A/N – Remember that most of them is from nobility and that all of them are more or less related to each other. When you have small pool of available families, you don't have a lot to say about your husband or wife and usually parents arrange one for their children. Unless family is so rich that they simply don't need more alliances or money from dowry.
If I will switch between Sagittarius and Castor, I mean Sagittarius unless stated differently. In story that I write main character is named Castor Leo Alexander and I'm used to him. So if I will misplace them, bear with me.
I'm bored in the middle of a night and I need to do something, so here you have the next chapter as I don't have access to my other works. Next chapter of this should be by Tuesday or so.
"So what is so important that you spent talking over thirty minutes with mum about it?" Asked Cassiopeia Virgo de Normandie, daughter of the George Albrecht Anson, Lord of the Noble House of Anson. She was quite tall and was described as a woman of beauty with long silky golden hair and sea green eyes.
"Will of my cousin and execution of it." Said Sagittarius as his eyes landed on their sons, Orion looked like his carbon copy only shorter, while Regulus had golden hair and indigo eyes. Which made them look even darker than they were in reality. They looked as if they were dark violet or almost black, not dark blue.
"Oh?"
"I talked with Amelia and Ragnok about it, according to it we were supposed to take care of Hadrian James Arcturus Orion Potter. All things will be transfered to us and it should be done."
"He is year older than Reg and three younger than Orion?"
"Yes" Nodded Sagittarius "Currently he is with Muggles, but it is a matter of one or two days for paperwork to be done. In the meantime Ragnok is checking their vaults."
"I don't have any issues with it." She said as she looked beyond the terrace border and towards the sea that was there. "After all James was Orion godfather and we were always welcomed in Griffin House."
"You two will learn about it in due time." Said Sagittarius looking at his sons as they looked at him wanting answers, with those puppy eyes that were so innocent and so convincing, forcing Sagittarius to lightly shook his head and focus on something else. "But I think you will like what we are talking about."
o-0-o
Two days later Sagittarius once again was in the office of Amelia Bones to see her about paperwork required for guardianship and what she learned about the will and Harry or Hadrian.
"Guardianship is done." She said handing stack of papers to Sagittarius "You also get Regency for him and proxy in Wizengamot, which you will need to announce during next session. I managed to do that discreetly and unless someone will be looking for it he won't find it, at least until that session, maybe even few days longer."
"What about Sirius?" Asked Sagittarius as he looked through those papers. All was in order with all necessary signatures and seals, making them biding documents.
"I started digging through whatever is on his case and it will take me few more weeks to get it done, I sent a message to Azkaban to get him here when I will need him, and he wasn't sentenced per se, he was simply shipped there."
"Without any trial?" Asked Sagittarius, his eyes narrowing and magic crackling all around him as he tried to control his fury.
"Yes, on paper it looks like there was a one, but when you dig deeper you see a lot of missing pieces. But going back to Harry, he is in Surrey and on Privet Drive 4."
"So Petunia didn't move from the last time I saw her." Mused Sagittarius "I will get him later today or tomorrow as I need to sort out few things. But anyways, I plan on disappearing with him to our castle in Kent or one on Sicily. As I don't want to be closer to Dumbledore than necessary."
"I see" She said and looked at Sagittarius "What about his ring and Potter vaults?"
"I will go to Gringott with him to get the ring and I have vaults sorted out with Ragnok. Right now ring isn't that important as I will be a regent for him and I will deal with all of the political games and managing the estates, along with goblins that is. Also his family vaults are a material for another case, yet connected with a current one."
"How so?"
"There were unauthorized money transfers, whole lot of it. While it isn't that much from the context of what is inside of them, it's a still substantial amount."
"How much?" She asked wondering what he meant by substantial amount.
"Over last seven years hundred and forty thousand galleons." Said Sagittarius and watched as Amelia jaw almost hit the desk.
"What?" She asked "That's whole lot of money, more than some people earn in few years."
"Yes" Nodded Sagittarius "And all landed as Muggle money on the account belonging to Petunia Dursley."
"Interesting, it will take some time, but I will see what I can do about that." She said and Castor nodded as it was the best answer he could get from her.
He took the papers and walked out of the office, on his way out of it he grabbed piece of rope that he would use to make a portkey to get to Surrey to get Harry out of there. It was the safest way of travel and one of the fastest.
o-0-o
Sagittarius used portkey and landed in the middle of the average looking neighborhood, nothing too fancy and nothing too poor, just your average neighborhood one that looked completely normal. He was wearing his formal robes, so he casted a simple charm to look somewhat normal as a wizard in formal robes gleaming with gold and precious stones would get a lot of attention. He looked around for a Privet Drive 4.
