Chapter 25

When Severus woke up on Sunday morning, he got ready and gathered all of his things. He was finally seventeen and was now considered an adult wizard and was legally allowed to leave school grounds on weekends without restrictions. It wasn't uncommon for students to leave, often traveling to Hogsmeade mostly, but there were the few cases where they traveled farther distances. It was, however, required that they at least inform a teacher that they will be leaving so that they are aware, but a teacher may not prevent a student unless they have prior business or reasonable exclusions like detention or exams. They also had to follow the time guidelines of being in the common rooms at a certain hour, which wasn't a problem for Severus since he should arrive back by the time of dinner.

He had originally wanted to wait until after breakfast to get something to eat before leaving, but it would just be easier if nobody even knew he left in the first place. The less people that knew about his meeting at the bank was for the better, especially with Malfoy around who could cause havoc at any given notice. Not to mention that Malfoy was one year older than him and would be able to accompany him. Severus wouldn't have any protection without being on school grounds, so it was better that nobody knew at all. Which is why he didn't tell anybody where he was going or what he was going to do. The only person that even knew that he wasn't going to be there was Hagrid because he told him that very morning since he trusted Hagrid and because Hagrid was the only one who was awake at that time.

He wished him luck and a safe travel before Severus made his way. It would have been easier and faster for him to use apparition, but Severus didn't have his license. Not that it would be hard for him to get it, but as of now he doesn't have one. Apparition was difficult at first, but Severus was able to understand it and was able to do it faster than most people. He had mastered it by the time of winter break, but he wasn't old enough to apply for the license until now. It was something that Severus plans to do after his meeting at the bank, along with shopping for more supplies and clothing. There was a lot that he needed to do at Diagon Alley, but he wouldn't be able to do everything that day. He would need to make a second trip the next weekend if he could.

The walk to Hogsmeade was long and cold. The only entertainment that Severus had was his thoughts and the crunching of the snow. By the time he arrived at the Three Broomsticks, the sun was barely rising and the pub was barely opening for the morning breakfast rush. It was the only place that Severus could use the floo to get to Diagon Alley and return.

When Severus opened the door, there was a handful of people sitting about drinking tea and eating a small breakfast at the table or at the bar. Madam Rosmerta was behind the bar and had asked him what he wanted. Severus asked for the use of the floo and he then paid her the required amount for the powder. He made his way and walked into the fireplace and was soon devoured by hungry green flames.

When Severus walked out, he recognized the wonky trail and the dozens of shops that made Diagon Alley. Making his way to the bank, Severus mentally noted all the things he needed to do before his return to Hogwarts.

It was still very early in the morning and many of the shops had yet to open. There were only a few stragglers wandering around who were setting up their shops or simply out for a walk. It was times likes these that truly made Diagon Alley look like a ghost town instead of its lively, magical splendor. It was haunting.

When Severus had found the bank, he made his way inside and took notice of his surroundings. He has only been here a handful of times, never really needing to open a bank account, despite the amount of money he had made throughout his years at Hogwarts and the sum of galleons that his mother had given him recently. He had kept a bottomless bag to keep his savings and had always kept it in a safe place, which has recently become the chest. He had brought half of it with him today, planing to open a small account to keep in the bank for safekeeping and the rest at Hogwarts for spending and emergencies.

While there was no safer place than Gringotts, Severus, like many Slytherins, hide many of their darkest and most valuable treasures close.

For a moment, Severus didn't know who he should speak to or where he should go. All of the goblins were busy with some sort of work of either counting gold or keeping track of their paperwork. None of the seem approachable which made it difficult for Severus to seek assistance. Luckily, he was approached by a goblin by the name of Tunik who had lead him to Griphook.

