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“Alright, you little runts, today we’re going to be brewing the genus revelare potion as I need something to fill the curriculum that proves you can brew at this level.” Professor Snape announced upon entering the room. He waved his wand at one side of the board which shimmered slightly before the ingredients and recipe appeared. “To avoid as many mistakes and as much idiocy as possible, you will be paired one Slytherin to one Gryffindor.” Another wand movement and the other board shimmered before the pairings appeared. “You have everything you need, begin.”Frantic movements began as members of each house moved to not only find their partners but their ingredients as well. Harry bit his lip, keeping his head down as he walked passed the Professor to join Malfoy, who was sitting at the front on the Slytherin side of the room.The blond looked at him down his nose before tapping his fingers against the tabletop. “You just listen to me and everything will be fine,” He told him, blinking in surprise when Harry just nodded at him instead of saying anything. He snapped his robe as he turned away abruptly to get their ingredients.Harry stayed quiet as he settled his items on the tabletop. He kept his wand in the front pocket of his satchel. He knew that he didn’t need it, so he left it away from the tabletop where he could be tempted to use it.Draco returned to the table, arms laden down with vials and jars full of their ingredients. He studied the usually loud and obnoxious Gryffindor for a moment before he settled the vials and jars on the table, sorting them out calmly into the order of use.“Alright…” Draco began giving out instructions which Harry followed to the letter and twenty-five minutes after they’d started, the potion was ready to sit for the fifteen minutes needed before it would be ready.Harry didn’t look at Draco for those fifteen minutes, spending the time reading the page on the potion from their textbook. He was curious about how the potion worked.The timekeeping charm on potions in several positions around the room dinged, and Professor Snape looked up from what was most likely essays from another year.“The parchments required for the next step of the potion are here at the front of the room, one of you come retrieve a single sheet for each of your partnership members.” He paused watching the students for a moment before he continued speaking, “You need to separate the potion into two halves and place a single hair or drop of blood into the potion before putting three drops of the potion into the center of the page.”Harry didn’t say anything, just got up from where he was sitting and moved to the front, grabbing a piece for both himself and Draco. He set the second parchment in front of the other teen before he moved his half of the potion to his side of the tabletop. He plucked a hair from his head, breathing deeply before dropping it into the potion.A light puff of smoke before the potion turned from an amber color to silver. Harry carefully took a dropper from the tabletop and sucked up some of the potion. Dropping three drops onto the page, he watched as spindly black letters began to appear on the page.
‘Fleamont Potter (b. 1920, d. 1979) + Euphemia Potter nee Black (b. 1921, d. 1979) = Jameson Henry Potter (b. 1960, d. )’
That was what Harry had expected, for the most part, except for the death date that didn’t exist for James where it should have said 1981. His eyebrows furrowed and he raised his hand, “Sir?”Professor Snape sighed, “What is it, Mr. Potter?”“There’s someth-” Harry cut off as his name and the rest filled out. “-ing wrong.” He finished.Severus looked at the young man before getting up from his desk to see what had the young man so quiet. He walked over to the desk and snatched the parchment up, skimming it quickly.
‘Fleamont Potter (b. 1920, d. 1979) + Euphemia Potter nee Black (b. 1921, d. 1979) = Jameson Henry Potter (b. 1960, d. )
Tobias Snape (b. 1929, d. 1975) + Eileen Snape nee Prince (b. 1931, d. 1977) = Severus Tobias Prince-Snape (b. 1960, d. ) / Hermosa Eileen Prince-Snape (b. 1965, d. )
Jameson Henry Potter (b. 1960, d. ) + Severus Tobias Prince-Snape (b. 1960, d. ) = Heraldus Severus Potter-Prince (b. 1980, d. )
Hermosa Eileen Prince-Snape (b. 1965, d. ) + Ivan Paskal Krum (b. 1958, d. 1983) = Ladon Aleksander Prince-Krum (b. 1983, d. )’
“Jamie.” Severus breathed, his masks dropping for a moment before they snapped into place again. “Potter, my office now.”Harry blinked before nodding. He gathered his things together before disappearing through the door into his – Father’s? – office just as Hermione spoke from where she was partnered with Tracy Davis.“Sir, I have a problem.” She pointed to the parchment in front of her.Severus’ eyebrows furrowed before he spoke, “How many of you have questions about your parchments?”Most of the Gryffindors raised their hands and a few of the Slytherins as well. “Alright, let’s see what’s going on. Miss Granger, you first.”Hermione grabbed her parchment and came up to the front, handing it to the man.
‘Abraxas Malfoy (b. 1937, d. ) + Melodina Malfoy nee Bourdeau (b. 1942, d. 1985) = Lucius Abraxas Malfoy (b. 1954, d. ) / Aurelius Cygnus Malfoy (b. 1960, d. )
Devin Evans (b. 1934, d. 1980) + Jessica Evans nee Cole (b. 1935, d. 1979) = Petunia Louise Dursley nee Evans (b. 1957, d. ) / Jean-Marie Helena Granger nee Evans (b. 1958, d. ) / Lillian Annette Evans (b. 1960, d. 1981)
Lucius Abraxas Malfoy (b. 1954, d. ) + Narcissa Eleanor Malfoy nee Black (b. 1955, d. ) = Draconis Lucius Malfoy (b. 1980, d. ) / Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy (b. 1983, d. )
Aurelius Cygnus Malfoy (b. 1960, d. ) + Lillian Annette Evans (b. 1960, d. 1981) = Hermione Calla Malfoy (b. 1979, d. )
Petunia Louise Dursley nee Evans (b. 1957, d. ) + Vernon Maxwell Dursley (b. 1955, d. ) = Dudley Paul Dursley (b. 1980, d. )’
“Mr. Malfoy if you please?” Severus requested, motioning for Hermione to stay where she was. He took the page that the blond handed him, nodding when he noted that the relevant information was the same. “Please join Mr. Potter in my office.”He handed each student back their paper and watched as they gathered their things before leaving the room as well. “Mr. Thomas, you’re next.”Dean Thomas rose from his workspace next to Millicent Bulstrode before stepping up to the Professor’s side. He handed over his parchment for the man to look over.
‘Cadeyrn Dearborn (b. 1924, d. 1968) + Adelaide Dearborn nee Prewett (b. 1926, d. 1978) = Cardoc Daevin Dearborn (b. 1962, d. )
Marshall Kingston (b. 1931, d. 1990) + Farah Kingston nee Johnston (b. 1928, d. ) = Diane Thomas nee Kingston (b. 1960, d. )
Caradoc Dearborn (b. 1962, d. ) + Diane Thomas nee Kingston (b. 1960, d. ) = Deanus Thomas-Dearborn (b. 1980, d. )
Caradoc Dearborn (b. 1962, d. ) + Eloise Creevey (b. 1963, d. 1985) = Colin Dearborn-Creevey (b. 1981, d. ) / Dennis Dearborn-Creevey (b. 1983, d. )
Diane Thomas nee Kingston (b. 1960, d. ) + Stephen Thomas (b. 1958, d. ) = Samantha Thomas (b. 1984, d. ) / Paul Thomas (b. 1986, d. ) / Peter Thomas (b. 1986, d. ) / Delphina Thomas (b. 1990, d. ) / Unknown (b. 1994, d. )’
“Hmm, Caradoc Dearborn. It seems like Muggle-born is no longer your blood status. Congratulations you’re a Half-Blood. And you have magical siblings.” Severus remarked. “If you show this to Professor McGonagall, she’ll help you break the news.”“Thank you, sir,” Dean replied, dipping his head before returning to his seat.“And finally Miss Jamison,” Severus remarked, motioning for the Slytherin to join him at the front. He silently took the page, looking over the information.
‘Thomas Riddle Sr. (b. 1905, d. 1943) + Merope Gaunt (b. 1907, d. 1926) = Thomas Marvolo Riddle Jr (b. 1926, d. 1982)
Dexter Gage (b. 1901, d. 1971) + Catherine Gage nee Hornthrope (b. 1903, d. 1972) = Marabella Rachel Gage (b. 1929, d. 1982)
Thomas Marvolo Riddle Jr (b. 1926, d. 1982) + Marabella Rachel Gage (b. 1929, d. 1982) = Alabaster Tara Riddle (b. 1980, d. )’
“We’ll talk. The rest of you may now leave for the day.” Severus snapped his robes and disappeared into his office with Alabaster behind him.“Some explanations are in order are they not?” Severus remarked as he removed his outer robe and hung it up on the hook by the door. A swift flick of his wand and another chair was changed from a glass paperweight to join the other three on the other side of his desk. “Everything you’re about to find out will change everything you already know. Most things that people told you are probably correct, but there are almost as many things that are not correct.”“I knew Lily Evans from childhood. We lived close together as my father was a muggle. I told her that she was a witch, and we learned together with my sister from my mother until in nineteen-seventy-one we went to Hogwarts in much the same way that the four of you have. Almost immediately we met the Marauders, a group of three purebloods and their half-blood friend, who we almost immediately fought with. Our story followed almost the same path that yours followed, Harry and Draco. We were enemies until our fifth year when Sirius Black played a malicious prank that would have gotten me killed if not for James Potter. With that close-death experience, our lives changed. James changed.“We didn’t start dating until almost the end of Fifth-year because first off we hated each other and second off, at that time being together with someone of your own gender was to be hidden away. It took Lily locking us in a closet for us to get together.” He smiled wistfully. “We couldn’t have it out, because there had been others that had been separated by Dumbledore and we knew it would be worse for us because of the house rivalry, so Lily agreed that she would help us hide.”Hermione shifted in her chair, studying the walls before looking at him, “Sir are you sure that we should be talking about this in here?”Severus nodded his head lightly. “It’s fine, the room is warded to keep all nosy eavesdroppers out, so we’ll have no problems. Now, shall I continue?” At the students’ nods, he continued with his story, “Lily and I had our ‘fight’ and it helped James and I hide away from prying eyes. We graduated and seemed to everyone else that we’d all gone our separate ways when in reality we hadn’t.“The Potters weren’t traditionally Dark until Charlus Potter’s son Marius was killed by Muggles during a riot in South Africa while he was studying with the African Shamans on Dumbledore’s suggestion. They darkened after that; Fleamont Potter had lost his nephew and James, his cousin. They hadn’t cared much that their father and grandfather was pro-muggle, they just wanted to hide away, so they joined the Death Eaters as unmarked members.“Now few Muggle-borns have ever acceded to the Dark Lord’s ranks, but Lily Evans and Ted Tonks did because they’d both seen the hatred and destruction that muggles bring and they knew what would happen to the wizarding community if we were to step out of the shadows once again.“That’s something that Dumbledore doesn’t understand. This is no longer the time of Merlin; this is a time of war and weapons too strong to fight with magic. We’d all be killed within a few weeks of our reveal. There’s no way that we’d survive past the first fortnight.“Now that I’ve gotten myself off track let us return to where we left off. James defected from the Light with his parents and where James went Sirius and Remus were to follow. By this point, we’d been dating for almost three years, and not many people knew.“Lucius and Narcissa hadn’t known until the Beltane after we graduated when they caught us doing things that should never be mentioned in mixed company, least of all around one’s children. To say that they were angry was a gross understatement. They were furious that we’d kept our relationship secret but after they’d calmed down they’d understood why we needed to hide.“Sirius, Remus, and Lily had known; Lily because she’d gotten us together and Remus and Sirius had found out in much the same way that Draco’s parents had, having caught us on James’ bed in the dormitory. Sirius’ brother Regulus and Rabastan Lestrange had known because after Lucius and Rudolphus Lestrange had left Hogwarts they were the only friends I’d had in Slytherin other than Aurelius. Frank and Alice Longbottom knew because Alice was Lily’s closest female friend and Frank her persistent boyfriend.“The Longbottoms had also joined the Dark side when Lily and James did. Alice refused to see her precious world destroyed, and Frank held no real feelings for Dumbledore.“In the earlier months of nineteen-seventy-nine, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter died of dragon pox and then several months later, James and Lily just disappeared. We didn’t hear from or about them for months until Frank brought back news that Lily and James were now living in the Potter home in Godric’s Hollow and according to Dumbledore had birthed a son, one Harry James Potter.“I was furious, and Aurelius consumed with grief at the thought that those we loved had abandoned us. What we hadn’t known and I have just figured out was that Dumbledore must have threatened them with either the deaths of their children or the deaths of Aurelius and myself.“Then on Halloween of nineteen-eighty-one, someone apparently either killed Lily and took James or caused Lily’s death and still took James, leaving Harry in the rubble. Looking at Miss Granger’s parchment, I can only assume that she was hidden away long enough for Lily to get her out of Godric’s Hollow to her sister Jean.“Now Miss Jamison is another story. She was born six weeks before Draco to Tom Riddle, the so-called Dark Lord, and his to-be wife, Marabella. Just before Halloween in nineteen-eighty-two, Tom was away on Ministry business, and he returned home to find the house destroyed, his fiancée dead and his daughter missing. That’s when he loses it a little, threatening to tear apart the world until she’s found. A week later he gets a package in the mail, and that’s the end of the Dark Lord.”Silence reigned for a moment before Hermione spoke, “I want to go to Gringotts and make sure.” She bit her lip lightly, looking between the boy who was her cousin and the man who’d explained why she’d always felt out of place. “Not that I don’t believe you or the potion sir, but I want to be absolutely certain that it’s true,” She added quickly at the affronted look on Draco’s face. “I’d hate to get our hopes up just to have this be some unfortunate accident.”“That’s quite alright. Tomorrow begins a Hogsmeade weekend, and it’s quite easy to get to Diagon Alley.” Severus replied, dipping his head lightly.Harry mumbled something, looking at his hands which were folded in his lap.“What was that, youngling?” Severus questioned, sitting forward to look at his son.“I don’t have permission to leave the castle,” Harry repeated, not daring to look at any of them.“Why not? Even I have permission!” Alabaster remarked, blinking at him. She had no parents, adopted or otherwise; the Jamison came from the Orphanage requiring a name for their records.“Let’s just say that Petunia Dursley is not the greatest person in the world,” Hermione replied, saving Harry the trouble. She knew all about how her uncle treated Harry, and she had a feeling that things were about to change for the Dursley family in more ways than one.“You- He-” Severus seemed to be at a loss for words before his eyes darkened and narrowed, “That foolish old goat.” He hissed. He’d certainly enjoy having a few choice words with the Headmaster as the Dark Lord tortured him for this offense.At Draco and Alabaster’s sharp looks, the Head of Slytherin took a breath and calmed himself before speaking again, “It’s fine, youngling. It won’t be hard to get Professor McGonagall to allow you out.”“Thank you, sir,” Harry replied quietly, fiddling with a loose thread on his robes.“Alright, I think it’s time for you to return to your common rooms or the library until dinner. I have business in several places that I must now attend to with this influx of new information.” Severus dismissed them lightly, smiling at them.“Goodbye, sir.” They chimed quietly before filing out of the room.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It wasn’t hard to get Minerva to cover for him taking Harry out of the school, so the next morning at ten-thirty, Severus wandered down to Hogsmeade to find his charges. Their appointment with Gringotts was at 11 o’clock, so they had to get going if they were to make it on time.“Ah, Draco, Miss Alabaster, ready to go? Our appointment is in twenty minutes.” Severus remarked upon finding his godson and Alabaster sitting on a bench in Hogsmeade. The two young Slytherins were dressed impeccably in cleanly pressed robes of a similar shade of poison green with dark gray cloaks pulled over top.“Yes, sir. The others agreed to meet us by the Shrieking Shack.” Draco replied, rising and brushing snow from his cloak. He settled a light gray hat more comfortably on his head and pulled the mittens on his hands tighter before rising to join his godfather.Alabaster stood, brushing snow from her borrowed cloak. She tugged a warm green and silver hat over her ears, pulling on the matching mittens more tightly. “We weren’t sure if they would make it on time, but they walked passed us about ten minutes ago with some hot cider.”Severus nodded, humming softly in agreement. “Shall we then?” He remarked, lightly tapping his fingers against his thigh. He flicked his robes lightly as he spun away to walk off to the supposedly ‘haunted’ building.The two Gryffindors were sitting on some transfigured stools near the shack, talking quietly between the two of them. They raised their heads up at the crunch of footsteps drawing near, smiles blooming on their faces at the approaching figures.“Good morning sir.” Hermione greeted, rising from her place and brushing off her cloak and righting her hat back over her untameable hair. She rewrapped her scarf around her neck before she brushed Harry’s shoulders down and resettled his hat over his hair.“‘Mione,” Harry complained quietly before looking to his father. “Good morning.”“Good morning.” Severus greeted in return, digging through the pockets of his cloak for the portkey that had been sent through that morning at breakfast. He pulled out the slim band of leather before holding it out. “Everyone hold on to the portkey. For the three of you who most likely haven’t used portkeys, they’re phrase-activated transportation devices used for those without Floo access or Apparition ability.” He watched and waited for the young adults to grab on before he spoke the activation key, “Portus.”The feeling of being squashed and pulled flowed through the group before a moment later they landed just outside of Gringotts in Diagon Alley.“Perfect timing, Severus.” A voice remarked from behind the group and the man spun around huffing at the man behind them.“Father.” Draco greeted in surprise, his masks falling into place at the number of people.“Draconis.” Lucius Malfoy greeted in reply, settling a hand on the teen’s shoulder. “Shall we? Madame Bones and Lady Greengrass are to meet us inside.” He told Severus before he led the group into the bank.The goblins didn't look fazed at the sight of four students being in the bank during the school year. One of the tellers dropped down from his station and moved to greet the group.“Lord Malfoy, Lord Prince, Griphook and Rodkit are already waiting for you with Madame Bones and Lady Greengrass. If you’d follow me, I shall take you.” The goblin spun on his feet, turning and head back behind the desks and down a hallway.The group wandered after him, the students studying the different mosaics that covered the walls of the halls as they headed down to an office. The teller knocked on the door, waiting for a moment for a response before pushing the doors open for the group to enter.Two middle age women sat before a desk where two goblins were seated. Middle aged however was a relative term in a world where the population could live several hundred years before Hades would take them.Madame Bones shared the same dark brown hair that Susan Bones, a third year Hufflepuff, did as the student was her niece while Lady Greengrass shared the same honey blonde hair that her granddaughters Daphne and Abigail, third and second year Slytherins respectively, did.“Good morning Amelia, Anastasia.” Severus greeted as he sat down next to Lady Greengrass with Harry next to him. He settled into his seat as the two women responded in kind.The two girls followed after dropping down next to Harry with Draco and then Lucius following.The Potions Master spoke again once he'd settled into his chair, “Good morning Griphook. To you as well, Rodkit. Thank you for meeting us on such short notice.”“You’re much welcome, Lord Prince. Now you weren't exactly specific what you wanted in your firecall last night, so what is it that you wanted from our Great Bank?” Griphook questioned, folding his hands on the desktop.“We need Heritage Tests, Inheritance Tests, Magic and Medical tests as well as Bloodline Tests for the four students. I'm most likely going to need a Magic and Medical test as well. Cleansings are probably required for all five of us.” Severus replied sheepishly, not having told any of the three other adults his suspicions about what be going on within Hogwarts’ walls.Griphook nodded, opening drawers and pulling out different pieces of parchment. “Which of you shall we start with?” He studied the four students carefully, watching them as they tried to decide who would go first.Hermione studied the others for a moment before she spoke, “I’ll go first. No harm, no foul.”Griphook held out the first of what was to be many parchments. “Heritage first. Just a smear of blood is needed.” He instructed, looking at her carefully before handing over a small penknife.Hermione nodded her thanks before cutting a small wound on her thumb with a small hiss. She smeared the welled up blood over the parchment before watching as the same spindly writing from the potion yesterday spread out over the parchment.
