Chapter 18: Lord Prince

Severus and Korgad walked through several rooms and offices until they reached the end of one of the long corridors where they found themselves in front of two large black doors with no knob, but with a strange slot in the middle.

"Place the ring in the slot," the goblin told him, pointing to the slot in the middle of the doors.

Severus placed the ring and a few moments later the two large black iron doors opened inwards revealing a large chamber.

Severus watched amazed as the huge chamber was carefully arranged with many candles around it.

He didn't know much about rituals, but he knew enough to know that there was always a price and that was why it was illegal.

In this case, Severus knew that the goblins had managed to minimise this price to be paid in ritual, to the point where the Ministry of Magic agreed to make an exception for blood rituals used in heredity testing, but in any other case the use of rituals was strictly forbidden.

"Sit in the centre of the chamber," the goblin indicated, showing the only place in the chamber where there were no candles in sight.

Severus obeyed and then watched as Korgad pulled out a silver dagger, wrote runes on it, and poured a potion over it.

After doing so, the goblin began to chant in an unknown language.

Severus' eyes widened as Korgad stopped chanting and then walked over to him, grabbed his head, and carved some sort of rune into his forehead.

It hurt Severus to feel the dagger cutting and burning as he carved the rune into his forehead, but it was not an excruciating pain for him, he had suffered far worse.

The goblin took three steps back.

"Now the test begins," Korgad said.

The instant the goblin said that Severus felt as if molten lava was flowing through his veins, second by second the feeling intensified.

Slowly he began to feel as if he was being torn apart from the inside, his head began to spin and ache.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and it seemed to pounce on his memories, his thoughts, and everything in his head.

Severus could recognise that this flash was the Force itself affecting his emotions as in meditation.

But the surprising thing was that it was made up of both the dark side and the light side.

Severus tried to stop it from affecting his mind, but it was almost impossible to stop its advance, it was the same feeling young Snape had with the Sorting Hat.

A unique magic that was impossible to stop, a magic that could see everything about you, but Severus knew that this kind of magic could not give that information to others, it was very old magic, Severus had read about this kind of magic when studying the Sorting Hat.

But the information was quite limited, there was only mention of this magic.

But now he was sure that this magic was the dark side and the light side, it was something dangerous and powerful, that acted on one's emotions.

But as far as he knew, this magic could only be given the function of using the information for specific purposes, like the Hogwarts hat that only used this information for selection and could not distribute or show this knowledge to others, unless the wizard in question allowed it.

'Such strange and unique magic' Severus thought despite the complications he was going through.

Severus could now surmise that this heredity testing ritual tested various aspects of one, blood, body, soul, and mind.

Severus went through a sort of mental test and when it was over the light was consumed by the darkness of his mind, this darkness completely and easily devoured the light that seemed so omnipotent when it entered his head.

'I guess that's all, I thought it would be harder...' Severus said to himself a little disappointed.

Such impressive and unique magic, but the mental test was so simple that it only took him a few moments to pass it.

Shortly after the light disappeared into the darkness, the sensation of pain in his body and blood slowly began to subside.

Finally, a few minutes later, when any pain or discomfort caused by the ritual had almost completely passed, Severus heard the goblin speak.

"You have finished the test," Korgad informed him.

"So... this..., that's all?" asked Severus intrigued, he was quite confused at this point, he didn't know if he had already passed or if there were any more mental tests left.

He had heard that the mental tests for the inheritance of noble families used to be like a torture.

"Well, I must congratulate you, Mr. Prince, from now on you will be considered the rightful heir of the Prince family and future Lord Prince."

"So, the test is over and it was a success?" asked Severus again a little surprised, although he expected this result, after how simple the ritual was, he expected there to be something more.

" That is right. Let me tell you, in all my years of taking this test of heredity, this is the first time I've ever encountered a ritual that ended so quickly and smoothly," said the goblin, looking analytically at Severus as if he were a very strange wizard.

"Well... there are always exceptions," Severus commented not knowing what else to say.

'It's not my problem that wizards are a bunch of wimps' complained Severus, he supposed the ritual must be quite a test for most wizards who never suffered anything serious in their lives.

"Uh-oh, yes, as you say, there are always exceptions" Korgad nodded.

"But that I have seen..., only when one is a baby" he added.

"A baby... What do you mean?" asked Severus who was intrigued by the meaning of the goblin's words.

"Well..., all the rituals for the Inheritance test performed on young wizards are, for the most part, long, painful, tedious, and involve some problem that we must solve," Korgad began to explain.

"That is why it is recommended to do the heredity test at a young 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 be short-lived, as the mental test they go through does not usually affect the Babies, and only usually gives a negative or positive result without much further complication" Korgad finished.

"I see..." nodded Severus not very impressed by what he said, this only clarified his conjecture that wizards were just a bunch of wimps.

"I can only say that your case Mr. Prince is similar to a baby's."

"I guess I'm just different from the average wizard who does the ritual," Severus commented quietly.

"Yes..., strange, very strange, but as you say, not impossible," nodded a thoughtful Korgad.

"Now you'd better go to Dorbuck's office, he is the goblin in charge of the Prince family finances and vaults, he will tell you everything you need," he added.

"I understand, I will do that," nodded Severus.

"One more thing," said the goblin, taking some papers and handing them to Severus.