He was short, like many goblins, with a pale complexion. His ears wear big and pointy and his hair was slicked back with grays meeting black. His eyes, Severus noticed, were the most unsettling aspect of the goblin. They were completely black and beady, filled with hatred and distrust. His pointy nose and lips were scrunched as if he ate lemon. Any look Black or Tobias has ever given him could never amount to the absolute disgust and displeasure that graced his features. If Severus was a lesser man, he would cower or be fearful of the goblin in front of him. But as it were, he stood tall with a blank expression. Nonetheless, he was still respectful even if the goblin eyed him with the rudest and ugliest looks Severus has ever seen. This, had lead a quirk of the lip and a hint of surprise to form in the those black eyes. It was no secret to everyone else of Griphook's hate and prejudice of wizards who believed themselves to be better than 'lesser' creatures such as goblins. Any form of formality shared with him was often a surprise.

Severus was soon led to a small room, furnished with only the basic necessities: lightening, a desk, and two chairs. Griphook directed Severus to the chair facing the desk as he walked towards the other. Severus thanked him as the goblin summoned several pieces of parchment to fly towards them.

With a quick glance at the papers, Griphook looked at Severus with unimpressed eyes.

"Severus Tobias Snape, son of muggle, Tobias Snape, and Eileen Snape nee Prince. As of yesterday, January 9, 1977, you are now a full fledge adult and have now met the requirements needed to review the heritage documents left by your grandparents, Victor Prince and Emelia Prince. It has been stated that should no other possible heir should arise, then the son of Eileen Prince will inherit the wealth, social standings, as well as take the title of Lord Prince, given that he meets the requirements to obtain the title as a Lord, he will also inherit the political power that goes with it, by his seventeenth birthday. Should, for any reason, an extended member of the family who has met the requirements should challenge him for the family fortune or title, then a Wizard's Duel will be filed by the Ministry immediately and will take place in the fortnight. As of this moment, no one has rosen to challenge you and this clause is now null and void given no challenge has been sent within the twenty-hour period since you had neither forfeit your claim or have been declared unfit, which now makes you the rightful heir to the Prince fortune and a possible candidate to the title of Lordship."

With the snap of his fingers, words wrote themselves elegantly across the parchment and it had disappeared. Severus had barely been able to comprehend all that was being said by the goblin before he was show all the papers left to him by his grandparents. There was a long list in the will that illustrated everything that he will inherit, including the rather large sum of money that is now left in his vault. He was also given several mansions across the world, including the prize Prince Manor.

His mother used to tell him stories of Prince Manor and all the beauty it entail. However, there was also the dark bits that lurked within.

The Prince family was a long and old line of purebloods. They rivaled the Malfoys both in wealth and in power. Similarly, they also held strong beliefs about blood purity and status and enforced it whenever they deemed it necessary by any means. Yet, they were not a dark family like the Blacks nor were they a light family like the Potters. They mostly kept themselves in the gray area, standing on neutral ground.

They have sided and fought in several wars across history. They were the elite of strong and powerful wizards that possessed great abilities. It was pleasant to know that Severus obtain all of his natural abilities through his mother since centuries worth of masters and powerful men and woman lied within him, sharing the same blood and now the same family.

However, as great as it is that he had essentially obtain a rather 'royal inheritance,' there was still the question of why? It didn't make sense. His grandparents had disowned his mother and in lines of all standings, that rejection would follow to him as well, yet it didn't. By all means, Severus should never had inherit anything and he had asked Griphook for the reason.

"While it is usual for a pureblood family such as the Prince's to allow anyone to become heir to the fortune and a Lord of the family without having the proper blood status (deemed by the family), there is the decline of blood purity. Pureblood families are running thin. However, while there might be extended family members that fit the requirements for the role of inheritance, the Prince family had always deemed that everything must stay within the immediate family, to never trust an outsider as all that are not part of the family are considered a threat. Which I am sure you have noticed with the….other pureblood families."

The Blacks and the Malfoy were the first ones to pop in his head. They were always distrustful of everyone since anyone at anytime could betray them. That didn't mean that family couldn't betray them either for several families have stories of family betrayals, but at the very least they were united for appearances. Nonetheless, family was family. Not in the regards that they cared for one another, but they were a united front and had to stick together to maintain blood purity, secrets, and discretion. Severus, as far as he was concern, didn't mean any of the requirements. He was not only a half-blood, but he was also a stranger to all concepts of being a Lord of anything and the ways of the Prince family. Sure he has learned with his time in Slytherin, learning everything he needed to have any sort of social standing and to not make a complete fool of himself, but he was nowhere near as trained as the others.