‘Current Name: Hermione Jean Granger
Birth Name: Hermione Calla Malfoy
Blood Status: Pureblood
Mother: Lillian Annette Evans (Half-blood) - Deceased
Father: Aurelius Cygnus Malfoy (Pureblood) - Living
Grandparent Status: 3 Magical, 1 Muggle. 1 Living Magical Grandparent.
Godparents: Jean-Marie Granger (Living - Squib), James Potter (Missing - Pureblood), Severus Snape (Living - Pureblood), Alice Longbottom (Living - Half-Blood)'
“That proves it,” Hermione whispered, a grin blooming on her face before she turned to face her cousin and uncle, both gave her the closest to a grin that they could while in public.“Shall we continue with the same for the next or shall Miss. Malfoy continue?” Griphook asked.“I’d just like to continue,” Hermione remarked, biting at her cuticles lightly.Lucius tsked at her, reaching over his son and Alabaster to lightly tap her hands away from her mouth. “Not in any way for a pureblood to act,” He remarked.Hermione blinked before nodding, “Yes, Uncle.”“Inheritance test next, correct?” Lucius questioned, looking at the goblins.“You would be correct, Lord Malfoy,” Griphook responded, handing out the next page. “A drop of blood is all that's required.”Hermione nodded, pricking her thumb lightly. She allowed the blood to gather before dropping onto the page. She watched with interest, wondering what this new test would show.
{Insert Inheritance Test Here}
“Woah.” Hermione murmured in shock as she looked at the page. “That is a lot of stuff that I’ve inherited.”“Quite right, Hermione,” Alabaster remarked, studying the paper carefully. “I think this makes you one of the wealthiest members of the Wizarding World.”Hermione blinked at her before nodding in agreement. She was most definitely one of the richest members of the Wizarding World.“Magical Test next,” Griphook remarked, handing over another parchment. “Just needs a drop of blood.”Hermione sighed and used what little blood was left on her thumb to press on the page. “Do all the rest need blood?” She questioned as the words began to spread across the page.“The Bloodline test is the only remaining test that needs blood. The medical test requires goblin magic only, and Rodkit will be performing the test. However, to get a full history and understanding, blood is needed for a Lineage test to see where anything may have come from.” Griphook replied, looking over at the parchment.
{Insert Magical Test Here}
Hermione gasped at the list of things she could and would have if not for her mother and their illustrious Headmaster. She understood her mother’s reasoning but not the Headmaster’s. “Why would he do that?” She asked quietly, looking at the page and tracing her fingers over the words lightly.“I’m sure that can be explained by hindsight, but we won’t get into the ideas now,” Severus replied, studying the parchment carefully. “Bloodline test to be done next.” He watched out of the corner of his eye as Amelia wrote something down on a piece of parchmentHermione allowed the final drop of blood to land on the parchment handed over by Griphook as Rodkit began to study the other pages, making notes on a separate piece of parchment.The same spindly writing appeared on the page, noting down where everything she’d gained came from.
{Insert Bloodline Test Here}
“We're just going to move onto the next as the Medical Tests can all be completed at the same time,” Griphook remarked, looking between the three remaining students.“I’ll go next. Ladies first.” Alabaster remarked, grinning at Draco and Harry before holding her hand out for the penknife. She grasped it confidently when Hermione handed it over before slicing her thumb to allow blood to flow. She dragged her thumb over the parchments, waiting for the words to appear.
‘Current Name: Alabaster Tara Jamison
Birth Name: Alabaster Tara Riddle
Blood Status: Pureblood
Mother: Marabella Gage (Pureblood) - Deceased
Father: Thomas Marvolo Riddle Jr. (Half-blood) – Partially Deceased
Grandparent Status: 3 magical, 1 Muggle. No living Grandparents.
Godparents: Jasper Nott III (Living - Pureblood), Marianna Hewett (Living - Pureblood), Zora Lestrange (Deceased - Pureblood), Silas Malfoy (Living - Pureblood).'
“That was to be expected…” Alabaster murmured as she studied the page.She had heard many times from her Housemates that the Dark Lord was, at least to his close Marked followers, openly a Half-blood. He was clear with his close Marked what he wanted from the world and what he was trying to do.“How did Zora die though?” She questioned, turning to look the adults in the room.“Zora Lestrange was one of the greatest Potions Mistresses in history and the best at experimentation. One of her experiments helped me to create the Wolfsbane Potion.” Severus answered, shifting in his chair. “It was during one of her experiments that a mistake was made by an assistant which killed both her and the assistant when the potion exploded.”Alabaster nodded and turned to the next page. The next piece of parchment was just finishing as they turned to look at it. The words clear and concise in the same spindly writing as before.
{Insert Inheritance Test Here}
“Dragon’s Peak?” Alabaster questioned, tilting her head lightly.“It’s a small cottage on the hills near the water on the Irish coast. It’s called Dragon’s Peak because it overlooks a crag where a clan of Hebridean Blacks once roosted.” Griphook replied, lightly tapping the page.Alabaster nodded before she turned back to the parchments, studying the remaining pages carefully.
{Insert Magical Test Here}
She immediately looked at the next parchment, wondering who she got each of her abilities from. She knew some were from her father and others her mother but who exactly would be a wonderful surprise.
{Insert Bloodline Test Here}
“What does resistance mean?” Hermione questioned, having read up on some of the creatures that were possible inheritances but not their specific powers or Magics.“If I may?” Draco remarked, looking at the goblins for a moment for permission. Getting it, he continued, “It means that if it wasn’t blocked, Basta wouldn’t be affected by most potions, compulsions or spells that may negatively affect her.”“Correct, Heir Malfoy, however, there are several more things that Resistance does,” Rodkit remarked, not looking up from his writing. “It gives an unyielding natural Occulmency, keeps the three Dark Curses from taking full effect and allows for the bearer of the gift to resist most poisons as well. Though sometimes the Resistance is skewed into affecting the bearer in new undocumented ways.”“Now, which of our young Heirs are going to go first?” Griphook questioned as he settled two stacks of parchment on his desk.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Harry and Draco looked at each other for a moment before Draco spoke, “I’ll go first.” He held out his hand for the knife which Alabaster gladly passed over. He took the parchments from Griphook, spreading them out over the desk. He sliced a thin line along the ball of his palm, watching the blood pool for a moment before he twisted his hand to the side and let the blood drip down onto the parchments.The same spindly letters that had appeared on the other pages appeared on his pages in the same way. Draco bit the inside of his lip before looking at the pages.
‘Current Name: Draco Lucius Malfoy
Birth Name: Draconis Lucius Abraxas Malfoy
Blood Status: Pureblood
Mother: Narcissa Eleanor Malfoy nee Black (Pureblood) – Living
Father: Lucius Abraxas Malfoy (Pureblood) – Living
Grandparent Status: 4 Magical. 1 Living Magical Grandparent.
Godparents: James Potter (Missing - Pureblood), Lillian Evans (Deceased - Half-Blood), Regulus Black (Living - Pureblood), Estelle Greengrass (Living - Pureblood)’
“I didn’t know Mother’s middle name was Eleanor.” Draco commented as he studied the page.“Eleanor was Druella’s sister and when she died, Druella named her daughter after her.” Lucius replied, gently righting Draco’s hair back from his face.Draco nodded, storing the information away for later before he turned to look at the next parchment.
{Insert Inheritance Test Here}
“I own houses?” Draco questioned, studying the end of the parchment. “Why do I own houses now?”“Maison de Lac is one of the old French houses that was used by our Ancestors to teach the Heirs about self-sufficiency. The Heir would be sent to live in this house by themselves for a summer so they could learn to do things for themselves in the event that all the House-Elves died or they lost all the money and had to move out of the manor.” Lucius told him. “We were planning to wait until this summer for you to attempt that. However, the plans seem to be changing. Now Snowdrop House was a gift from your grandfather as it is a Malfoy tradition to give each child their own home, so at birth a house is either found or built and put under the child’s name so that they have somewhere to live no matter what. Little Deer Hall was an engagement present from your mother’s parents when we married and seeing as we don’t need it; the house was transferred to you.”Draco nodded, wondering what his younger brother, Scorpius, had gotten from their parents. He turned his attention to the next page.
{Insert Magical Test Here}
“What a dick.” Alabaster muttered as she stared at the page. The purebloods in the room turned confused eyes on her as Severus coughed to hide his laughter and both Hermione and Harry snickered quietly. The goblins just shook their heads before shifting the next page to the front.
{Insert Bloodline Test Here}
“So I get everything from you both.” Draco remarked, blond hair falling into his face as he studied the parchment. He drew his fingers over the words, pleasure spiking in him at the idea of getting many things from his parents.Lucius chuckled quietly and drew his fingers through his son’s hair, pulling it back from the teen’s face. He tapped Draco’s wrist to move the teen’s hand away so he could gather the parchments and hand them over to Rodkit. He rested a hand on Draco’s shoulder, wrapping his arm around his son’s shoulders.With Rodkit taking the parchments, all eyes turned to Harry where he was sitting between Severus and Hermione. He took a deep breath before picking up the blade from the desktop where Draco had set it down. He waited – trying to calm his racing his heart – as Griphook spread new parchments out onto the table top.Harry carefully cut across the flesh of his palm, letting the blood well before dripping it down over the parchments to get his information. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before he opened them again and turned to the first parchment.
‘Current Name: Harry James Potter
Birth Name: Heraldus Severus Potter-Prince
Blood Status: Pureblood
Mother: Jameson Henry Potter (Pureblood) – Missing
Father: Severus Thomas Prince (Pureblood) – Living
Grandparent Status: Biological – 3 Magical, 1 Muggle. Blood & Magic – 4 Magical. 2 living Grandparents.
Godparents: Sirius Black III (Living – Pureblood), Narcissa Malfoy (Living – Pureblood), Hermosa Prince (Living – Pureblood), Francis Longbottom (Living – Pureblood)’
“I’m a Pureblood?” Harry questioned, eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the page. “What does it mean by biological, and blood and magic?”“I was originally a Half-blood like Lily as my mother Eileen Prince had married muggle Tobias Snape.” Severus replied, explaining some of their family heritage to his son. “However, after my mother died, I was sent to live with my grandfather as my father had already died years before. My grandfather was fine with our blood heritage until he found out what our father had done, then he offered to have both myself and my sister blood-adopted to remove his blood from our line. We agreed and we were blood-adopted out.”“So who are my living grandparents then?” Harry asked, looking at him with wide emerald eyes. He didn’t seem to realize what the page said farther down.“My grandfather Cyprianus Prince and Alabaster’s father, Tom Riddle.” Severus answered, motioning to Alabaster with one hand while he dug through his robe pockets with the other for the picture folder that he usually carried. He found it, pulling the folder out and flipping through the pages of waving pictures before finding the one he wanted. He held the book out so that Harry could see, point to a picture of two older men, a teenage version of himself and a girl who looked remarkably like all three. “Cyprianus is the one on the left with the dark eyes and Tom is the one on the right with the blue eyes.” At their names, the two men waved, leaning into each other comfortably.Harry smiled, studying the four people in the picture – his aunt, his father and his grandfathers. He wondered why he didn’t look much like any of them.With those thoughts in mind, he turned to the next parchment. The words on the page drew a surprised gasp from Harry.
{Insert Inheritance Test Here.}
“That’s almost double what everyone else has?!” Harry exclaimed, looking at the page in shock which drew a chuckle from Lucius.“Well, young Prince, you are the Heir-son to two Ancient and Noble Houses, one Ancient and Loyal House, one Exalted House, one Ancient and Honest House, and one Ancient and Brave House.” Griphook responded, motioning to the page where it listed his Titles.“I have a question.” Amelia Bones spoke for the first time since they’d started.“Yes, Madame Bones?” Griphook responded turning to look at the Auror.“Why is it that young Mr. Potter is the Heir to the Flamel Line? To my knowledge, neither Perenelle nor Nicholas have any family remaining.” She responded.A sheepish look overtook the teen at her question. “I can answer that.” He replied, biting his lip as he looked at his father out of the corner of his eye.“Please, go ahead then.”“In nineteen-ninety-one it came to the attention of myself, Hermione and Ronald Weasley that there was something going on in the school. Later in the year we discovered that the Philosopher’s Stone was being kept within the castle. When we found out, I owled Mr. Flamel to tell him what had happened. We began talking back and forth and he started teaching me things about different Magics and helping me with any questions I had.“When I found the stone, I hid it away and sent it back to the Flamels. Nicholas and Perenelle decided that since they had no Heirs of their own blood that I would do just as well. Last year they decided that they’d lived long enough and decided to destroy the stone at the end of this school year.”The eyes of all the adults and the Goblins hardened, Draco and Alabaster stared at him in shock, and Hermione kept her gaze on her lap as he spoke. The quills in the room started rapidly writing as he finished and all was quiet.Severus cleared his throat, locking gazes with his son, “We will be speaking of this later but for now we will continue.” Harry simply nodded at his words before turning back to the parchments.
{Insert Magical Test Here}
“Carrier?” Harry questioned, studying the list carefully.“Only certain wizards have the gene that allows them to carry children without external aids. James had the gene, so we were planning on children later on. I’ll explain to you later how exactly this all works.” Severus replied, flushing slightly as the subject still made him slightly uncomfortable.Lucius smirked at him over the teens and Severus glared at his friend, cursing him with his eyes. He knew that Lucius had begun to explain all this to Draco but he’d often suspected that the conversation had been cut off at some point and as Draco’s Head of House he would be the one who’d now have to explain the rest.Harry nodded simply, turning back to the remaining parchment on the table. He wondered who he’d inherited what from.
