Chapter 8
While Hadrian and Hermione waited with Tom in their manager's office, Sharptooth had arrived with a large pile of parchments to affirm and magically sign off approval for new investments. But they decided to attend to their new son's needs first. They appraised Sharptooth as to their expectations and requirements and soon found themselves stripped, scrubbed, cleansed and readied for the blood adoption ritual.
As they waited, Tom had shyly asked if it was okay to pick a name similar to his birth mommy's name and then settled on choosing the name Milen. Short, simple and close enough to the woman who gave life to him. Hermione explained that Milen sounded like a variant of Mileno or Milan, in Czech the name signified favourite, or full of love, grace and warmth. Their little boy was thrilled to hear that.
He was determined to live up to his new name.
A moment of silliness between the new dad and son, much to Hermione's exasperation, ensured that the final name was Milen Alistair Ernest Gaunt, and a shuffled anagram acronym being MAGE. Hermione snorted at the irony of megalomaniacs and their need for grandiose sobriquets and they had turned as one towards her and stuck out their tongues in retaliation while she laughed at them.
Since they all entered the ritual in a happy state of mind, still chortling over the name's acronym anagram, the adoption circle quickly glowed golden and almost seered their eyes with its intensity. But it left poor Milen completely knackered. A quick dose of nutrition potion brewed by the Gringotts Healers, and the newly minted Milen lay back on the stone chambers and drifted off to sleep, finally content and secure in his new mum's embrace.
As Milen slept contentedly, Goblin Healers checked for health issues and found the little one's core bound by more than half. The Caster's magical signature had left traces but was too obscured to make much sense. Hadrian and Hermione exchanged worried glances and were doubly glad that they had gotten the little one out and opted for a ritual to blood adopt and secure his future.
Did that mean that Dumbledore had been tracking Milen? Was there an enemy who had already tracked down and attacked the child well before he would have gone to Hogwarts? Was that why Tom Riddle was so afraid of death and so brutal in self-defence? They would have no way of knowing. Had their rescue increased the risks? This needed further thought and planning. Discussing briefly with Sharptooth and Hermione, Dobby adding his input here and there, they arrived at the conclusion that simply obscuring his bloodlines alone wasn't enough to protect Milen. They swiftly got to work.
The adults set to firstly, opening a new trust Vault for Milen, registering his lineage as through birth parents recorded as two registered squibs, Merope Gaunt and Benedict Dagworth-Granger, both dead. Hermione showed up in the lineage chart as his paternal Aunt and sister of Benedict. This secured her right to adopt and claim herself as his magical guardian, and legally validated the muggle registered adoptions by Hadrian and Hermione Peverell. And Milen's new birth certificate was now dated March 21st, 12:15 PM, 1927, the day of Ostara. An auspicious new beginning.
Any Magical scan would re-affirm her right as the closest blood relative now. She made a mental note to request a copy of the Dagworth-Granger family Tapestry with these unexpected modifications so she could understand her own back story. Dobby, anticipating her need, passed on the requirement to Sharptooth while the family remained occupied with the rituals.
Incidentally, since Gaunts were higher on the social hierarchy than Dagworth-Granger, and Milen being the last of Gaunts, Milen would be Heir Gaunt in the magical world and young Mr Gaunt Dagworth-Granger Peverell in the Muggle world. Even Sharptooth agreed that it was a fine, noble name for a fine, noble young wizard. But the old goblin had insisted that Hadrian not participate in the blood adoption ritual.
The Peverell legacy was for true-born Peverells and Hadrian and Hermione's firstborn child. The child after that would inherit the Dagworth-Granger legacy, by the virtue of magical social hierarchy. Frankly, she was tired of what big mouthfuls the names were getting to be - Honestly! Silly pure-bloods and their megalomania even made simple things like surnames ever so complicated!
Next on the list of agendas was to hide his past identity. His past as Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr also had to be buried far too deep so that Dumbledore would never connect Milen Gaunt to that orphan child. The blood rituals had helped alter his physique somewhat and connect him more firmly to Hermione with their mahogany locks and brilliant blue eyes and now swarthier skin tone.
But even so, there was a big parchment trail for any determined and curious witch or wizard to follow. So the very fact that such a little boy was born, adopted and undergone any ritual or name-change had to be eliminated. Sharptooth systematically erased all traces of the adoption rituals and the parchment trails for fund transfers that occurred until then.
Only copies of the same were locked into a strongbox and set aside to be put away with a Fidelis stone, in the Gaunt Vaults after casting the charm to obscure the truth. It took a couple of hours of playing around with the right phrasing but they finally arrived at a Fidelis for that. The secret had to be phrased just right, to include all pertinent information and hide everything they wanted to hide, leaving no loose ends behind.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle, born 31st December 1926, at Wool's Orphanage, the last of the Gaunts and Merope's only son with muggle Thomas Riddle of Little Hangleton, was blood adopted by Hermione Peverell on 21st December 1930, and his name was changed." was crafted, written with a blood quill and Dobby became the secret keeper for this little nugget of information as well.