When he was doing that he noticed scrawny boy of eight working in one of gardens with spectacles on his eyes and with mop of unruly jet black hairs.
"He is definitely a Potter." Muttered to himself Sagittarius as he strolled towards him, watching his surroundings carefully for any traps, wards and whatnot as Dumbledore was known for being a cautious man and loved to leave gifts for curious people. He discreetly waved wand around trying to spot and disarm any potential traps and other things.
"Dumbledore and his caution." Muttered Sagittarius as he disarmed over ten various wards and three sensors, some of them extremely subtle and powerful that not many would knew how to deal with them. "He is rather possessive of Harry or Hadrian, good thing that I spent last few years working on various wards and disarming of them." Thought Sagittarius as he disabled yet another trap and walked to the Private Drive 4. He so far ignored Harry as he would wait for a moment and instead walked to the front doors and rung the bell to get the attention of whoever was inside.
"What?" Asked Petunia when she opened the doors.
"Petunia Dursley née Evans, younger sister of Lily Evalyn Potter née Evans?" Asked Sagittarius looking at her as if he considered her an interesting subject.
"Yes" Weakly said Petunia, paling slightly as if she recognized him.
"Shall we talk about this inside?" Suggested gently Sagittarius as he pushed his way inside, Petunia only nodding. "You should recognize me." He focused on himself and the charm placed on his clothes disappeared revealing his robes.
"You?!" Screeched Petunia when she realized who was standing in front of her.
"Yes, me" Nodded Sagittarius as he sat on the couch in the living room and looked at Petunia "I came here to talk about my second cousin once removed, Hadrian James Arcturus Orion Potter who should be in my care, yet is here. And I'm rather unhappy about the way you treat him."
"Vernon!" Shouted Petunia and moments later she was joined by man that looked like a crossbreed of walrus and giant.
"What is it Pet?" He asked as he stopped and looked at Sagittarius, who looked as relaxed as ever. But that was only the outer view, while in truth he was like a coiled snake, ready to attack at any given moment.
"That man." She spat pointing at Sagittarius "Is one of those freaks and he says he isn't happy with a way we treat that boy."
"You!" Yelled Vernon as he looked at Sagittarius "Get out of my house and about that boy, we try to turn him into a fine citizen, yet he is still a freak."
Sagittarius only sighed when he heard those words. He expected something like that to happen. "You won't call me or my cousin a freak, I'm in good mood today, but that can change. Let's see, changing you into a set of china and smashing against the wall sounds good." When he said those words they started paling and taking steps away from Sagittarius. Who only took out his wand and pointed at them.
"What do you want?" Asked Petunia a little pale.
"Talk like a reasonable people about my cousin and few other things. So sit down and behave like normal people you claim to be."
Petunia looked at Vernon and slowly nodded as they knew they didn't have a choice as Sagittarius could simply force them to talk, even if they were going to ignore him or at least try to do so.
"About what do you want to talk?" She tentatively asked.
"Let's start with this." Said Sagittarius as he placed folder on the table and pushed it towards Petunia "That is copy of the last will and testament of your dear sister, I suggest you read it well."
"What? I'm disinherited and I'm banned of taking care of that boy?"
"Yes you are." Nodded Sagittarius "And it happens that I'm the one that should take care of him."
"Well, you can have him." Said Vernon in dismissive manner "He is a freak and we don't want to have anything in common with him."
"Good" Nodded Sagittarius, bitting back sharper response to that remark about freaks "I will talk with him and we will be gone before you will notice." Before Petunia could say anything else he rose from his seat, walked out of the room and house. He walked outside and towards Harry who was weeding out the garden.
"Yes, definitely a Potter and their son." Sagittarius said under his breath as he was able to take a better look of Harry, who still was unaware of his presence. He clenched his fists when he saw signs of malnutrition and mistreatment visible all over Harry body, he calmed down before saying a word as he didn't want to scare Harry. He took a deep breath before walking towards him.
"Harry Potter?" Asked Sagittarius as he moved closer to that boy, who turned towards him and lightning shaped scar on his forehead was enough of an answer for him.
"Yes and you are?"
"Sagittarius Castor de Normandie, your cousin. Your father was my cousin and a good friend. After their death me and my family were supposed to take care of you, but we had some issues with that, I'm here to ask you if you want to come with me." Explained patiently Sagittarius and watched Harry who seemed to brighten up when he heard those words.
"I would love to, but I need to weed out the whole garden." Said Harry and watched with amazement as Sagittarius took out his wand and moved it all over the garden causing weeds to pop out of the ground and flew into the bucket on their own. "How?" He stuttered too shocked to say anything else.