{Insert Bloodline Test Here}
“Good grief.” Hermione murmured as she looked at the page. “I have a question… How is Harry both Heir Gryffindor and Heir Slytherin through James?”“I can answer that.” Anastasia spoke up. She was easily the oldest of the Wizard-Folk sitting in the room, and with that seniority came more knowledge and more research. “I’m sure that you’ve all heard of the Founders, yes?” She continued at the slow nods of the others gathered, “Well, according to accounts, after the fight between the four Salazar left for almost a decade, and in that time, Rowena and Helga got married and had children while Godric had an unfortunate encounter with a woman that ended with him as the sole guardian of twin sons.“No one knows exactly what happened to Salazar during that time but he returned with a son and daughter. Now, Godric and Salazar had been in love for years, but had done nothing about it. However, their new attainments pushed them together more often which spiraled into them finally getting married. After about two years of marriage, the two had a son, followed a year later by a daughter. I can only assume that James is a descendent of their son Salric and not their daughter Giselle.”“You would be correct, Lady Greengrass,” Griphook responded, surprised at how knowledgeable the Witch was about the Old Ones. “Salric Gryffindor-Slytherin married Harrison Potter in one-one-hundred at the same time as his half-sister Selene Slytherin married Cadmus Peverell the third, Cadmus Peverell’s twice-great-grandson.”The clock out in the lobby chimed at that moment, signaling that it was now noon. Severus looked to the doors at the noise before commenting, “That took much longer than I expected.”“We’ll call for lunch, and dine here.” Griphook remarked before standing from his chair and moving to a door just behind his desk.“Medical tests will be completed after dining and we’ll try to answer any questions you might have.” Rodkit remarked, speaking for the first time since they’d all entered the room.“Thank you.” Severus replied, drawing his fingers lightly through Harry’s hair when the teen leaned against his side quietly. A feeling of dread had come over him as the thought of what could be hidden within their bodies flashed through his mind. He could only hope that what they found next wouldn’t be too bad.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Lunch passed quietly, everyone lost in thought at what had already been revealed by the few tests that had already been done. Severus couldn’t keep his eyes off his son, wondering after just about everything surrounding his child’s life so far, after all he’d missed thirteen years already with his son.
With lunch finished, the dishes were removed and the room shimmered slightly as it changed with a snap of Rodkit’s fingers. “We’ll need to go to a Purging room depending on what we find, and you may have to spend a few hours in the time-lapse infirmary to deal with everything.”
Severus nodded shortly, “I’ll go first. As the oldest and most used to the process, it would be best if I went before the children to show them what happens.” Severus often came to Gringotts during the summer to have purges because of the different ingredients he used throughout the year that may affect him later on if they were left untreated.
Rodkit nodded, setting a small ornate bronze bowl onto the small table next to his body and beside the examination table that had appeared. He also pulled several more rolls of parchment from the filing cabinet near the desk in the corner of the room.
Severus pricked his finger with a quick spell and allowed three drops to fall into the bowl as Rodkit murmured spells under his breath. He held still for the goblin, watching as the tests were done.
From the bowl sprouted a golden family tree, names appearing from thin air.
‘Cyprianus Tomas Prince + Janelle Elene Selwyn = Eileen Dela Prince
Daisy Mari Mason + Jason Marcus Snape = Tobias Cole Snape
Eileen Dela Prince + Tobias Cole Snape = Severus Tobias Prince-Snape
Severus Tobias Prince-Snape + Jameson Henry Potter = Heraldus Severus Potter-Prince
’
He watched as the parchment that was detailing what was going on inside his body grew and grew. He knew that the parchment was going through everything that had happened in his thirty-three years of life. He couldn’t help but notice the look on the goblin’s face as the parchment began to stop growing.
“The last time you came in for a purging?” Rodkit questioned, staring at the finished parchment.
Severus’ eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the goblin. “I came in on August twelfth for my last purging. What’s on that parchment that worries you?”
Silently the goblin handed the parchment over to the man, letting him study it.
‘Name: Severus Thomas Prince
Magical Level: 110 (Bronze) – 20% Blocked, 10% Leeched
Injuries/Illnesses:
·
Age 6 months – Colic
·
Age 9 months – Common Cold
·
Age 3 years – Concussion
·
Age 6 years – Broken leg
·
Age 9 years – Broken arm
·
Age 10 years – Various Injuries
·
Age 11 years – Multiple cuts
·
Age 12 years – Various Injuries
·
Age 13 years – Various Injuries
·
Age 14 years – Various injuries
·
Age 15 years – Broken nose, concussion
·
Age 16 years – Multiple cuts
·
Age 17 years – Multiple Cuts
·
Age 21 years – Broken arm
·
Age 24 years – Broken nose
·
Age 25 years – Sprained Wrist
·
Age 31 years – Burns, Dog bite
·
Age 32 years – Multiple Cuts
·
Age 33 years – Multiple Cuts
Potions, Spells, and Bindings:
·
Potions
o
Loyalty – To Dumbledore (45% Broken)
§
Administered by Albus Dumbledore
o
Compulsion – Listen to Dumbledore (45% Broken)
§
Administered by Albus Dumbledore
o
Veritaserum
§
Administered by Lucius Malfoy
o
Nutrient – Level 2
§
Administered by Jozy, Prince House-Elf
o
Hangover – Level 1
§
Administered by Severus Snape
o
Pepper Up – Level 2
§
Administered by Severus Snape
o
Dreamless Sleep – Level 1
§
Administered by Severus Snape
·
Spells
o
Loyalty – To Dumbledore (50% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Compulsion – Listen to Albus Dumbledore, Keyword Lily Potter (75% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Truth
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
§
Performed by Poppy Pomfrey
o
Obliviate (30% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Hate – Towards Harry Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter, Children (60% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Anger – Towards Harry Potter, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Gryffindor (40% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Disregard – Abuse of Harry Potter and other Gryffindors (40% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Monitoring – Of Health
§
Performed by Cyprianus Prince
o
Tracking
§
Performed by Cyprianus Prince
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore (80% Broken)
·
Bindings
o
Creature Inheritance – Dark Fae
§
Performed by Cyprianus Prince
o
Looks – True Looks
§
Performed by Eileen Prince
o
Magical Core
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Leech – Goes to Albus Dumbledore
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Unbreakable Vow – Towards Harry Potter
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Fidelity Vow – Thomas Riddle Jr. and the Dark Sect
§
Performed by Thomas Riddle Jr.’
“That bastard.” Severus hissed, handing the parchment to Lucius when the older man held his hand out for it. He dug his fingers into his hair, biting his lip to keep angry words and screaming in. He took a deep breath before looking at the Goblins, “A Purge will definitely be needed.”
“We can do it now.” Griphook replied, “We’ll give you a moment as we still have to get the Healers ready for the Purging. Excuse me.”
Severus nodded before heading over to where Harry stood. He gently brushed the stray strands of hair away from the teen’s face before speaking, “I’ll be back, sweet song. Don’t you worry. The Purge shouldn’t hurt much if you do end up needing one. I’ll be there when you’re done.”
Harry nodded curling his fingers gently around Severus’ thin wrist. He took a deep breath before letting go and stepping up to take his turn as Severus followed Griphook out of the room. He took the needle Rodkit held out and bled into the newly refilled bowl, watching in interest as his closest family tree appeared.
‘Eileen Dela Prince + Tobias Cole Snape = Severus Thomas Prince
Euphemia Colette Blishwick + Fleamont Henrik Potter = Jameson Henry Potter
Jameson Henry Potter + Severus Thomas Prince = Heraldus Severus Potter-Prince’
He sighed quietly and turned to watch as his parchment grew and grew. He didn’t want to look at it, so when it was finished he just immediately handed it over to Lucius, not wanting to know. He moved to stand by the door his father had exited out of, already knowing that he would need to be Purged of magics foreign.
Lucius took a deep breath, watching as Draco went next before turning to Harry’s parchment.
‘Name: Heraldus Severus Prince-Potter
Magical Level: 145 (Gold) – 30% Blocked, 5% Leeched
Injuries/Illnesses:
·
Age 6 months – Common Cold
·
Age 10 months – Allergic Reaction to Spineberry Pollen
·
Age 15 months – Slight exposure
·
Age 2 years – Minor Bruising
·
Age 3 years – Minor Burns, Bruising
·
Age 4 years – Severe Burns, Bruising, Cuts
·
Age 5 years – Severe Bruising, Temporary Loss of Sight, Malnourishment
·
Age 6 years – Severe Bruising, Broken Arm, Temporary Loss of Sight, Malnourishment
·
Age 7 years – Severe Bruising, Sprained Ankle, Temporary Loss of Sight, Malnourishment
·
Age 8 years – Severe Bruising, Sprained Wrist, Temporary Loss of Sight, Malnourishment
·
Age 9 years – Severe Bruising, broken fingers, Malnourishment
·
Age 10 years – Minor Bruising, sprained fingers, Malnourishment
·
Age 11 years – Minor Bruising, Concussion, Slight Malnourishment, Scar Pain
·
Age 12 years – Minor bruising, Basilisk Bite, Pheonix Healing, Slight Malnourishment, Scar Pain
·
Age 13 years – Minor Bruising, Dementor exposure, slight malnourishment
Potions, Spells, & Bindings:
·
Potions
o
Loyalty – To Albus Dumbledore, Ronald Weasley, Molly Weasley (40% Broken)
§
Administered by Albus Dumbledore
o
Hate – Severus Snape, Slytherins, Tom Riddle (50% Broken)
§
Administered by Albus Dumbledore
o
Compulsion – Listen to Ronald Weasley, Albus Dumbledore (40% Broken)
§
Administered by Albus Dumbledore
o
Forgetfulness (40% Broken)
§
Administered by Albus Dumbledore
o
Dreamless Sleep – Level 1
§
Administered by Poppy Pomfrey
o
Cheering – Level 1
§
Administered by Remus Lupin
o
Binding – Magical Abilities, Empathy, Self-Control
§
Administered by Lily Evans (50% Broken)
§
Administered by Albus Dumbledore (30% Broken)
o
Control – Listen to Dumbledore’s Orders (40% Broken)
§
Administered by Dumbledore
o
Love – Towards Ginerva Weasley (95% Broken)
§
Administered by Albus Dumbledore
§
Administered by Molly Weasley
o
Nutrient – Level 1
§
Administered by Hogwarts House-Elves
o
Concealment – Looks, Magical Level
§
Administered by Lily Evans
o
Veritaserum
§
Administered by Albus Dumbledore
·
Spells
o
Loyalty – To Albus Dumbledore (30% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Compulsion – Listen to Albus Dumbledore, Keyword Parents (40% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Hate – Severus Snape, Slytherins, Tom Riddle, Sirius Black (50% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Obliviate (40% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Truth
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Disregard – Own Wellbeing, Safety, Authority (30% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Healing – Levels 3, 6, & 9
§
Performed by Poppy Pomfrey
o
Control (40% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Manipulation – Listen to Ronald Weasley (30% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Monitoring – Health, Life
§
Performed by Poppy Pomfrey
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Tracking (60% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
·
Bindings
o
Creature Inheritance – Dark Fae, Kitsune, Veela
§
Performed by Lily Evans
o
Looks
§
Performed by Lily Evans
o
Magical Level – 30%
§
Performed by Lily Evans (95% Broken)
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore (60% Broken)
o
Leech – 5%
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore
o
Learning – 60%
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore (60% Broken)
o
Memory – 60%
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore (45% Broken)
o
Connection – To Hogwarts
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore (10% Broken)
o
Magical Abilities
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore (30% Broken)
o
Bonding – To Others
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore (35% Broken)
o
Familial Tie Bond – Heraldus Potter-Prince to Thomas Riddle Jr.
§
Performed by Albus Dumbledore’
Lucius couldn’t believe the amount of magics in the boy. He was only thirteen and already he had more things gone wrong and more magics in him than most adults. Lucius wasn’t sure if he could handle the number of things that would be in the others and he didn’t know if he’d be able to stomach what would be within his own child.
The two parchments in Lucius’ hand already showed the evil that was running wild within Hogwarts. He knew he should have listened to Narcissa and sent Draco to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons instead of their traditional Hogwarts. There was nothing that could be done now though, Draco would need to continue at Hogwarts so they could have a spy in Slytherin and someone to protect Alabaster.
The other children went and their parchments were mostly the same, there were a few differences between the four of them but they were mostly the same. Draco was the only one without his looks and his creature bound away. Hermione was the only one with her connection to Hogwarts intact more than thirty percent. Alabaster was the only one with less hate charms and potions in her. There were so few differences that Lucius could only wonder what was in the rest of the school.
Watching as the teens were led out, Lucius could only wonder how they’d failed their children so much by allowing Dumbledore to reign free. Suspicions had been raised multiple times by members of the Dark Sect on how seemingly easy it had been for Dumbledore to take out Gellert Grindelwald and those suspicions returned to Lucius’ mind as he handed over the parchments to Madam Bones and Lady Greengrass.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Meanwhile, as the children were being tested, Severus had been led away to another room where three other goblins, one of them female – as proven by her Fae-like appearance though she was still the same size as her male counterparts – stood waiting for him next to a stone altar.
“Master Prince.” The female greeted, her voice musical rather than the harsh grating sounds of the males he usually dealt with. “There are a few differences about this Purging rather than the others we usually do. We will be taking a sample of your hair now and a clean blood sample to make you a medallion which will project your current looks to those who don’t know about your true looks and will keep you from being affected by Dumbledore’s magics and potions again that can only be removed by your hand once it has been donned. We will also be taking a sample of your blood now to keep on file for when we have enough evidence to take Dumbledore to trial.”
“Alright.” Severus agreed readily, settling down next to the goblin so she could take her samples. After she finished, he prepared for the Purging by removing his clothes until he was just in his pants before laying down on the altar. He shivered slightly at the temperature of the stone before relaxing to allow the goblins to work.
The goblins moved to stand around the altar at equal points marked by runic symbols for the different roles needed for this type of purging. With a simultaneous raise of their hands they began to chant, the normally harsh sounding Kobold – the proper name for the goblin language rather than the offensive wizarding term of gobbledygook – taking on a more musical tone.
As the magic crested Severus lost consciousness. When the magic fully dissipated the female pulled a vial from her pocket before carefully pricking Severus’ arm to collect the blood sample she’d need. With her new sample she took the others from her companions and with a squeeze of her hands around the items, they transformed from their vials and into a smooth black ring of stone. With the stone formed she pulled a length of black dragonhide from her pocket before tying the leather around the stone and pressing the formed amulet into Severus’ hand.
With a motion of her hand, the three goblins exited the room and left Severus to wake on his own. It only took a few minutes after they left before Severus groaned and shifted around on the still warm stone. He stretched out carefully before getting up from the altar and getting redressed, mentally preparing himself to see his true looks for the first time in forever.
After having fixed his now ill-fitting robes and clothes in the places where they no longer fit – his shoulders, his chest, and the length of his sleeves and the legs of his trousers – and putting the amulet into his pocket for the moment, he took a deep breath before calling out to the room, “A mirror if you please?”
After a moment a full length silver mirror appeared before him and he got to finally look his fill. In place of the straight dark oily hair that he was used to there was now silver-gray hair that curled slightly into waves and appeared clean. Where practically black eyes had once looked out at him now sat two different colored eyes, the left the black he was used to that now had a flare of ice blue at the pupil and the right a dark green with his usual black as a spot on the lower left side of his eye. His skin was no long pale and gaunt but now healthy and tanned like it should have been after all the time he’d spent out in the sun gathering ingredients and dealing with his gardens. His nose had lost the obvious hook to it but there was still a bit of a hook to it. He’d gained a few inches in height but other than those changes nothing else changed in him but the mass of his muscles and his height.
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes before turning his attention inwards. His core pulsed in gold and black surrounded by dark forest green flames. Flaring his magic for a moment, watching the flames flare for a moment before he turned his attention back out.
His ears had changed, the tips now pointed and an inch longer than they would be if he hid the changes. With a yawn his teeth were revealed to show the sharp shark teeth that had taken his regular teeth’s place. Spirals and whirls marked his skin along the visible places of his face, neck, and hands. His hair lengthened, coming to rest about the middle of his back rather than just the peaks of his shoulders. He knew that there would be dark markings along his back as well where his wings were hidden under his skin.
With a calm sigh, Severus straightened his clothes again before heading to the door of the room, intent on returning to the meeting room and seeing his son. He stopped in front of the door, waiting for the door to open. The door opened and he happily followed after the goblin who stood behind it to lead him away.
He was the first to return to Griphook’s office, the children and supposedly Lucius as well having been led out for their own Purges while the two women who’d joined them stepped out to converse privately on what they’d both heard and seen. While he waited, he settled down into one of the chairs and pulled out his amulet, turning it this way and that to study the runes carved into the stone.
The door Severus had entered through which headed into the back halls of the Bank opened again to permit Lucius back into the room. The younger man looked up from his amulet to study the other man.
Lucius hadn’t changed much in the looks department, though his skin seemed to glow slightly. His eyes flared silver again for the first time in almost twenty years and his hair had lengthened by a few inches. His magic on the other hand had changed dramatically; the usually oppressive feeling of heaviness had been replaced with an airier feeling of protective darkness. An amulet of pale silver colored shell hung from the older man’s fingers as he dropped down into the seat next to Severus gracefully.
“You look much better.” The blond remarked as he took in the changes in his friend. “Much healthier. Narcissa will be happy.”
Severus snorted at him and nudged his friend lightly before turning to the door as it opened once again, admitting all four children as well as their goblin escorts. The two goblins entered first with the children, who were quietly conversing, coming in behind them.
Draco like his father hadn’t changed much. The only visible difference in him was the color of his eyes – they’d changed from a light gray-blue color to a silver that matched that of his father’s. He looked much healthier than before, his pale skin gaining some color so that more of his veins were hidden away behind natural skin rather than glamours. A small white stone hung on a thin chain dangled from his fingers as he used his other hand to gesture about something he was speaking about with Hermione, or at least the girl they suspected was Hermione as she was partially hidden behind Draco as they entered the room.
