19 Chapter 19: Wealth
"Well, I must congratulate you, Mr. Prince, from now on you will be the legitimate heir of the Prince family and future Lord Prince," said the goblin.
"So, the test was a success?" Severus said surprised, although he expected this result, after how the ritual went, he expected something to have gone wrong.
"Correct. Let me tell you, in all my years taking this test of inheritance, this is the first time I've ever encountered a ritual that ended so quickly and smoothly" the goblin said looking analytically at Severus.
"Well... there are always exceptions" said Severus not knowing what else to say in the face of the goblin's clear doubts.
"Oh, yes Mr. Prince, but only when one is a baby."
"What do you mean?" Severus was very confused by the meaning of the goblin's words.
"All rituals for heredity testing performed on young wizards are, for the most part, long, painful, tedious, and involve some problem that we must take care of. That is why it is recommended to do the heredity test at an early age because a child has not fully formed his personality and his most distinctive traits, so the ritual cannot judge much more than the child's body and blood. In these cases the ritual will last a short time, giving a negative or positive result without much complication."
"Your case Mr. Prince is similar to that of a child. Strange, very strange, but as you say, not impossible. Now you had better go to Dorbuck's office who is the goblin in charge of the Prince family finances and vaults, he will be in charge of telling you everything you need."
"I understand," said Severus.
"One more thing," said the goblin taking and handing Severus some papers "Take this, give it to Dorbuck, he will be in charge of validating him as the new and legitimate owner of the ring, since right now the ring is magically locked, if it is not unlocked he will not be able to access the Prince's vaults"
"Thank you," said Severus taking the papers and setting off again to the center of Gringotts bank where the goblin offices were located.
"Morning, I would like to speak to Dorbuck, could you tell me which office is his," Severus said to one of the Goblins that was in one of the many offices.
The goblin gave him an irritated look, then grunted a little and pointed to one of the offices.
"That would be the Dorbuck Goblin's office" after saying that, the goblin went back to his duties without paying any more attention to Severus.
Severus wasted no time and went to the office where he was met by a goblin he assumed was Dorbuck.
"This ... Dorbuck, in charge of the Prince's finances and vaults?" asked Severus.
"That's right, what can I do for you wizard?" said the goblin, but the instant he said that he saw the ring on Severus' hand the goblin guessed what it was about.
"I would like to see the Prince's properties, finances, and vaults as the new heir. Here are the necessary papers to validate it."
"Oh, I see, let's see," said the goblin taking the papers Severus gave him "Very well, it seems that everything is in order Master Prince, from now on he is listed as the rightful heir of the Prince family and will be renamed, Severus Tobias Prince."
"I understand," said Severus a little surprised by the goblin's change of attitude.
"Master Prince, My name is Dorbuck, I am the account manager for the former house of Prince. It is an honor to meet you, and a relief to know that the house of Prince has found a new heir," said the goblin respectfully.
Severus nodded, "Thank you, account manager Dorbuck, your words are welcome."
"Account manager Dorbuck?"
"Yes Master Prince?"
"I was informed that I have to unlock the magic of the Prince's ancestral ring to gain access to the belongings my family has. Could you explain its workings and tell me how the unlocking would be accomplished?"
"Well, as you are the last Son of a Son of the House of Prince, the line of inheritance falls completely on you making you the only possible heir apparent of the House of Prince, the Ring will allow you to have full access to all the belongings of the House of Prince. And since you are now 16 and emancipated, you can take the title of Lord Prince once the Ring is unlocked."
"I see, to do this, doesn't the Ministry of Magic or the Wizengamot have to be told?" asked Severus trying not to show his emotions, he didn't want others to know about his inheritance yet, because he wanted to go to the USA without problems, once there, he wouldn't worry so much about the death eaters.
Dorbuck nodded and explained, "Well, that happens only when the heir is from a house of British origin, since the House of Prince has its origins in the Republic of Ireland, it does not answer to the Wizengamot or the British Ministry of Magic, the decision to report your inheritance is yours alone."