As much as fools as they are, Potter and Black were still purebloods and were raised to act as such, despite Potter's 'kindness' compared to others, there was still the fact that he was in a higher class than other wizarding folk given that he was a Potter. He might not act like a proper gentleman, but should it ever require it, then Severus was sure that he would be able to hold himself to someone worthy of being the next Lord Potter, as would Black. But it still didn't add up as to why they had chosen him. Surely, they could have spread out the riches to extended family,the title of Lord Prince could have been given to someone else as well, yet they had chosen to leave everything to him with no warning or reason. Griphook had informed that the piece he had read was all that was required for him to inherit it. However, given Severus's quick response to the bank, any member of his extended family could have come in and declared that he was unfit and would be able to take everything from him without him even knowing that there was anything for him to inherit. Without the death of his mother, any request for audience could have gotten lost if it wasn't already requested by his mother to have these forms be grouped with the letter from the Ministry. Which means his mother knew about his inheritance before hand as well and made sure he would know about it when the time came for him to inherit it. Even then, anyone with any power could have prevented him from learning about this and, without any appearance at all, he would essentially had forfeit any right to the will and it would have been sent to the next of kin which was oddly enough, the Malfoys according to Griphook.

It peeved Severus to no end that he was not only the heir to the Prince fortune since the time of his twelfth birthday, but he could have gone his whole life without knowing it if any letter informing of him of it had gotten lost and he would have, unknowingly, forfeit his right to him claim and it would have been given to the Malfoys.

With the discussions out of the way, there were several test that had to be followed which included a test to ensure that he shared the Prince blood, which was done by a quick blood inheritance ritual by Griphook, and the signing of several papers with a blood quill. Soon, Severus was taken to his family's vault and was shown so much money that Severus would never be able to spend even a quarter of it in a single life time. It was there that Griphook gave him a dirty look and presented him with the Prince's family ring.

"This ring will only accept those that share the Prince's bloodline. It is not only a representation of your status, but is also the source to allow free reign to all things the Prince family owns. However, this ring is usually given to the Lord who is not only the head of the family, but it also the one who controls the political power of the family, but is is also the one who makes the rules of the family. As of now, you have met the requirements to be the heir, which includes owning the land and wealth of the Prince family, but you will not be able to become a Lord until you have met the rest of the requirements of the family. In order to become a Lord, you must marry a pureblood of the same social standing. Traditionally, you would marry someone who would join your family, but given your blood status, you would obtain all the rights of a Lord through your spouse who will become both Lord of his family, but yours as well. You will not be able to take the title since you will technically be marrying outside of the family. The title will be given to your kin and chosen heir, who can then legally change the laws of inheritance of the family for their discretion. You will still obtain everything; however, people can still challenge you for the title of Lord until the day you are married. While they might not obtain any of the wealth, they will obtain all political power of the family."

"Political power?" asked Severus.

"Each family, who has any political power, can determine who will become the next Minister of Magic and can influence all legal legislations, including the making or the removal of any laws and clauses. Wizarding Politicals doesn't follow the same as Muggle Politics. It does not run by the concept one person, one vote. Wizarding Britain doesn't run under a democracy, Votes are cast by heads of family. A family obtains a certain amount of votes based on their holdings, magical powers, and social standing. If enough families can sway a enough votes to one goal, then they have enough political power to cast votes for a political decision. "

"How many do the Prince family have?"

" Forty-eight."

Severus knew some of the things the goblin was talking about, he's heard much discussions from many pureblood families. He knew that the Black family had thirty-eight votes and the Malfoy had forty-two. If Severus loses the rights of Lordship to the next of kin, it can go to the next available member of the family which can be both Malfoy or his father, who will not only be able to cast their own votes but the Prince's family as well.