Once they’d lined up in front of the adults – Anastasia and Amelia having returned while the children were coming in – it was quite obvious which of the girls was who and how much the three other children had changed.
Alabaster – who had looked like quite the Plain Jane beforehand with brown hair and brown eyes – had changed so much that unless you knew who you were looking at you would have had no idea who she was, the same went for Hermione and Harry. Her hair had taken on a slight curl – something her mother would have been envious of as her own hair had been curlier than the woman had been able to handle – while it’s color had changed from the boring brown it had been to a black that when the light hit it right had a red tint. The brown eyes she’d once been owner of had changed to the dark blue that her father shared. Her skin had remained the flawless cream color that she’d been named for. Other than the visible changes to her features that made them those that her parents had, no other changes were obvious to the adults who’d known her beforehand.
Almost everything about Hermione had changed, from the top of her head down to the way she held herself, the girl had changed to point where again, unless you knew who you were looking at you’d have no idea who she was. The bushy, almost wild, brown hair had changed to match the smooth fine hair of those born into the Malfoy family while a slight curl to the end kept it more feminine. The majority of her hair was now a pale red that matched the color that Lily’s had been when she was Hermione’s age, but the underside of her hair was the same startling blond that all born Malfoys share. Her eyes which had been brown before were now a light shade of metallic green. She’d paled slightly but still had more color to her skin than any born Malfoy would.
Harry was the one who’d changed the most. In place of the James carbon-copy that he’d been glamoured to look like now stood a young man who looked like the perfect mix of both of them. Gone was the pale gaunt child which had seemed out of place considering James’ middle eastern descent and in his place stood a tanned and seemingly much happier child than the one who’d left. His hair was still as dark as the night sky but less of a bird’s nest than before, something Harry seemed to be thankful for as he kept running his fingers through it. The jade green eyes he’d had before his Purge were now replaced with dark forest green orbs that appeared to have a ring of black around the outer edge. The few freckles Harry had on his nose seemed to have multiplied and spread across the skin under his eyes and over his cheekbones. The fact that he wasn’t wearing his glasses spoke hugely about how much magic was being used to both heal and try to fight off the glamours that he’d been wearing.
The magic of all four children had also changed. Severus was cursing himself internally for not noticing but their magic and the magic of seemingly every other student in the school seemed muted or dulled against the magical onslaught he was getting from them now. Their magics seemed to be much wilder and more free now, though each magic hadn’t settled into a certain feel yet.
“Come here Harry. Let me see you.” Severus whispered, holding out a hand to his son.
Harry shifted on his feet for a moment before stepping out of the line and moving to the man. He stopped just in front of him and stayed still to let Severus look his fill.
Severus shifted in his seat to get closer to him. A slightly shaking hand reached up to brush back Harry’s fringe and an almost hysterical laugh left the man when he saw that the so-called Miracle Mark had changed. Instead of being a lightning bolt it was now a simple line going from his hairline and through his eyebrow, stopping before it reached his eye.
“It changed.” He whispered to the boy when Harry looked at him critically. “The mark is different. It’s not a lightning bolt now. It’s just a line now.”
“Really?” The unadulterated hope in Harry’s voice cut everyone in the room to the core. Hermione knew that Harry was so hopeful because he hated the uniqueness of the shape of the mark.
“Really.” He looked to the goblins who quite happily handed over a small mirror so that the boy could look himself.
Harry could only stare at his reflection; the scar was gone! Well, changed but not gone. “Thank Merlin and Morgana.” He breathed, eyes slipping closed as he dropped his arms to his sides.
Severus laughed and dragged him into his arms, hugging his son close to his chest. Harry clutched at his clothes, taking deep breathes to calm himself down as he registered that he no longer had the mark that had ruined his life. It was gone.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“The easiest place to start for explanations is the titles that each of you holds.” Griphook began once everyone had settled down, spreading out the pages that listed their titles along the front of the desk. “Going in order by the age of magic and length of time in Britain if there is any conflict.”
“Which means starting with the Flamel family history,” Severus remarked, wrapping his arms around Harry’s shoulders and tugging the boy into his lap.
“Correct. Nicholas Flamel is the forty-seventh Lord of the Flamel line, thirteenth Earl of Drakon Nest, and the first Master of the Philosopher’s Stone. He and his wife Perenelle have been Head of their family for the past six-hundred-and-thirty years. They have been the last of their family since 1908 when their youngest great-nephew died in the earthquake of the Strait of Messina. Most of the family had been wiped out in two previous earthquakes – Basilicata in 1857, and Calabria in 1783. Nicholas and Perenelle just happened to be out of the country at the times of all Earthquakes which is how they survived. They moved to Britain in the early thirties and settled into a small country home. They’ve been there since then.
“The Flamel family has had magic since the early periods of Italian life. The very first Flamel was a creation of Lady Magic’s that she'd sent to Earth. His spouse was another of Magic’s Avatars whose lineage leads down to the current Lady Zabini and her son.”
“Blaise is a Flamel relative?!” Draco interrupted. He flushed under the scolding look from his father but looked at the goblins for an answer.
Griphook chuckled quietly before answering, “The last Flamel that married into the Zabini line was Marcelina Flamel in eighteen-ninety-seven. She is the young Heir’s twice-great-grandmother. He gets the Italian chapter of the Flamel Lordship as well as most of their properties and the other ten vaults not listed on young Heir Prince’s parchment.”
“The German Chapter of the Flamel line is going to Heir Viktor Krum because his thrice-great-grandfather was a Flamel,” Rodkit added, going through some of the other parchments on his desk.
“The next oldest line is the Peverell line. Initially, the Peverell line split between King Arthur’s four sons with Merlin. You are all aware of the history of Merlin and Arthur correct?” Griphook paused to get answers, frowning when only the adults and Draco replied in affirmatives. He blinked before tapping a nail on the desktop, “I often forget that the Mundane World version of the Arthurian legends is much different from the magical version. Rodkit, you studied their history most, so this is up to you.”
“It begins with the creation of Merlin,” Rodkit began. “Lady Magic, who was in her prime then, often created Avatars – beings made solely of magic – and unleashed them amongst the world to bring in new blood and new magic. Merlin was one of the last Avatars that Lady Magic created. He had stayed in her care until his sixteenth year when she released him to the care of Ygraine Pendragon who was a direct descendant of Lady Magic.
“By that time, her daughter Morgana was twenty-one, and her son Arthur was eighteen, and had just taken the throne a year before.
“Merlin fit in well with the family and stayed for two years before he left to live with Ygraine’s brother Yansin and learn from him. He had stayed for four years before he got the news. Sad news that Ygraine was dying. Good news that Arthur had fathered a daughter with his arranged marriage wife Guinevere that they’d named Gwendolyn, that he was to be named Godfather of the girl, and that they needed him to look over the marriage contract between the two of them so that they could separate now that they’d filled the requirements.
“Merlin rushed back to Camelot to see about healing Ygraine and helping Arthur with everything he could. Ygraine had simply contracted a virus from her visits to the markets, and it cleared up after the administration of a potion. Merlin broke the marriage for them with no consequences and Guinevere married Lancelot while Arthur settled in to raise his daughter.
“Five years later, Merlin and Arthur married. Merlin, as a being of magic, could have bear children as a woman could and had four sons.
“Gwendolyn was given the central lands of Camelot while the four sons – Percian, Hadrian, Calean, and Lorsin – got a quarter each of the other territories.
“The lands were passed down for generations – the family charter having to be changed to allow for Ladies and not just Lords after several years of just daughters – until they were melded back together in nine-fifty-nine when a rash of Dragon Pox killed several lines of Peverells.
“In ten-ninety the Brothers Three were born – Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignatius – and the line split again.”
“The brothers from the Tales of Beedle the Bard?” Alabaster asked, tipping her head to the side.
“The very same,” Rodkit answered before continuing, “Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignatius met Lady Death by accident when they came to a river that often killed those trying to cross. Smartly, they used their magic and created a bridge to cross, so being bested Lady Death granted them each a boon.
“Antioch asked for an unbeatable wand which eventually got him killed after a night’s drunken rambling. Cadmus requested a stone to call back the dead, but it didn’t really call them back which eventually lead to Cadmus taking his life. Ignatius, on the other hand, didn’t care to be unbeatable or stuck in the past, so he asked for something that would hide him from Death’s view, so he received a portion of Lady Death’s Cloak which made him invisible until he was old and gray and ready to go. He greeted her as an old friend and left the cloak to his son, who left it to his son, and so on.
“Antioch had a daughter, Alexandrine Grindelwald. No men had been born into the Grindelwald line until Gellert Grindelwald who is Miss Malfoy’s twice-great-grandfather on her mother’s side. Cadmus had two sons and two daughters, whose lines, after marrying into both Slytherin and Ravenclaw, unfortunately consistently intermarried until only three were left – the only female Merope Gaunt married muggle Thomas Riddle and had Thomas Riddle Junior, Miss Riddle’s father. Ignatius had three sons – one of which died young – who married girls of Gryffindor and Slytherin heritage whose lines eventually married into the Potter and Black lines which led to young Heir Prince.”
“If my memory serves… Gryffindor is next,” Lucius remarked, tapping his cane against the ground lightly.
“Correct, Lord Malfoy.” Griphook shifted through the drawers of his desk for something as he spoke. “Gryffindor is noted to have begun with this man –” He pulled a small framed photo of a young man with red and blonde hair from the drawer and set it up on the desk. “Gris Mitchelson was one of the first Mundane-born recorded. His father was a blacksmith in the village of Camelot’s walls, and when it was discovered that he had magic, his father disowned him and left him in the hands of the Queen – Arthur’s great-granddaughter Elizabeth.
“She didn’t have magic, but her siblings did and after calling her brother – Lord William of Griffin’s Door – Gris was adopted into William’s family. He wasn’t supposed to inherit, but after the deaths of the older brothers, he was the only one left to take the title.
“Godric – his thrice-great-grandson – was the first to use Gryffindor, after the opening of Hogwarts. Godric had begun shortening his title name when he started his knight training at the age of thirteen and met Salazar Slytherin after he saved the younger boy from being bitten by some of the camp dogs.
“He married Truly Hunsborne, who gave him twin sons before perishing while giving birth to a daughter. Both died, leaving Godric to raise his sons – Ælfric and Ælfweard – with the help of Rowena, Helga and their husbands. Both boys got the title of Lord Gryffindor after the death of their father in eleven-fifty.
“He and Salazar set up a small title for their Gryffindor-Slytherin children which stopped being used as a main title after both Salric and Giselle married into other families. Salric married into the Potter line, and Giselle into the Lionhearte line which eventually became the Dearborn line, which as I understand it has three new Heirs.”
“That is true; the three supposed Mundane-borns Dean Thomas, and brothers Colin and Dennis Creevey were found to be the sons of the lost Caradoc Dearborn, who is suspected to be an amnesiac Carden Creevey,” Severus added, petting lightly at Harry’s loose hair.
“We’ll have to get Mr. Creevey in to check, but that can wait,” Rodkit remarked and tapped the desktop. “We’ll also have to see about getting the Dearborn Heirs in for inheritance tests.”
“We’ll try talking to them,” Hermione promised, sharing a look with Harry.
“That’s all we ask,” The goblins replied before Griphook began again, “The Slytherin line stems from the Royal Naga line of India. After the death of their parents, Salazar and his brother Sahak moved to live with other relatives that had moved to Britain.
“Salazar spent a lot of time wandering, which is how he ended up in the Knights’ camp around the hunting dogs. They could smell the snake on him which is why they attacked, but Gryffindors even those only blood-adopted into the family have always had the smell of griffins which are larger and more dominant predators than most, so Godric easily drove the dogs away.
“Godric talked his Lord-Knight into taking Salazar on as well, and they spent the next decade learning together before they met Rowena and Helga and came up with the idea for Hogwarts.
“They ran the school fine for years before they argued about how Mundane-born children should be brought to the school – the Ladies wanted their families to send them, Salazar wanted magical children removed from magicless homes, and Godric recognized that both ideas had merits and faults – and Salazar left to visit family in India.
“He stayed for a decade, during which he met a young Naga girl named Tanis and had his son Stephanis and his daughter Selene before she migrated away further inland. He returned to Hogwarts and eventually married Godric, and they had their children.
“Stephanis got the titles, which passed down the mainline until they ended up in the hands of the last Gaunts and Thomas Riddle Junior. Selene got a smaller title which eventually gave way to a now extant in the male line Lestrange family.”
“The Ravenclaw family,” Rodkit started, looking over his list. “Originated from the German coast and moved to Britain in the early eight-hundreds when Rowena’s grandparents moved to get away from a revolt against the magicless Lords that could get them caught in the crossfire.
“Rowena was studying under the tutelage of one of the best Healers in the country which is how she met Godric and Salazar. As her first solo case, she was left to deal with an injured Godric who’d gotten into a fight with another squire as their final weapons test.
“Godric won but still required medical attention, and their Lord-Knight left Salazar in charge of making sure that he got what he needed which is how Rowena ended up meeting them both. Dealing with them stuck with Rowena, so much so that she eventually became a Battle Healer for the legion of Knights that Godric and Salazar belonged. She got her British title as a reward from the King for bravery and going above and beyond the call of her duties.
“After they opened Hogwarts – which came after Helga joined the legion as another Battle Healer – Rowena married a cousin of Salazar’s, Juneer, and they had three daughters. Helena, the oldest who died in her early twenties; Cassandra, who passed along the Ravenclaw title to her daughter Lena; and Harmonia, the youngest who returned to Germany and settled down with a Crup breeder.
“The Ravenclaw line eventually became the Evans line which unfortunately ended up as a Squib line before the birth of Lady Evans and Miss Malfoy.”
“How does the Hufflepuff line fit in?” Alabaster questioned, her interest peaked.
“Madame Bones?” Griphook looked to the Auror as she finished writing.
“The Hufflepuff line began in Wales with Helga’s great-grandfather who was a son of the Welsh Royal line that wanted to separate from the power of the title. He wanted to make something of himself without it coming from the fact that he was a Prince, hence the name change. He became well known for his Herbology ability which was a magical ability passed down through his line.
“Helga was sent to Scotland to train as a Healer under the tutelage of a friend of her father’s which is how she met Rowena who was the student of the man’s sister. Helga was three years younger than the others, though, which is why she joined the Legion later.
“She married Michael Kingston and had three children – two daughters and a son. The two titles of the Hufflepuff line passed through her daughters – Elizabeth and Acacia – while the Kingston line passed through her son Shaun.
“Elizabeth’s line eventually became the Bones line – hence the reason that I’m the current Lady Hufflepuff. Acacia’s line eventually became the Smith line which is why Jeremiah Smith is the current Regent until his daughter Salina is of age.”
“The Prince and Potter lines have had magic for the same length of time – six hundred and fifty years, but the Prince line has been in Britain for a hundred years more. The Prince line comes from the forests of Germany where the largest colony of Dark Fae had settled.
“Æthelthryth Prince was the first of the Prince line in Britain. She was sent to Britain to bring new blood into the Dark Fae colony of the Forbidden Forest, which at that time way about five times the size it is now.
“Unfortunately, she was attacked on her way and ended up pregnant with a son that she named Micah. He carried on the line in Britain by having twin boys. The younger son’s line died out about a hundred years ago when a blood feud got out of hand and killed the line.”
“The Prince Family Charter requires that for the next in line to take the Lordship they must have an heir, which is why I’m still the Heir and Grandfather is the Lord,” Severus added, tapping lightly on Harry’s shoulder. “That’s remedied now that Harry is known to be a Prince but Grandfather will most likely keep the title until he’s much older. He’s only seventy-five after all, which for a wizard of good health – which he is – is still middle age.”
Harry – he should get used to Heraldus or at least something similar – nodded, tipping his head to the side. He wondered what his great-grandfather was like as a person. Was he stern like his father? Or more gentle? Was he loud or quiet? Did he like reading or something else? All these questions he hoped to answer.
“The Potter family – as their name suggests – began as simple potters in several of the middle eastern countries and some parts of upper Africa before they moved to Britain. Since moving here, they’ve opened dozens of businesses – some that have failed – and created hundreds of spells, potions, and enchantments; like the Hair Slick Potion, Moving Photo Developer, and Long Lasting Jaw Crackers.
“The Potter Family’s defining hair comes from the union of Archimedes Potter and Nisa Arakida, a Lightning Kitsune. Fleamont Potter, Heraldus’ grandfather, created the Sleakeazy’s Hair Potion to combat that.
“James, however, followed in his own grandfather’s footsteps. Henry Potter was initially an Auror before his injury forced him to focus solely on his political career. Those of us here at Gringott’s haven’t seen Lord Potter since the early months of nineteen-seventy-nine when he came to set up a Daughter of the House of Potter Vault for Miss Malfoy as the Potter family was Lady Evans’ magical sponsor until her majority – which for witches is twenty-one.”
“What’s the difference between Majority and coming of age?” Heraldus questioned, tipping his head.