Apart from Hadrian and Hermione, no-one else saw the only note ever written on this and the Fidelis ward stone was then buried deep under a large pile of galleons in the newly set up Gaunt Trust Vault. By the end of the process, even Sharptooth had forgotten that Milen Gaunt had been anybody else. The couple watched the sleeping boy as the information was erased from his little mind as well. They could only hope, as parents around the world did, with life-defining decisions, that they were doing the right thing.
So far, what they had seen of the child had proven that he wasn't actually a born psychopath incapable of love, as Dumbledore had often professed. Hermione snorted at that thought and snarled that the old codger had probably been projecting his own fallacies on the other. She had long since lost any and all respect for her one-time hero and would struggle not to sock him one, whenever they met next.
Following Hermione's train of thought, Hadrian had to wonder if the crazy old man was attempting to create another obscurial, first in Ariana, then Credence, then Tom and then even Harry and Neville. That felt like a crazy conspiracy theory but Hadrian could not entirely dismiss the idea out of hand. That reminded him to refresh a mental note to reach out to the Potters and secure an alliance at the earliest possible time.
For now, Milen was out of the old man's reach and had two strong, powerful and vigilant parents to keep him safe and un-tampered. Was it ever enough, though? He shuddered visibly and shook off all morbid thoughts and set his focus firmly on the future. As of this moment, the most prominent names that would emerge at the end of the Global war were yet unencumbered. There was time aplenty to develop and cultivate liaisons.
But politics was a costly business that surely ate into any and all assets if one wasn't careful. So, first, they had to secure their investments and assets.
The next business to attend to with Sharptooth had been their change of investments pattern. They hadn't completely attended to that the last time they had been to the bank. So Hadrian examined the new proposals and also approved investments branching out to buy majority shares in a few flagging businesses based out of the Diagon Alley.
The Daily Prophet and it's associated publications were first in the list. Sharptooth rushed that deal through as a priority as the news in the grapevine indicated that in the absence of serious investors, the now flagging Prophet's bulk of shares were slotted to be handed over to the Ministry. The paper had been losing a lot of revenue in production costs and the owner, an ageing witch well past the age of sensibility, had insisted on not hiking prices from 3 knuts or allow advertisements either.
The current owner luckily happened to be in the bank's reception and was invited to a discussion with Hadrian while Hermione watched over Milen. The two businessiers discussed and haggled briefly before Hadrian was finally sold the full shares of the paper, at a whopping cut-loss of G78,0000. with only the publication rights and licence.
They wanted neither the staff nor the machinery, the building, manpower or premises. The agreement was signed, ownership papers sent off to the ministry for registration under the name of MoD Enterprises, with obscured ownership.
As a last Huzzah, they requested the lady to publish an announcement regarding ownership and name change for the Paper and a brief break for a new-less week before the paper revamped and revived. She agreed. Hadrian sent an unobtrusive memory charm to obscure his name and identity permanently from her memory as an added precaution as well as a subtly layered compulsion to never seek out the new owners.
Before she regained her senses, Hadrian quickly pulled the hood of his robes up and obscured his voice. Then a happy, richer, far less curious lady went off to set the Last publication of the Prophet to print and to announce the end of the Daily Prophet and the beginning of The Daily Herald. He arranged for a placement ad for staff for the Daily Herald, and all applications were to be addressed to Gringotts Manager for the Newspaper.
Hadrian returned to Sharptooth's chambers a happy new owner of a conglomerate. He had already sent Dobby off to acquire muggle machinery for a colour printing press. They had their own spells, potions and runic arrays, taught by Magick herself, to make the printing press to work on magical power and inks, to bring photographs alive and make headlines move.
He also assigned Sharptooth to search the world over, and acquire at least fifty more house-elves. They currently had only thirteen including Dobby and they had always intended to keep the household separate from their business ventures.
The Peverells had planned to shift the newspaper into the previously hidden Peverell-burgh in Scotland, and operate obscurely from there, run mostly by the disenfranchised and other creatures, like elves who could gather information much more easily and undetected and remain loyal and undiscovered. What witch or wizard would believe that elves could be reporters and journalists?
But controlling the media was only the tip of the iceberg as far as their plans went. Hadrian had also wanted to expand on his vast well of knowledge in parsel magic for Healing but he didn't want to work for . He wanted to take steps to ensure that parsel magic was widely recognized as a benign class of magic used only for the good and light purposes, rather than the image Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort had given it.
So, instead of seeking to approach , and work as an expensive healer inaccessible for the masses, he had asked Sharptooth to look for a sufficiently large shop space in the junction between Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley for a private clinic.
Hadrian and Hermione had developed an advanced potion for curing vision related neural ailments as well as a fast-paced nutrition potion suitable for all ages, expressly designed for a quick remedy for those who were malnourished or not developing in a healthy balance. They intended to use that as a promotional point to establish themselves. Hadrian considered taking out an ad in the Herald as well as getting Dobby's helpers to place posters around the magical shopping districts all over Wizarding English Isles.