Severus only nodded. But it was a great relief to know that.
"Despite it is not necessary, as your account manager, I must recommend you to report your status as the new heir of the Prince House, the Prince House may not have British origins, but it is closely linked to the Wizengamot and the British Ministry of Magic, over the years the political power and influence of the Prince House was growing in Britain, at the same level as any other noble house of British origin" the goblin recommended him.
"I understand and thank you, but for now I prefer to familiarize myself with my heritage, once I feel in a position to report my status, I will let you know Dorbuck."
"Very well Master Prince, as you wish. Now if you will allow me to take your ring to continue..."
Severus handed him the ring without much trouble.
As the goblin took the ring, he gestured for Severus to wait a few moments as he made his way to a locked compartment within his office.
Severus watched as the goblin placed the ring in the middle of the locked compartment door, after a while the sounds of the compartment's internal mechanisms were heard as it appeared to be opening.
As the compartment opened, the goblin took a bowl with the crest of the House of Prince and a wooden scroll that was inside, then closed it, took the ring, and returned to where Severus was.
"Very well, Master Prince, I am going to ask you to spill a few drops of blood over this bowl," the Goblin told him as he handed him a sharp object identical to the one in the ritual.
Severus complied and spilled a few drops of blood, then the Goblin took the ring and dipped it into the bowl with the blood.
The ring did not seem to undergo any drastic changes, only the black-colored serendibite gem glowed for a few moments before fading to leave the gem a bluish color.
"Very well, you may now take it Lord Prince and from now on you have absolute access to the inheritance of the House of Prince," the goblin said respectfully.
Severus only took a few moments to look at him before reaching out, taking the ring, and placing it in his hand.
The ring was pure gold with a large Serendibite gemstone, which had been black before but now turned to a bluish, which was rather odd for that type of gemstone.
"Does the gem's color change have something to do with the magical blockage it had?" asked Severus curiously as he looked at the ring.
Dorbuck smiled, which was rather scary, then handed him the wooden scroll.
"Right. That was the final confirmation that you are in fact the heir Prince. It was the ancestral ring confirming that you were worthy to wear the ring and, as such, worthy to be the next Lord Prince. The black color of the gem indicated its magical lock, while the bluish color is the result of the unlocking," he said with a nod.
Severus just nodded again and took the parchment he gave him.
"Well, Lord Prince, in the scroll you will be able to find a summary with all the finances, land holdings, vaults, liquid assets, the commercial capital, and all the general belongings of the House of Prince," the goblin told him once Severus took and saw the scroll.
Prince family:
- Vault No. 777 (Prince family's main vault).
- Vault n.º 77 (Ordinary vault, of daily use)
- Vault No. 7 (Vault of the heir Prince)
-Vault #55, Vault #108, Vault #85, Vault #127 (Smaller vaults opened by several previous generations of the Prince family line who after their passing joined the main Prince family)
-Old Prince Mansion (Republic of Ireland) (Abandoned)
-Prince Manor (Great Britain) (Current)
-Various properties are scattered throughout the magical world (Attached file with detailed specifications)
-Various businesses and investments in the magical world (Attached file with detailed specifications).
"Well, later I will continue to look in more detail at the finances of the House of Prince, for now, we better proceed with a tour of the vaults," Severus said to the goblin once he understood the vast amount of properties, businesses and investments that the House of Prince had in the magical world, it would take him quite some time to read and understand everything detailed.
For now, Severus wanted to see how much fortune the House of Prince currently had in currency, then see how he would invest or use the money.
"Very well, follow me please Lord Prince."
They both went to a cave that extended into the darkness and had some torches on the wall with footprints leading down into the abyss.
Dorbuck just pulled a lighted lantern hanging on the wall and led the way.
A few moments later they came to a wagon that was connected to some long tracks.