“Majority is when a young magical is considered out of their parents’ control,” Anastasia replied, tugging her cloak tighter as a draft went down her spine. “Coming of age is when the Ministry and school authorities no longer have total control.”
“Ah, so when do each happen?” Heraldus turned to look at her, shifting in his seat.
“For young men, majority is eighteen and coming of age is seventeen. For young ladies, majority is twenty-one and coming of age is eighteen.”
“That sounds horrible,” Alabaster quipped. “Why is it like that?”
“Originally it was to protect young witches and female magicals from muggles and men,” was Amelia’s simple answer. “Now it’s just tradition.”
Before Hermione could open her mouth to ask any questions, Severus cut her off, “We’ll talk more once we return to the school.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The Malfoy family is one of the youngest pureblood families in Britain; they were originally vassals of the French Monarchy – both magical and mundane – but after the beginning of the French Revolution, they left France and moved to the coast of the English Channel on the British side.” Griphook shifted around in his chair before looking at a small clock on the wall which read 13:24.
Severus bit his lip; they needed to be back by 3 pm if they wanted to avoid anyone unsavory finding out that they’d left Hogsmeade. This shouldn't take too much longer, though, he thought, settling back in his chair and tugging Harry closer to his chest.
“After their beachfront home burnt down in a lightning storm in eighteen-twenty that destroyed several homes in their village, they bought and built the current Wiltshire home.
“The Male title came with the move to Britain, but the female title was returned to use in eighteen hundred when Augustus Malfoy had six daughters and no son to pass the title on to. He brought it back so that the family seats could be passed on directly to the next generation rather than needing a proxy or to wait for a proper Heir.”
“We hadn’t thought that it would be used again since Messalina and her sisters – the reason for the return – were last girls born to the main line. At least, until Hermione was born anyways,” Lucius added, straightening his robes carefully.
“The Gage family is the youngest pureblood family in Britain. They received their title after Armand Gage saved the life of Minister of Magic Faris Spavin who was about to be assassinated by an angry centaur in eighteen-ninety. He was awarded an Order of Merlin First Class which eventually led to a title.
“Armand Gage was Marabella’s grandfather, making Alabaster both a first-generation and fifth-generation titled pureblood.”
“Interesting.” Alabaster murmured, tipping her head to the side quietly.
A knock at the door disturbed the silence that had come over the room, and Griphook called out a greeting to whoever was on the other side. The door opened, and two more goblins entered.
The first to enter was visibly older than all three of the other goblins with deep wrinkles and thin framed glasses perched on his nose. The other was younger with fewer wrinkles and a smoothness to the rest of his skin that the other three didn't have.
“Ironclaw, Bloodrod, how can we help you?” Griphook questioned, shuffling through his parchments and carefully stuffing them into a folder.
“We have some things that need to be discussed.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“It won’t take too long,” The younger goblin piped up, nervously tugging at the hem of his waistcoat. “But these are important things that need to be discussed.”Griphook simply nodded before touching another rune on his desk which drew two chairs into existence from the stone.“What things need to be discussed?” Severus questioned, tugging Heraldus around in his lap until they were both more comfortable.“Heir Prince, there are several matters that must be discussed that affect much of Wizarding World,” The elder goblin – whose nametag labelled him as Ironclaw – began.“We’ll start with Heir Potter.” Bloodrod pulled a small notebook from the pocket of his waistcoat. “There are three things that we’ve found in our audit since August of nineteen-ninety-one that are of issue. Firstly, Albus ‘Too Many Names’ Dumbledore has been removing fake versions of items from Heir Potter’s vaults, such as: several Legacy wands, dozens of books, the Sword of Gryffindor, and dozens of other family heirlooms. Secondly, Dumbledore attempted to file a bonding contract between Heir Potter and Miss Ginevra Weasley but as Heir Prince is living and outside of Dumbledore’s control it is considered invalid and will need negating at some point. And finally, Dumbledore attempted to force the last Potter accounts manager, Kinglaw to extort funds from the family vaults.”“Attempted?” Severus questioned.“It’s bank policy to document the situation, remove a set number of galleons based on the vault’s size, then remove the remaining amount from the Nation’s funds and write it as all having been removed from the vault in question,” Griphook explained, eyebrows pulled together as he looked between the two newcomers.“How much did Dumbledore want?” Lucius question, his barrister mind working overtime as he began making a case in his head.“He wanted a thousand galleons from Heir Potter’s vaults a month since November of nineteen-eighty-one. We only removed one hundred from the vault and everything else was paid for by the Nation,” Ironclaw responded.“Great Merlin, that’s a hundred-and-forty-five thousand galleons!” Hermione exclaimed, being the first to figure out the amount.“Which is seven-hundred-and-twenty-five thousand pounds,” Alabaster added dryly.Heraldus balked at the numbers, knowing that if he hadn’t already distrusted the Headmaster that would have set it off. He wondered where in Merlin’s name the money was going and that was answered with Madam Bones’ next question.“Does the Nation know where the money was going?”“According to the Dumbledore family account manager – who hates Albus just as much as the rest of us and greatly prefers his younger brother Aberforth – notes that two hundred galleons were going to a Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, another two hundred to Molly Weasley – which was split between herself and her son Ronald, one-fifty to fifty, and the rest into his own pocket.” Ironclaw flipped a page in his notebook as he listed things off.“They lied,” Heraldus whispered, fists clenching in his lap as he began to shake.“Who lied, sweet song?” Severus questioned, dragging his fingers through Heraldus’ hair soothingly.“The Dursleys. They said they never got anything for taking me in,” Heraldus whispered into Severus’ chest, pressing himself as close to his father as possible.Severus choked slightly and hugged him closer as the boy shivered. “Don’t worry, kit, you won’t be going back for long.” He rubbed his cheek gently against the top of Heraldus’ head and whispered into his hair, “Or at all if I can help it.”“Thank you, Papa,” Heraldus whispered into his chest, curling close to him. He shuddered for a while more, curled against Severus’ chest as the others conversed.“Heiress Malfoy has a few problems. There are only a few things missing from the Ravenclaw vaults – Lady Rowena’s diadem, a family grimoire, and a small sapphire pendent. The rest of Miss Malfoy’s vaults have been locked since the last Lady or Lord used them, so they were only cleaned up with the audit,” Bloodrod commented, flipping through his own notebook.“Heiress Riddle is missing the Slytherin lockets, several dozen parseltongue books, and the Peverell ring. The rest of the vaults are only accessible by her father, her blood family, and a distant cousin who is currently living in the British Virgin Islands.” Ironclaw flipped through a few pages of his notebook, “The only ones with access are Tom Riddle Junior, Severus Prince-Snape, Heraldus Potter-Prince, Hermosa Prince-Snape, Ladon Prince-Krum, and Carsi Thompson.”“As of now, and until your father is presented to us, Carsi Thompson and Severus Prince-Snape are your guardians.” Griphook noted this down in the file for Alabaster. “We’ll be notifying Carsi, who is supposed to be returning to Britain anyways.”“One quick question,” Alabaster entreated. “Why Carsi? I mean, if she’s living in the British Virgin Islands wouldn’t it be better to get someone else?”“Wizarding Law dictates that siblings cannot take custody of children without outside influence. Hence the reason that Carsi was chosen rather than Hermie,” Lucius explained, hands motioning in his excitement.“That sounds stupid,” Hermione mentioned, tapping her fingers on the arms of her chair.The adults all made noises of agreement. They thought the law was stupid too but there had been no reason to get it changed.“Heir Malfoy had no problems with his vaults. We only have to inform you of a strange music box that appeared on Mr. Malfoy’s birthday,” Bloodrod concluded.“Why is this only coming up now?” Lucius questioned, pushing back stray strands of hair from his face.“Following Gringott’s policy, we removed the item and took it to a cursebreaker to check it over. Unfortunately, with the audit, we’ve had an influx of items that need to be checked over, so it was backlogged and only checked over last month and since then we’ve been very busy with sending out letters that I’m assuming that no one has had the time to send out the notice yet,” Ironclaw explained, snapping his notebook closed and putting it back in his pocket.Draco looked at his father and Lucius combed through his hair gently, “Yule break.” Draco nodded at that response and settled back in his chair.Ironclaw shifted in his chair, “That’s everything. Is there anything else that you need?”“For our peace of mind, I would entreat you to remove Heir Medallions from the main family vaults,” Lucius answered, gently tapping his cane against the floor. “And with the permission of both Heir Potter and Heiress Riddle, I would like to see the property ledgers for their accounts to make sure everything is in order.”“Of course, Lord Malfoy.” Griphook ran a claw along another set of the runes and turned to the door to wait.A knock at the door and with a quick word, another goblin had been admitted and handed a list from Griphook. He bowed quickly before moving and leaving the room.“Rageteeth will be quick and then that should be everything and you may leave.” Rodkit handed over two leather ledgers with the Potter and Slytherin crests embossed on the covers after nods from Alabaster and Severus.It only took a few minutes before another knock on the door signaled the arrival of someone else. The door opened and the goblin from before entered with four small boxes set on a tray. He settled the tray on the desk before bowing and leaving the room.Each of the boxes had a different crest embossed on them; the first two had the Malfoy crest – though there was a small difference in crest animals on the box, the third had the Prince crest, and the final had the Slytherin crest.Griphook handed out the boxes and explained, “To save the trouble, I’ll explain what they do. The medallions are portkeys to the family Holds as well as draws – which means whoever the medallion is tied to will be drawn to the medallion if there is any need.”Severus popped the Prince box open and gingerly pulled out the small silver fox pendant. It was weighty and hung on a thick strap of dark brown leather. He gently pulled it over Heraldus’ head and settled it around his neck, pulling him close.“Thank you all very much for this. We are very grateful for your help and explanations,” Severus told the four goblins, dipping his head.“You are very much welcome, Heir Prince. We are very happy to help regain lost families.” The goblins gave him their versions of smiles as he rose and set Heraldus on his feet.Severus kept an arm around Heraldus’ shoulders as he bowed before he gently led them all out of the room.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Severus nodded to the two women as they said their goodbyes and headed away farther down the alley. He kept Heraldus close as he led the group to the Leaky Cauldron so they could Floo back to the Three Broomsticks. Once they reached the fireplace, Severus turned to look at Lucius.
“I will see you next week, Lucius, for our usual meeting. I would like to go over what you’ve found in Heraldus’ portfolio,” Severus told him, after putting up a privacy ward.
“I’ll try to get Aurelius to come as well. However, I’m not sure how he will take this news,” Lucius replied, head tipping to the side slightly as he thought.
“Will he be angry?” Hermione questioned, staring up at her uncle.
“Not at you. He will be angry with Dumbledore and himself and the world, but never you.” Lucius squeezed her shoulders lightly, knowing that Severus’ privacy ward would hide the motion from prying eyes.
Hermione nodded her head slowly and leaned against him lightly. She couldn’t wait to meet her father, and she wondered if he would be much like her Uncle. She knew that there had to be some differences but she wondered what would make him different from all three of her Uncles.
After a long moment of silence, Severus gently ran his fingers through Heraldus’ hair before he drew the boy close to his side. “We should be heading back,” He murmured into the silence of their bubble.
“Of course. I’ll see you next week Severus.” Lucius dipped his head to the man, and after the ward was drawn down he stepped up to the fireplace, threw in the powder, stepped in, and said in perfectly calm tone, “Malfoy Manor” before he disappeared in a puff of green flame and smoke.
Severus pulled the four students over to the fireplace. He pulled the small pot of powder down from the mantle before turning to the children, “I know that Draco has used the floo before but I’m not sure about the rest of you.”
“I have. It did not end well,” Heraldus answered, staring at the fireplace with a grimace on his face. “I ended up in Knockturn by accident.”
Severus chuckled quietly and patted Heraldus’ shoulder lightly. “Well then, you know what not to do.” Heraldus glared at him for a moment before nodding. “Alright, the floo address is The Three Broomsticks. We will meet tomorrow after dinner to go over everything and discuss any questions you have, so if you could prepare a list that would be best. I expect at least five questions from each of you. Now shall we?”
Draco went first, as the older boy used the floo constantly to go between his home and the homes of the other purebloods. He took a pinch of the powder, threw it into the flames, called out the proper address, and disappeared in a puff of green flame.
Severus motioned for Alabaster to go next. She followed Draco’s example and disappeared into green flame. Hermione went next at Severus’ cue and she disappeared as well.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Potter. Just go through.” Severus held the pot in front of Heraldus’ face and with a deep breath, Heraldus took some powder and stepped over to the fireplace. Severus watched him carefully, noting as he took a deep breath before throwing the powder in and disappearing after calling out the address correctly. He breathed a sigh of relief before following along after the children.
Upon stepping out of the fireplace in the Three Broomsticks, Heraldus threw his invisibility cloak around himself and headed out of the building, carefully walking around everyone in his way. He didn’t want to see anyone at the moment. Many thoughts were running through his head, but the most prominent one – why hadn’t anyone said anything about that last Potions class? Maybe there was some kind of secret-keeping spell put on the room or something but he wanted to know, especially since Ron hadn’t made any comments about his Father keeping them back after.
He kept quiet as he walked up the path to the castle. He had much to think about, and many questions to write down. He stepped behind a tree just on the grounds and pulled the cloak off, folding it up and shoving it back into his bag.
He wasn’t paying attention as he walked into the school and began to head for the common room, which is why he yelped in shock when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and dragged him into an empty classroom. He whirled around, hand going to his wand, once the arms released him and was about to pull his wand and start hexing when he noticed the red hair.
“Merlin, Gred, Forge, you scared the bejesus out of me,” Heraldus put his hand to his chest.
“Sorry Harry–”
“We had something–”
“To tell you,”
“Then we noticed the look–”
“On your face, and decided–”
“That you really need it now.”
“What do you have for me?” Heraldus questioned, looking up at them.
One of the twins dug through the kangaroo pocket of his sweater – the sweater that Heraldus knew had expanded pockets – for a moment before he pulled out a folded piece of parchment. Heraldus looked between the twins with furrowed brows.
“A spare bit of parchment?” He’d barely gotten the words out before Fred and George were crowding around him and holding the parchment in front of them.
“Not just a bit of parchment.”
“Watch. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” The twins touched their wands to the parchment and all three watched as ink spread over the page.
Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
With Special Aid from Messrs Noir, Quill, Cor and Lyx
And Embellishing by the Wondrous Madam Pyra
Are proud to present
THE MARAUDER’S MAP
“The Marauder’s Map? What does it do?” Heraldus touched lightly to the names on the page that had begun to disappear.
“It shows the castle–”
“And everyone in it–”
“At every moment.”
“Oh,” Heraldus stared down at the parchment as the twins pulled it open so that it was unfolded. He watched, giggling quietly as he noticed that there were three pairs of names overlapping in places where he knew there were alcoves in the upper floors.
“Ah, look–”
“There we… are?”
Heraldus looked to where Fred – the single thin scar over the first knuckle of his index finger gave him away – was pointing to a room on the first floor. Three sets of footprints, standing next to each other with the names Frederick Weasley, Georgicus Weasley, and Heraldus Prince above them, shifted around just below the pointing finger.
“Please don’t tell!” Heraldus squeaked, looking up at them pleadingly.
“Calm down, Hare.” George released the map and wrapped his arms around the panicking third year, drawing him into his chest. He rubbed Heraldus’ back lightly, looking up at his brother from where he was curled around the younger teen.
“We promise we won’t tell.” Fred added, before turning back to the map for long enough to say, “Mischief managed,” and watch as the map’s ink faded. He folded it up, and carefully tucked it into Heraldus’ bag next to the cloak. He wrapped his arms around both Heraldus and his brother, lightly dropping his head to Heraldus’ shoulder.
“Can you tell us what is going on?” George asked him, raising one hand to brush Heraldus’ fringe back from his face.
“Not yet,” Heraldus whispered, “I have to check with the others. But if I can I will.”
“That’s good enough for us,” Fred told him after he shared a look with George. “As long as you aren’t in any trouble we can wait.”
“I’m okay.” Heraldus lent closer to George, shuffling into his arms. He stayed in their arms for long enough to calm down, and some time to enjoy their touch before he pulled back and wiped at his wet face. “I need to think.”
“We know just–”
“The place then.”
“Up on the third floor–”
“Down by the forbidden corridor–”
“From two years ago, is a long–”
“Space of blank wall. There is actually a–”
“Hidden corridor full of rooms that only come–”
“To those who need them down there.”
“Maybe one of them will come to you.”
“All you have to do is–”
“Stop in front of the wall–”
“Find the tiny carving of the Hogwarts crest–”
“And rub your fingers over it to get the door.”
“Then you only have to pick a room.”
“Of course, if you–”
“Want to change anything,”
“Just ask, and Hogwarts–”
“Will do it.”
“Thanks guys.” Harry grinned up at the two of them before ducking from the room to follow their advice. He had a lot to think about, and a weekend of testing his new strength to go through. He wandered through the corridors until he got to the staircase that would take him up to the third floor and the corridors he needed. He knew that the area where the blank wall was, only had portraits of landscapes and animals, so no one who could go to the Headmaster and squeal on him for going down the Hidden corridor.