This explains a lot as to why there was such a big riot in the political stands against muggleborns' and other magical creatures' rights before the uprising with the Dark Lord. A muggleborn can petition for a vote, but one vote doesn't have much sway in anything. As time goes on, they can obtain more votes once they obtain land or is recognize by the Ministry for more votes, but it would be better if they were to ally themselves to a head of house who will cast their votes along with their own so that they have bigger say and impact in politics. All of these votes have been gathered through several generations for each family. No muggleborn would be able to obtain enough votes to have any influence at all which explains some of the issues between muggleborns and purebloods. With all the political power in their hands, it is easy for purebloods to pass legislation against them. Despite this, they are currently in a war as of now and while it might not seem like it is, it will eventually become more apparent sooner or later. Even so, the damage seems to be done and what would be the use of keeping these votes. However, it is better to have this power for future references and to not allow the Malfoys to cause further damage in the Ministry. By combining both the Malfoys and the Prince's votes, they will not doubt have absolute power with everything. Plus, there were no laws that prevented this this since many families have combined families through marriage and their heirs would obtain the Lordship of both families. The last thing they need is to have Ministry be run by the Dark Lord and his followers.

"Who knows of this and who can challenge me for the title," Severus asked.

"No one will be informed since you had answered, but a letter would have followed to the next of kin and other extended family members if you hadn't. Anyone who was informed of the context of the will by the previous Lord could also be aware. We have no documentation of who is aware, but the will neither states nor gives permission to release this information. Should anyone find out, it would not be the work of the bank, but from an outside source. Anyone who meets the requirements and shares the blood of Prince can challenge you. The full family tree is in the family book. They can challenge you at any point until you are married. Once you are married, your spouse would not only take the title of Prince, but would also be able to cast your votes as he or she would be the new head of the family."

"And what if I don't marry a pureblood?"

"You will keep the fortune, land holdings, valuables, and social standing, but you will lose the title and political power since you will not meet the requirements to obtain Lordship. And while you will be technically marrying out of the family, you are still the heir to the Prince family and you will be under the rule of the both Lords unless you offically remove yourself from the family which includes the returning of the land and the fortune. And as was stated before, the Lord makes rules for the family since they are the head and you must follow the rules of them."

"What does that entail exactly?"

"They can control every action that you do. They can forbid who you can marry, what career you do, design where you live, remove you from the family, and would be in charge of everything you own."

"So I could lose everything either if I get married or if I don't?"

"Depends who becomes Lord and who you marry. If you marry someone, your spouse would become Lord, they can chose to give back the powers of Lordship to you, but given the current rules of the family, they will simply just keep the title. This can be done legally so that there are no take backs."

"Is there a time limit?"

"Until you thirtieth birthday. It can only be extended if your in an arranged marriage that will take place after the time limit. However, it can only happen if a contract was made that has been legally approved by the Ministry and by us."

Severus thinned his lips and asked a few more questions. However, he stopped after a couple more when he noticed that the goblin's patience was pressed enough. After a few more questions, Severus left to complete his business.

Technically, he owned everything as of now, except the title and the political power which is up for grabs if anyone were to find out. He was given the ring and is allowed to wear it to show that he is the heir to the family and with it, he has access to everything. However, as pleasant as that it is, Severus cannot wrap his head around the idea that in order for him to keep everything and to not allow himself to be under the control of the Malfoys, he needs to marry a pureblood of the same standing. At the very least, he wasn't already in pre-arranged in a marriage, but that doesn't change the fact that he needs need to marry or lose everything given to him. However, this wasn't the time for marriage. Severus couldn't even begin to think who he could possibly marry either. Luckily, it appears that no one is aware of this opportunity. From the family book, there are few people already that he's frightful of them finding out. That includes the Malfoys, the Blacks, and the Lestranges.

Future up the family tree, there were a few blood lines that branched off towards other families like the Longbottoms, the Prewett, and the Macmillan family. All of them are suitable candidates.

It would be better if Severus either signs it all away or if he gets married soon as possible. He didn't want to do either of them. Hopefully, no one will find out about this predicament.