"Magic is a wonderful thing." Said Sagittarius as he extended his hand "And that was one of the most useful spells."
Harry nodded and grabbed extended hand of Sagittarius who thought where he should go with him, Gringott or de Normandie castle first. He would need to go to Gringott sooner or later, but he decided that it would be later.
"It might be a tiny bit uncomfortable." Said apologetically Sagittarius as he moved his wand in a spiral motion above their heads. When he did that Harry felt like he was pushed through a pipe and moments later they were gone from bleak and normal Surrey and were somewhere else.
"Where are we?" Asked Harry a little pale and nauseous from the first experience of apparition. He looked around taking a note of his surroundings and noticed they were standing in the middle of the gardens leading into something that looked like a castle. When he saw it, his eyes widened a little. "Is that a castle?"
"Yes it is." Nodded Sagittarius chuckling a little at the reaction of Harry, Lily had a similar reaction when she saw it for the first time. "And we are at the eastern tip of Kent. It it and was my family home for a long time."
"How long?" Asked Harry looking at the castle and seeing further details, high and graceful towers with arched stained glass windows with bridges and other passages connecting them. It looked stunning and some of those things seemed to be too light and graceful to be real.
"Very old, one day you will learn exactly how old." Said Sagittarius as he walked forward, between beds of flowering plants in all of the imaginable colors. He walked slowly so that Harry could keep up with him. It also gave him time to add him into the wards of the castle, yet set up in a way that blocked access to the several parts of the library and armory without his agreement. It was mostly a security precaution as there were either dark tomes there or extremely dangerous things that could cause injuries to ones that weren't prepared to use them.
However setting up the wards wasn't the only thing he did, he also did one more important one, he discreetly did some diagnosis charms all over Harry body to see how badly he was mistreated and when he saw the results he wanted to murder someone. But he kept his emotions under tight control, not showing a single sign of worry on his face as they walked through the gardens.
After a few minutes of walk they stopped in front of the large doors leading into the proper part of the castle, they were emblazoned with double crowned lions of de Normandie and were blackened from the age. Sagittarius tapped them with a wand causing them to open and let them into short hall with a high arched ceiling.
"That's the proper part of the castle." He explained to Harry as they walked forward, he stopped in front of the tapestry showing William the Conqueror and tapped it with his wand revealing a passage. "It's riddled with a maze of various secret passages and corridors that allow taking shortcuts."
Harry was mostly silent as they walked forward as he only looked around trying to see the beauty of the castle and to memorize their route. Also he couldn't believe he was seeing what he was seeing as he walked after Sagittarius.
o-0-o
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat in his office doing some paperwork that needed to be done before the start of the new year when one of his trinkets that was supposed to monitor Harry created few small clouds of pitch black smoke and stopped completely working. Followed by the rest of them.
He looked at them and waited as similar situations happened once or twice in the past. However this time they stopped completely working and weren't responding, above most of them formed faint golden mist that created two crowned lions.
"So Sagittarius returned home from France." Muttered Dumbledore as he watched that mist and contemplated what he should do about it. It threw a major hitch into his plans and if Sagittarius was able to dig out that will, he could dig out other things and it would turn into much bigger issue than it already was. Especially with connections that were in possession of de Normandie family, Sagittarius could make his life unpleasant or even dangerous.
He rose from his chair and walked to those trinkets that were still spewing out that mist and didn't want to work. He gently nudged one of them with his wand and watched as it started spinning for a moment until it exploded in a shower of multicolored sparks that flew in all directions.
"So trying to modify them won't work as he raised siege wards, at least the most basic ones and they destroyed it without any problems." Mused Dumbledore "Which means trip to the Ministry."
He turned around picked up some Floo powder from a jar that was standing above the fireplace and threw it into the fireplace and at the same time loudly saying his destination. "Ministry of Magic, Office of the Director of Magical Law Enforcement."
o-0-o
"Alastor" Said politely Amelia Bones when into her office walked in grizzled by war auror, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.
"Amelia" Came growl from Moody "What is so important to call me back from my retirement, where I can enjoy peaceful life."
"Sirius Black."
"Oh?" Asked intrigued Moody
"More properly his case." She explained "Sagittarius de Normandie showed me some interesting documents as well as evidence doesn't add up."
"What do you mean by that?"
She picked up thick folder full of diagrams, witness statements, reports about arrest of Sirius and so on. "According to it, Pettigrew was killed by Black and nothing, but a cleanly cut finger remained. There were twelve Muggles dead around Sirius, not Pettigrew which suggests blast deflected by a shield."