He held on tightly to the railing when the staircase began to move, watching as the stairs came to a stop just in front of where he needed to go. He ran his hand up the railing in thanks as he stepped up the last few steps to the landing and out to face the wall. It didn’t take long to find the carving – though it was carved in such a way that unless you knew what you were looking for, and where it was, you wouldn’t have been able to find it at all – on a stone about eyelevel for him.
He ran his fingers over the carving and watched in fascination as the carving began to glow faintly before a large wooden door appeared to his left. He stared at it for a second before reaching out and grasping the ornate dragon shaped doorknob. He pushed the door open just enough to permit him in before closing it behind him. He stared down the hall, taking in the assortment of wildly different doors before him.
There were square doors, arched doors, a round door, and one he could have sworn was shaped like an 8. Some doors were plain wood, some were painted, some metal, a few glass or crystal, and one that seemed to be either made of or covered in vines with bright colored flowers. Some were smooth and imageless but most were covered in nature motifs or patterns.
Heraldus looked down at his watch, noting that it was just after three, and that he had at least another four hours before he had to be down in the Great Hall for dinner, so he moved to the first of the doors on his right to begin exploring.
The first door was a square one made of a dark mahogany and was carved with a set of foxes, and as soon as he touched the door, words of amber light bloomed over the face of it, Enter at your own risk: Experimentation room of the Trixster Twins. From those words, he assumed this is where Fred and George did most of their work, and that this was the most possible place for The Incident to have occurred.
The Incident was a Potions experiment gone wrong that had left the scars that made it easy to tell the twins apart. During Easter break of first year, Heraldus had come across the bleeding twins while on one of his night-walks through the castle. While he helped bandage them up, he’d gotten the full story from them.
They’d been experimenting with making a new type of candy, and during the hardening process the new candy had basically exploded much like glass during a fire flashover. Fred had managed to cast a shield but not before the debris had cut up his hands and the inside of George’s arms with dozens of tiny deep scratches that had left the thin silver scars behind on them.
They did eventually figure out how to make the Silver Suckers but not until after another failed attempted and almost a month of hard work. He hadn’t told them but of all the candies that he had tasted since coming to the Wizarding World, those Silver Suckers were one of his favourites.
Heraldus bit his lip before carefully pushing the door open enough to peek into the room. The room was cut in two by a wall of glass, and each of the two rooms had its purpose. The back room was the potions/experimentation area, obvious by the simmering potions set up on one side of the room and the coloring of the stone of the other side. The front room was set up like a small library with several book shelves, puffy purple chairs and a high table with a series of stools around it. A small fountain bubbled in the corner across from the door, the shape constantly changing as he watched.
“So this is where they keep disappearing to…” He murmured to himself, watching the fountain for a minute longer before he pulled back and closed the door again.
He then began his explorations of the rest of the rooms, wondering what was in them. The room hidden by the arched oak door with forest engravings next to the twins’ experimentation room also had a warning that popped up when he touched the door; The crafting room of Georgicus Weasley. He wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted to look in, so after a moment of staring at the warning and the door he decided against actively looking in, he’d ask the twins about the rooms later. Especially since the next door – a thick arched pine door with a similar forest motif – showed up with a similar warning that simply replaced George’s name with Fred’s.
The next several doors hid rooms that appeared to have been classrooms or perhaps storage rooms based on the number of desks in them. The next few rooms were devoid of everything but the few stone tables that came up from the floors. The room hidden behind the vines wasn’t really a room at all, but a large garden with a forest behind it, and he had a feeling that while this room would be one of his favourite places to visit, this would not be the one he would be choosing for himself.
He had almost exhausted every available room before he found the one that he liked. One of the final doors he came to was a dark walnut arched door with a Celtic tree carved into the face of it. The room behind the door wasn’t much; it was simply an empty square room, and Heraldus got the impression that Hogwarts was waiting for instructions on how he wanted it.
He stepped inside, and stopped in the center of the room to spin and look around as he imagined how he wanted this room to look.
“Hogwarts?” The room rumbled a bit, and he grinned as he turned to look around the room again. “Shall we?” The room rumbled again and he set his satchel down at his feet. “Alright, let’s start over here.” He stepped up to the door first.
Politely he began giving the castle directions on what he wanted. The door was moved further into the corner of the room and given a slight nook to keep the door’s space. He had the room elongated by several feet and the shape of the room changed from a simple rectangle to one with several nooks for stairs, a small sitting area with a fireplace, and several spaces for a desk and chair.
With the first floor’s floor plan sorted out, he asked for a set of circular stairs and once those were in place in the nook across from the door, he headed up and stood at the top of the stairs to direct. Soon, a walkway six feet wide sprouted from the walls on the sides and back with a walkway three times that over the wall with the fireplace. Another, smaller fireplace opened just above the other one below, and a set of curved stone benches ground up out of the floor around it.
With the second floor finished as well as it could be without furniture, he asked for the stairs to go up and create another floor above the other two. This floor wasn’t anything fancy, just a simple square room that was split in half by a thick wall of glass.
He patted the wall lightly before speaking, “Don’t worry about furniture yet, Lady. I wish to try out my new abilities… However, if you could gather and sort all the unused furniture and materials into other rooms down this hallway, I’ll go through it for you.” Hogwarts rumbled at him and he smiled before bounding down the stairs to the first floor. He settled down cross-legged on the floor, pulling a pen and notebook – one of many that he’d nicked from Dudley’s throw-away piles which he used to keep his thoughts and write out his notes so he could actually read them – from his bag and after opening to a clean page, began writing out all his questions.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The next morning, with his breakfast finished, Severus approached the Gryffindor table and stood behind his son and Hermione, who were talking quietly with Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnegan, and Dean Dearborn-Thomas as Ronald Weasley was still asleep after several days of acting strangely.“Mister Potter, Miss Granger. We will convene in my classroom in thirty minutes. Be prepared to brew, as you’ve been tasked with helping Mister Malfoy and Miss Jamison replenish some of the Hospital Wing’s stores.” He snapped his robes as he turned and disappeared from the Great Hall.“What was that about?” Seamus questioned, watching the dour man leave.“Professor Snape offered to give us some extra tutoring in exchange that we help with restocking the Hospital Wing and his personal stores. Malfoy and Alabaster are going to be our ‘tutors’, but we’ll be supervised by the Professor,” Hermione answered, grabbing a chocolate muffin from the plate in front of her. “The reason that we’re the only groups is because he wants to see if this will even work. If the four of us – specifically Harry and Malfoy – can successfully get along for long enough to get through the first few lessons, he’s said that he’ll start giving out lab time for tutoring.”“That would be brilliant!” Neville remarked, a small grin passing over his face. “Maybe if I got a tutor I could be better at it.”“We’ll try to be civil enough that this can be made a school wide thing,” Heraldus assured him, reaching over the table to pat his hand soothingly. “But you’ll have to excuse us, we have to go get our things.” He stood up and after making sure that Hermione was finished and ready to leave, he led her up to the Gryffindor common room.“Oi! Harry, ‘Mione!” Ron crowed as they entered. He tilted his head as they headed to the stairs, “What are you two up to?”“Professor Snape is using us for an experiment. He wants to know if tutoring would be a good idea, if you must know,” Hermione replied, both of them pausing at the base of the stairs as she answered.Harry simply shrugged before they headed up, humming quietly as he realized that this would be the last year that they went up to their rooms rather than down.According to Hermione and her knowledge of Hogwarts: A History, the tower had once simply been the common room then up, but after a seventh year in the early 1400s died after falling down the stairs, the towers – Ravenclaw included – were all restructured and rearranged so there was less chance of that. Now, the common rooms were in the middle with four floors up – the first through third year dorms and the bathrooms on each side – and four down below the common room – the fourth through seventh year dorms.Harry hopped up the stairs and quickly grabbed his packed bag from off the top of his trunk. He quickly hopped back down and met Hermione at the portrait hole, waving to the twins who had come up from breakfast and were sat around one of the tables in the back corner of the room with Lee Jordan and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The twins waved back as he and Hermione exited the room.They walked in silence down to the Potions classroom, slipping in just after Draco and Alabaster did. Harry joined Draco at the front left desk while Hermione and Alabaster settled at the middle desk next to them. Severus came in from the door to his office and sat down at his desk.“Madam Pomphrey needs some healing and burn salves, so that is what you will be making while we have our discussions.” Severus swished his wand and the needed ingredients floated out of the storage cabinets and out onto the tables. “Now I know that you all have questions, so we will go in a picked and pass way. So, Miss Malfoy if you would be so kind.”“Why are the Majorities and coming of age times for witches and wizards so different?” Hermione began as she and Alabaster began the base for the healing salve.Severus folded his hands together, tucking his thumbs under his chin for a moment before he dropped them to rest against the desk. He sighed before speaking, “You are all over thirteen, so I will not censor myself for this conversation. The reason for the difference has to do with the Witch Hunts both here and in the Americas.*“You must understand that while very few Magicals were actually caught and even fewer killed or harmed, the fear that they would be next as well as the actions taken against the few that were caught, made the entire Magical World change.“The so-called witches once they were found would be interrogated by the Church and then left with certain members of the town until their executions. However, those members felt that they could do whatever they wanted with the women and men in their custody, so many were raped before they were killed. Some of those who took advantage were Squibs, so the Magical Governments changed the ages so that adult criminal charges could be placed against offenders since even Squibs must answer to the Magical governments.” He held up a hand to cut off both Alabaster and Hermione’s protests. “Before you say anything about women needing to be accountable as well or women not needing the protection, women are held accountable for any offenses against men that are made but there is a longer process of investigation. Making the age of majority eighteen and twenty-one gives parents freedom to take both legal and physical action in the face of their child being harmed by another. Majority here is mostly just tradition, but there are places where it is a protection.”*He watched the four children for a moment as they absorbed the information. “Does that answer your question sufficiently, Miss Malfoy?” He asked, leaning back in his chair.“Yes, sir, it does answer my question,” Hermione responded quietly, stirring the potion as she added the appropriate ingredients. She lightly tapped Alabaster’s wrist, passing the question asking to her.Alabaster chewed her lip as she counted out the aloe leaves they’d need before she decided on which question she would ask, “How did my parents meet?”Severus chuckled quietly at the thoughts that question brought up. After a good moment of snickering, he calmed down and answered the question, “Our father spent two years studying the Dark Arts under Herr Grindelwald and during that time, according to Grandfather it was like he’d been cursed. The first six months were fine, and then Father fell out a second story window after tripping on the carpet and broke his arm. That was how he met your mother, she was the interim receptionist and a nurse at the hospital where Herr Grindelwald took him to get it healed. After that it was a constant problem; he was always tripping over none existent things and hurting himself somehow. I think Grandfather’s final score was six broken noses, three broken arms, three broken legs, two broken ankles, five torn ligaments, one broken rib, and seven concussions. It took three broken noses, and two broken arms before Father asked Marabella out on a date.”Alabaster giggled quietly, careful in her stirring of their potion. The thought that her father, the Dark Lord, had been so clumsy was amusing. She gently tapped Hermione’s wrist in return, transferring the question line back the other way.Hermione stared at Severus for a long moment, a conflicted look on her face as she tried to decide whether she should ask her question or not.“You don’t need to ask any personal questions now if you don’t wish to. I will make time for any personal questions over the next weekend,” Severus offered, tipping his head to the side.Hermione relaxed, nodding before she asked one of her other questions, “Do you have any books to recommend for reading about the Creatures or Magical Abilities that were listed?”Severus nodded, pulling a piece of parchment from the drawer of his desk. Using one of the quills on his desk he began to write out a list. “Anything else?” He questioned, tapping the fingers of his free hand as he stared down at the parchment.“Laws or politics?” Alabaster added.Severus hummed, beginning to add to the list. “There are a few books on laws in the Library, but any books on the truth of the Political Parties will have to come from outside the school walls. I will find a few copies for you and bring them to our next meeting,” He explained, eyes on his list.“Pureblood culture?” Heraldus asked, listening to Draco’s instructions as the other told him what to do.“You’d be better off learning from a Pureblood themselves rather than any books,” Severus admitted, tapping the feathered end of his quill on the desktop. “There are a few books which explain certain aspects that I will add, but otherwise you’d be best off asking Draco or Miss Parkinson.”“Wizarding traditions?” Hermione looked up from stirring the potion to watch him.“Most will be covered in the Pureblood culture theory, but there are a few books on Wizarding Religion and Ceremony that I will add to the list, which will explain certain theories that as youth Draco and Miss Parkinson may not understand.” Severus nodded to himself as he added more to the list. “I will also add several books on class basics that I’m sure were missed from your book lists in First year.” “Does Hogwarts have a Handbook?” Hermione asked suddenly, eyes wide like she’d just thought of the question.“It does, but I’m sure that you are looking for the Heir-specific rules and regulations, which is a book that has been lost within the bowels of the castle somewhere,” Severus replied, noting it down on the list. “I’m sure if you ask an Elf they would be happy to attempt finding it for you. Or the castle. Occasionally, she helps where she can.”“Does the Handbook include ways of getting resorted?” Heraldus asked quietly, handing an ingredient over quietly to Draco when asked for it.Severus tapped his quill in the ink pot. “I … actually don’t know. I would assume so, but you’d have to look,” He admitted, marking that down as an important question on the bottom of the list that he was about finished with.Draco tilted his head, blond hair spilling to the side. “Who do you suppose are the other Heirs?” He asked, staring into the cauldron carefully.“Well, who do you suppose?” Severus asked, testing the teen on his teachings.“The Smith family is said to be related to Helga Hufflepuff… Cousin Luna is of the Lovegood Line, which is suspected to be related to the Ravenclaw Line. And its suspected that the Longbottoms are related to Gryffindor.” Draco’s eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think further on it.“Correct, the only ones who you’ve missed, are the Bones’ who are also Hufflepuff related,” Severus added as he tapped the parchment four times to make copies.“What do we do next?” Heraldus asked quietly as Severus waved his wand and the copies rolled themselves up before disappearing into the teenagers’ bags.“Next?” Severus questioned, leaning forward and folding his hands on the desk.“What are we supposed to do now? Especially about the Headmaster?” Heraldus expanded, motioning with his newly freed hands after he’d passed Draco the next ingredient.“For now, until I can figure out who exactly we can trust with the truth, continue to act as usual. Slight changes of course will be fine, you are growing up, so maturity changes can be used as a cover for any changes.” Severus shifted in his chair, resting his forearms against the arms of the chair.“Who do you think we’ll be able to trust?” Draco questioned, reaching up and pushing a stray strand of hair out of his eyes.“Lupin for one,” Severus replied. “Professors McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick should be amenable to helping. Madam Pomphrey will definitely help. Your parents will help. There are sure to be others of course but we’ll start small.”“What’s going to be done about Sirius Black?” Alabaster asked.“After I discuss with Lupin, we’ll have to find out what Sirius is here for. As he wasn’t the traitor, it’s a wonder why he’s here and not getting himself freed,” Severus admitted, getting up from his chair to go and check over their potions. “As the Heir to the House of Black, all he’d have to do is go to the goblins and they’d find the truth. But for some reason he’s here, and he wants something in Gryffindor tower.”“What do you think he wants?” Hermione asked.“It could be anything. Heraldus, something he hid as a student, another student, someone’s attention,” Severus answered, peering into the girls’ cauldron. “Azkaban has probably addled his mind. He’s most definitely better off than others who’d been in Azkaban for as long as he has, but even still, without the proper care, all that is left of Sirius is the anger and revenge instincts of a beaten dog.”“Dog?” Heraldus asked.“The Marauders’ and the Dark Ones – the names of our groups in school – were all Animagi. Sirius is a big black dog like a Grimm we called Padfoot. Jamie is a large black and silver stag named Prongs. Peter Pettigrew was a pudgy gray rat named Wormtail. Aurelius is a white tiger named Lyx. Regulus Black, Sirius’ younger brother, is a black Shiba named Noir. I am a large Raven called Quill. And Rabastan Lestrange is a black panther with vitiligo. Remus is a werewolf which is why the Marauders began their attempts at becoming Animagi. The Dark Ones did it to keep up. Lily, after finding out that the rest of us, begun trying shortly after we all graduated. We called her Pyra for the fire-color of her hair, and it fit well with her red fox form.”“A big…” Heraldus blinked, tipping his head to the side. “Does he have a bunch of little white spots along his left side?”“… Yes, he does. Why?” Severus questioned, hand coming up to rub at the bristles on his chin.“He came to Privet Drive,” Heraldus whispered, peering up at his father through his fringe. “He was in the park and he’d come sit with me whenever I went out.”