair opposite him.
She nodded and took her seat.
“Bellatrix,” Arcturus began after a few moments of silence, “you know that Orion is not a person who can truly lead the Black family.”
“With him taking charge and with Sirius to follow, I can only see the mighty Black family going downhill from here on.”
The very start of the conversation surprised Bellatrix. She gave a curt nod. She, and for that matter the entire Black family, was not oblivious to Arcturus’s thoughts about Orion or Sirius. Even so, she could not think of any reason, why his grandfather would talk on this topic to her. She, therefore, decided to listen silently.
“Orion is too much woven into the threads that Walburga controls, and Sirius has no interest in leading the family, not that he would be a competent leader even if he showed the desire.”
“Cygnus is no better,” he added with a scoff. “He is easily fooled. Thinks that the Black name is enough to make him some lofty figure in Wizarding Britain. Cannot even hold his wand straight.”
“On the other hand, all three of you sisters are more capable of leading the family,” he sighed. “But the laws are as they are.”
Yes, the laws. As long as even a single male claimant to the Lordship was alive, a female could not take it up. A discriminatory law, according to Bellatrix. But this was the least of the discriminations that occurred in Wizarding Britain.
“That is why I had wanted a capable husband for you,” he said with a grieved expression. “I may sound selfish, but at least I could have placed some hope in him to save this family if such a situation arose.”
“But that buffoon of your father thinks with his ego,” Arcturus barked. “A little bit of flattery, and that was all it took for that Reinhart Lestrange to fool your father into believing that Rodolphus is the perfect match for you.”
Bellatrix clenched her fist in anger. She was in no condition to marry that idiot. His entire family was a bunch of manipulative fools. And Reinhart Lestrange, the Lord of Lestrange family was their leader.
“But this is not the only ploy, Bellatrix,” Arcturus whispered as he leaned forward, and the tone… the words of Arcturus chilled Bellatrix’s spine.
“You are not the only one who has been traded,” he continued. “Andromeda and Narcissa have been traded too.”
Hearing this, Bellatrix reeled in shock. Her two sisters? Traded? What did it mean?
“What do you mean?” Bellatrix barely muttered in a whisper. “What do you mean by traded? Andromeda and Narcissa?”
Arcturus shifted uncomfortably in his chair as he took a deep breath.
“Yes,” he said. “You heard correctly.”
“You for Rodolphus Lestrange. Narcissa for Lucius Malfoy. And Andromeda for Tiberius Nott.”
Each word came as a shock to Bellatrix. She could not believe what she was hearing.
“But why?” she asked.
“I do not know for sure,” Arcturus muttered. “But there must be some ploy between the three families.”
“I do not know what they have promised him in return, but they have successfully fooled your father.”
“Cygnus from the very start has been bitter about being the younger brother of Orion. For him, the name Black holds all the power, and for him to see the Lordship of the Black family going to Orion must have been hard.”
“You are not suggesting?” Bellatrix stood up in shock. “Even if he is not that good of a person, Father would not think to harm his blood brother.”
Arcturus shook his head as he gestured for Bellatrix to retake her seat, “Though I would not deny what you guessed, that was not what I was talking about.”
“They might have promised Cygnus anything. Endless wealth. Infinite power. Dominance. Everything he desires.”
“But how?” she asked in exasperation. “How can he believe something like that? I doubt that even the three families combined can provide him something like that.”
“Not the three families, Bellatrix,” Arcturus replied grimly. “Not the three families.”
“Then who?” she questioned.
“You must have heard of a new movement brewing… a movement to give the purebloods their rightful place in society.”
“Yes,” Bellatrix hiccupped in her answer.
“I believe that your father has been made to believe that when this new system is put in place, when this new regime takes over, he would be given one of the most important positions.”
“At that time, the Black Lordship would be insignificant compared to what he would have.”
The words… the things that Arcturus had spoken had stunned Bellatrix to her core. She had a hard time believing all that she had been hearing.