In a year or two, once they were established names, Hadrian planned to release a revised version of the Wolf's-bane that he had been designing - if his calculations were correct, then it could be administered as a shot, required only minimal doses, and rendered the transformed were's into completely docile creatures who simply slept the nights away. But it was a touchier topic than vision correction or even parsel magics and would require diplomatic handling.
The biggest weak-point in their community was always the untapped powers of the disenfranchised, like creatures and other races, half-breeds like were's and vampires and Hadrian and Hermione were determined to mend the bridges to them all, and ensure their access to any dark lord was cut off. But even they knew how rushing that could backfire badly.
So they would wait and plan and nudge things along. And if they needed more funds to grease palms and ease things along, on their own dime, then their knowledge of the muggle world, futures and investments would come handy.
St. Mungo's had a lot of pureblood prejudices even in their healing practices. Muggleborn, squibs, mixed-breed magicals, and creatures like badly abused house elves had not much to look forward to, in the only hospital in Wizarding England. Hadrian had wanted to open a clinic that would be accessible for all classes of magicals and specifically wished to offer a free clinic for basic healing on Saturdays.
Between Hermione's skills in healing, potions and counselling, and Hadrian's own Parsel magic healing, enchanting, and curse-breaking abilities and knowledge, in tandem with their own war experiences, they could reach out to a lot of disenfranchised magicals, and provide a worthy example to emulate for Milen.
Hadrian wasn't all that worried about their finances, as he had noted that they had multiple avenues for income already and were planning a muggle school soon as well. But Hermione had thought of issues far beyond financial security and in anticipation of a global war. She wanted them to branch into real estate development before the global war touched their shores.
She had considered it not just a good source of revenue, but an excellent way to herd the community together and make them easier to protect. It would be easier to protect the community if they knew exactly how and where to protect themselves and against what. The community needed to unite and work together to keep each other safe in the coming dark times.
Hermione had plans, and her plans had plans. Even switching timelines hadn't changed that endearing quirk in her. So while he had set to networking and handling their business plans, she had been corresponding with Sharptooth regarding suitable locations to create magical townships in.
Hadrian had wholeheartedly agreed that she was the planner of the two of them. Hadrian's own skills lay in charming the wands off people and reading their needs and issues. So the two worked on their strengths. Which meant that Hadrian dreamed up ideas, met folks and declared wars, and left Hermione to work out the kinks and handle the details. He was better at reading people and managing their social lives and she was the analytical one with an eye for details and truly brilliant ideas.
The night had set in, cold and crisp and windy with a marked nip in the air. Milen was cosily curled up in a nest of ermine fur and fast asleep, a smile gracing his face. Together, Hadrian and Hermione stood up to stretch their limbs and minds. They had been at this for four hours now and had begun to look at the bulky proposals through blurry eyes and an exhausted mind. That lasted until Hadrian finally had enough.
He snatched the file out of her hands, snapped it shut and requested Sharptooth for a copy of the remaining parchment works of other proposals and potentials to take home and peruse in a more rested and coherent state of mind. Hadrian gently picked up the fast asleep Milen almost slipping off Hermione's lap and everyone was convinced to stop for the day and reconvene again a few days later, perhaps.
Hadrian shook hands with the now excited Goblin eager to play around with many exciting new businesses and money-making schemes; it was the most direct route to a goblin's heart after all. They parted ways, and left instructions to trace and contact the muggleborns who had returned to the muggle world for a few job opportunities; that concluded their business at Gringotts for today. And they walked out of the bank, carefully cradling Milen and floo'ed back home from the public floo in the Leaky.
All in all, it had been an excellent, most productive day.
The young family returned home and Milen was gently awakened and shown a small, tastefully engraved, bronze nameplate at Milen's door. The little one was thrilled. They quickly got him to shower, freshen up and take a nice warm glass of almond milk to bed and sat on his either side, reading out loud from Tales of Beedle the Bard. Hadrian and Hermione would forevermore express a particular fondness for that book, ever since the duo had spent many nights cosied together in a tent in the middle of nowhere during one war that would never be.
And they would pass on their love for this story to little Milen as well. In no time, a very content Milen dressed in his new, butter-soft, flannel pyjamas, was fast asleep, lovingly tucked in and clutching at his new unicorn plushy, made by Dobby with real Unicorn hairs woven within. It emitted a soft glow, like a night-light and kept the child firmly in the embrace of warm thoughts, pure ideas and sweet dreams. Hermione set a simple tracking charm for good measure and set Lollie, the newly assigned nursery elf to remain invisible and watch over Milen.
Hadrian and Hermione retired to the kitchen to catch up on their delayed dinner and discuss the developments with Dobby. It would be the beginning of a tradition in the Peverell clan for years to come.