“He loves you, sweet song, that will be one of the only things he feels and remembers after twelve years in Hell on Earth.” Severus rounded the table and came to his side, reaching a hand up to card his fingers through the teen’s hair. “The weakest emotions are always the first to go, so his love for his parents and the love for Peter would have gone first. Soon enough, he would have been left with his deepest loves and his deepest hates.”“So, his love for me, and Da, and his hate for Peter,” Heraldus assumed, handing over one of the last ingredients to Draco at the blond’s nudging.“And his love for Remus,” Severus added.“Remus?” Alabaster asked, looking up from her chopping.“Sirius and Remus are mates, thanks to the Wolf and Sirius’ Veela blood. They’d just started settling down when The Incident occurred, so I’m frankly surprised that either has lasted this long apart,” Severus admitted with a sigh.“Oh!” Heraldus squeaked before turning to his bag and beginning to dig through it. “I have this!” He tugged the Map out of his bag and handed it over to Severus.“Pettigrew’s copy of the Marauder’s Map,” Severus murmured, rubbing his thumb over the tiny pawprint in the corner. “Where did you get this?”“The Weasley twins had it. They said they stole it from Filch’s office when I asked yesterday,” Heraldus replied.“Hmm, I wonder…” Severus murmured. He handed the map back, “You may keep it, I have my own copy in my rooms.”“Alright.” Heraldus carefully put the map back into his bag, folding his cloak around it. “Erm,” He flushed red for a moment. “They know about my name change.”Severus sighed quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “One of the only faults we had with the map – it only shows the name that a person truly believes is theirs.” He waved a hand dismissively, “It’s up to your discretion what you wish to do about the Demon Twins knowing.”“Thank you,” Heraldus whispered, some of the tension in his shoulder’s lifting.“It is up to all of you who of your age and friend group you wish to share the truth with. I trust that you will be careful about it though,” Severus patted Heraldus’ shoulder lightly.“Of course, brother,” Alabaster said cheekily, grinning at the man. She sobered after a moment, staring into the cauldron. “What are we going to do about the summer?”“It will be discussed in full during my meeting with the other adults over the weekend, but the weak plans are for Lucius and Aurelius to get custody of you Alabaster, at least for the Ministry – Carsi and I will still have Goblin Custody, but the Ministry will see Lucius as your guardian until your majority or the Dark’s victory. As for Heraldus, that’s a bit more complicated.” Severus wrinkled his nose at the thought of everything that would have to be done for Heraldus. “Basic plan is to get everything ready, then remove the wards and make it look like he ran away before bringing Heraldus home to Prince Manor via the Heir Medallion.”“And if something happens before everything is ready?” Heraldus asked.“The Medallion will bring you home if anything should happen before we’re ready,” Severus assured him, looking into the cauldrons. “Those are almost done, get everything put away and the vials ready. Mister and Miss Malfoy will label them.”The teenagers nodded before moving and cleaning everything up.“What is going to be done about everything else?” Draco asked, beginning to label the vials set out by Heraldus.“I assume you mean finding the missing?” At Draco’s nod, Severus continued, “It will be slow going. And I must admit, that for now we can do nothing to find them. There are simply too many variables to narrow things down at the moment. We’ll have to go slowly.”“That’s unfortunate,” Draco muttered, and then the room dropped into quiet, only the sounds of quills and shuffling to be heard.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Severus sighed quietly as he studied his sitting room. He’d had his personal Elf, Juniper, set up the room for this meeting, searching and cleaning out the sitting room of everything and anything that could get back to Dumbledore as well as adding up Elf-wards that would keep anyone not invited out, and the secrets of this meeting inside the room. She’d also taken the initiative to set out a wide assortment of teas and snacks for this meeting.“Master Severus be needing anything else?” Juniper questioned from her place at his knee. Her mauve dress – the uniform for female Elves of the Prince family – was carefully pressed and complemented her pale skin nicely. She turned dark blue eyes on him and waited for his answer.“No, thank you, Juniper. You may return to Prince Hall,” Severus replied, stretching his arms out in front of him.She nodded and disappeared with a pop as he crossed the room and settled into his favourite chair, a green hardback chair that he usually kept next to the fire by his bookcases, but for this meeting had been moved to face into the circle of the other seating.He had been sitting for only a few minutes before the wards pinged to let him know at there was someone at the door. He took a deep breath before heading to the door, pulling the portrait in to open it.“Severus,” Remus intoned, standing the doorway.“Remus,” Severus murmured, studying his friend.To be frank, the other man looked like shit. His tawny hair was streaked with gray – more than appropriate for his age – and longer than Severus suspected was what the man usually liked. More scars covered him than the last time that Severus had seen him; crossing over his nose and cheekbones and hands and arms, and a large one peeked out of the collar of his ragged robes up to the middle of his neck over his right collarbone.“Come in,” Severus told him, stepping back to let the werewolf inside.Remus smiled at him before stepping inside the room, headed immediately for the tea and the couch next to it. He settled down next to the arm, taking a teacup and making up his tea after he’d settled down.“We need to talk,” Severus told him, tapping his fingers against his thigh as he settled back down in his chair.“About what?” Remus asked, stirring his tea around with his spoon.“Sirius is here, Remus. And whatever he wants, it isn’t Harry.”“What do you mean?” Remus asked, eyebrows furrowed. “What else would he be here for?”“Remus. Heraldus knows.” Severus held up a hand when the other looked to protest. “And Sirius found him at Privet Drive. If he’d wanted Heraldus he would have done something there where there are no other Magicals around, not here, at one of the most warded buildings in the entirety of the world. So what else could he want?”Remus was quiet for a long moment, thinking as he drank his tea. “When did he escape?”“Just after the Minister’s last bi-yearly visit in July.” Severus tapped his fingers against the arms of the chair.“Didn’t the Weasleys win a raffle and end up on the front page of the Prophet in June?” Remus remarked, thinking. “And isn’t that the Minister’s calling card – to take the last Prophet before he goes along with him to the Prison?”“Shit.” Severus groaned quietly before calling, “Juniper.”The little Elf popped into existence at his knee. “Yes, Master Severus?”“I know Grandfather keeps all the Prophets, can you bring me the last one from June? It should have a family of redheads on the front page.”“Of course, Master Severus.” She snapped her fingers, bringing the box of them before her. She dug through it carefully, pulling the newer papers off until she found the one he needed. She handed it over before speaking, “Anything else, Master Severus?”“No. Thank you, Juniper.” She disappeared at the dismissal as he stared at the moving picture before him. He sighed quietly as he studied the picture on the front. When he saw what could have caught Sirius’ attention he growled lowly, his teeth sharpening and the entirety of his eyes turning black in his rage. He turned and handed the paper over to Remus, a long finger pointed to the only thing in the world that would capture the attention of a dog well hit.“Does this look like a certain rat to you?” Severus practically hissed out the word ‘rat’ as Remus took the paper from him.A low growl left Remus’ throat when he noticed what Sirius must have. “Well, it looks like we’re going on a rat hunt.” A dark smirk crossed his face as he handed the paper back.Severus smirked back as he put the paper away before getting to his feet and crossing to the bookshelf to the immediate right of the fireplace. He pulled a thin box carved with the Prince family crest – which appeared to simply be a set of lilies to those who didn’t know his heritage – down from the upper middle shelf. He flipped the top open and drew out a carefully folded piece of parchment. “Let’s see where the little rat is, shall we?”The parchment was soon spread out on the table and the password said as the two men settled to search it. They started at the top, rolling their eyes at the students who were curled together in alcoves or empty classrooms or behind paintings. They really couldn’t talk though, they’d been the same way with their mates during their later years of school. They had often taken any time they could to disappear into the upper floor for time alone.They continued searching and searching until they found what they were looking for. There was the rat, in the Gryffindor common room. More specifically, in the Boys’ dorm of the Gryffindor common room.“We’ll get him later,” Severus muttered as he studied the page. “We don’t want him to run, and we need to find the exact truth of this matter. I doubt that Sirius is guilty if Peter is still alive, but what is the true story here?”“Veritaserum…” Remus murmured in return. “Do you have some or will you have to make some?”“I am constantly making Veritaserum for the Ministry, so I’ll simply save some for when we make our move.”“We’ll need to find Sirius as well. Make them each take it and tell the truth.”“Sirius will be in the Forest somewhere, and we’ll be able to catch him quite easily if we are loud with catching Peter. He’s going to be impulsive enough to come after Peter, no matter what is going on.”“I know. He’s always been that way,” Remus sighed wistfully as he settled back against the couch. He closed his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose before he pulled his hand away and opened his eyes again. “What about the Dementor Potion?”“I’ll have to make some up for Sirius, and we’re going to have to sit on him to get him to take it…” Severus locked and closed the map before returning it to its heirloom box. He crossed back to the bookshelf and returned the box back to its place on the shelf.Remus laughed at that, he knew that it was absolutely the truth of the matter. Sirius had hated taking his medicine for years, and both knew that he wouldn’t have gotten better about it. Sirius could be a drama queen about a lot of things and taking his medicine was the main one.The wards pinged again, and Severus moved to let his next guests inside the room. The school Mediwitch, Poppy Pomfrey entered the room. She was dressed less for work and more for relaxation, her usual uniform gone and in its place a pale green robe with a white blouse and black skirt.“Good morning, Poppy,” Severus greeted.“Good morning, Severus, Remus.” She reached up and lightly patted his cheek, narrowing her eyes at the feel of his bones beneath his skin.Severus flushed slightly under her glare. “I’m fine, Poppy.”“Hmph.” She pulled away and headed into the room. She took the seat next to Remus, grabbing a cup and saucer and making up her tea the way she liked.The wards pinged again, and Severus pulled the door back open. The other Heads of House stood before the door, Minerva McGonagall taking the lead.Minerva was dressed casually. Gone was her usual teaching robes and in their place was a simple burgundy dress with her Clan sash pinned carefully in place at her shoulder and at the opposite hip with the cat paw print pins that Severus had given her for Yule his first year as a teacher.Pomona Sprout had also forgone her teaching robes, but she’d kept it even simpler than Minerva. A simple mocha dress hung to her knees, showing off the knee-high bee socks she was wearing underneath.Filius Flitwick had left his robes behind but remained in the suit he generally wore underneath. Today’s suit was a dark blue rather than the usual black or gray, but he still looked well put together. A dueling holster hung from his right hip and tied into place around his thigh.“Good morning,” Severus greeted, stepping back so they could enter into the room.“Severus,” Minerva greeted in return as she led the way into the room. She settled into the free space on the end of the couch that Remus and Poppy were sitting on while Pomona and Filius settled onto the loveseat next to the couch.With a wave of his wand, Filius made up three cups of tea and handed them out to Minerva and Pomona before taking the final one for himself.Severus had just settled into his seat and taken his tea back up when the fire flared green and two men stepped out of the fireplace, one after another.The two could pass as twins, no matter the five years that separated them. Both were silvered blonds, though the younger’s hair was slightly wavy unlike his brother’s which was pin straight. Silvered blue eyes stared out of both men at the group that greeted them. One was slightly taller than the other, an almost invisible fraction of height.“Lucius, Aurelius, welcome. Sit down,” Severus motioned to the free chairs next to him as he smiled up at his friends.“What is this about, Severus?” Aurelius asked tiredly. He may look put together to the outside world, but to those who knew him well enough, it was obvious that he was still depressed and grieving.“First off, anything thing said in this room cannot leave, secrecy wards and charms have been placed,” Severus told them, motioning with his hands around the room. He then reached for the stack of papers on the end table next to him, pulling separating them into smaller piles based on who was getting what. He handed them out, using a limited amount of Wandless Magic to send the piles to the person they were meant for. “Read these please, and then we’ll talk.”With the piles handed out, he and Lucius relaxed back to wait for the others to finish. The two of them got to simply wait and watch as the different emotions crossed over each face before them.Minerva went from shocked to disappointed to angry and she hadn’t even finished the first half of the pile and by the time she did finish, her face was so red that both expected for fire to come out of her ears or her mouth when she opened it and began to swear, loudly in Scottish Gaelic as she got up from the couch, throwing her tea cup at the wall before repairing and summoning it back to do it again.Poppy followed similarly, but instead of being angry, she looked faint, paling and slumping back against the seat. “How could I have missed this?” She whispered to herself, burying her head in her hands.Pomona was just as shaken as Poppy but like a true Hufflepuff, she tried her best to comfort the distraught mediwitch. She lightly patted the other woman’s back, gently rubbing wide circles.Filius had to set his pile down his hands were shaking so bad with his anger. Several muttered curses in several languages passed the half-Goblin’s lips as he tapped a tattoo on the parchments before him with his fingers.Remus too had issues with controlling his anger. Even though it was nowhere near the moon, a rough growl rumbled in the ‘wolf’s throat and he set the pile of parchment back down on the table roughly. He clenched his hands tight, beating them against his thighs as he fought to keep a hold of his temper.Aurelius on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any reaction at all, simply closing off and shutting down like his brain couldn’t handle the information he’d just received. His pile of parchment was left to drop in his lap limply like he simply couldn’t hold his arms up anymore.“Auri?” Remus called worriedly. “Auri-bird? Auri?!”Lucius got up from his chair, moving to crouch down in front of his brother. “Lee… Lee, little brother, what’s the matter?”“I—She—I—I have a daughter. Lily didn’t… Lily didn’t leave.” Aurelius finished and then buried his head into Lucius’ shoulder, his own shoulders shaking as he silently got out thirteen and a half years of anguish and guilt at his Chosen having left with no notice.Lucius crooned quietly, the few feathers hidden in his hair puffing up as he fell into instincts he usually had no need to fall into. He pulled his arms up around his younger brother, wrapping the other tight in his embrace. He lightly rubbed his cheek against Aurelius’ head, leaning in to whisper assurances against his ear.It took a few moments for emotions to be brought under check, but they got themselves under control, returning to their seats and settling down.Aurelius wiped his face with the handkerchief from his pocket before turning his attention to Severus. “When can I meet her?” He asked, cleaning and tucking the cloth back into his pocket.“Yule would be best, her mother and I knew each other, so I could introduce you,” Severus replied, making himself another cup of tea. “Jean would probably be expecting it, especially considering that Hermione knew she was adopted long before we did the tests.”Aurelius nodded sharply, “I can wait the weeks until Yule break.”Minerva cleared her throat, and when the attention was on her, she motioned to the parchments and spoke, “What are we going to do about this? We can’t let him continue getting away with this.”“For now,” Severus started, sharing a look with Lucius. “We do nothing too big. He’s too powerful and too loved for anything we say or do in the open to take traction. So we start small, and in the background.”“Where do we start then?” Pomona asked, tipping her head inquisitively.“Purges,” Lucius replied, taking a sip of his tea. “Over the holidays, go to the goblins and get purged. They’ll even give out a protection stone to keep these things from happening again, if it’s found that he did something.”“King Ragnok agreed to this?” Filius asked surprised.“Yes,” Lucius responded. “These potions and binds and hidden inheritances affect business for Gringotts… and they hate Dumbledore, so of course.”Filius laughed quietly, nodding in agreement. It was a long standing knowledge of the Goblin Nation that Albus Dumbledore was not what he projected to the outside world.“What else are we going to do? We can’t just leave it at purges and then stop,” Minerva protested.“We’ll get the kids away from him and his influence as best we can. Alabaster will be remediated into the custody of the Malfoys as she should have been if her parents had simply disappeared rather than the other way around,” Severus told her. “Hermione will be going back to her aunt and uncle’s home for the time being. Heraldus will be—unfortunately—going back to the Dursleys for a short time, unless I can somehow get Jeanie to take him, but I think he will be stuck there until I can work it with Grandfather for him to be returned to Prince Manor if possible.”“Well, as long as you are doing something,” Minerva agreed, dropping back into her seat and taking up another cup of tea.Severus rolled his eyes at her, taking up his own teacup before he began the meeting that would dictate their further actions before it segued into school heads’ meeting with the new teacher and two members of the Board of Governors.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Two blond men walked up the cement sidewalk to the front doors of the building, a large cast-iron sign over the door screaming to the world Wool’s Orphanage. The taller of the two pulled open the door, holding it open for the other to enter before following him inside the building.“Hello! Welcome to Wool’s, how can I help you today?” The receptionist was a perky redhead in a puffy gray sweater. She’d looked up from her work when the bell above the door rang, and they entered.“We need to speak to the Matron. It regards one of the children who reside here,” Lucius told her, folding his hands on the tall counter and leaning in to talk with her.She held up a finger, returning to her computer to send a quick message to the Matron. “Who may I say is requesting this meeting?”“Lucius and Aurelius Malfoy, solicitors.”“Right away then.” She typed out her message quickly, sending it off to the Matron. “She should be available, but there are always phone calls that crop up. Please, take a seat while you wait.” She motioned to the dark blue chairs off to the left of the door, across from the Matron’s office.Lucius dipped his head to her before leading the way over to the chairs, tugging Aurelius down into the chair next to him as he gracefully sat down on the chair closest to the door. Lucius squeezed his knee lightly once the younger man had sat down, reassuring him, “We’ll get her back.”“I know.” Aurelius tugged a hand through his hair before folding his arms across his knees. “There is no way we wouldn’t be getting her back, it can’t be contested.”A minute passed, and a clattering sounded behind the door labeled ‘Matron Elena Wilson’ before the door opened and a middle-aged brunette stood in the doorway. She was very pretty for her age, with an open face and warm hazel eyes.