"I guess there is more than that as Fudge would claim that it was a weird spell or something like that." Stated Moody as he reached similar conclusion all those years ago.
"There is." She said and took out leather folder and pushed it to Moody. "What do you think about this?"
"From what I knew about James and Sirius this is correct, also while Sagittarius wasn't an auror and wasn't in England at the end, he was always helping us." Slowly said Moody once he scanned the content of it "So for me this is true and Fudge won't be able to dismiss it."
Amelia only smiled at those words, Moody was as good as he ever was. "I will question Sirius in about week or so as I sent an owl to bring him here and he is getting up after that hell called Azkaban."
Before they could speak for much more flames of Amelia fireplace turned emerald green and from them stepped out Albus Dumbledore in his usual violet robes with silver stars on them and with his constant smile on his lips. Although this one looked far more grim than it usually looked.
"What do you want?" Asked Amelia as she turned around, her voice sounding as a warning and with hint of danger in it.
"Harry Potter is missing." Said Dumbledore as he conjured comfortable armchair and took a seat in it.
"No, he isn't." Said coldly Amelia as she looked with annoyance at that wizard. While she liked Dumbledore, sometimes he was an annoying and was overstepping what was allowed by quite a lot. And this one was one of those cases and she wasn't in a mood for playing games with sharks.
"He must be returned to his relatives at once."
"He is with his living relatives." Said Amelia, her eyes narrowing and voice getting full of obvious signs of her anger. "Sagittarius de Normandie is his second cousin once removed and according to their will he was named Harry, or Hadrian as he should be called, guardian. As well as those relatives you mentioned were disinherited and banned from taking care of him." She put an emphasis on a world relatives, to make it clear what she thought about them. "And I don't think you want to break the law."
"I mean his closest ones." Corrected himself Dumbledore
"Sagittarius claimed guardianship and he already took him to one of de Normandie estates, so you need to catch him if you want to speak with him about Harry." She said in a manner that meant that it was final. Dumbledore was ready to protest, but he stopped when she turned and focused on Moody "So what do you think about this case?"
"Previous files are mostly useless, I would check his wand with Priori Incantantem, just to be sure about the thing, but he is probably innocent." Said Mad-Eye as his own eye landed on Dumbledore who calmly walked to the fireplace and disappeared in swirl of emerald flames. "He is tad possessive of Harry, don't you think he is scheming?" He asked in casual manner, his eyes once again focusing on Amelia.
"He is." She nodded and looked at him. "Sagittarius suspects as much and he mentioned siege wards being at full power. As well as other wards being reinforced by goblins."
"They have that castle in Kent?"
"Yes" She nodded "One of the oldest and one of the best protected ones as well, not many are able to find it, getting inside is far harder than that."
"Good luck to Dumbledore with finding it." Said Moody and looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall. "I need to get going, if you need my help you know where you can find me."
"Thank you for your help. I will send a message to you when I will be ready to question Sirius."
o-0-o
Druella with Cassiopeia sat on the terrace overlooking the sea, however they weren't looking at the sea, they were focused on a boy following Sagittarius into the castle and eventually onto the terrace. Above them was shining summer sun and sky was cloudless, ideal weather for sitting on the terrace and doing nothing at all times.
"He looks like typical Potter." Said Druella sipping her tea and watching Sagittarius, leading Harry here.
"Indeed he does" Agreed Cassiopeia as she looked at Harry "He is rather thin, isn't he."
"He is. As I usually like Muggles and I don't have anything against them, those that are what is left of Lily family are of the worst of the worst kind of them." Said Dorea with some distaste visible in her voice. "When I see them I somehow can understand why my great grandfather Leo Castor loved hunting Muggles."
"You met them?"
"Thrice or so." Replied Dorea after a moment of thought "Once before their wedding, second was during James and Lily wedding and last after it. Rather terrible people, I wonder what Dumbledore thought when he placed Harry there."
"We both know that this old goat is past his expiration date, way past in fact and he could stop meddling in our lives. He should retire from the politics and Mayne focus on Hogwarts or give away Hogwarts and focus on politics, he has too much power and is too old for this." Said Cassiopeia with an enmity or distaste almost palpable in her voice. "From what I spoke with my brother who is current Lord Anson, Dumbledore is still trying to meddle in the Wizengamot, even when he doesn't have that much power."
"I hope he will learn in few months or years that you do not cross me or ones that I care about." Said Druella looking at Sagittarius who was almost at the terrace with Harry.
"He should" Agreed Cassiopeia "Especially if Sagittarius will dig out Sirius out of his prison."