The goblin climbed onto the cart and signaled for Severus to do the same.
"Which vault do you wish to see first?" asked Dorbuck.
"Let's start with the main vault."
The goblin only nodded and the cart took them to one of the deepest parts of the cave.
What little Severus knew about the House of Prince was that they were a very old family, dating back over 700 years. They were renowned for potion making and had ties to many noble houses in Britain.
They were a family of blood purists, but they accepted half-bloods, unlike other more orthodox houses. They used to be a house dedicated to the brewing of dark potions but over time they opted to stay on the "light side".
They did not accept Muggles or Squibs, as they considered them inferior as they could not use magic.
That was one of the reasons why Severus' grandparents and parents of Eileen Prince, his mother, erased their only heiress from the family tree since they did not tolerate or accept that she had married a Muggle.
Eileen Prince, was the only living heiress, all the relatives of the family died due to their recognition as dark potioners. Many dark wizards sought out the Prince's for different reasons and it never ended well for any of the Prince's involved.
That is why the family went on to leave the dark side. Keeping only a few Prince alive, until eventually, it was just Severus' maternal grandparents and his mother.
When they finally reached the vaults, Severus stopped thinking about family history and focused on the wealth of his maternal family.
The vault was just a large cave-like hole with a black metal door.
The goblin tapped the vault several times and a small opening appeared where only the gem of his ring seemed to enter.
"You must put your hand in the hole," the goblin said.
Severus moved his hand in front of the opening and then inserted the ring into the hole.
The wall seemed to react quickly and after several mechanical noises, the doors opened fully.
There were piles of coins scattered around the vault along with ancient books, gems, potions, cauldrons, ingredients of all kinds, and parchment.
Severus was very pleased, no doubt he had a good fortune to spend from now on.
After checking some more, they went through the rest of the remaining vaults, Severus asked the goblin to do a count of the money in each vault.
Once they had finished going through all the Vaults in the Prince's possession, they both returned to the goblin's office.
"So how much money is there in total?" asked Severus.
The goblin pulled out the parchment where he had been writing down and began to read it.
"How much money does the prince's vault have in total or the sum of all the Vaults?" the goblin asked.
"Between all the Vaults, how much money is there?" asked Severus again.
"Mmmmm ... here you go" the goblin passed a piece of paper to Severus.
Total money Vaults in possession of the Princes.
570,000 gallons
770,700 sickle
1700,007 knuts
Severus almost lost his composure as he read the paper.
He knew the Princes had great wealth, especially as he went through vault by vault himself.
But never in his dreams had he dreamed of having such a large fortune in his lifetime, he was almost as rich as the Malfoy's and that was too much.
But considering his family's profession it was understandable, potions made a lot of money, but still, it was a huge amount of money.
Galleons were the most valuable coins. Seventeen sickles made a galleon and 29 knuts made a sickle.
Severus had an approximate wealth of around 600.000 galleons. A sum that made him one of the richest wizards in Britain and perhaps the world.
Although this is without considering the assets and investments they had.
From what Severus saw, the House of Prince was on the poorer side when it came to significant holdings in the magical world, but the Prince family was never very large, so it was understandable.
An average pureblood family had around 400.000 galleons in the vault constantly. Those with large assets and investments are more recognized.
And the richest families in the magical world had around 700.000 galleons in the vault constantly. Most of them had a large number of properties, assets, businesses, and investments.
But it could be said that Severus was now wealthy enough to buy whatever he wanted. But he would look for more, he was sure he could triple his money if he played his cards right. He had the knowledge and the wit, he just lacked the money and now he had it.
The most Severus had ever made in money in a year was around 177 galleons.
"Hmm ... well, I'll withdraw for now 7000 galleons first" Severus would use this money to improve his current lifestyle, and then the rest he will be investing to generate more income.
After withdrawing the paperwork and withdrawing the money, Severus left the bank and returned with Hermione.