“Gentlemen, please come in,” she greeted, motioning the two men inside her office when they rose from their chairs. Once they were inside and seated in the two chairs before her desk she closed the door and returned to her own chair. “Now, how can I help you today?”“My brother and I represent Carsi Thompson and Severus Prince. It was recently found through a private investigative service that one Alabaster Jamison is in fact, Alabaster Tara Riddle who is supposed to be in their custody. We represent them in getting her custody back.”“If she is supposed to be in their custody, how did she end up here on our doorstep?” Elena questioned.In fact, she remembered the night that Alabaster was found on their doorstep, because she was the one who found her. She’d been a simple Big Sister then, one of the youngest on staff and the only one awake when the knocking at the front doors had sounded at three in the morning that cold winter’s night. She’d opened the door and there she was in a wicker basket with only a blanket bearing her first name. It had taken a doctor to figure out how old she was.“Alabaster was born April twenty-first, nineteen-eighty,” Lucius began to explain. “Her father was a minor diplomat and her mother was a researcher. Just before Hallowe’en in nineteen-eighty-two her father, Tom was called out on government business as he was the only one with knowledge of a certain language, leaving his wife and daughter home alone but for some of the servants who lived on the property. Tom returned home late the next morning to find that their home was destroyed, his wife and their servants were dead, and his daughter was missing. The proper authorities were called, but nothing came of it. After the first three days he began hiring private investigators, hoping to find her. A week after Alabaster’s disappearance, he had an accident and has been incapacitated since, leaving Alabaster’s custody to a distant cousin and his adopted son.”“Adopted son?”Aurelius snickered, “Adult adoption. Severus’ mother was friends with Tom, and her father is still alive, so in order for the family wealth to pass to Severus, he had to be the child of good standing, which his biological father made impossible, so Tom adopted him to fulfil the requirements.”Elena nodded, understanding that. “Do you have the papers on hand then?”Aurelius nodded, digging through the inner pockets of his jacket for the papers. He pulled out the roll of them, spreading them out before him on the desk so she could read them over. He settled back into his chair as she read through each page carefully before signing her name at the bottom.It took ten minutes for her to go through all five pages, but Lucius and Aurelius were happy to wait and watch as she went through them as carefully as she possibly could. When she was finished, she put her pen away before pushing the papers back over to them.“Is there anything that Alabaster left behind when she went to school?” Lucius asked, straightening in his chair as Aurelius returned the rerolled papers to the pocket they’d come from. “We really just would like if she could go straight home with her new guardians after getting off the train from school.”“She did leave a few things, not too many as she didn’t have much to begin with, but a few things. Would you like to see her room and get them?”“Yes, please,” Aurelius told her, pushing himself to his feet with the arms of the chair. He smoothed out the front of his jacket, stepping away from the chair.Elena rose from her seat, smoothing out her skirt before leading the way from the room. “Alabaster, being one of our oldest stayers has a solo room, though she is next to the nursery wing. She enjoyed helping with the little ones before she went away to school, and she does still do it, but less now that she’s away for most of the year.”She led the way up the stairs in the rear of the building, explaining various things about the rooms and Orphanage. Things like how the children went to the State school for the most part, though they were encouraged to work towards getting scholarships for higher standing schools. Mentions were made how most of their money came from the government and donations, but also from the children doing fundraisers and sales.As they got to the upper floors, she began handing out statistics. How they had gotten more babies than children in the last twenty years. Or how babies and children under ten were the most likely to adopted with teenagers over sixteen the least likely.And as they walked down a hallway on the uppermost floor, she told the two men that the Orphanage had several ‘sister’ buildings set up as Group Homes where the teenagers over sixteen were shuffled out to begin their integration into adult life.At the end of the hallway, Elena stopped before a door whose plaque read ‘Alabaster’ in a boldfaced print. The only thing special about this door was a drawing of who was obviously the goddess Bast that was sellotaped to the door. Aurelius reached out, and with gentle fingers he carefully removed the picture, folding the tape over the back once it was off so that there wasn’t any damage done to the picture.Lucius opened the done once he was done, stepping inside to peer around the room that his Lord’s daughter had spent her early formative years. It was fairly simple; a single twin-sized bed, a wardrobe, a desk, a foldable crate and a small bookcase that was only half full. The walls were a plain sea foam green, but they were covered in pictures drawn by hand of various images both real and fantastic—even for the Magical world—that were sellotaped down in a varied fashion.“It’s mostly just her art, but there are some old clothes and other things that she’d probably want to keep. The rest we’d discussed her leaving behind if she was adopted or left for the Homes.” Elena stopped for a moment before adding, “There might be a few toys in the bottom of the wardrobe that she wanted to keep.”“Was there any child she was particularly attached too?” Lucius questioned as he began to remove the art from the wall next to the door. “We’ve been asked to make sure that they know they can contact her through a number of means and at any time they wish.”“A few, but they aren’t here right now either. I’ll take the information though and pass it on.”Lucius dug into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a pre-prepared paper that read:
Alabaster Riddle
Prince Manor
Hartriver, Wiltshire, England
“It’s a gated community,” Lucius explained upon seeing the confused look on her face. “It has its own Post Office, anything just goes there and then is delivered house by house, so there is no need for zoning numbers.”Elena nodded in understanding before putting the paper into her pocket. “I’ll make sure that they get it.” She looked around the room again, “I will go get a few more boxes for you to pack her things.”“Thank you,” Aurelius told her from his place across the room where he as carefully peeling Alabaster’s art off the wall and stacking it in a pile on the desk.Elena exited the room and headed down the hall to a storage room. She opened the door and grabbed a few unfolded boxes, picking out a large one and two medium sized boxes as a starting point. She doubted that more would be needed but there were plenty of unfolded boxes in the tiny room to be used if necessary.She returned to find that the men had removed almost all of Alabaster’s art, piles of it set out on top of the desk neatly. Aurelius was just finishing up getting the last pieces from the wall next to the window, while Lucius had turned his attention to the wardrobe. Elena hid a smile in her collar as she moved to the bed and sat down to put the boxes together.It took them only twenty minutes after that to finish. All of Alabaster’s art was packed into one box, her other and old clothes into another, the few books she had were in a third, and the rest of her things were in a final box. It wasn’t much, but it was more than either man had expected upon finding out that Alabaster had remained in the custody of the Orphanage for just over a decade.Elena pulled a small radio from her pocket and spoke into it, “Olivia could you come up to Alabaster’s room please?” She picked up and moved the Art box to the door, commenting, “Olivia was one of Alabaster’s favourite people and I’m sure she’d like to write Alabaster a letter, so I thought I’d leave her address with her.”Footsteps sounded outside in the hallway, and after a moment they arrived at the doorway, and there stood a woman younger than Elena with wild blonde curls.“You called?” she questioned, tipping her head to the side.“Olivia these are Solicitors Malfoy. They came to get Alabster’s custody transferred back to her Godparents. They left Alabaster’s new address, and we needed some help getting the boxes out to their vehicle.” Elena pulled the piece of paper with Alabaster’s address from her pocket and handed it over to the woman. “I thought you’d like to be in charge of making sure that Alabaster’s friends got her new information.”“I would, thank you. Where did you need the boxes?” Olivia asked, taking the paper and shoving it into the pocket of her jeans before turning towards on the boxes.“Our driver is outside with the car,” Aurelius told her, having already picked up a box of his own.The four adults picked up the few boxes that were filled with the remainder of Alabaster’s life that she hadn’t taken to Hogwarts and started down the halls to reach the front doors again.On the way, they passed a room where the sound of young giggling drew Aurelius’ attention. He stopped in the doorway, leaning the box against one hip as he watched a pair of identical little boys chase each other around the room. A wistful smile crossed the younger Malfoy’s face as he watched.“Ian and Evan were raised here, same as Alabaster,” Olivia remarked quietly from his side.“They’re adorable,” he responded. Really they were; tiny little raven-haired cuties with darker skin but multitudinous amounts of freckles and mismatched eyes in blue and a liquid brown.“Do you have any children?”“A daughter. She’s fourteen. I just got her back.”“Got her back?”“Her mother and I were together just out of school, but we broke up just before Hermione was born and I moved to France. I found out she existed last month and am debating whether I should see about getting custody from her Aunt.”One of the twins had climbed up onto a chair and Aurelius winced as he slipped off the arm, totally expecting for the boy to crash and cry, but that didn’t happen. Instead he seemed to bounce, coming to land back on his feet. Aurelius almost would have believed it was his mind playing tricks on him except that the boy’s brother laughed and immediately copied the first, climbing up onto the chair before jumping off to bounce along the room. Aurelius was thankful that Olivia wasn’t looking, because that would have been a difficult thing to explain.“What do you know about them?” Aurelius asked, curious as to the boys’ origins. A connection to the boys had bloomed in him at the sight of the two boys and he wanted to know everything.“Not much. In much the same way that Alabaster arrived in the middle of the night, the twins were found in a basket on the steps in the morning when one of the volunteers arrived to prepare for an excursion we’d planned for the day. There was nothing with them as an identifier, their blankets only in separate colors and numbered.” Olivia shrugged. “We picked names at random with a book and took them to a doctor to get checked out.” She turned her attention back to the twins. “Why do you ask?”“Well, if I didn’t know any better, I would say that they’re the sons of Alabaster’s father and her brother’s spouse. They look exactly like what a mix of the two would.” He watched as the twins began chasing each other in circles around the sitting room, turning and twisting to get away from each other. “I’ll have to speak with Severus about testing his son against the twins to see if they are related.”“Would he take them if they were? After all, he’s already got his own child and Alabaster.”Aurelius nodded, “He would. His spouse had started looking for cadet branches of their families when we teenagers, hoping for more members because they were the end of their family lines. Family is important to all of our friend group, there are so few of us for the most part.”“Oh really?”“Really. Of the dozen or so of our group, most are only children with no cousins or other close relations. If there are siblings, it's generally only one. Lucius’ wife, for example, is an oddity. She has two sisters. We’ve started branching out more recently, but for the past half-dozen or so generations, most of our families only had one or two children a person.”“Sounds lonely,” Olivia commented as Aurelius stepped away from the door and moved to the stairs. “I’ll see what it would take on our end.”“That would be brilliant, thank you. You can send anything you find to Alabaster’s name, just add a sub-tag for Severus Prince or add a drawing of a sheep to the envelope flap. I’ll tell them to keep a look out.”“Will do,” Olivia promised. “Tell Alabaster to keep an eye out for a letter from us.”“That I will happily do.” Aurelius smiled wide at Olivia. “Thank you for your help, Miss Olivia.” He bowed to her playfully after setting his box in the boot of the car. He turned his attention to Elena next, “Thank you too, Madame Elena.”Elena smiled at him, “You are very much welcome, Aurelius. Give Alabaster our love.”“We’ll see if she can be brought to see you in the summer or during break,” Aurelius promised before he got into the car, settling down next to Lucius in the back of their limousine. The two men waved shortly to the two women as the car pulled away from the Orphanage, leaving the building behind.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Heraldus set his bookbag onto the desk with a thud as the books inside knocked against the wood of the desktop. Shoving his bookbag over on the desk, he jumped up and settled himself on the top. He tugged his glamour stone over his head and tucked it into the pocket of his robes before turning his attention to the rest of the room.“So we’re really doing this?” Hermione asked as she leant back against the table next to his legs. She’d set her bag on the floor next to her feet, the weight of it nearly having pushed the table across the floor as it came to rest against the table’s leg.“We’re really doing this,” Alabaster agreed, arms folded against the tabletop of the desk she and Draco were sitting behind. She slid forward, resting her chin on the crossed appendages.“First order of business in that case,” Draco commented, chin on his fist as he folded himself over the table next to Alabaster. “Is where we’re going to meet? We can’t do it in random classrooms or in Severus’ rooms. We need somewhere private that we won’t be disturbed in.”“What about picking one and warding it?” Heraldus asked, leaning back against his hands.Alabaster raised an eyebrow at her ‘nephew’. “We’re thirteen-fourteen. In no way do we know enough to keep people out.”Heraldus sighed, “True.”The room went quiet as they tried to come up with some where they could go. Hermione was the one who finally thought of a brilliant place.“What about the Chamber of Secrets?” she suggested, blinking rapidly as her mind spiraled. “Alabaster and Heraldus are the only Parselmouths in the school, other than Severus potentially, so they’d have to open and close it but there’s like no one who knows where it is and can get inside.”“Ginny might be able to,” Heraldus pointed out. “Considering she was the one who opened the door last year.”“Do you really think she’s going to attempt to go down there?” Hermione asked skeptically.“Not really, just thought I should remind you,” Heraldus replied. “What do you think?” He turned his attention to Alabaster and Draco.Alabaster bit her lip. “We’d have to take Severus down to check it out first, but unless we come up with somewhere else… I think it’s the best place we’re going to find. I do have to wonder whether Parseltongue can be taught, or at least enough for everyone in our new group to get in and out, just in case both Heraldus and I are both busy.”“Or some kind of recording device with the passwords…” Hermione started digging through her bag, pulling out a piece of scrap parchment and a quill.“And we’ve lost her,” Heraldus remarked with a grin as Hermione began muttering to herself and making notes. “She’ll come out once she’s either hit a roadblock or found what she’s looking for.”“Alright, we still need back-up plans in case the Chamber isn’t suitable,” Alabaster remarked.“Another hidden place?” Heraldus suggested. “I know there are a couple hidden behind secrets in passageways. And there are whole hallways that are hidden behind portraits and tapestries that only open for certain circumstances.”“I think the Chamber is probably the best place we can go, but we’ll each check out some of the other places and report back,” Alabaster responded, nodding to herself.“Alright next question: who are we going to trust with this secret? I mean, it can’t just be us, that doesn’t help us get anywhere fast,” Draco said, shifting on his stool. “We’re going to need help.”“We’re going to have to start with those closest to us, I think. Or at least, those who are more likely to believe us when we tell them everything,” Heraldus told them. “So, stick to those who we’re connected with? Other Gryffindors and Slytherins first?”“Who are you thinking, Dux?” Alabaster asked, seeing the thoughtful look on his face.“Well, the Weasley twins, honestly.”“The Demon Twins‽” Draco hissed, leaning forward over the table. “Are you insane?”“No! They’d make a good distraction for one,” Heraldus urged. “And for two, they are extremely intelligent; they’d be helpful. And they’re not as Light as they make themselves out as.” A slight flush spread across his face, and thankfully for Heraldus, Draco was too busy hiding his head and bemoaning his fate to notice but Alabaster was not. Alabaster didn’t say anything, simply gave him a knowing look before pinching the point of Draco’s ear.“Ow!” Draco muttered, rubbing at his ear. “What about you, Hermione?” he called, drawing her attention from her papers.“Hmm? What?” she asked blinking at them blankly.“Who do you think we should bring into this?” Heraldus repeated for her.“Well, the other Heirs, I think Neville may be a good place to start though,” she admitted, tugging a hand through her hair. “They’re going to be important in helping us with the school.”“They would, wouldn’t they…” Alabaster murmured to herself. “Especially considering this is our territory, and we’re going to fight for it. The adults can handle the outside world for now while we start here.” A soft rumble sounded in her chest for a moment before she smirked.“What about the two of you?” Hermione asked.“We’ll start with our roommates,” Alabaster replied. “We talked about it.”“So, who does that mean exactly?” asked Heraldus.“Pansy, Daphne, Theo, and Blaise,” Draco answered.“I thought…” Hermione and Heraldus murmured.“We’re a bit more spread out in the dungeons,” Alabaster told them with a grin. “Even Hufflepuff has more space than the towers and they’re stuffed next to the kitchens.”Both Hermione and Heraldus pouted, neither happy with sharing their space with so many people in the dorms. Heraldus was fine with most of his roommates, only Ron the real issue with his lack of hygiene and disregard for private spaces. Hermione’s only real issue was the sheer madness of Lavender and Parvati’s wardrobes that they let spread through the room while searching for weekend clothes. Otherwise their issue with the dorms was the number of people in the room, five seemed a bit much to both of them.“We should really make a comprehensive list of who we’re going to bring in, and in what order,” Hermione suggested, continuing her brainstorming. “And lists of anything else we can think of.”“Draco should write and keep them,” Alabaster said with a grin. “His penmanship is the neatest, and his roommates aren’t nosy, not that Pansy, or Daphne are terribly nosy.”“I also have a locking drawer,” Draco admitted, already digging through his bag for a parchment and quill. “And the key never leaves my person, not that it would work for anyone else, tied to my blood as it is.”“So, who we’re bringing in, and in what order. What else should we make a list of?” Heraldus asked.“How about the goals of what we’re doing? Both right now and once we graduate?” Hermione suggested.“Our plans for the school should be a separate list,” Alabaster commented, leaning over to watch as Draco wrote up the list of lists they needed to make. “Actually… each year should have its own list, that we can pin up somewhere and add to as we need to.”“I’ll have to get some self-rolling/self-expanding parchment for those types of lists,” Draco murmured, mentally making note to do so on the next trip into Hogsmeade. “Rather than sticking a bunch of shorter pieces together.”“Alright, so what are we listing?” Heraldus asked, and the four teenagers settled in to brainstorm ideas for their lists, spending much of the day together.