"Take this, give it to Dorbuck, he will take care of validating you as the new and rightful owner of the ring, as the ring is now magically locked, if it is not unlocked, you will not be able to access the Prince's vaults"

"Right, thank you," said Severus taking the papers and heading back to the centre of Gringotts bank where the goblin offices were located.

"Excuse me, I would like to speak to Dorbuck, could you tell me which is his office?" asked Severus to one of the goblins in the many offices.

The goblin gave him an irritated look, then grunted slightly and pointed to one of the offices.

"That's goblin Dorbuck's office," he snorted and pointed, and after saying that he turned back to his duties without paying any more attention to Severus.

Severus didn't bother to say anything else to him and went to the office he pointed to.

When he arrived he was greeted by a goblin he assumed was Dorbuck.

"You are Dorbuck, the goblin in charge of the Prince's finances and vaults?" asked Severus.

"Hmm..., That's right, what can I do for you wizard?" asked the goblin called Dorbuck, but the instant he saw the ring in Severus' hand, the goblin had a good guess as to what it was all about.

"I would like to see the Prince's properties, finances, and vaults as the new heir. Here are the necessary papers to validate that," Severus said as he handed him the papers Korgad had given him.

"Oh..., I see, let's see what we have here," Dorbuck said with a glint of interest in his eyes as he took the papers Severus handed him.

"Hmm, well..., it seems that everything is in order Master Prince, from now on you will be listed as the rightful heir of the Prince family and will be renamed Severus Tobias Prince"

" Fine," answered Severus, already knowing that the change of surname was one of the mandatory requirements to inherit the Prince family legacy.

Severus couldn't help but smile in amusement at the goblin's obvious change in attitude now that he knew he was the Prince heir.

"Master Prince, my name is Dorbuck, I am the accounts manager of the old Prince house. It is an honour to meet you and a relief to know that the house of Prince has found a new heir," the goblin said respectfully.

Severus nodded.

"Thank you, Account Manager Dorbuck, your words are welcome. Now, what do you say if we continue?"

"Oh, sure. Whatever you need, Master Prince"

"Okey..., I was informed that I need to unlock the magic of the Prince's ancestral ring to gain access to the belongings my family has, Tell me, how does it work and how would the unlocking be accomplished?"

"Well, as the legitimate heir to the House Prince, the entire inheritance rests with you, making you the sole heir, and the Ring will allow you to have full access to all of the House Prince's possessions," Dorbuck explained.

"Oh, and since you are now 16 and emancipated, you can now take the title of Lord Prince once the Ring is unlocked," he added.

"Interesting and to do this, doesn't the Ministry of Magic or the Wizengamot have to be told?" asked Severus rather intrigued on that matter.

He didn't want others to know about his heritage just yet, he preferred to stay out of the public eye for a while, he still had a lot of things to do, and drawing too much attention from the magical community would take the time that he didn't want to waste now.

Dorbuck nodded and explained: "Hmm, well, that only happens when the heir is from a house of British origin."

"But as the House 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 declare your heritage and your position as Lord is only yours."

Severus just nodded satisfied.

"Even though it is not necessary, as your account manager, I must recommend that you report your status as the new heir of the House Prince" clarified and recommended the goblin as he saw Severus' intentions.

"The Prince House may not have British origins, but it is closely linked to the Wizengamot and the British Ministry of Magic, as over the years the political power and influence of the Prince family has grown in Britain and is on the same level as any other noble house of British origin," Dorbuck informed him.

"Don't worry, I understand perfectly, but for now I prefer to familiarise myself with my heritage and once I feel in a position to report my status, I will let you know Dorbuck," said Severus.

"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 Dorbuck 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 inner workings could be heard as it appeared to open.

When the compartment opened, the goblin took a bowl with the Prince's House crest on it along with a wooden scroll inside.

Then Dorbuck closed it, took the ring, and returned to where Severus stood.

"Very well, Master Prince, I am going to ask you to pour 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.

'Yeah... They definitely have a thing for blood' Severus thought.

But he complied without a word and spilled a few drops of blood, then the Goblin took the ring and dipped it into the bowl of blood.

The ring did not seem to undergo any drastic changes, only the black serendibite gem glowed for a few moments before fading to leave the gem a bluish colour.

"Very well, you may now take the ring Lord Prince and from now on you have full access to the inheritance of House Prince," Dorbuck reported respectfully.

Severus only took a few moments to look at him before he reached out, took the ring, and placed it back in his hand.

The ring was made of pure gold with a large serendibite gemstone, which had previously been black but now turned blue, which was rather odd for that type of gemstone.

"Does the change in colour of the gemstone have anything to do with the magical blockage it had?" asked Severus curiously as he looked at the ring.

Dorbuck smiled, which was rather frightening, then handed him the wooden scroll.

"It is as you think. That was the final confirmation that you are in fact the Prince's heir," the goblin nodded.

"The ancestral ring confirms in that way that you are worthy to wear the ring and as such, that you are worthy to be the next Lord Prince," he added.

"I see..., how interesting, the black color of the gem indicated its magical lock, while the blue color is the result of the unlocking" Severus nodded in understanding and took the scroll Dorbuck gave him.

"In the scroll, you will find a summary of all the finances, properties, assets, vaults, liquid assets, the commercial capital, and all the general belongings of the Prince House" Dorbuck informed Severus once he took and saw the scroll.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi my dear readers,

I hope everyone is enjoying my FF.

Now, I need your opinion on how many gallons (approximate) you think an important family like the Prince's should have.