Before Druella could say a word she heard footsteps getting closer and noticed Sagittarius with Harry following him getting closer and closer. She glanced at Harry and easily spotted give away mark of Potter, jet black messy hairs and she noticed his eyes.
"He has his eyes after his mother." Mused quietly Druella as she noticed those emerald green eyes.
"He does." Agreed Cassiopeia as she reached the same conclusion as Druella and switched to Latin so she could speak freely. It was one of three languages that most of pure-blood wizards spoke fluently in, other two were Ancient Greek and either Spanish, French or German as they were used in a lot of older tomes. "Also he seems to be thin and rather mistreated quite badly."
"He does" Sadly nodded Druella "Some of those things will be solved by the time itself and some by magic."
"They will, but now they are here." Said Cassiopeia and looked at Harry who seemed more curious than he was afraid, he wasn't trusting as she could see a hardness in his eyes that he shouldn't have.
"Hadrian James Arcturus Orion Potter." Softly said Druella as she tasted how the name felt as she looked at Harry "It seems that you grew up quite a lot from the time I last saw you almost eight years ago."
"He did" Agreed Sagittarius as he moved to one of free chairs and helped himself to some tea. "Although he still looks like a typical Potter."
"What do you mean by that?" Reluctantly asked Harry.
"Messy black hairs." Explained Sagittarius "No matter what you do with them, you can't control them."
"How do you know that?"
"I have the same problem. Unless you let them grow and tie them into a ponytail they will be messy."
"Since I remember I had the same hairs." Said Harry after a moment of thought.
"Interesting." Mused Sagittarius as he considered the meaning of this, either talented in Transfiguration or metamorphomagus, or both. "There are spells that can help with that."
"Sagittarius!" Drawled dangerously Druella "For that there is time later, maybe some introductions first."
"Of course, mother." Nodded Sagittarius as he looked at Druella.
"Where we were." She mused "Ah, yes introductions." At those words she turned at Harry. "I'm your great aunt Druella and one sitting to my right is your second cousin once removed Regina."
"Nice to meet you, Hadrian." Said Regina
"Hadrian?" Asked Harry
"Your true name" Explained Sagittarius "Hadrian James Arcturus Orion Potter is your whole name. James after your father and my cousin, Arcturus Orion after your great-grandfather Arcturus Orion Black. One who placed you with Muggles gave you Harry as a name, either he didn't know your full name or wanted it to sound more Muggle"
"Muggles?"
"Non-magical people" Explained Sagittarius as he looked at Harry "You are a wizard, did you have any weird situations or events that you couldn't explain." When he said those words Harry simply stared at him as if he couldn't believe those words.
"Few times, somehow I landed on the roof of building and similar things." He said with a frown.
"That was a bit of accidental magic, all of wizards have it, some more spectacular, some less. All depends on a person." Explained Sagittarius "Your father managed to turn color of the curtains by accident."
"It was one of the more amusing things I ever saw." Said Druella and looked at Sagittarius "Maybe you should tell him about the castle? How to move around, secret passages, where his room will be and so on."
"Which room?" Asked Sagittarius as it was a huge castle and getting lost was a common thing for first few days or weeks.
"Lion Tower or Griffin Tower." Mused Druella "I would say Griffin."
"So Griffin it is." Said Sagittarius as he looked at Harry "As I told you, secret passages are almost everywhere and finding them is a bit of challenge. Some are obvious, but some are hidden in much better way."
"Why Griffin?" Asked Harry looking between his great aunt and cousin.
"Because it has paintings and carvings showing griffins." Explained Druella as she looked at Harry, who seemed to be opening. It would be a long process, but he was doing that slowly. "Sag, show him that tower, while I will finish my talk with Cass."
"As you wish, mother." Said Sagittarius with mocking bow and looked at Harry "Come with me." He said gently and Harry followed him out of the terrace and into a maze of the passages.
Druella waited for them to go away and looked at Cassiopeia "He needs new clothes as those rags can't be called clothes. He is Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, so red and gold or their griffin at least. But first he needs to see a healer."
"Aye" Nodded Cassiopeia as she looked at Druella "Orion and Reg will learn about him today or tomorrow."
A/N – Some explanations:
1 – Amelia did the things in a way she did as regency is an important thing and if she would announce that publicly, Sagittarius would gain all the attention he could get.
2 – Sagittarius will be sort of a father/uncle for Harry than cousin. There is over twenty years of difference between them. Orion is four years older, thus making him twelve and Regulus is one year younger than Harry, thus seven years old.
3 – Two rules that I will use to every character. Hero for one side is a villain for the other side. There is no white and black, world is in all shades of gray as nobody is either completely evil or completely good.